Global Change & the Earth System: Prof Will Steffen Apr 09

The Earth is now undergoing a broad sweep of changes at the global scale, both socio-economic and biophysical. Climate change is the most well-known, but it is only one of many such changes. Understanding the implications of global change requires a systems perspective on the planetary environment. The concept of the Anthropocene, in which human forces now equal or exceed some of the great forces of Nature in terms of their impact on the global environment, is particularly useful in interpreting the changes we see around us. Exploring the accelerating human imprint on the Earth prompts a few thoughts about the future. Is humanity on the verge of a great transformation towards sustainability or are we headed for collapse?

Will Steffen is executive director of the ANU Climate Change Institute. His interests include terrestrial ecosytem interactions with global change, the global carbon cycle, incorporation of human processes in Earth System modelling and analysis, and sustainability.

Professor Steffen was previously Director of the Fenner School of Environment and Society and Pro Vice Chancellor at ANU, Science Advisor at the Australian Government's Department of Climate, visiting fellow at the Bureau of Rural Science within the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and executive director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme.

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