Human–environment interactions: learning from the past

The analysis of palaeoenvironmental archives--sediments, archaeological remains, tree-rings, documents and instrumental records--is presented as a key element in the global scientific endeavour aimed at understanding human-environment interactions at the present day and in the future. The paper expl...

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Published inRegional environmental change Vol. 6; no. 1-2; pp. 1 - 16
Main Authors Dearing, J. A., Battarbee, R. W., Dikau, R., Larocque, I., Oldfield, F.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dordrecht Springer Nature B.V 01.03.2006
Subjects
Epistemology
Human influences
Human-environment relationship
Paleoecology
Simulation
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Summary:The analysis of palaeoenvironmental archives--sediments, archaeological remains, tree-rings, documents and instrumental records--is presented as a key element in the global scientific endeavour aimed at understanding human-environment interactions at the present day and in the future. The paper explains the need for the focus on palaeoenvironmental studies as a means of 'learning from the past', and presents the rationale and structure of the IGBP-PAGES Focus 5 programme 'Past Ecosystem Processes and Human-Environment Interactions'. The past, as described through palaeoenvironmental studies, can yield information about pre-impact states, trajectories of recent change, causation, complex system behaviour, and provide the basis for developing and testing simulation models. Learning from the past in each of these epistemological categories is exemplified with published case-studies.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
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ISSN:1436-3798
1436-378X
DOI:10.1007/s10113-005-0011-8