Anthropogenic Land Use and Land Cover Changes—A Review on Its Environmental Consequences and Climate Change

The global demand for food and bioenergy changes associated with land use and land cover change (LULCC) has raised concerns about the environment, global warming, and climate change. There is enough evidence that we are passing through human-induced changes which may lead to sixth mass extinction. Information of spatial representation of land use and land cover and its dynamics of landscape pattern and habitat organisation are vital for developing land use policy, adapting, and mitigating climate change impacts and nature-based solutions, including proposing areas for conservation. Spatial data is also a leading way of providing geographically linked or located data with the help of remote sensing (including drones), geographical information systems, Global Positioning Systems, and real-time in situ measurements. This article attempts to critically review the current research on the congruence of LULCC with climate and its processes. The article discusses current research on LULCC, its environmental consequences, and its impact on regulatory systems of the terrestrial biosphere, ecosystem services, atmospheric chemistry, and climate. Finally, it emphasises the need to evolve land use policy based on scientific analysis of LULCC to achieve sustainability goals and overall socioeconomic development with a special focus on climate change. The commitments of international agreements and protocols also require land use policy which accounts for concerns of climate change.