Estacado of

Note from the editors This book is the sixth in a series from the United Nations University (UNU) research project, Critical Zones in Global Environmental Change, itself part of the UNU pro-gramme on the Human and Policy Dimensions of Global Change. Both endeavours explore the complex linkages between human activities and the environment. The project views the human causes of and responses to major changes in bio-chemical systems – global environmental change broadly defined – as consequences of cumulative and synergistic actions (or inactions) of individuals, groups, and states, occurring in their local and regional settings. The study examines and compares nine regional cases in which large-scale, human-induced environmental changes portend to threaten the sustainability of an existing system. The aim is to define common lessons about regional trajectories and dynamics of change as well as the types of human actions that breed environmental criticality and endangerment, thereby con-tributing to global environmental change. The overall results of the comparative analysis are found in Regions at Risk, the initial volume in this series. Titles currently available