Tracing anthropogenic climate and environmental change using stable isotopes

Abstract

Human impact on the climate and environment are one of our greatest challenges. Increasing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, rising temperatures and distinct alterations in the global water cycle are problems which impact all environments and human populations. Consequences of anthropogenic activity can be, however, expressed at the regional and local scales, such as the effects of water pollution, reduction in soil quality, and the loss of biodiversity related to resource use and land management strategies in a specific area. Here, we consider how stable isotopes can be used to trace the influence of human impact, drawing from terrestrial records. We review the utility of stable isotopes in palaeoenvironmental archives, and show how these can help to identify the timing and magnitude of past change related to anthropogenic pressures on the environment. We also review how isotopes can be applied to modern monitoring of the environment, to identify changing sources of pollution and the processing of key pollutants once they enter the environment. In combination, isotope data from palaeoenvironmental archives and detailed modern monitoring enable the development of a more holistic temporal understanding of regional-local environmental change and to identify its driving mechanisms. These data are able to provide a key basis for initiating an evidence-based approach toward mitigation and environmental remediation.