Understanding how tropical land use and deforestation affects the dynamics of the global Earth system and identifying potential tipping points are key to the future of our species on this planet. By exploring the long history of human societies in tropical forests and bringing together natural and social systems in interdisciplinary models, we can evaluate the repercussions of early human interaction with tropical environments. This historical interaction has left irreversible imprints on the Earth, with consequences that will reverberate far beyond the 21st century.
