Anthropogenic effects, as a biological process, encompass the direct and indirect impacts of human activities on biological systems, altering organismal physiology, behavior, population dynamics, community structure, and ecosystem function. These effects arise from mechanisms such as habitat modification, pollution, overexploitation, introduction of invasive species, and climate forcing via greenhouse gas emissions. At the biological level, anthropogenic effects drive phenotypic plasticity, rapid evolutionary change, altered life-history strategies, and disrupted species interactions (e.g., predation, competition, mutualism). They also modify biogeochemical cycles, primary productivity, and trophic networks, frequently resulting in biodiversity loss, shifts in species ranges, and changes in ecosystem resilience and stability.
If it feels like headlines reporting 100 or 1,000-year floods and megafires seem more frequent these days, it's not your imagination.
Earth Sciences
Sep 18, 2025
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According to Roy Scranton, director of the University of Notre Dame's Environmental Humanities Initiative, the biggest problem we face with climate change isn't excessive carbon emissions or energy usage. And it isn't the ...
Environment
Sep 5, 2025
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84
The seas have long sustained human life, but a new UC Santa Barbara study shows that rising climate and human pressures are pushing the oceans toward a dangerous threshold.
Earth Sciences
Sep 4, 2025
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What happens when a national park or conservation area is created next to a business that emits toxic substances into the environment?
Environment
Sep 3, 2025
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21
Humans have caused wild animals to shrink and domestic animals to grow, according to a new study out of the University of Montpellier in southern France. Researchers studied tens of thousands of animal bones from Mediterranean ...
Choosing how to live in a way that truly helps our overburdened planet can be difficult. Researchers at DTU have calculated the impact of a wide range of everyday activities to help consumers lighten their impact on the environment.
Environment
Aug 26, 2025
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24
Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions have spotted a contradiction in worldwide wildfire trends: Despite a 26% decline in total burned area from 2002 to 2021, the number of people exposed ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 21, 2025
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59
A recent study led by Prof. Zeng Fanjiang from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has revealed concerning trends in soil organic carbon (SOC) loss due to prolonged human disturbance ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 21, 2025
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27
Soaring numbers of tourists and expanding research projects are increasingly polluting Antarctica, scientists warned Wednesday, a fresh blow for one of Earth's most pristine environments already threatened by human-driven ...
Environment
Aug 21, 2025
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63
Individuals should be held accountable for "ecocide," the most serious acts of environmental destruction, argue experts in The BMJ.
Environment
Aug 20, 2025
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