The International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) is a research programme that studies the phenomenon of global change.The International Council of Scientific Unions, a coordinating body of national science organizations, launched IGBP in 1986. It looks at the total Earth system, the changes that are occurring, and the manner in which changes are influenced by human actions.IGBP aims to describe and understand how the physical, chemical and biological processes regulate the Earth system.