Time is an unstated but ever present element in all debates about environmental change — and the subtext of many disagreements. Geomorphologists think in the context of millions of years, politicians in election terms, the media in decades, and the public ceases to worry about global warming with one bad summer. This volume brings together experts from a diverse range of disciplines, to offer a range of both temporal and geographical perspectives. It does not seek to provide clear answers about right time-scales, but rather to encourage the reader, from whatever perspective, to think about change and environmental issues in a new light through different time-scales.