Global change

It is most commonly used to encompass the variety of changes connected to the rapid increase in human activities which started around mid-20th century, i.e., the Great Acceleration.

While the efforts were global and the effects across the globe were considered, the Earth system approach was not yet developed at this time.

The first results not only confirmed human impact but led to the realisation of a larger phenomenon of global change.

There is overwhelming evidence that now the main driver of the global change is the growing human population's demand for resources; some experts and scientists have described this phenomenon as the anthropocene epoch.

[9] Scientists working on the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme have said that Earth is now operating in a "no analogue" state.

[10] Measurements of Earth system processes, past and present, have led to the conclusion that the planet has moved well outside the range of natural variability in the last half million years at least.

But, the relatively small human population had little impact on a global scale until the start of the Industrial Revolution in 1750.

Concentrations of important greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are rising fast.

In 2000, Nobel prize-winning scientist Paul Crutzen announced the scale of change is so great that in just 250 years, human society has pushed the planet into a new geological era: the Anthropocene.

This new global interconnectedness and free flow of information has radically altered notions of other cultures, conflicts, religions and taboos.

The crisis pushed the planet's main economic powerhouses, the United States, Europe and much of Asia into recession.

[12] Humans are altering the planet's biogeochemical cycles in a largely unregulated way with limited knowledge of the consequences.

[10] Without steps to effectively manage the Earth system – the planet's physical, chemical, biological and social components – it is likely there will be severe impacts on people and ecosystems.

Intensive research over the last 20 years has shown that tipping points do exist in the Earth system, and wide-scale change can be rapid – a matter of decades.

But to date, the best efforts can only identify loosely defined "planetary boundaries" beyond which tipping points exist but their precise locations remain elusive.

"[10] The publication's executive summary concluded: "An overall, comprehensive, internally consistent strategy for stewardship of the Earth system is required".