Explanation:
Summary
The earth has entered a period of hydrological, climatological, and biological change that differs from previous episodes of global change in the extent to which it is human in origin. To explain or predict the course of the present global environmental changes, one must therefore understand the human sources, consequences, and responses, some of which can alter the course of global change. This book examines what is known about the human dimensions of global environmental change, identifies the major immediate needs for knowledge, and recommends a strategy for building that knowledge over the next 5-10 years. To understand global environmental change, it is necessary to focus on the interactions of environmental systems, including the atmosphere, the biosphere, the geosphere, and the hydrosphere, and human systems, including economic, political, cultural, and sociotechnical systems. Human systems and environmental systems meet in two places: where human actions proximately cause environmental change, that is, where they directly alter aspects of the environment, and where environmental changes directly affect what humans value. The main questions about human causes concern the underlying sources or social driving forces that give rise to the proximate causes of global change. Why, for example, is there so much variation across societies, even advanced industrial societies, with regard to energy consumption per unit of economic output? The key questions about human consequence Page 2.Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Research Council. 1992. Global Environmental Change: Understanding the Human Dimensions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1792. ×
Technological Change Technology can influence environmental change by finding new ways to discover and exploit natural resources or by changing the volume of resources required—or the Political-Economic Institutions The global environment responds to the actions of markets, governments, and the international political economy. Markets are always imperfect, and the impact of economic activity on the environment depends on which imperfect-market method of environmental management is being used. Governmental structure and policies can also have significant environmental consequences, both intentional and inadvertent. And the international political economy, with its global division of labor and wealth, can promote environmental abuses, particularly in the Third World. The effects depend on policy at the national level and on the behavior of particular economic actors. Attitudes and Beliefs Beliefs, attitudes, and values related to material possessions and the relation of humanity and nature are often seen as lying at the root of environmental degradation. Such attitudes and beliefs probably have their greatest independent effects over the long-term, on the time scale of human generations or more. Within single lifetimes, attitudes and beliefs can have significant influence on resource-using behavior, even when social-structural and economic variables are held constant. Although each of these driving forces is important at certain times and under certain conditions, much remains unknown about what determines their relative importance, how they affect each other, and how the driving forces in particular places combine to produce global effects. For example, various combinations of social conditions may lead to a single outcome, such as deforestation.
