Global Environmental Change

Global environmental change (gec) refers to a multitude of environmental changes occurring at the global scale. Such changes include alterations to global bio-geochemical cycles, including carbon, nitrogen, and hydrological cycles; widespread alterations to land use and cover in multiple locations across the world with far-reaching consequences for soils, ecology, economy, and human health; and increasing losses of biological diversity globally. GEC is distinguished by some as systemic (changes that operate globally, such as global warming) or cumulative (local effects that accumulate until the overall impact is global, such as land use/cover change or biodiversity loss). Although the environmental movement faults human activity for the majority of GEC, many of the changes in question have both natural and human drivers and consequences. There is growing consensus, ...