Global Change: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley
n the case of climate change, significant effort has been devoted in the natural sciences to understanding the cycle of carbon. The study of this cycle is interesting in terms of interdisciplinary discussion because the three domains of the earth's carbon -- the atmosphere, oceans, and land -- are the province of quite a number of disciplines. Complicated models developed for one of the domains often have quite simple arrows for flows in from, and out to, the other domains. The four chapters in this part consider the carbon cycle itself, the implications of shifts in where carbon resides, and, implicitly, the challenges posed by attempts to integrate the various carbon models. Jorge Sarmiento examines the role of the oceans in the carbon cycle, while William Schlesinger examines the role of the land. John McGowan discusses the implications of global change for ocean productivity, while Christopher Field looks at the implications for terrestrial vegetation. These presentations serve as a broad introduction to our understanding of climate change and the key role that that understanding will play in the design of society's response.
See also: Introduction to Part II: Social Dimensions of Global Change
Back to Ecological and Social Dimensions of Global Change.
© Copyright 1994, Regents of the University of California