Encyclopedia Of Global Environmental Change

This is a collection of approximately 750 articles exploring major topics related to global warming and climate change ranging geographically from the North Pole to the South Pole and thematically from social effects to scientific cause. It also covers industrial and economic factors, the role of societies and much more.

This Second Edition of an academic yet non-technical resource examines the effects, history and ongoing research in the important field of global warming and climate change.

Volume Five of the Encyclopedia is devoted to the social, political, economic, and spiritual - and thereby human dimensions of global environmental change. It highlights the profound shifts in human thinking and awareness that are required to "wrap our minds" around the advent of globalization, and our increasing ability to affect natural systems, sometimes to our own benefit. Because of the complex weave of interaction between humanity and the environment, this volume contains many essays and articles that are more in the realm of probes than fixed descriptions of their topics. Powerful words and powerful ideas, metaphors, myths, beliefs, images and arte-facts - these are all "vehicles" for the creation and shaping of meaning among human beings. Topics covered include the great political and economic theories, the most influential views of nature from Plato to Rachel Carson, and the historic and literary seedbeds for the rise of environmental thought and practice in our time. Of particular importance are the introductory essays from leading figures in the field, and special efforts have been made throughout to give space to alternative voices and ideas. Dialogue and diversity are essential to human development, and a reader will be stimulated by this volume towards his or her own thoughtful response to the increasing responsibility for the future of the Earth that has come upon us in our time.

The character of the Earth's surface is constantly changing as a result of the interactions of the great circulations of energy, water and materials that create the biogeochemical cycles between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, cryosphere and biosphere. In addition human actions, from social and environmental interplay - often termed human ecology - have to be seen as part of a whole Earth system, impacting on biogeochemical cycles to produce feedbacks and responses. Some resulting impacts are readily expected, but others are less easily anticipated and all affect global environmental change. The task of Volume Three of the Encyclopedia is to look at and analyse the interactions, feedbacks and causes from a holistic viewpoint and report upon some of the key aspects of human knowledge that are required for an integrated science. Coverage includes: * Human disturbance of the Earth system * Global land cover and land use * Global population trends * Trends in global emissions * Water use: Future trends, and environmental and social impacts * Rice and its spread * Environmental change and human health * Environmental changes driven by civil conflict and war

Volume One of this Encyclopedia deals with the physical and chemical dimensions of the Earth system, including for example the atmosphere, the oceans, the cryosphere, and those aspects of the land surface particularly relevant to interactions with other components of the Earth system. It focuses on the most dynamic aspects of the system, on the factors and processes that produce change, and on the programs and individual scientists most concerned with measuring and understanding change. The volume begins with a group of extended review essays, followed by shorter articles on various aspects of the history, current state, and possible future states of the Earth system, including the interactions among the components of this system. Expert contributions feature on: Historical trends in various environmental indicators, both in the past century and extending back through geological time What we have learned, and the tools used to gain knowledge about the functioning of this complex system, from field programs to model simulations Effects of human intervention on climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion Details of organized international observing, data management, and research programs in the Earth sciences Brief biographies of a selection of leading scientists This volume represents a uniquely valuable source of focused, timely, and authoritative information relating to the issues of global environmental change. It has been constructed broad enough in scope to illuminate every corner of the relevant geophysical sciences, while remaining concise and readily usable by the non-specialist.