Global change and the ecology of cities (original) (raw)

Abstract: Urban areas are hot spots that drive environmental change at multiple scales. Material demands of production and human consumption alter land use and cover, biodiversity, and hydrosystems locally to regionally, and urban waste discharge affects local to global biogeochemical cycles and climate. For urbanites, however, global environmental changes are swamped by dramatic changes in the local environment. Urban ecology integrates natural and social sciences to study these radically altered local environments and their regional and global effects. Cities themselves present both the problems and solutions to sustainability challenges of an increasingly urbanized world. Keywords: Ecology | Environment | Urbanization Article: Humanity today is experiencing a dramatic shift to urban living. Whereas in 1900 a mere 10% of the global population were urban dwellers, that percentage now exceeds 50% and will rise even more in the next 50 years

Sign up for access to the world's latest research.

checkGet notified about relevant papers

checkSave papers to use in your research

checkJoin the discussion with peers

checkTrack your impact