Showing papers by "Paul J. Crutzen published in 2011"

The Anthropocene: conceptual and historical perspectives

Abstract: The human imprint on the global environment has now become so large and active that it rivals some of the great forces of Nature in its impact on the functioning of the Earth system. Although global-scale human influence on the environment has been recognized since the 1800s, the term Anthropocene, introduced about a decade ago, has only recently become widely, but informally, used in the global change research community. However, the term has yet to be accepted formally as a new geological epoch or era in Earth history. In this paper, we put forward the case for formally recognizing the Anthropocene as a new epoch in Earth history, arguing that the advent of the Industrial Revolution around 1800 provides a logical start date for the new epoch. We then explore recent trends in the evolution of the Anthropocene as humanity proceeds into the twenty-first century, focusing on the profound changes to our relationship with the rest of the living world and on early attempts and proposals for managing our relationship with the large geophysical cycles that drive the Earth's climate system.

The Anthropocene: From Global Change to Planetary Stewardship

Abstract: Over the past century, the total material wealth of humanity has been enhanced. However, in the twenty-first century, we face scarcity in critical resources, the degradation of ecosystem services, and the erosion of the planet’s capability to absorb our wastes. Equity issues remain stubbornly difficult to solve. This situation is novel in its speed, its global scale and its threat to the resilience of the Earth System. The advent of the Anthropence, the time interval in which human activities now rival global geophysical processes, suggests that we need to fundamentally alter our relationship with the planet we inhabit. Many approaches could be adopted, ranging from geo-engineering solutions that purposefully manipulate parts of the Earth System to becoming active stewards of our own life support system. The Anthropocene is a reminder that the Holocene, during which complex human societies have developed, has been a stable, accommodating environment and is the only state of the Earth System that we know for sure can support contemporary society. The need to achieve effective planetary stewardship is urgent. As we go further into the Anthropocene, we risk driving the Earth System onto a trajectory toward more hostile states from which we cannot easily return.

Fate of mountain glaciers in the anthropocene

Abstract: The working group consists of glaciologists, climate scientists, meteorologists, hydrologists, physicists, chemists, mountaineers, and lawyers organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican, to contemplate the observed retreat of the mountain glaciers, its causes and consequences. This report resulted from a workshop in April 2011 at the Vatican. 2007 Courtesy of GlacierWorks 1921 Courtesy of the Royal Geographical Society

Vanishing glaciers in the European Alps

Abstract: Introduction With the romantic enthusiasm of the 18th century, the seemingly ‘pure, untouched and eternal’ snow and ice of glaciers in the European Alps became an important international tourist attraction and, in combination with the cultivated Alpine garden landscapes of the surrounding habitats, were also more and more perceived as a strong symbol for an intact relation between humans and their environment (Figure 1; cf. Nussbaumer et al. 2007). In the meantime, the continued and worldwide shrinking of such ice bodies and their possible disappearance in a rather near future turned mountain glaciers into unique demonstration objects of fast climate change at a global scale in policy-oriented observing systems (UNEP 2007, WGMS 2008). The two basic reasons for this are the facts that a broad public can easily recognize the ongoing changes in nature (glacier shrinkage) and also understand the major physical principles behind the phenomenon (melting of ice with rising temperatures). The task of scientific glacier research and monitoring concerns the detailed understanding of the complex physical processes involved and the quantification of the observed developments. In this contribution, the quantitative documentation of recent, ongoing and possible future glacier changes in the European Alps represents the main focus. Glaciers of the European Alps play a central role in internationally coordinated glacier observations. For historical reasons, systematic glacier observations were initiated in this densely populated high-mountain region, and over more than a century of idealistic and patient work also provided an especially rich documentation (Haeberli 2008). Concepts of integrated glacier monitoring over entire mountain chains can be especially well demonstrated for the European Alps (Haeberli et al. 2007). The following overview relates to (a) the documented changes since the mid 19th century, (b) their relation to pre-industrial variability in glacier extent during historical times and the Holocene, and (c) modeled scenarios for the coming decades and the 21st century. It is primarily based on comprehensive quantitative studies concerning the entire sample of glaciers in the European Alps and regular assessments by the European Environment Agency. The