Pub Date : 2023-01-11DOI: 10.1177/20530196221144094
A. Borsato, I. Fairchild, S. Frisia, Peter M. Wynn, J. Fohlmeister
Annually laminated stalagmites ER77 and ER78 from Grotta di Ernesto provide an accurate annual record of environmental and anthropogenic signals for the last ~200 years. Two major transitions are recorded in the stalagmites. The first coincides with the year 1840 CE, when a change from porous and impurity-rich-laminae to clean, translucent laminae occurs. This is accompanied by a steady increase in the growth rate, a decrease in fluorescence and a sharp increase in δ13C values. These changes concur with the end of the Little Ice Age. The second transition takes place around the year 1960 CE and corresponds with an increase in both annual growth rate and sulfur concentration in stalagmite ER78 at 4.2 mm from the top, and with the deflection point in the 14C activity curve in stalagmite ER77 at 4.8 mm from the top. This latter is the stratigraphic signal proposed as the primary guide for the definition of the Anthropocene series. The following shift toward depleted δ34S–SO4 in stalagmite ER78 suggests that industrial pollution is a major source of sulfur. The interpretation of atmospheric signals (S, δ34S, 14C) in the stalagmites is affected by attenuation and time lags and the environmental signals are influenced by soil and ecosystem processes, while other anthropogenic signals (δ15N, 239Pu) are not recorded. For these reasons, the stalagmite record is here proposed as an auxiliary (reference) section rather than a global standard. In summary, Grotta di Ernesto contains one of the best stalagmite records documenting the Anthropocene, and one of only two stalagmite records where the S peak has been measured at high resolution.
Grotta di Ernesto的年层状石笋ER77和ER78提供了近200年来环境和人为信号的准确年度记录。石笋中记录了两个主要的转变。第一次是在公元1840年，从多孔的、富含杂质的薄片转变为干净的、半透明的薄片。这伴随着生长速率的稳定增加，荧光的下降和δ13C值的急剧增加。这些变化与小冰期的结束一致。第二次转变发生在1960 CE前后，与石笋ER78的年生长率和硫浓度的增加相对应的是石笋ER78的年生长率和硫浓度的增加，与石笋ER77的14C活度曲线的偏转点相对应的是石笋ER77的14C活度曲线的偏转点在距离顶部4.8 mm处。后者是作为人类世系列定义的主要指南而提出的地层信号。石笋ER78向贫δ34S-SO4的转变表明工业污染是硫的主要来源。石笋中大气信号(S、δ34S、14C)的解释受衰减和时间滞后的影响，环境信号受土壤和生态系统过程的影响，而其他人为信号(δ15N、239Pu)没有记录。由于这些原因，这里建议将石笋记录作为辅助(参考)部分，而不是全球标准。总而言之，Grotta di Ernesto包含了记录人类世的最好的石笋记录之一，也是仅有的两个以高分辨率测量S峰的石笋记录之一。
{"title":"The Ernesto Cave, northern Italy, as a candidate auxiliary reference section for the definition of the Anthropocene series","authors":"A. Borsato, I. Fairchild, S. Frisia, Peter M. Wynn, J. Fohlmeister","doi":"10.1177/20530196221144094","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196221144094","url":null,"abstract":"Annually laminated stalagmites ER77 and ER78 from Grotta di Ernesto provide an accurate annual record of environmental and anthropogenic signals for the last ~200 years. Two major transitions are recorded in the stalagmites. The first coincides with the year 1840 CE, when a change from porous and impurity-rich-laminae to clean, translucent laminae occurs. This is accompanied by a steady increase in the growth rate, a decrease in fluorescence and a sharp increase in δ13C values. These changes concur with the end of the Little Ice Age. The second transition takes place around the year 1960 CE and corresponds with an increase in both annual growth rate and sulfur concentration in stalagmite ER78 at 4.2 mm from the top, and with the deflection point in the 14C activity curve in stalagmite ER77 at 4.8 mm from the top. This latter is the stratigraphic signal proposed as the primary guide for the definition of the Anthropocene series. The following shift toward depleted δ34S–SO4 in stalagmite ER78 suggests that industrial pollution is a major source of sulfur. The interpretation of atmospheric signals (S, δ34S, 14C) in the stalagmites is affected by attenuation and time lags and the environmental signals are influenced by soil and ecosystem processes, while other anthropogenic signals (δ15N, 239Pu) are not recorded. For these reasons, the stalagmite record is here proposed as an auxiliary (reference) section rather than a global standard. In summary, Grotta di Ernesto contains one of the best stalagmite records documenting the Anthropocene, and one of only two stalagmite records where the S peak has been measured at high resolution.","PeriodicalId":74943,"journal":{"name":"The anthropocene review","volume":"10 1","pages":"269 - 287"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44206578","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-19DOI: 10.1177/20530196221135077
Michinobu Kuwae, B. Finney, Zhiyuan Shi, A. Sakaguchi, Narumi Tsugeki, T. Omori, T. Agusa, Yoshiaki Suzuki, Y. Yokoyama, H. Hinata, Yoshio Hatada, J. Inoue, K. Matsuoka, Misaki Shimada, H. Takahara, Shin Takahashi, D. Ueno, Atsuko Amano, J. Tsutsumi, Masanobu Yamamoto, K. Takemura, Keitaro Yamada, K. Ikehara, T. Haraguchi, S. Tims, M. Froehlich, L. K. Fifield, T. Aze, K. Sasa, Tsutomu Takahashi, M. Matsumura, Y. Tani, P. Leavitt, H. Doi, T. Irino, K. Moriya, A. Hayashida, Kotaro Hirose, Hidekazu Suzuki, Y. Saito
For assessment of the potential of the Beppu Bay sediments as a Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) candidate for the Anthropocene, we have integrated datasets of 99 proxies. The datasets for the sequences date back 100 years for most proxy records and 1300 years for several records. The cumulative number of occurrences of the anthropogenic fingerprint reveal unprecedented increases above the base of the 1953 flood layer at 64.6 cm (1953 CE), which coincides with an initial increase in global fallout of 239Pu+240Pu. The onset of the proliferation of anthropogenic fingerprints was followed by diverse human-associated events, including a rapid increase in percent modern 14C in anchovy scales, changes in nitrogen and carbon cycling as recorded by anchovy δ15N and δ13C, elevated pollution of heavy metals, increased deposition of novel materials (spheroidal carbonaceous particles, microplastics, polychlorinated biphenyls), the occurrence of hypoxia (Re/Mo ratio) and eutrophication (biogenic opal, TOC, TN, diatoms, chlorophyll a), unprecedented microplankton community changes (compositions of carotenoids, diatoms, dinoflagellates), abnormally high spring air temperatures as inferred from diatom fossils, and lithological changes. These lines of evidence indicate that the base of the 1953 layer is the best GSSP level candidate in the stratigraphy at this site.
{"title":"Beppu Bay, Japan, as a candidate Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene series","authors":"Michinobu Kuwae, B. Finney, Zhiyuan Shi, A. Sakaguchi, Narumi Tsugeki, T. Omori, T. Agusa, Yoshiaki Suzuki, Y. Yokoyama, H. Hinata, Yoshio Hatada, J. Inoue, K. Matsuoka, Misaki Shimada, H. Takahara, Shin Takahashi, D. Ueno, Atsuko Amano, J. Tsutsumi, Masanobu Yamamoto, K. Takemura, Keitaro Yamada, K. Ikehara, T. Haraguchi, S. Tims, M. Froehlich, L. K. Fifield, T. Aze, K. Sasa, Tsutomu Takahashi, M. Matsumura, Y. Tani, P. Leavitt, H. Doi, T. Irino, K. Moriya, A. Hayashida, Kotaro Hirose, Hidekazu Suzuki, Y. Saito","doi":"10.1177/20530196221135077","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196221135077","url":null,"abstract":"For assessment of the potential of the Beppu Bay sediments as a Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) candidate for the Anthropocene, we have integrated datasets of 99 proxies. The datasets for the sequences date back 100 years for most proxy records and 1300 years for several records. The cumulative number of occurrences of the anthropogenic fingerprint reveal unprecedented increases above the base of the 1953 flood layer at 64.6 cm (1953 CE), which coincides with an initial increase in global fallout of 239Pu+240Pu. The onset of the proliferation of anthropogenic fingerprints was followed by diverse human-associated events, including a rapid increase in percent modern 14C in anchovy scales, changes in nitrogen and carbon cycling as recorded by anchovy δ15N and δ13C, elevated pollution of heavy metals, increased deposition of novel materials (spheroidal carbonaceous particles, microplastics, polychlorinated biphenyls), the occurrence of hypoxia (Re/Mo ratio) and eutrophication (biogenic opal, TOC, TN, diatoms, chlorophyll a), unprecedented microplankton community changes (compositions of carotenoids, diatoms, dinoflagellates), abnormally high spring air temperatures as inferred from diatom fossils, and lithological changes. These lines of evidence indicate that the base of the 1953 layer is the best GSSP level candidate in the stratigraphy at this site.","PeriodicalId":74943,"journal":{"name":"The anthropocene review","volume":"10 1","pages":"49 - 86"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49501221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-15DOI: 10.1177/20530196221136425
B. Fiałkiewicz-Kozieł, E. Łokas, Beata Smieja-Król, S. Turner, F. De Vleeschouwer, M. Woszczyk, K. Marcisz, M. Gałka, M. Lamentowicz, P. Kołaczek, I. Hajdas, Monika Karpińska-Kołaczek, Katarzyna Kołtonik, T. Mróz, S. Roberts, N. Rose, T. Krzykawski, A. Boom, Handong Yang
The subalpine, atmospherically fed Śnieżka peatland, located in the Polish part of the Sudetes, is one of the nominated candidates for the GSSP of the Anthropocene. Data from two profiles, Sn1 (2012) and Sn0 (2020), from this site are critical for distinguishing the proposed epoch, while an additional core Sn2 is presented to support main evidence. The Sn0 archive contains a wide array of critical markers such as plutonium (Pu), radiocarbon (F14C), fly ash particles, Hg and stable C and N isotopes which are consistent with the previously well documented 210Pb/14C dated Sn1 profile, which provides a high-resolution and comprehensive database of trace elements and rare earth elements (REE), Pb isotopes, Pu, Cs, pollen and testate amoebae. The 1952 worldwide appearance of Pu, owing to its global synchronicity and repeatability between the cores, is proposed here as a primary marker of the Anthropocene, supported by the prominent upturn of selected chemostratigraphic and biostratigraphic indicators as well as the appearance of technofossils and artificial radionuclides.
{"title":"The Śnieżka peatland as a candidate Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene series","authors":"B. Fiałkiewicz-Kozieł, E. Łokas, Beata Smieja-Król, S. Turner, F. De Vleeschouwer, M. Woszczyk, K. Marcisz, M. Gałka, M. Lamentowicz, P. Kołaczek, I. Hajdas, Monika Karpińska-Kołaczek, Katarzyna Kołtonik, T. Mróz, S. Roberts, N. Rose, T. Krzykawski, A. Boom, Handong Yang","doi":"10.1177/20530196221136425","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196221136425","url":null,"abstract":"The subalpine, atmospherically fed Śnieżka peatland, located in the Polish part of the Sudetes, is one of the nominated candidates for the GSSP of the Anthropocene. Data from two profiles, Sn1 (2012) and Sn0 (2020), from this site are critical for distinguishing the proposed epoch, while an additional core Sn2 is presented to support main evidence. The Sn0 archive contains a wide array of critical markers such as plutonium (Pu), radiocarbon (F14C), fly ash particles, Hg and stable C and N isotopes which are consistent with the previously well documented 210Pb/14C dated Sn1 profile, which provides a high-resolution and comprehensive database of trace elements and rare earth elements (REE), Pb isotopes, Pu, Cs, pollen and testate amoebae. The 1952 worldwide appearance of Pu, owing to its global synchronicity and repeatability between the cores, is proposed here as a primary marker of the Anthropocene, supported by the prominent upturn of selected chemostratigraphic and biostratigraphic indicators as well as the appearance of technofossils and artificial radionuclides.","PeriodicalId":74943,"journal":{"name":"The anthropocene review","volume":"10 1","pages":"288 - 315"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42026164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-15DOI: 10.1177/20530196221140145
D. Wright
As the continent with the deepest record of human history, the relationship between landscape formation and human subsistence practices is inseparable. The activities that constitute ‘farming’ are open for some matter of discussion, but essentially speak to the co-evolution of human, plant and animal reproductive systems along a continuum of interdependence. This process is ever evolving, but has resulted in the formation of landscapes in which anthropogenic processes characterize ecosystem functionality in nearly all biomes on the continent. Practices of cultivation, broadly conceptualized, across Africa are varied in the ways in which they have transformed ecological systems and landscapes. The use of fire as a landscape management tool dates to the Pleistocene, and penning of wild sheep to the early Holocene. The alteration of the landscape of fear by these types of human activities had fundamentally restructured trophic systems in Africa prior to the introduction of agriculture. However, the introduction of animal herding and intensive forms of plant cultivation by the middle Holocene correlated to even more significant ecological changes. The creation of agricultural landscapes has had a negative impact on biodiversity in some locations, whereas other some practices at different points in time have positively affected biodiversity. It is now recognized that humans have long influenced the evolution of landscapes wherever they live, but the current research focuses on where, when and how socio-ecological processes become coupled in the palaeoecological record.
{"title":"Impact of farming on African landscapes","authors":"D. Wright","doi":"10.1177/20530196221140145","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196221140145","url":null,"abstract":"As the continent with the deepest record of human history, the relationship between landscape formation and human subsistence practices is inseparable. The activities that constitute ‘farming’ are open for some matter of discussion, but essentially speak to the co-evolution of human, plant and animal reproductive systems along a continuum of interdependence. This process is ever evolving, but has resulted in the formation of landscapes in which anthropogenic processes characterize ecosystem functionality in nearly all biomes on the continent. Practices of cultivation, broadly conceptualized, across Africa are varied in the ways in which they have transformed ecological systems and landscapes. The use of fire as a landscape management tool dates to the Pleistocene, and penning of wild sheep to the early Holocene. The alteration of the landscape of fear by these types of human activities had fundamentally restructured trophic systems in Africa prior to the introduction of agriculture. However, the introduction of animal herding and intensive forms of plant cultivation by the middle Holocene correlated to even more significant ecological changes. The creation of agricultural landscapes has had a negative impact on biodiversity in some locations, whereas other some practices at different points in time have positively affected biodiversity. It is now recognized that humans have long influenced the evolution of landscapes wherever they live, but the current research focuses on where, when and how socio-ecological processes become coupled in the palaeoecological record.","PeriodicalId":74943,"journal":{"name":"The anthropocene review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45929680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-13DOI: 10.1177/20530196221132709
J. Kaiser, Serena M. Abel, H. Arz, A. Cundy, O. Dellwig, P. Gaca, G. Gerdts, I. Hajdas, M. Labrenz, J. Milton, M. Moros, S. Primpke, S. Roberts, N. Rose, S. Turner, M. Voss, J. A. Ivar do Sul
The short sediment core EMB201/7-4 retrieved from the East Gotland Basin, central Baltic Sea, is explored here as a candidate to host the stratigraphical basis for the Anthropocene series and its equivalent Anthropocene epoch, still to be formalized in the Geological Time Scale. The core has been accurately dated back to 1840 CE using a well-established event stratigraphy approach. A pronounced and significant change occurs at 26.5 cm (dated 1956 ± 4 CE) for a range of geochemical markers including 239+240Pu, 241Am, fly-ash particles, DDT (organochlorine insecticide), total organic carbon, and bulk organic carbon stable isotopes. This stratigraphic level, which corresponds to a change in both lithology and sediment colour related to early anthropogenic-triggered eutrophication of the central Baltic Sea, is proposed as a Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene series.
{"title":"The East Gotland Basin (Baltic Sea) as a candidate Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene series","authors":"J. Kaiser, Serena M. Abel, H. Arz, A. Cundy, O. Dellwig, P. Gaca, G. Gerdts, I. Hajdas, M. Labrenz, J. Milton, M. Moros, S. Primpke, S. Roberts, N. Rose, S. Turner, M. Voss, J. A. Ivar do Sul","doi":"10.1177/20530196221132709","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196221132709","url":null,"abstract":"The short sediment core EMB201/7-4 retrieved from the East Gotland Basin, central Baltic Sea, is explored here as a candidate to host the stratigraphical basis for the Anthropocene series and its equivalent Anthropocene epoch, still to be formalized in the Geological Time Scale. The core has been accurately dated back to 1840 CE using a well-established event stratigraphy approach. A pronounced and significant change occurs at 26.5 cm (dated 1956 ± 4 CE) for a range of geochemical markers including 239+240Pu, 241Am, fly-ash particles, DDT (organochlorine insecticide), total organic carbon, and bulk organic carbon stable isotopes. This stratigraphic level, which corresponds to a change in both lithology and sediment colour related to early anthropogenic-triggered eutrophication of the central Baltic Sea, is proposed as a Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene series.","PeriodicalId":74943,"journal":{"name":"The anthropocene review","volume":"10 1","pages":"25 - 48"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45332432","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-12DOI: 10.1177/20530196221140143
E. Luciano
The conceptual history of the Anthropocene is well-known: after a few scattered appearances in Soviet literature, the term Anthropocene was reignited independently by Paul Crutzen during his famous intervention at the IGBP-SC meeting in Cuernavaca in February 2000. The standard narrative of the history of the term emphasizes the role of Earth System Science and geology in institutionalizing the term, and in paving the way for the term’s current popularity within and beyond the natural sciences. Yet this standard account misses a third important contribution to the earliest assimilation, spread, and evolution of the term in the scientific literature: the water sciences. The present contribution reconsiders the role of seminal papers, individuals, and disciplinary areas in the water sciences in the early conceptual history of the Anthropocene concept. The analysis draws on three main findings concerning the early appearance, assimilation, and application of the term in water sciences literature which has been largely overshadowed in existing accounts of the history of the Anthropocene concept. Discussing these literary sources at the intersection of conceptual history, history of science, and scientometrics, the research argues that the water sciences were crucial in the early assimilation and application of the Anthropocene as a suitable and useful category in the international scientific community. In doing so, the analysis also advances that the water sciences should be considered as the third vector (together with Earth System Science and geology) in reconstructing the earliest conceptual history of the Anthropocene.
{"title":"The shape of Anthropocene: The early contribution of the water sciences","authors":"E. Luciano","doi":"10.1177/20530196221140143","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196221140143","url":null,"abstract":"The conceptual history of the Anthropocene is well-known: after a few scattered appearances in Soviet literature, the term Anthropocene was reignited independently by Paul Crutzen during his famous intervention at the IGBP-SC meeting in Cuernavaca in February 2000. The standard narrative of the history of the term emphasizes the role of Earth System Science and geology in institutionalizing the term, and in paving the way for the term’s current popularity within and beyond the natural sciences. Yet this standard account misses a third important contribution to the earliest assimilation, spread, and evolution of the term in the scientific literature: the water sciences. The present contribution reconsiders the role of seminal papers, individuals, and disciplinary areas in the water sciences in the early conceptual history of the Anthropocene concept. The analysis draws on three main findings concerning the early appearance, assimilation, and application of the term in water sciences literature which has been largely overshadowed in existing accounts of the history of the Anthropocene concept. Discussing these literary sources at the intersection of conceptual history, history of science, and scientometrics, the research argues that the water sciences were crucial in the early assimilation and application of the Anthropocene as a suitable and useful category in the international scientific community. In doing so, the analysis also advances that the water sciences should be considered as the third vector (together with Earth System Science and geology) in reconstructing the earliest conceptual history of the Anthropocene.","PeriodicalId":74943,"journal":{"name":"The anthropocene review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47524890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-27DOI: 10.1177/20530196221129747
C. Thomas
Humans have appropriated modern (food and biomass) and ancient (fossil fuels) biological productivity in unprecedented quantities over the last century, generating the biodiversity and climate ‘crises’ respectively. While the energy sector is gradually addressing the underlying cause of climate change, transitioning from biological to physical sources of energy, the biodiversity and conservation community seems more focussed on treating the symptoms of human exploitation of biological systems. Here, I argue that the biodiversity crisis can only be addressed by an equivalent technological transition to our food systems. Developing three scenarios for future technological and agricultural developments, I illustrate how using renewable physical sources of energy to culture animal products, microbes and carbohydrates will enable humanity to circumvent the inefficiencies of photosynthesis and the conversion of photosynthetic materials into animal products, thus releasing over 80% of agricultural and grazing land ‘back to nature’. However, new political will, governance structures and economic incentives are required to make it a reality.
{"title":"Maintaining global biodiversity by developing a sustainable Anthropocene food production system","authors":"C. Thomas","doi":"10.1177/20530196221129747","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196221129747","url":null,"abstract":"Humans have appropriated modern (food and biomass) and ancient (fossil fuels) biological productivity in unprecedented quantities over the last century, generating the biodiversity and climate ‘crises’ respectively. While the energy sector is gradually addressing the underlying cause of climate change, transitioning from biological to physical sources of energy, the biodiversity and conservation community seems more focussed on treating the symptoms of human exploitation of biological systems. Here, I argue that the biodiversity crisis can only be addressed by an equivalent technological transition to our food systems. Developing three scenarios for future technological and agricultural developments, I illustrate how using renewable physical sources of energy to culture animal products, microbes and carbohydrates will enable humanity to circumvent the inefficiencies of photosynthesis and the conversion of photosynthetic materials into animal products, thus releasing over 80% of agricultural and grazing land ‘back to nature’. However, new political will, governance structures and economic incentives are required to make it a reality.","PeriodicalId":74943,"journal":{"name":"The anthropocene review","volume":"9 1","pages":"379 - 391"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47413890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-25DOI: 10.1177/20530196221128369
Jeremy Green
Climate change has propelled the Green New Deal to prominence as a strategy for greening the economy. This article interrogates the Green New Deal’s coherence and suitability as a response to ecological crisis. Retracing the intellectual lineages of New Deal-era economic thought, the article reveals a common Keynesian inheritance of productivist preoccupations with full employment, rising income and productivity, that links Green New Deal proposals with their New Deal progenitors. This Keynesian inheritance generates internal inconsistencies within Green New Deal proposals, undermining their coherence and suitability as visions of green transition. Green New Deal proponents seek a political economy that respects ecological limits but they rationalize and legitimate their visions of green transition through a Keynesian commitment to a virtuous circle of rising investment, full employment, increasing income, and economic growth. This Keynesian inheritance is both premised on the denial of ecological limits and tarnished by its historical association with environmental destruction. Outlining an alternative approach, the article revisits the methodological historicism of New Deal-era economic thinking as a guide for redefining strategies of green transition. Drawing on Keynes’s reflections on the historical impermanence of the ‘economic problem’ and mapping contemporary institutional dynamics, the article proposes a more consistent, transformative, and radical rupture from incumbent macro-economic imaginaries
{"title":"Greening Keynes? Productivist lineages of the Green New Deal","authors":"Jeremy Green","doi":"10.1177/20530196221128369","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196221128369","url":null,"abstract":"Climate change has propelled the Green New Deal to prominence as a strategy for greening the economy. This article interrogates the Green New Deal’s coherence and suitability as a response to ecological crisis. Retracing the intellectual lineages of New Deal-era economic thought, the article reveals a common Keynesian inheritance of productivist preoccupations with full employment, rising income and productivity, that links Green New Deal proposals with their New Deal progenitors. This Keynesian inheritance generates internal inconsistencies within Green New Deal proposals, undermining their coherence and suitability as visions of green transition. Green New Deal proponents seek a political economy that respects ecological limits but they rationalize and legitimate their visions of green transition through a Keynesian commitment to a virtuous circle of rising investment, full employment, increasing income, and economic growth. This Keynesian inheritance is both premised on the denial of ecological limits and tarnished by its historical association with environmental destruction. Outlining an alternative approach, the article revisits the methodological historicism of New Deal-era economic thinking as a guide for redefining strategies of green transition. Drawing on Keynes’s reflections on the historical impermanence of the ‘economic problem’ and mapping contemporary institutional dynamics, the article proposes a more consistent, transformative, and radical rupture from incumbent macro-economic imaginaries","PeriodicalId":74943,"journal":{"name":"The anthropocene review","volume":"9 1","pages":"324 - 343"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43259087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-22DOI: 10.1177/20530196221128371
S. Roy
Transport network infrastructure interacts with the earth’s surface because they often share common spaces (e.g. river valleys), such that transport is an anthropogenic pressure that can affect geomorphological processes and outcomes. Since having its profound effect worldwide, the systematic study on the effect of transportation infrastructures (TIs) on the alteration of geomorphological forms and processes has been less focused than on any other anthropogeomorphic driver. The present review provides a multidimensional overview based on the available literature and data on the effect of TIs in changing hillslope and fluvial geomorphology to sustain a peaceful harmony between the transport network and its surrounding landscapes. The study underlines the effect of major TIs like trails, roads, railways, tunnels, causeways, waterways and airports on the alteration of different geomorphological processes on hillslope and fluvial landscapes like the movement of earth material, geomorphic connectivity, slope instability, sediment production, gully initiation and surface runoff. For instance, the global level proximity analysis shows ~40% of landslides happen within the 500 m of any major roads only, while at the regional scale it becomes ~65% irrespective of the degree of seismicity. Due to the fast development of TIs, the mountain regions are more prone to slope instability because of the alteration of surface hydrology by increasing runoff, road and ditch guided concentrated flow, rills and gully formation by reducing drainage area to cross the critical threshold limit. The plain regions are primarily facing the problem of fluvial (dis)connectivity because of the close proximity between river and transport networks and undersized causeways. For sustainable TIs development, factors like the practice of bio-engineering for roadside slope management, de-culverting, 100-year flood return for causeway construction, mapping of river corridors, road water harvesting should be incorporated for less effect on hillslope and fluvial geomorphology.
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Pub Date : 2022-08-23DOI: 10.1177/20530196221105093
Kevin Morrell, Frederik Dahlmann
In the Anthropocene, humanity faces a pressing question: ‘what should we do?’ Here we are interested in the underlying sense and reference of the normative ‘should’ as it applies to ethics with respect to different actors. To excavate ‘should’, we unearth the foundations of three conventional groupings of normative ethical systems: Mill’s utilitarianism, Kantian deontological ethics and Aristotelian virtue ethics. Each provides a normative basis for saying what humans ‘should’ do. We draw on specific examples from the private sector to argue that debates on the role of ethics in business are dominated by consequentialist and deontological accounts which, while essential, entail certain limitations regarding the realities of this new geological epoch. Identifying the comparative benefits of Aristotelian virtue ethics enables us to develop new insights and suggestions for ethics in the Anthropocene. We identify three distinctive features of Aristotelian virtue ethics: (i) a focus on agents rather than acts, (ii) a distinction between laws and customs versus nature and (iii) the importance of tradition. We set out corresponding implications for ethics and sustainability as applied to the private sector.
{"title":"Aristotle in the Anthropocene: The comparative benefits of Aristotelian virtue ethics over Utilitarianism and deontology","authors":"Kevin Morrell, Frederik Dahlmann","doi":"10.1177/20530196221105093","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196221105093","url":null,"abstract":"In the Anthropocene, humanity faces a pressing question: ‘what should we do?’ Here we are interested in the underlying sense and reference of the normative ‘should’ as it applies to ethics with respect to different actors. To excavate ‘should’, we unearth the foundations of three conventional groupings of normative ethical systems: Mill’s utilitarianism, Kantian deontological ethics and Aristotelian virtue ethics. Each provides a normative basis for saying what humans ‘should’ do. We draw on specific examples from the private sector to argue that debates on the role of ethics in business are dominated by consequentialist and deontological accounts which, while essential, entail certain limitations regarding the realities of this new geological epoch. Identifying the comparative benefits of Aristotelian virtue ethics enables us to develop new insights and suggestions for ethics in the Anthropocene. We identify three distinctive features of Aristotelian virtue ethics: (i) a focus on agents rather than acts, (ii) a distinction between laws and customs versus nature and (iii) the importance of tradition. We set out corresponding implications for ethics and sustainability as applied to the private sector.","PeriodicalId":74943,"journal":{"name":"The anthropocene review","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42508833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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