This review explores what past environmental change in Africa—and African people's response to it—can teach us about how to cope with life in the Anthropocene. Organized around four drivers of change—climate; agriculture and pastoralism; megafauna; and imperialism, colonialism, and capitalism (ICC)—our review zooms in on key regions and debates, including desertification; rangeland degradation; megafauna loss; and land grabbing. Multiscale climate change is a recurring theme in the continent's history, interacting with increasingly intense human activities from several million years onward, leading to oscillating, contingent environmental changes and societally adaptive responses. With high levels of poverty, fast population growth, and potentially dramatic impacts expected from future climate change, Africa is emblematic of the kinds of social and ecological precariousness many fear will characterize the future globally. African people's innovation and adaptation to contingency may place them among the a...

中文翻译：

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从更新世到人类世的非洲环境变化

这篇综述探讨了非洲过去的环境变化——以及非洲人民对它的反应——可以教会我们如何应对人类世的生活。围绕四个变化驱动因素进行组织——气候；农业和畜牧业；巨型动物群；和帝国主义、殖民主义和资本主义 (ICC)——我们的评论聚焦关键地区和辩论，包括荒漠化；牧场退化；巨型动物损失；和土地掠夺。多尺度气候变化是非洲大陆历史上反复出现的主题，它与数百万年后日益激烈的人类活动相互作用，导致不稳定的、偶然的环境变化和社会适应性反应。由于高度贫困、人口快速增长以及未来气候变化可能带来的巨大影响，非洲是许多人担心将成为全球未来特征的社会和生态不稳定的象征。非洲人民的创新和对突发事件的适应可能会将他们置于...