Book contents
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Notes on contributors
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- PART I Earth system analysis
- 2 Dimensions and mechanisms of global climate change
- 3 Global climate change: what can we learn from the past?
- PART II Society and institutions of global; environmental change
- PART III Self-regulation of industry and the law
- PART IV The potential of the state
- PART V The potential of world regions
- PART VI Formation and implementation of international regimes
- PART VII Improving the instruments of global governance
- PART VIII Fundamental concepts of institutionalising common concern
- Index
2 - Dimensions and mechanisms of global climate change
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Notes on contributors
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- PART I Earth system analysis
- 2 Dimensions and mechanisms of global climate change
- 3 Global climate change: what can we learn from the past?
- PART II Society and institutions of global; environmental change
- PART III Self-regulation of industry and the law
- PART IV The potential of the state
- PART V The potential of world regions
- PART VI Formation and implementation of international regimes
- PART VII Improving the instruments of global governance
- PART VIII Fundamental concepts of institutionalising common concern
- Index
Summary
Introduction
The present characteristics of the Earth system, and in particular of the climate system, in which human societies are embedded, are a product of a long-term evolution: a current snapshot in a six-billion-year movie that is still running. After colonisation of the continents by plants and animals, the Earth has developed a climate system – composed of atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, land surfaces, and the marine and terrestrial biosphere – which very effectively, through complex interactions, has produced a rather stable equilibrium state, around which climate variations evolve.
Until 250 years ago, the interference of man was small, and climate variations were a product of natural processes and interactions alone. Since the beginning of industrialisation, the composition of the atmosphere, especially the concentrations of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane, have significantly increased. In addition, the character of the land surface has been largely modified through human activities. Part of the observed global warming during the past 100 years is attributed to these anthropogenic impacts.
One of the most important characteristics of the climate system is its variability, which extends on timescales ranging from days to millions of years. Short-term variations of atmospheric variables – such as air temperature, pressure, humidity, the three wind components, precipitation, and cloud cover – on the order of days denote the weather. Climate variations are associated with long-term (months and longer) changes of the atmosphere, which mostly originate from interactions with the slow components of the climate system.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Multilevel Governance of Global Environmental ChangePerspectives from Science, Sociology and the Law, pp. 37 - 66Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006