The Earth as transformed by human action: global change and regional changes in the biosphere over the past 300 years

Attempts to document recent changes in the biosphere, contrast global and regional scale patterns of change, and explain the main human forces which have driven such changes. The book presents studies from around the world of societal and environmental alterations brought about by the development and civilization of mankind. The first section deals with the major human forces of the last 300 yr, whilst the second presents detailed accounts of transformations to the global environment brought about by human action. The third section uses regional case studies of such transformations to describe the multivariable interactions of environmental change, and a brief final section examines a range of perspectives and theories purporting to explain human actions in relation to the biosphere. The great majority of papers from the first three sections are abstracted separately. -after Editors