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 81
Page v
... example in which regional - scale human activities were repeated to create global consequences in concert with climate change – the Holocene megafauna extinction . Apart from this possible example , the environment at the scale of the ...
... example in which regional - scale human activities were repeated to create global consequences in concert with climate change – the Holocene megafauna extinction . Apart from this possible example , the environment at the scale of the ...
Page 3
... example , each operate as planetary systems has been known for well over a century . How- ever , the fact that these planetary cycles themselves are closely interlinked and the suggestion that life itself is an active and necessary ...
... example , each operate as planetary systems has been known for well over a century . How- ever , the fact that these planetary cycles themselves are closely interlinked and the suggestion that life itself is an active and necessary ...
Page 7
... example , the initial pock- ets of deforestation in a large tropical forest may have little or no impact on the number of species of animals and birds . However , as the forest becomes increasingly fragmented , the rate of species loss ...
... example , the initial pock- ets of deforestation in a large tropical forest may have little or no impact on the number of species of animals and birds . However , as the forest becomes increasingly fragmented , the rate of species loss ...
Page 23
... example , Sepkoski ( 1992 ) has estimated that cur- rently about 200 000 species are present in the oceans , but that 7.8 million of the species that evolved in the oceans over the last 600 million years are now extinct . Changes in ...
... example , Sepkoski ( 1992 ) has estimated that cur- rently about 200 000 species are present in the oceans , but that 7.8 million of the species that evolved in the oceans over the last 600 million years are now extinct . Changes in ...
Page 25
... example , the onset of past ice ages may have been accelerated by shrinkage of the boreal for- ests providing a positive feedback on cooling by increasing the surface albedo ( Gallimore and Kutzbach 1996 ) . Precipi- tation reductions ...
... example , the onset of past ice ages may have been accelerated by shrinkage of the boreal for- ests providing a positive feedback on cooling by increasing the surface albedo ( Gallimore and Kutzbach 1996 ) . Precipi- tation reductions ...
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