This book provides a synthesis of the past decade of research into global changes that occurred in the earth system in the past. Focus is achieved by concentrating on those changes in the Earth's past environment that best inform our evaluation of current and future global changes and their consequences for human populations. The book stands as a ten year milestone in the operation of the Past Global Changes (PAGES) Project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). It seeks to provide a quantitative understanding of the Earth's environment in the geologically recent past and to define the envelope of natural environmental variability against which anthropogenic impacts on the Earth System may be assessed. A set of color overhead transparencies based on the figures in the book is available free on the PAGES website (www.pages-igbp.org) for use in teaching and lecturing.

The Societal Relevance of Paleoenvironmental Research

The Late Quaternary History of Atmospheric Trace Gases and Aerosols: Interactions Between Climate and Biogeochemical Cycles
The History of Climate Dynamics in the Late Quaternary
The Late Quaternary History of Biogeochemical Cycling of Carbon
Terrestrial Biosphere Dynamics in the Climate System: Past and Future
The Climate of the Last Millennium
The Role of Human Activities in Past Environmental Change
Challenges of a Changing Earth: Past Perspectives, Future Concerns
Appendix A - The Past Global Changes (PAGES) Program
Appendix B - The PAGES Data System
References
Acknowledgments.