Figure Cross-Chapter Box PALEO.2

Figure Cross-Chapter Box PALEO.2 |  Humankind is embarking on a trajectory beyond the global temperatures experienced since at least the advent of agriculture. Global surface temperature change for the last 70,000 years (relative to 1850–1900; data from WGI Chapter 2) alongside projections (with 5–95% range; WGI Chapter 4) and major events in human societies. Global climatic parameters do not always capture regional variability of importance to specific societies. The ‘Orbis Spike’ represents a pronounced dip in atmospheric CO2 from the Law Dome ice core (Antarctica) (MacFarling Meure et al., 2006) marking the globalisation in biota and trade of the Columbian Exchange and population declines and afforestation in the Americas. This, and the 1964 14C peak, have been suggested as possible markers for the onset of the Anthropocene (Lewis and Maslin, 2015). Population trends from United Nations (2019).