Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change

Studies of the human dimensions of global environmental change explore the social causes and consequences of large-scale environmental transformations. These include, for example, climate change or global warming, stratospheric ozone depletion, acid rain, land use changes such as wetlands loss and deforestation, biodiversity loss, and changes in the abundance, diversity, and productivity of marine populations. Widespread local-scale changes, such as in water access or water quality, can be considered global environmental problems because of the magnitude of their impacts on society. Human actions are considered to be the central force behind all types of global environmental change, whether it is [Page 1451]through population growth, resource extraction, energy consumption, urbanization, technological change, changes in consumer demands, or shifts in attitudes, lifestyles, and beliefs. Central to all research on the human dimensions of global environmental change is the idea that human activity is changing natural, life-supporting processes and that scientists, policymakers, and the public need to pay attention to what these changes mean for society and its future sustainability.

Human dimensions research encompasses a broad array of issues, discussed in this entry, including (a) the social, economic, political, cultural, and/or demographic drivers of global environmental changes; (b) the impacts of these changes on human systems at scales ranging from the global to the local; © the vulnerability of different sectors, regions, and social groups to these changes; and (d) the responses to these changes, including both adaptation to the effects of global environmental change and mitigation of the causes of these changes. Human dimensions researchers are also keenly interested in issues of governance, equity, and social justice and the role of discourse in influencing how global environmental problems are defined and addressed.