Global Change and the Earth System: A Planet Under PressureThe interactions between environmental change and human societies have a long, complex history spanning many millennia, but these have changed fundamentally in the last century. Human activities are now so pervasive and profound that they are altering the Earth in ways which threaten the very life support system upon which humans depend. This book describes what is known about the Earth System and the impact of changes caused by humans. It considers the consequences of these changes with respect to the stability of the Earth System and the well-being of humankind; as well as exploring future paths towards Earth System science in support of global sustainability. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 49
Page v
... Holocene megafauna extinction . Apart from this possible example , the environment at the scale of the Earth as a whole - the passing of the seasons , the vagaries of weather and climate , the ebbing and flowing of river systems and ...
... Holocene megafauna extinction . Apart from this possible example , the environment at the scale of the Earth as a whole - the passing of the seasons , the vagaries of weather and climate , the ebbing and flowing of river systems and ...
Page 16
... Holocene is the final, decisive step in a se- decades at most (Alley et al. 1993; Alley 2000; Fig. 2.8). Studies of the opening of the Holocene from a wider range of sites may well provide the strongest empirical evidence available for ...
... Holocene is the final, decisive step in a se- decades at most (Alley et al. 1993; Alley 2000; Fig. 2.8). Studies of the opening of the Holocene from a wider range of sites may well provide the strongest empirical evidence available for ...
Page 18
... Holocene, the present interglacial period. The isotopic record from central Greenland ice cores has sometimes been invoked as evidence that climate variability during the Holocene was an order of magni- tude less than the variability ...
... Holocene, the present interglacial period. The isotopic record from central Greenland ice cores has sometimes been invoked as evidence that climate variability during the Holocene was an order of magni- tude less than the variability ...
Page 19
... Holocene is particularly important as this is the period that forms the baseline used to assess the significance of major anthropogenic perturbations. The amplitude and fre- quency of past hydrological variability (e.g., droughts) are ...
... Holocene is particularly important as this is the period that forms the baseline used to assess the significance of major anthropogenic perturbations. The amplitude and fre- quency of past hydrological variability (e.g., droughts) are ...
Page 21
... Holocene (Moy et al. 2002). In this ENSO record in a laminated lake sediment sequence from Laguna Pallcacocha, south Ecuador, spanning the whole of the Holocene, ENSO events have been identified from the presence of light coloured ...
... Holocene (Moy et al. 2002). In this ENSO record in a laminated lake sediment sequence from Laguna Pallcacocha, south Ecuador, spanning the whole of the Holocene, ENSO events have been identified from the presence of light coloured ...
Contents
1 | |
6 | |
Harvard University USA The University of Newcastle | 60 |
Claussen Martin | 75 |
How Humans are Changing the Earth System | 81 |
3 | 109 |
Magnitudes Rates and Significance of Human Changes | 131 |
4 | 142 |
Department of Geosciences Harvey Nick | 166 |
5 | 203 |
NASA Headquarters Washington DC USA Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research | 234 |
Dalhousie University Canada Scholes R | 251 |
References | 299 |
Mitra A | 305 |
Acknowledgements | 307 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
aerosol aerosol particles Africa agricultural anthropogenic areas Asia atmos atmospheric CO2 Berlin Heidelberg biodiversity Biogeochem Cy biological biomass biosphere Cambridge carbon cycle century chemical climate change climate system CO₂ coastal zone complex concentration decades deforestation dynamics Earth System functioning ecosys ecosystems effects emissions ENSO environment environmental estimated example extinction feedbacks fertilisation flux forcing forest fossil fuel Gaia Geophys Res glacial Greenland growth Heidelberg New York Holocene human activities human-driven hydrological hydrological cycle ice core IGBP IGBP Global Change impacts important increase influence interactions IPCC land-cover Lovelock marine natural nitrogen North Atlantic nutrients ocean organic ozone past patterns perturbation photosynthesis phytoplankton plant population processes production radiative forcing record regions responses river role scale Science sediment significant simulations soil solar species surface temperature terrestrial ecosystems Tg N yr–1 thermohaline circulation tion transport trends tropical tropospheric variability vegetation warming Younger Dryas