Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- Acknowledgements
- 1 An introduction to climate change
- 2 Principal indicators of past climates
- 3 Past climate change
- 4 The Oligocene to the Quaternary: climate and biology
- 5 Present climate and biological change
- 6 Current warming and likely future impacts
- 7 The human ecology of climate change
- 8 Sustainability and policy
- Appendix 1 Glossary and abbreviations
- Appendix 2 Bio-geological chronology
- Appendix 3 Calculations of energy demand/supply and orders of magnitude
- Appendix 4 The IPCC 2007 report
- Index
- References
7 - The human ecology of climate change
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 December 2010
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- Acknowledgements
- 1 An introduction to climate change
- 2 Principal indicators of past climates
- 3 Past climate change
- 4 The Oligocene to the Quaternary: climate and biology
- 5 Present climate and biological change
- 6 Current warming and likely future impacts
- 7 The human ecology of climate change
- 8 Sustainability and policy
- Appendix 1 Glossary and abbreviations
- Appendix 2 Bio-geological chronology
- Appendix 3 Calculations of energy demand/supply and orders of magnitude
- Appendix 4 The IPCC 2007 report
- Index
- References
Summary
Given that climate change has been part of, and has helped shape, the biosphere's development, it should not have been surprising that climate change affected human evolution and humanity's historical affairs (see Chapter 5), or that it will do so in the future. That humanity itself has affected the climate – modern technological civilisation significantly so – all the more demonstrates the interconnections between climate and our species. If we are to begin to assess this relationship's future it is necessary to understand the relevant fundamentals of human ecology (the way our species as a population develops and its relations with other species). This includes population demographics (broadly our numbers reflect the amount of biomass of, and hence impact on, the species to which we relate), energy supply (which relates to carbon-cycle short-circuiting), health (mainly with regard to those species that prey on us) and food supply (those species which we harvest). Finally, given all of this, what are the prospects for limiting, or ameliorating, our short-circuiting of the biosphere's carbon cycle?
Population (past, present and future) and its environmental impact
Population and environmental impact
Generally, if one person has an environmental impact of some arbitrary quantification, x, then it is not unreasonable to suppose that two people will have an impact of 2x, three people an impact of 3x, etc; in other words, that environmental impact is proportional to population and so may be represented in equation form.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Climate ChangeBiological and Human Aspects, pp. 310 - 391Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007
References
, , et al. (2002) Economic reasons for conserving wildlife. Science, 297, 950–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1999) Direct effects of climate change on health. In and , eds. Climate Change and Human Health, pp. 35–44. London: Royal Society.Google Scholar
British Petroleum (2002) BP Statistical Review of World Energy. London: British Petroleum.
British Petroleum (2005) BP Statistical Review of World Energy. London: British Petroleum.
(1995) Full House: Reassessing the Earth's Population Carrying Capacity. London: Earthscan.Google Scholar
(1997) Does The Weather Really Matter? The Social Implications of Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cabinet Office (1994) Sustainable Development: The UK Strategy. Cm 2426. London: HMSO.
, , et al. (2005) Multiple causes of high extinction risk in large mammal species. Science, 309, 1239–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
, , , and (2005) Global mammal conservation: what must we manage? Science, 309, 603–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
, , et al. (2005) Europe-wide reduction in primary productivity caused by the heat and drought in 2003. Nature, 437, 529–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
, , et al. (1997) The value of the World's ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature, 387, 253–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1998) Climate and Human Change: Disaster or Opportunity? London: Parthenon Publishing.Google Scholar
(ed.) (2003) Fuelling the Future 3: Biofuels, 2nd edn. London: Institute of Biology and the British Council for Crop Protection.Google Scholar
Department of Health (2002) Health Effects in the UK. London: Department of Health.
Department of Heath (2004) West Nile Virus: a Contingency Plan to Protect the Public's Health. London: Department of Health.
, , , and (1998) Winter mortality and cold stress in Yekaterinburg, Russia interview survey. British Medical Journal, 316, 514–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee (2003) Biofuels. Norwich: House of Commons EFRA Select Committee, Stationery Office.
Food and Agriculture Organization (2001, 2003, 2004) The State of Food Insecurity in the World [various annual reports]. Rome: UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
Food and Agriculture Organization (2002) FAOSTAT Statistical Database. Rome: UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
, , and (2001) The recent increase in Atlantic hurricane activity: causes and implications. Science, 293, 474–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
, , et al. (2002) Climate change and resurgence of malaria in the East African highlands. Nature, 415, 905–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
, , et al. (2004) Global patterns in human consumption of net primary production. Nature, 429, 870–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1990) Climate Change: the IPCC Scientific Assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1995) Climate Change 1995: the Science of Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2000) Emission Scenarios – IPCC Special Report. Geneva: WMO.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2001a) Climate Change 2001: Impacts Adaptation and Vulnerability – a Report of Working Group II. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2001b) Climate Change 2001: the Scientific Basis – Summary for Policymakers and Technical Summary of the Working Group I Report. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
and (1964) The Biological Significance of Climatic Changes in Britain. London: Institute of Biology and Academic Press.Google Scholar
, and , (2000) The potential of biomass fuels in the context of global climate change. Annual Review of Energy and the Environment, 25, 199–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1944) Climate and the Energy of Nations, revised edition. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Martens, P. (1999) Climate change impacts on vector-borne disease transmission in Europe. In and , eds. Climate Change and Human Health, pp. 45–53. London: Royal Society.Google Scholar
(2004) Oil: never cry wolf – why the petroleum age is far from over. Science, 304, 1114–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
(1993) Planetary Overload: Global Environmental Change and the Health of Human Species. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
and (1997) Global climate change: the potential effects on health. British Medical Journal, 315, 805–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and (2004) More intense, more frequent, and longer lasting heat waves in the 21st century. Science, 305, 994–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
, and (2003) No upward trends in the occurrence of extreme floods in central Europe. Nature, 425, 166–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Health Service (2004) Heatwave Plan for England: Protecting Health and Reducing Harm from Extreme Heat and Heatwaves. London: Department of Health.
Nature News (2004) Reform of land use urged as floodwaters rise across Asia. Nature, 430, 596.CrossRef
, , and (2000) Observed trends in the daily intensity of United Kingdom precipitation. International Journal of Climatology, 20, 347–64.3.0.CO;2-C>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2006) Making the paper: how climate data are helping to predict malaria outbreaks in Africa. Nature, 439, xi.Google Scholar
, and (2004) Fire-induced erosion and millennial-scale climate change in northern ponderosa pine forests. Nature, 432, 87–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
(2005) Rising temperatures are likely to reduce crop yields. Nature, 436, 174.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
(1999) World population and health in transition. British Medical Journal, 319, 981–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
and (2000) The global spread of malaria in a future, warmer world. Science, 289, 1763–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, and (2001) Human appropriation of photosynthesis products. Science, 294, 2549–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Royal Society (2001) The Role of Land Carbon Sinks in Mitigating Global Climate Change. Policy document 10/01. London: Royal Society.
(2003) The anthropogenic greenhouse era began thousands of years ago. Climate Change, 61(3), 261–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
., , et al. (2005) Ecosystem service supply and vulnerability to global change in Europe. Science, 310, 1333–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanwell-Smith, R. (1999) Effects of climate change on other communicable diseases. In and , eds. Climate Change and Human Health, pp. 55–69. London: Royal Society.Google Scholar
Sustainable Development Commission (2006) The Role of Nuclear Power in a Low Carbon Economy. London: Sustainable Development Commission.
, , et al. (2006) Malaria early warnings based on seasonal climate forecasts from multi-model ensembles. Nature, 439, 576–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
, , et al. (1990) The Earth as Transformed by Human Action: Global and Regional Changes in the Biosphere over the Past 300 Years. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
UN Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2002) World Population Prospects: The 2002 Revision. New York: United Nations Secretariat.
World Health Organization (1999) El Niño and Health: Report of the Task Force on Climate and Health. Geneva: World Health Organization. [Summarised in WHO Fact Sheet 192 (2000)].
World Health Organization (2001a) Climate and Health. Fact Sheet 266. Geneva: World Health Organization.
World Health Organization (2001b) Water – Too Much or Too Little – The Foremost Cause of Natural Disasters. WHO Feature no. 203. Geneva: World Health Organization.
World Health Organization (2004) Surge in Demand Leads to Shortage of Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy for Malaria. Media release WHO/77. Geneva: World Health Organization.
World Health Organization (2006) WHO Announces Pharmaceutical Companies Agree To Stop Marketing Single-Drug Artemisinin Malaria Pills. News release WHO/23. Geneva: World Health Organization.
World Health Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization (2004) Minimizing Food-borne Illness Requires Co-ordination Right up the Food Chain. Joint news release WHO/FAO/71. Geneva/Rome: World Health Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization.
Worldwatch Institute (2003) Vital Signs 2003–2004. London: Earthscan.