Human Dimensions of Global Change

Human dimensions of global change are surrounded by different questions, some of them without answers. Although it’s true that world’s climate changes naturally due to “the earth’s orbit and the way energy is received from the sun, volcanic eruptions and the way the ocean and the atmosphere work together” (Environment and Cleaner Living) we still can’t forget that human behavior is also one of the main reasons for this cause. By looking at the atmosphere through human history, we can clearly see that concentrations of CO2, methane and nitrous oxide increased rapidly around 1800, mostly due to industrialization. At the same time land use and land cover had also significant changes over longer periods of time. Human causes of changes have been happening over decades and the main reason is because humans need to meet the needs of a fast growing population.

However, and this is what intrigues me the most about this subject, the role of human population as the major cause of land cover, is in fact more complex. Several cases suggest that population growth and/or migration show a relationship with increasing rates of tropical deforestation. At the same time, others suggest that population growth wouldn’t need of deforestation if in fact there would be other process available as alternatives to land clearing such as employment. In addition, there’s supporting evidence that “only at higher population densities does one find more intensive and efficient use of land (National Research Council, pg 305).

On the other hand, political and economic structures limit individual choices on the management of land and resources, leading many peasants to overuse their land, opt for polluting technologies, or cut their forests. Therefore, after considerable understanding of human causes, is clear that there is no simple correlation between population and deforestation, or common property rights and resource degradation. There’s still to develop land management institutions that would act to local needs and diminish global change, such development is difficult to achieve but not impossible. If we can at least follow the Kyoto Protocol and keep the commitment as the European Union has offered, we can still reduce emissions by 2013 and later on in 2020.

References:

National Research Council. (1999). Global Environmental Change: Research Pathways for the Next Decade. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

(2010). Causes of Climate Change. Environment and Greener Living. Retrieved from http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Environmentandgreenerliving/Thewiderenvironment/Climatechange/DG_072920

(2010). Climate Change. Environment. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/home_en.htm