Global environmental changes are, above all, still driven by the spread and intensification of the unsustainable use of fossil fuels. Today, however, the formerly more subordinate processes of globalization and its consequences have become equally important for sustained environmental change.

In the course of the earth's history, the climate has changed many times. Over many tens of thousands of years, warm periods and ice ages have taken turns. Since the last ice age that came to an end about 11,000 years ago, the global temperature of the earth has steadily risen again.

Viewed from space, the earth appears as a blue planet—about 71 per cent of its surface is covered with oceans. The water of this earth is constantly moving: The global water cycle, driven by the processes of evaporation, precipitation and surface runoff describes the...

It is more than likely that climate change will lead to such profound and widespread environmental changes that in many places people will have to leave their homes. In a UN Environment Programme Paper, author Essam El-Hinnawi had already warned of this migratory outflow in 1985.

In many publications, media reports and public debates, a direct link between climate change and violent conflicts is established. A causal link, however, is disputed in scientific circles. Many researchers warn of a simplified presentation of extremely complex and dynamic processes,...

Since the end of the 1980s, the link between environment (degradation), (violent) conflict and security has formed part of both public and political debates as well as social science research.

Despite the success of the past 15 years in providing more people with safe access to clean water, today around 10 per cent of the world's population still do not have this access to clean water.

In 2008, the non-governmental organization GRAIN coined the term 'land grabbing' and used it to describe the acquisition of land by international agricultural companies, private investors and state actors by means of long-term lease or purchase contracts for large areas of agricultural land.