Global change

Global change refers to nothing. The system consists of the land, oceans, atmosphere, polar regions, life, the planet’s natural cycles and deep Earth processes. These constituent parts influence one another. The Earth system now includes human society, so global change also refers to large-scale changes in society.

More completely, the term “global change” encompasses: population, climate, the economy, resource use, energy development, transport, communication, land use and land cover, urbanization, globalization, atmospheric circulation, ocean circulation, the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle, the water cycle and other cycles, sea ice loss, sea-level rise, food webs, biological diversity, pollution, health, over fishing, and more.

History of global-change research

In 1980, a group of scientists led by Swedish meteorologist Bert Bolin set up an international programme, the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), to determine whether the climate was changing, whether climate could be predicted and whether humans were in some way responsible for the change. The programme was sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization and the International Council for Science (ICSU). As time went on, there was a growing realisation that climate change was one part of a larger phenomenon, global change. In 1987, a team of researchers, led again by Bert Bolin, James McCarthy, Paul Crutzen, H. Oeschger and others, successfully argued for an international research programme to investigate global change. This programme, sponsored by ICSU, is the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). The programme has eight projects investigating different parts of the Earth system and links between them.

Latest News for: Global change biology

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New study sounds alarm, provides hope for Western red cedars

Herald and News 24 Mar 2023
In 2017 and 2018, Oregon and Washington Western red cedars would experience “anomalously high mortality rates,” according to a new study currently under review at the scientific journal Global Change Biology ...People used to say you can’t tie just one individual event to climate change,” says Adams....
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Coral can't escape climate change despite its natural adaptive capacity, says new paper

Phys Dot Org 23 Mar 2023
The article, "Coral adaptive capacity insufficient to halt global transition of coral reefs into net erosion under climate change," published in the journal Global Change Biology on March 21, models how calcium carbonate production could change under climate change with and without the coral evolving tolerance to warming seawater....
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What this freak phytoplankton bloom tells us about climate change

NewstalkZB 23 Mar 2023
It was caused by oceanic biological effect of Cyclone Oma which passed near Vanuatu in 2019 ... Climate change bad news for coral reefs ... The study, published in the journal Global Change Biology, looked at how production of calcium carbonate would be affected under different rates of warming....
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Changing temperatures shown to increase pesticide risk to bees

Phys Dot Org 22 Mar 2023
Temperature influences how badly pesticides affect bees' behavior, suggesting uncertain impacts under climate change, according to a new study ... The study is published today in Global Change Biology ... bee behaviours exhibit divergent pesticide toxicity relationships with warming, Global Change Biology (2023) ... Global Change Biology....
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Species don't live in isolation: What changing threats to four marsupials tell us about the future

Phys Dot Org 22 Mar 2023
Our new research, published in Global Change Biology, models what's likely to happen to four well-known Western Australian marsupials in the ... Geary et al, Identifying historical and future global change drivers that place species recovery at risk, Global Change Biology (2023)....
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Asymmetric effects of daytime and nighttime warming in alpine treeline recruitment

Phys Dot Org 20 Mar 2023
The study results have been published in Global Change Biology ... Hang Shi et al, Asymmetric effects of daytime and nighttime warming on alpine treeline recruitment, Global Change Biology (2023) ... Global Change Biology....
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Breaking Barriers: ALS TDI Unveils Groundbreaking ALS Research Collaborative (ARC) to Accelerate Global Research in ALS

San Francisco Examiner 15 Mar 2023
Now, the ALS Therapy Development Institute ( ) is changing this with the launch of the – an ambitious global initiative developed to better understand the underlying biology of the disease, and significantly accelerate the discovery of ALS treatments ... and disease biology....
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DoD cites threats in Indo-Pacific in requesting record defense budget

Korea Times 14 Mar 2023
... deterring the threats from Iran, North Korea and global terrorist organizations or ensuring joint force effectiveness in the face of global challenges like climate change and biological threats, all of these are challenges DoD confronts every day," Hicks told a press briefing....
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Government accused of failing to tackle invasive rhododendron in England

The Observer 12 Mar 2023
Q&AWhat are invasive species?. Show ... Why are they a problem? ... How do they spread? ... A recent study in the journal Global Change Biology warned that, if left unchecked, the spread of non-native plant and animal species around the globe could lead to cataclysmic loss of biodiversity. Patrick Greenfield, biodiversity reporter. Was this helpful? ... ....
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Sea temperatures shown to be the primary driver of distributions of European marine fish

Phys Dot Org 10 Mar 2023
The study, "Sea temperature is the primary driver of recent and predicted fish community structure across Northeast Atlantic shelf seas," is published in Global Change Biology ... Rutterford et al, Sea temperature is the primary driver of recent and predicted fish community structure across Northeast Atlantic shelf seas, Global Change Biology (2023)....

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