Routledge International Handbook of Social and Environmental Change

The risks of catastrophic climate change and biodiversity loss throw into focus the impact of humans on ecosystem processes and our dependency, in turn, on the services those processes provide. Adapting our ways of life our settlements and our systems of food production to changing ecological circumstances, requires more than just an agreement to reduce carbon emissions; it requires us to deepen our understanding of environmental change as a jointly social and ecological process. The Routledge International Handbook of Social and Environmental Changereviews the major ways in which social scientists are attempting to conceptualize more integrated perspectives on society and nature. It explores the causes, contradictions and consequences of global social-ecological change, along with the uncertainties and governance dilemmas these create. Case studies are drawn from a variety of sectors across the developed and developing worlds to illustrate the inter-connectedness of ecosystem health, natural resource condition, livelihood security, social justice and development.