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Global change

(Cambio global)

Ilustración que muestra un paisaje con dos realidades. A la izquierda, hay pasto, árboles y un arroyo con agua. A la derecha, el suelo árido y un sol rajante.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global change is ‘a generic term to describe global scale changes in systems, including the climate system, ecosystems, and social-ecological systems’ (IPCC 5th Assessment Report, WG II Glossary).

This includes the study on the planet’s natural cycles, such as carbon, water, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur, and others. It also includes the analysis of how social systems affect and are affected by the changes on the earth’s system (Reyes García y Huanca, 2015).

The importance of this word lies in the fact that it is more comprehensive and holistic than climate change.Global change includes the set of environmental alterations derived from human activity on the planet, especially changes in processes that determine the operation of the biosphere. The term is widely used in academia, which is delving further into research and monitoring of indicators.

The consensus is that the human species is mainly responsible for global change. However, though stress is placed on society’s shared responsibility, there is also the recognition that this responsibility is differentiated since not all communities have contributed in the same way to environmental changes.
References:

Victoria Reyes-Garc.a y Tom.s Huanca (eds.) (2015) Cambio global, cambiolocal.

La sociedad tsimane’ ante la globalización. Icaria Editorial / Institut Catal. d’Antropologia, Barcelona. 380 p. ISBN 978-84-9888-624-5

Encuesta y grupos focales consultados para la elaboración de este reflexionario

Photo credit: Tomacco

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