Global Environmental Change

Global Environmental Change
Name	Global Environmental Change
Domain	Earth system science, environmental studies
Start year	preindustrial
Disciplines	Earth science; climatology; ecology; conservation biology

Contents

Global Environmental Change Global Environmental Change refers to large-scale alterations in Earth’s physical, chemical, biological, and social systems driven by human activities and natural variability. It encompasses shifts in climate, land cover, biogeochemical cycles, ocean state, ice sheets, and human demography that interact across scales from local to planetary. Research and response span institutions such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, United Nations Environment Programme, World Meteorological Organization, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, European Space Agency, and academic centers including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Cambridge, Stanford University, and Max Planck Society.

Overview and Definitions

Global Environmental Change is defined in interdisciplinary literature produced by organizations like International Science Council and programs such as International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, Global Change Research Program (US), and Future Earth. Definitions integrate findings from Paleoclimatology, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Oceanography, and Cryosphere research. Key conceptual frameworks derive from works associated with James Hansen, Paul Crutzen, Jule Charney, Syukuro Manabe, Gavin Schmidt, Kerry Emanuel, and institutions including Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Terminology overlaps with policy instruments such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Montreal Protocol, Convention on Biological Diversity, and treaties negotiated under the United Nations General Assembly.

Drivers are anthropogenic and natural. Major anthropogenic drivers include fossil fuel combustion and land-use change identified by analysts at International Energy Agency, BP, ExxonMobil (historical records), and studies by Thomas Malthus-influenced demographic analyses. Industrialization and the Green Revolution altered nitrogen flows through fertilizers linked to research by Norman Borlaug and institutions like International Fertilizer Association. Deforestation in regions governed or contested by entities such as Amazonas (state), Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, and nations party to the Convention on Biological Diversity drives carbon emissions. Other drivers include aerosol emissions studied at Harvard University, California Institute of Technology, and NOAA. Natural drivers include volcanic eruptions such as Mount Tambora, Mount Pinatubo, solar variability recorded by observatories including Royal Greenwich Observatory and NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory, and orbital forcing described since the work of Milutin Milanković.

Observed patterns draw on data from satellite missions like Landsat, GRACE, Aqua (satellite), Terra (satellite), Copernicus Programme and long-term records from Hadley Centre, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, NOAA, Met Office, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, and Japan Meteorological Agency. Trends include rising global mean surface temperature documented by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, accelerating sea-level rise measured by TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason (satellite), Arctic sea-ice loss in regions near Svalbard, Greenland, and Barents Sea, and cryosphere mass loss from Antarctica and Greenland ice sheetes observed by ICESat and CryoSat. Ocean warming and acidification are recorded by programs like Argo (oceanography), affecting currents such as the Gulf Stream and modes of variability including the El Niño–Southern Oscillation and North Atlantic Oscillation.

Changes affect biomes and taxa from tropical forests like Amazon Rainforest and Congo Basin to coral systems such as the Great Barrier Reef, with documented coral bleaching events linked to episodes in 1998, 2016, and 2020. Species redistributions and extinctions are documented in regions including Galápagos Islands, Madagascar, and Himalayas, and involve taxa studied by researchers at institutions like Smithsonian Institution and Natural History Museum, London. Land-use shifts driven by commodity markets including Cocoa and Soybean cultivation affect habitats regulated by policies from European Union and Brazil. Invasive species spread along shipping routes via Panama Canal and Suez Canal corridors, with consequences for ecosystems studied in biogeography by Alfred Russel Wallace-influenced research programs. Conservation tools include protected areas under frameworks from IUCN and transboundary efforts such as Everglades restoration and Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.

Impacts on human systems involve agriculture in basins like the Mekong River, Indus River, and Nile River, livelihoods of communities in regions such as Sahel, Pacific Islands Forum members, and urban centers including New York City, Mumbai, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Food security analyses reference institutions such as Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Programme. Health consequences include vector-borne disease changes documented by World Health Organization and research at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; heatwave mortality events studied in European heat wave of 2003 and Russian heatwave 2010; and air-pollution impacts assessed by World Bank and Global Burden of Disease studies. Economic damages and risk assessments involve modeling groups at Reserve Bank of India, Federal Reserve, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and multilateral banks like World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

Responses include mitigation strategies pursued by signatories to Paris Agreement and technology initiatives promoted by United Nations Industrial Development Organization, International Renewable Energy Agency, Global Covenant of Mayors, and private firms such as Tesla, Inc. and Siemens. Renewable energy deployments involve projects led by Ørsted (company), Vestas, and programs funded by Green Climate Fund. Carbon pricing mechanisms include systems in European Union Emissions Trading System, California Cap-and-Trade Program, and national policies from China and Canada. Adaptation measures span coastal defenses in regions such as Netherlands (Delta Works) and Bangladesh, urban planning in Rotterdam and Singapore, and ecosystem-based approaches advocated by IUCN and Conservation International. Research coordination and capacity-building occur through networks like Future Earth, Global Environment Facility, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network, and universities such as University of Oxford and Australian National University.