Despite the scientific consensus that humans have dramatically altered the global environment, we have a limited knowledge of the specific forces driving those impacts. One key limitation to a precise understanding of anthropogenic impacts is the absence of a set of refined analytic tools. Here we assess the analytic utility of the well-known IPAT identity, the newly developed ImPACT identity, and their stochastic cousin, the STIRPAT model.

Thomas Dietz is a professor of Sociology and Environmental Science and Policy (ESPP). He holds a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of California, Davis, and a bachelor of general studies from Kent State University. At MSU he was founding director of the Environmental Science and Policy Program and associate dean in the colleges of Social Science, Agriculture and Natural Resources and Natural Science, assistant vice president for environmental research at Michigan State University.