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Global Change in Local Places: How Scale Matters

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Abstract

Relationships between local and global scales deserve more attention than they have received in the global change research enterprise to date. This paper examines how and why scale matters, drawing on six basic arguments; examines the current state of the top-down global change research paradigm to evaluate the fit across relevant scale domains between global structure and local agency; and reviews current research efforts to better link the local and global scales of attention and action.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 37831-6184, U.S.A.

    Thomas J. Wilbanks

  2. Independent Scholar, Trenton, Missouri, 04605, U.S.A.

    Robert W. Kates

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  1. Thomas J. Wilbanks
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Wilbanks, T.J., Kates, R.W. Global Change in Local Places: How Scale Matters. Climatic Change 43, 601–628 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005418924748

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