Planet Under Pressure: Knowledge and Solutions
IGBP 2nd synthesis
IGBP is undertaking a second major international synthesis of key policy-relevant areas within global-environmental-change research with a view to providing a snapshot of the state of the Earth. The synthesis topics were selected by IGBP’s scientific committee with input from key stakeholders, including other international research programmes and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The topics will cover research under IGBP’s core projects, joint projects and beyond. This initiative will help identify gaps in our knowledge of the Earth system and contribute to a baseline for international research and policy in the area of global environmental change in the coming decades.
The synthesis topic leaders are currently putting together working groups made up of scientists from many disciplines, as well as policymakers and other stakeholders. Findings of the activity will be communicated via a range of products, including peer-reviewed publications and summaries for policymakers.
Below is a list of the topics; brief summaries can be accessed by clicking on the titles. Guidelines for the synthesis activity can be viewed here. We encourage you to contact the topic leaders below with your ideas for developing scientific content and for community involvement:
- Earth-system impacts from changes in the cryosphere - lead: Ray Bradley
- Megacities in the coastal zone - lead: to be decided
- Global environmental change and sustainable development: needs of least developed countries - lead: Pauline Dube
- Geoengineering impacts - lead: Lynn Russell
- Nitrogen and climate - lead: Jan Willem Erisman
- Acting on adaptation to global environmental change - lead: Mark Stafford Smith
- The role of changing nutrient loads in coastal zones and the open ocean in an increased-CO2 world - lead: Jan Willem Erisman and Christiane Lancelot
- Impacts of land-use-induced land-cover changes on the functioning of the Earth System - lead: Nathalie de Noblet
- Air pollution and climate - lead: Kathy Law
- Changing aerosols in the Earth System - lead: Athanasios (Thanos) Nenes

