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Science 25 July 1997:
Vol. 277. no. 5325, pp. 494 - 499
DOI: 10.1126/science.277.5325.494
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Articles

Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems

Peter M. Vitousek, Harold A. Mooney, Jane Lubchenco, Jerry M. Melillo

Human alteration of Earth is substantial and growing. Between one-third and one-half of the land surface has been transformed by human action; the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has increased by nearly 30 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution; more atmospheric nitrogen is fixed by humanity than by all natural terrestrial sources combined; more than half of all accessible surface fresh water is put to use by humanity; and about one-quarter of the bird species on Earth have been driven to extinction. By these and other standards, it is clear that we live on a human-dominated planet.

P. M. Vitousek and H. A. Mooney are in the Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. J. Lubchenco is in the Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA. J. M. Melillo is at the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy, Old Executive Office Building, Room 443, Washington, DC 20502, USA.

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