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Abstract

Global change is the most fundamental challenge facing humanity today. As we begin to understand more about the Earth as a system, it is clear that human activity is having a profound and negative impact on our environment. For example, our understanding of carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas and the strong link between atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and temperature both point to human activity leading to a warmer world, unlike anything seen over the last million years. A better knowledge of the Earth System and of the effect of increasing human activity is crucially important for managing our environment and our ability to derive sustainable benefit.