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. |
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Results 1-5 of 75
Page vi
... decade of research undertaken under the auspices of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Pro- gramme (IGBP) but quickly grew to encompass contributions from the global change research community more generally, particularly IGBP's ...
... decade of research undertaken under the auspices of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Pro- gramme (IGBP) but quickly grew to encompass contributions from the global change research community more generally, particularly IGBP's ...
Page 2
... decades ago (Chorley and Kennedy 1971). More general systems thinking was well expounded by the 1970s (Laszlo 1972), and the idea of global biogeo- chemistry, a major theme in this volume, was also discussed and described in broad ...
... decades ago (Chorley and Kennedy 1971). More general systems thinking was well expounded by the 1970s (Laszlo 1972), and the idea of global biogeo- chemistry, a major theme in this volume, was also discussed and described in broad ...
Page 4
... decades , evidence has been mount- ing that planetary - scale changes are occurring rapidly in response to the forcings and feedbacks that charac- terise the internal dynamics of the Earth System . As in- dicated in Fig . 1.1 , key ...
... decades , evidence has been mount- ing that planetary - scale changes are occurring rapidly in response to the forcings and feedbacks that charac- terise the internal dynamics of the Earth System . As in- dicated in Fig . 1.1 , key ...
Page 7
... decades , centuries , or longer . The processes which contribute to climate comprise the climate system , and they are closely connected to biogeo- chemical cycles . However , there are some important differences between climate change ...
... decades , centuries , or longer . The processes which contribute to climate comprise the climate system , and they are closely connected to biogeo- chemical cycles . However , there are some important differences between climate change ...
Page 11
... decades has sought to understand the backdrop of biogeochemical cycling and climate processes against which all ... decade has demonstrated that the biosphere is an active and important contributor to the functioning of the Earth System ...
... decades has sought to understand the backdrop of biogeochemical cycling and climate processes against which all ... decade has demonstrated that the biosphere is an active and important contributor to the functioning of the Earth System ...
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 |
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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