Development and environment problems have reached such alarming proportions that the very survival of humanity is now subject to critical and unprecedented threats. In its latest report, the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) criticizes Germany's global change research community for its lack of international orientation, its bias towards individual disciplines and for its weaknesses in translating scientific results into a form readily accessible to policymakers. The Council identifies alternatives for restructuring the research landscape, focusing primarily on a new "Syndrome Approach" for global change research. By applying this tool, scientists can systematically describe and analyze the "diseases" afflicting the Earth System, and thus elaborate response options.

Inhalt
Summary.- A Introduction.- B Status of Global Change Research, Unexplored Issues.- 1 International Global Change Research Programs.- 2 Global Change Research Programs An International Comparison.- 3 German Research on Global Change (Current Status, Evaluation, Scientific Issues).- C New Guidelines for Environmental Research.- 1 Overview of the New Guidelines.- 2 Horizontal Integration: The Syndrome Concept.- 3. Relevance Criteria.- 4. Integration Principles.- 5 Syndrome Ranking.- 6 Designing a Syndrome-Based Research Structure: A Case Study on the Sahel Syndrome.- 7 Vertical Integration: Research on the Global Change Problem-Solving Process.- 8. Research Organization.- D Summary of Recommendations.- 1 The Current Situation.- 2 Priority Tasks in the Various Sectors of Global Change Research.- 3 Designing Global Change Research on the Basis of the Syndrome Approach.- 4 Organizational Recommendations.- 5 Prospects.- E References.- F Glossary.- G The German Advisory Council on Global Change.- H Index.