Anthropocene Science最新文献

Annual flood events lead to periodic changes in structural components within seasonal floodplain wetlands. Such change in structural components may determine the type and quantity of provisioning ecosystem services (ES) that offer resident communities opportunities for diverse livelihood activities. We elucidate this hypothesis using the case study of a seasonal floodplain wetland—Chatla—located in Assam, northeast India, by integrating spatially explicit data of structural components of the wetland with social-ecological information following standard methods. The structural components of Chatla during dry and wet seasons were mapped using LANDSAT 8 satellite data. The provisioning ES was quantified and the corresponding economic value was estimated through household- and market surveys. About 51% of Chatla remained inundated during the wet season, which served as a capture fishery source for the riparian communities. Only 6% of the wetland area retained water during the dry season, supporting culture fishery, while a substantial area was brought under paddy cultivation. Both fishery and paddy cultivation served as the major source of income for riparian households. In addition, various non-timber forest products (NTFPs) harvested from the wetland were used for subsistence during both seasons. The total annual value of provisioning ES in harvesting paddy, fish, NTFPs, and soil extraction was estimated as USD 387,487. Our study confirms that the change in structural components of the wetland driven by the annual flooding ensures the delivery of provisioning ES that facilitates livelihood sustainability. We suggest that national and international policies focus on the conservation and wise use of such seasonal wetlands to ensure a sustainable future for the wetland-dependent population in the tropics.

While the global community has long worked to ameliorate the livelihoods of people and promote environmental sustainability around the world, many social, economic, and environmental issues remain unsolved. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) sought to end poverty but ended with mixed results depending on the country. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are more ambitious, sought to address remaining problems and other issues extending beyond the scope of the MDGs by 2030. The SDGs cover a wide range of areas, from fulfilling basic needs to environmental sustainability, although their prioritization differs from person to person. It is critical to understand how people recognize the MDGs and prioritize SDGs in order to determine efficient means of achieving SDGs. Thus, this study assesses citizens’ perceptions and needs in Nigeria, illustrating gaps between official evaluations of goal progress and people’s thoughts about these global agendas. Economically speaking, Nigeria is the largest country in West Africa; still, it did not meet all of its MDG targets by 2015. This study found differences between the official report and people’s observations. People generally considered MDG 2 and MDG 6 to have been attained despite official evaluations asserting that these goals had made only weak progress. The study also found that people’s expectations are generally high on goals related to economic sustainability but low on goals related to environmental sustainability. Interestingly, it is found that the Nigerian government has the most concrete strategies related to social sustainability. The results suggest that the needs perceived by the government are distinct from those perceived by the Nigerian people. They also highlight the fact that the importance of environmental sustainability must be recognized by Nigerians if they are to meet their SDG targets by 2030. Of course, it is difficult for any countries facing social and economic issues to allocate significant resources to environmental sustainability, especially amid violent conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the symptoms of climate change. However, to get back on track in the years that remain and make significant progress toward environmental sustainability, it is important to heighten cooperation among ordinary people while obtaining a better understanding of their needs.

Given the current environmental crisis there have been multiple calls for a green recovery from COVID-19 which address environmental concerns and provide jobs in industries and communities economically damaged by the pandemic. Here, we holistically evaluate a range of recovery scenarios, evaluated on environmental and socio-economic equity metrics. Using a modified version of a Bayesian belief network, we show that economic stimuli across green sectors, including jobs in renewable energy, waste management, retrofitting of buildings, heat-pump installation and public transport can help economic growth, but will have limited environmental benefits. The inclusion of carbon taxes and ending fossil fuel subsidies, alongside investment in nature-based solutions and jobs in ecological conservation, can greatly increase the environmental gains as well as socio-economic equality. Additionally, jobs not associated with green industries, but with low carbon footprints, such as those in social care can further improve social equality with minimal negative environmental effects. However, in these latter scenarios involving taxation and ending fossil fuel subsidies, economic growth is reduced. We suggest a comprehensive green recovery and green new deal are needed, and we should reimagine economies, without the focus on economic growth.

Is it possible to achieve a sustainable Anthropocene? Yes, if we adopt the correct key for understanding the mechanisms that connect the three dimensions of sustainability, the environmental, the social and the economic. The road to sustainability is made even harder than it was at the beginning of the sustainable development discourse by the fact that nowadays the three dimensions have problems that have time spans that tend to become equally urgent. This paper offers a vision of sustainability that underlines the cause-effect-feedback relationships among the dimensions and shows examples of the functioning of these linkages. This calls for a redefinition of priorities and for a different set of “rules of the house” (economy) to be fit for a world with almost 8 billion people and an endangered natural basis of survival.

Ecosystem services (ES) concept has gained global momentum as they hold immense importance for human well-being. On the other hand, direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss have led to deterioration of ecosystem health and their capacity to deliver ecosystem services. Worldwide, ES assessments have been increasingly used by administrators to formulate sustainable and environment centric policies. Similarly, there has been continuous expansion of ES related work in India to capture the material and non-material benefits derived from diverse ecosystems in the country. In the current paper, 105 research articles/reports have been reviewed to assess the growing trajectory of ES research and also to map their methodological approaches. The lacunae in the studies and literature have been critically examined. Analysis of the study shows that ES derived from forests have been captured widely while marine ecosystems have not received appropriate scholarly attention. Similarly, dearth of studies focusing on long- and short-term implications of climate change and other environmental challenges on the ES delivery was also evident. A strong need is felt to integrate interdisciplinary approaches for holistic ES assessment. Also, future ES assessments must assimilate traditional as well as indigenous knowledge systems within ES assessment framework to ensure formulation of tangible, sustainable policies.

Twenty years ago, Paul Crutzen suggested declaring the present a new geological era and naming it the Anthropocene. While this suggestion is still disputed, we argue that the current state of the Earth system is deviating so dynamically from the status quo of the Holocene, that acknowledging a new era has begun is very plausible. However, that leaves open the question if ‘Anthropocene’ is an appropriate name, since the logic behind it differs from the standard chronostratigraphic terminology. As far as the term is intended to highlight the direct and/or indirect drivers causing the emergence of a new geological era, it could have been baptised as initially ‘Populocene’ and now ‘Consumocene’ as first population growth and now growing consumption per capita are the decisive drivers, with the technology providing efficiency gains insufficient to compensate for the impacts of consumption growth. However, behind the prevailing consumption and production patterns and their complex dynamics, capitalism has been identified as the higher-level driver. Some authors argue that the capitalist system depends on permanent economic growth and that the crisis of planetary health can not be overcome without first overcoming capitalism. We argue that this view is based on oversimplifications of economic theory, and that by capping resource consumption by political means, it is possible to steer the economy and society back into the environmental space provided by the planetary boundaries. On the consumption side, this requires a turn to sufficiency-based consumption, facilitated through sufficiency policies protecting and offering access to public goods. However, the impact on the economic system would be profound: not the end of capitalism, but the end of capitalism as we know it.