History has not yet shown any globally effective package of measures to protect
the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, pedosphere or biosphere at a global scale
(Myers and Knoll 2001), even though international rules such as the Human Rights,
Agenda 21, CBD, agenda of the IWC (International Whaling Commission), and
others have been implemented (United Nations 2014; cf. Fig. 1).
Thus, management planning and conservation practice will most likely also be
more successful if working directly on a project with a clear goal and at a local to
national, or in some cases, a supranational scale.
I hypothesize that problems of water quality, quantity, availability, drought,
severe floods, tsunamis, the damage and reconstruction of ecosystems, and diseases
linked to the environment have been and will be the most severe environmental
problems for humans, and humans are the most severe problem facing the survival of
biodiversity and ecosystems. For the survival of ecosystems and biodiversity,
intensification of and changes in land use pose the greatest problem. A small
percentage of endangered species are also affected by climate change and severe
weather. Thus, climatic factors can worsen the environmental problems facing
biodiversity and ecosystems.
References
Aksu AE, Hiscott NR, Yaltırak C (2016) Early Holocene age and provenance of a mid-shelf delta
lobe south of the Strait of Bosporus, Turkey, and its link to vigorous Black Sea outflow. Mar
Geol 380:113–137
Bacher S (2012) Still not enough taxonomists: reply to Joppa et al. Trends Ecol Evol 27(2):65–66
Bar-On YM, Phillips R, Milo R (2018) The biomass distribution on Earth. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S
A 115(25):6506–6511. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1711842115
Bik HM (2017) Let’s rise up to unite taxonomy and technology. PLoS Biol 15(8):e2002231. https://
doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2002231
Brahic C (2012) Our true dawn. New Scientist 216(2892):34–37
Brooks TM, Mittermeier RA, Gerlach J, Hoffmann M, Lamoreux JF, Mittermeier CG, Pilgrim JD,
Rodrigues ASL (2006) Global biodiversity conservation priorities. Science 313(5783):58
Burney DA, Flannery TF (2005) Fifty millennia of catastrophic extinctions after human contact.
Trends Ecol Evol 20:395–401
Clutton-Brock J (1995) Its evolution, behaviour and interactions with people. In: Serpell J (ed) The
domestic dog. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 7–20
Conard NJ, Miller CE, Serangeli J, Van Kolfschoten T (eds) (2015) Excavations at Schöningen:
new insights into middle pleistocene lifeways in northern Europe. J Hum Evol 89:1–308
de Haan L, Ferreira A (2006) Extreme value theory: an introduction. Springer, Dordrecht, 418 pp
Diamond J (2003) Farmers and their languages: the first expansions. Science 300(5619):597–603
FAO (ed) (2016) State of the world’s forests 2016. Forests and agriculture: land-use challenges and
opportunities. Rome
Federico G, Tena-Junguito A (2016) A tale of two globalizations: gains from trade and openness
1800-2010. Working papers in Economic History WP 16-02, 57p
Flint K, Murphy H (1997) Culture, landscape and the environment. Oxford University Press,
Oxford
Germonpre M (2009) Fossil dogs and wolves from Palaeolithic sites in Belgium, the Ukraine and
Russia: osteometry, ancient DNA and stable isotopes. J Archaeol Sci 36(2):473–490
Environmental History
13
the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, pedosphere or biosphere at a global scale
(Myers and Knoll 2001), even though international rules such as the Human Rights,
Agenda 21, CBD, agenda of the IWC (International Whaling Commission), and
others have been implemented (United Nations 2014; cf. Fig. 1).
Thus, management planning and conservation practice will most likely also be
more successful if working directly on a project with a clear goal and at a local to
national, or in some cases, a supranational scale.
I hypothesize that problems of water quality, quantity, availability, drought,
severe floods, tsunamis, the damage and reconstruction of ecosystems, and diseases
linked to the environment have been and will be the most severe environmental
problems for humans, and humans are the most severe problem facing the survival of
biodiversity and ecosystems. For the survival of ecosystems and biodiversity,
intensification of and changes in land use pose the greatest problem. A small
percentage of endangered species are also affected by climate change and severe
weather. Thus, climatic factors can worsen the environmental problems facing
biodiversity and ecosystems.
References
Aksu AE, Hiscott NR, Yaltırak C (2016) Early Holocene age and provenance of a mid-shelf delta
lobe south of the Strait of Bosporus, Turkey, and its link to vigorous Black Sea outflow. Mar
Geol 380:113–137
Bacher S (2012) Still not enough taxonomists: reply to Joppa et al. Trends Ecol Evol 27(2):65–66
Bar-On YM, Phillips R, Milo R (2018) The biomass distribution on Earth. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S
A 115(25):6506–6511. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1711842115
Bik HM (2017) Let’s rise up to unite taxonomy and technology. PLoS Biol 15(8):e2002231. https://
doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2002231
Brahic C (2012) Our true dawn. New Scientist 216(2892):34–37
Brooks TM, Mittermeier RA, Gerlach J, Hoffmann M, Lamoreux JF, Mittermeier CG, Pilgrim JD,
Rodrigues ASL (2006) Global biodiversity conservation priorities. Science 313(5783):58
Burney DA, Flannery TF (2005) Fifty millennia of catastrophic extinctions after human contact.
Trends Ecol Evol 20:395–401
Clutton-Brock J (1995) Its evolution, behaviour and interactions with people. In: Serpell J (ed) The
domestic dog. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 7–20
Conard NJ, Miller CE, Serangeli J, Van Kolfschoten T (eds) (2015) Excavations at Schöningen:
new insights into middle pleistocene lifeways in northern Europe. J Hum Evol 89:1–308
de Haan L, Ferreira A (2006) Extreme value theory: an introduction. Springer, Dordrecht, 418 pp
Diamond J (2003) Farmers and their languages: the first expansions. Science 300(5619):597–603
FAO (ed) (2016) State of the world’s forests 2016. Forests and agriculture: land-use challenges and
opportunities. Rome
Federico G, Tena-Junguito A (2016) A tale of two globalizations: gains from trade and openness
1800-2010. Working papers in Economic History WP 16-02, 57p
Flint K, Murphy H (1997) Culture, landscape and the environment. Oxford University Press,
Oxford
Germonpre M (2009) Fossil dogs and wolves from Palaeolithic sites in Belgium, the Ukraine and
Russia: osteometry, ancient DNA and stable isotopes. J Archaeol Sci 36(2):473–490
Environmental History
13