Anthropogenic Albedo Changes and the Earth's Climate

The human species has been altering the environment over large geographic areas since the domestication of fire, plants, and animals. The progression from hunter to farmer to technologist has increased the variety and pace more than the geographic extent of human impact on the environment. A number...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inScience (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 206; no. 4425; pp. 1363 - 1368
Main Authors Sagan, Carl, Toon, Owen B., Pollack, James B.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 21.12.1979
Subjects
Albedo
Analysis
Anthropological research
Climate change
Climatic changes
Climatic zones
Deforestation
Environmental aspects
Global climate models
Human ecology
Humans
Land use
Statistics
Tropical climates
Tropical forests
Vegetation
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Summary:The human species has been altering the environment over large geographic areas since the domestication of fire, plants, and animals. The progression from hunter to farmer to technologist has increased the variety and pace more than the geographic extent of human impact on the environment. A number of regions of the earth have experienced significant climatic changes closely related in time to anthropogenic environmental changes. Plausible physical models suggest a causal connection. The magnitudes of probable anthropogenic global albedo changes over the past millennia (and particularly over the past 25 years) are estimated. The results suggest that humans have made substantial contributions to global climate changes during the past several millennia, and perhaps over the past million years; further such changes are now under way.
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ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.206.4425.1363