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Land-use and land-cover change : local processes and global impacts
01 Jan 2010-
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the causes and trajectories of land-use/cover change and the impacts of land cover change on the future of land in a global scale.
Abstract: Introduction: Local Processes with Global Impacts.- Global Land-Cover Change: Recent Progress, Remaining Challenges.- Causes and Trajectories of Land-Use/Cover Change.- Multiple Impacts of Land-Use/Cover Change.- Modeling Land-Use and Land-Cover Change.- Searching for the Future of Land: Scenarios from the Local to Global Scale.- Linking Land-Change Science and Policy: Current Lessons and Future Integration.- Conclusion.
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TL;DR: This work uses atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration as a single, simple indicator to track the progression of the Anthropocene, the current epoch in which humans and the authors' societies have become a global geophysical force.
Abstract: We explore the development of the Anthropocene, the current epoch in which humans and our societies have become a global geophysical force. The Anthropocene began around 1800 with the onset of industrialization, the central feature of which was the enormous expansion in the use of fossil fuels. We use atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration as a single, simple indicator to track the progression of the Anthropocene. From a preindustrial value of 270-275 ppm, atmospheric carbon dioxide had risen to about 310 ppm by 1950. Since then the human enterprise has experienced a remarkable explosion, the Great Acceleration, with significant consequences for Earth System functioning. Atmospheric CO2 concentration has risen from 310 to 380 ppm since 1950, with about half of the total rise since the preindustrial era occurring in just the last 30 years. The Great Acceleration is reaching criticality. Whatever unfolds, the next few decades will surely be a tipping point in the evolution of the Anthropocene.
2,585 citations
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1,645 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the Anthropocene epoch has been formally recognized 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.
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1,484 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors presented the first characterization of terrestrial biomes based on global patterns of sustained, direct human interaction with ecosystems and identified the anthropogenic biomes through empirical analysis of global population, land use, and land cover.
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1,452 citations
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824 citations