The Trajectory of the Anthropocene: the Great Acceleration
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Golden Spikes, Transitions, Boundary Objects, and Anthropogenic Seascapes
sustainability Article A Meaningful Anthropocene?: Golden Spikes, Transitions, Boundary Objects, and Anthropogenic Seascapes Todd J. Braje * and Matthew Lauer Department of Anthropology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 27 June 2020; Accepted: 7 August 2020; Published: 11 August 2020 Abstract: As the number of academic manuscripts explicitly referencing the Anthropocene increases, a theme that seems to tie them all together is the general lack of continuity on how we should define the Anthropocene. In an attempt to formalize the concept, the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) is working to identify, in the stratigraphic record, a Global Stratigraphic Section and Point (GSSP) or golden spike for a mid-twentieth century Anthropocene starting point. Rather than clarifying our understanding of the Anthropocene, we argue that the AWG’s effort to provide an authoritative definition undermines the original intent of the concept, as a call-to-arms for future sustainable management of local, regional, and global environments, and weakens the concept’s capacity to fundamentally reconfigure the established boundaries between the social and natural sciences. To sustain the creative and productive power of the Anthropocene concept, we argue that it is best understood as a “boundary object,” where it can be adaptable enough to incorporate multiple viewpoints, but robust enough to be meaningful within different disciplines. Here, we provide two examples from our work on the deep history of anthropogenic seascapes, which demonstrate the power of the Anthropocene to stimulate new thinking about the entanglement of humans and non-humans, and for building interdisciplinary solutions to modern environmental issues. -
Mobile Leapfrogging and Digital Divide Policy Assessing the Limitations of Mobile Internet Access
New America Foundation Mobile Leapfrogging and Digital Divide Policy Assessing the limitations of mobile Internet access By Philip M. Napoli and Jonathan A. Obar1 April 2013 This paper examines the emerging global phenomenon of mobile leapfrogging in Internet access. Leapfrogging refers to the process in which new Internet users are obtaining access by mobile devices and are skipping the traditional means of access: personal computers. This leapfrogging of PC-based Internet access has been hailed in many quarters as an important means of rapidly and inexpensively reducing the gap in Internet access between developed and developing nations, thereby reducing the need for policy interventions to address this persistent digital divide. This paper offers a critical perspective on the process of mobile leapfrogging. Drawing upon data on Internet access and device penetration from 34 countries, this paper first shows that while greater access to mobile technologies suggests the possibility of a leapfrog effect, the lack of 3G adoption suggests that mobile phones are not yet acting as functionally equivalent substitutes for personal computers. Next, this paper puts forth a set of concerns regarding the limitations and potential shortcomings of mobile-based Internet access relative to traditional PC-based Internet access. This paper illustrates a number of important relative shortcomings in terms of memory and speed, content availability, network architecture, and patterns of information seeking and content creation amongst users. This paper concludes that policymakers should be cautions about promoting mobile access as a solution to the digital divide, and undertake policy reforms that ensure that communities that rely on mobile as their only gateway to the Internet do not get left further behind. -
Leapfrogging: Look Before You Leap
UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT No.71 DECEMBER 2018 LEAPFROGGING: LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP New technologies, such as digital mobile communications, drones for precision agriculture and decentralized renewable energy systems that provide electricity in rural areas far from the grid, open up opportunities for leapfrogging. As developing countries have limited capabilities, opportunities for leapfrogging in these countries are presented primarily through the adoption of technologies. Innovation policies can help developing countries foster and facilitate the deployment of frontier technologies and their adaptation to meet their needs, to promote sustainable development.1 Frontier technologies and Potential for leapfrogging leapfrogging In large part, the experience of the ICT Discussions of the developmental dimension sector has brought increased attention to of frontier technologies, particularly digital leapfrogging. Rapid technological advances technologies, often highlight the possibility and cost reductions in ICT in recent decades have enabled some developing countries, POLICY BRIEF of “leapfrogging”, the concept of “bypassing intermediate stages of technology through notably in Africa and Asia, to skip the Key points which countries have historically passed development of landline infrastructure by 2 moving directly to mobile telecommunications. • Countries engage in during the development process”. The leapfrogging by bypassing traditional notion of “catch-up” refers For example, in the early 2000s, Cambodia, the imtermediate stages of to the narrowing of gaps in income and Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Nepal technology in a development technological capabilities between a late- and Timor-Leste had less than three fixed- process. telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, • Rapid technological advances developing country and a front-runner and cost reductions in country. -
The Trajectory of the Anthropocene: the Great
ANR0010.1177/2053019614564785The Anthropocene ReviewSteffen et al. 564785research-article2015 Review The Anthropocene Review 1 –18 The trajectory of the © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: Anthropocene: The Great sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/2053019614564785 Acceleration anr.sagepub.com Will Steffen,1,2 Wendy Broadgate,3 Lisa Deutsch,1 Owen Gaffney3 and Cornelia Ludwig1 Abstract The ‘Great Acceleration’ graphs, originally published in 2004 to show socio-economic and Earth System trends from 1750 to 2000, have now been updated to 2010. In the graphs of socio-economic trends, where the data permit, the activity of the wealthy (OECD) countries, those countries with emerging economies, and the rest of the world have now been differentiated. The dominant feature of the socio-economic trends is that the economic activity of the human enterprise continues to grow at a rapid rate. However, the differentiated graphs clearly show that strong equity issues are masked by considering global aggregates only. Most of the population growth since 1950 has been in the non-OECD world but the world’s economy (GDP), and hence consumption, is still strongly dominated by the OECD world. The Earth System indicators, in general, continued their long-term, post-industrial rise, although a few, such as atmospheric methane concentration and stratospheric ozone loss, showed a slowing or apparent stabilisation over the past decade. The post-1950 acceleration in the Earth System indicators remains clear. Only beyond the mid-20th century is there clear evidence for fundamental shifts in the state and functioning of the Earth System that are beyond the range of variability of the Holocene and driven by human activities. -
Leapfrogging Technology
privateP UBLIC POLICY FORsector THE NOTE NUMBER 254 Leapfrogging Technology Masami Kojima FEBRUARY 2003 Masami Kojima is a lead Cost-Effective Solution for Pollution in Developing Countries? energy and environment specialist at the World Leapfrogging technology makes sense where technological advances Bank focusing on joint are driven by market demand, as in telecommunications and energy, environment, and transport policy issues, information technology. But technological advances driven by the especially fuel quality, need to deal with such externalities as pollution are more vehicle emission control, fuel pricing policy, and the complicated, for they do not inherently increase profitability or health impact of pollution. efficiency. Using air pollution by vehicles as an illustration, this Note She has worked on these issues in Bank programs examines the issues that need to be considered in deciding whether in Latin America, South leapfrogging technology is a cost-effective solution. Asia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. The pace of technological advance in the past ernment budget, removing one of the potential few decades has opened new possibilities. obstacles to implementation. Consider the technology for controlling emis- sions from cars, buses, and trucks. Government Danger of considering technology-based regulations have driven this technology as much regulations in isolation as the technology has driven regulations, result- The argument is appealing. If all else remained ing in vehicle emission standards in industrial the same, imposing stringent standards that PRIVATE SECTOR AND INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORK countries that have become increasingly require the best available technology would stringent—far more so than those in developing indeed improve air quality, reduce illness, and countries. -
Vertical Innovation Industry Development to Enable Leapfrogging, Superior Competitiveness and Innovation
BACKGROUND NOTE Vertical Innovation Industry Development to Enable Leapfrogging, Superior Competitiveness and Innovation René Rohrbeck, Olga Kokshagina, and Susann Roth DISCLAIMER This background paper was prepared for the report Asian Development Outlook 2020: What Drives Innovation in Asia? It is made available here to communicate the results of the underlying research work with the least possible delay. The manuscript of this paper therefore has not been prepared in accordance with the procedures appropriate to formally-edited texts. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. The ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this document and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by ADB in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. Any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area, or use of the term “country” in this document, is not intended to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. Boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this document do not imply any judgment on the part of the ADB concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. VERTICAL INNOVATION INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT To Enable Leapfrogging, Superior Competitiveness, and Innovation René Rohrbeck, Olga Kokshagina, and Susann Roth1 A. -
Earth: a Single, Complex and Rapidly Changing System
INTERVIEW with keynote speaker Dr. Will Steffen, The Australian National University and the Stockholm Resilience Centre, AUSTRALIA Keynote Plenary Session 1 Thursday, 21 September, 10:30 – 12:00 Rolf Böhme Saal (Konzerthaus Freiburg) The Earth System, the Anthropocene and the World’s Forests Earth: a single, complex and rapidly changing system By Bob Burt IUFRO Science Writer “It’s important to put the changes that are occurring to the world’s forests in a much larger, long-term perspective,” said Dr. Will Steffen. “Land systems in general, but forests in particular, play an important role in the functioning of the Earth System.” Dr. Steffen, a leading proponent of the Anthropocene – a proposed epoch dating from the beginnings of significant human impact on earth’s geology and ecosystems – will be a keynote speaker at the IUFRO 125th Anniversary Congress in Freiburg. Dr. Steffen, along with Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen and other scientists, contends that the Holocene, the 10,000-year geological epoch since the last ice age, in which the earth’s environment has been unusually stable, is being, or has already been, supplanted by an epoch in which human intervention has become a – and perhaps “the” – major driver of environmental change. Since the mid-20th century, carbon dioxide emissions, sea level rise, the mass extinction of species around the world and the transformation of land by deforestation and development have effectively ended the Holocene and ushered in the Anthropocene, they say. “The Earth System is now in a rapidly-changing, highly transient phase in which the end point is not known, and cannot be predicted. -
The Trajectory of the Anthropocene: The
ANR0010.1177/2053019614564785The Anthropocene ReviewSteffen et al. 564785research-article2015 Review The Anthropocene Review 1 –18 The trajectory of the © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: Anthropocene: The Great sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/2053019614564785 Acceleration anr.sagepub.com Will Steffen,1,2 Wendy Broadgate,3 Lisa Deutsch,1 Owen Gaffney3 and Cornelia Ludwig1 Abstract The ‘Great Acceleration’ graphs, originally published in 2004 to show socio-economic and Earth System trends from 1750 to 2000, have now been updated to 2010. In the graphs of socio-economic trends, where the data permit, the activity of the wealthy (OECD) countries, those countries with emerging economies, and the rest of the world have now been differentiated. The dominant feature of the socio-economic trends is that the economic activity of the human enterprise continues to grow at a rapid rate. However, the differentiated graphs clearly show that strong equity issues are masked by considering global aggregates only. Most of the population growth since 1950 has been in the non-OECD world but the world’s economy (GDP), and hence consumption, is still strongly dominated by the OECD world. The Earth System indicators, in general, continued their long-term, post-industrial rise, although a few, such as atmospheric methane concentration and stratospheric ozone loss, showed a slowing or apparent stabilisation over the past decade. The post-1950 acceleration in the Earth System indicators remains clear. Only beyond the mid-20th century is there clear evidence for fundamental shifts in the state and functioning of the Earth System that are beyond the range of variability of the Holocene and driven by human activities. -
The Water Planetary Boundary: Interrogation and Revision
1 The water planetary boundary: interrogation and revision 2 This is a non-peer reviewed preprint submitted to EarthArXiv which is in review at “One Earth” 3 Tom Gleeson 1,2, Lan Wang Erlandsson 3, 4, 8, Samuel C. Zipper 1, Miina Porkka 3, 8, Fernando Jaramillo 2, 5, 4 Dieter Gerten 6,7, Ingo Fetzer 3,8, Sarah E. Cornell 3, Luigi Piemontese 3, Line Gordon 3, Johan 5 Rockström 2, 6, Taikan Oki 9, Murugesu Sivapalan 10, Yoshihide Wada 11, Kate A Brauman 12, Martina 6 Flörke 13, Marc F.P. Bierkens 14,15, Bernhard Lehner 16, Patrick Keys17, Matti Kummu 18, Thorsten 7 Wagener 19, Simon Dadson 20, Tara J. Troy1, Will Steffen 3, 21, Malin Falkenmark 3, James S. Famiglietti 22 8 1 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Victoria, Canada 9 2 School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria 10 3 Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden 11 4 Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan 12 5 Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden 13 6 Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam, 14 Germany 15 7 Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Geography Dept., Berlin, Germany 16 8 Bolin Centre of Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden 17 9 Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science, University of Tokyo, Japan 18 10 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 19 Urbana IL 61801, USA. Department of Geography and Geographical Science, University -
2992 JU 1 the Anthropocene, Climate Change, and the End
Word count: 2,992 J.U. 1 The Anthropocene, Climate Change, and the End of Modernity As the concentration of greenhouse gases has increased in the atmosphere, the world has warmed, biodiversity has decreased, and delicate natural processes have been disrupted. Scientists are now deliberating whether a variety of profound growth related problems have pushed the world into a new geological epoch – the Anthropocene. The shift from the Holocene, a unique climatically stable era during which complex civilizations developed, signals increasingly harsh climatic conditions that may threaten societal stability. Humanity has long impacted the environment. Since the rise of industrial capitalism, the rates of carbon emissions and natural resource usage have increased. The late twentieth century ushered in an era of neoliberalism and economic globalization, during which growth at any cost policies were established and emission rates began to increase exponentially. Today, as the Anthropocene era progresses, humanity continues to reach new levels of control over the environment, though nature increasingly threatens the existence of its manipulator. Over the past two centuries, humanity has possibly thrown the world into the “sixth great extinction,” doubled the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, disrupted the phosphorus cycle upon which food supplies depend, and stressed or exhausted the supplies of countless other natural resources.1 These problems disproportionately affect the world’s poorest, hurting minorities, women, and native populations the most. As the consumption rates of the affluent Global North negatively impact those in disparate parts of the world who have contributed the least to global warming, more reflexive and empathetic connections must form to address past wrongs and create a shared future. -
Newsletter of the Anthropocene Working Group
Newsletter of the Anthropocene Working Group Volume 6:Report of activities 2014‐15 December 2015 International Union of Geological Sciences International Commission on Stratigraphy Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy http://quaternary.stratigraphy.org/workinggroups/anthropocene/ Table of Contents CHAIRMAN’S COLUMN ..................................................................................................................... 2 INAUGURAL ANTHROPOCENE WORKING GROUP MEETING ......................................... 4 SECOND ANTHROPOCENE WORKING GROUP MEETING ................................................. 7 SELECTED PUBLICATIONS ............................................................................................................. 8 CONFERENCES .................................................................................................................................. 11 MEDIA ................................................................................................................................................... 14 OTHER NEWS ..................................................................................................................................... 18 MEMBERSHIP TO DATE ................................................................................................................ 18 ANTHROPOCENE WORKING GROUP: PROGRAMME FOR 2016 ................................. 22 Newsletter edited by Colin Waters and Jan Zalasiewicz. Thanks to all colleagues who contributed to this Newsletter. Cover Illustration: -
Read an Abstract of Her Msc Dissertation
Abstract How may innovation policies and the length of cycle of technologies determine the ability of developing states to achieve technological leapfrogging? Author: Olayinka Bandele Supervisor: Professor Daniele Archibuigi Year of Award: 2018 Keywords: technological leapfrogging, technology transfer, patents, short-cycle industries, innovation, decision-making firms, technological turning point, catching-up, Purpose of the Study This study explores the phenomena of ‘technological leapfrogging’ of developing states and asks the question ‘what are the predictors of technological transformation of these economies?’ The study builds on analyses of short-cycle technologies as a pathway to technological upgrading and the convergence of middle-income economies with developed states. A gap in the literature reveals a lack of research on decision-making of domestic firms within developing states, particularly as influenced by national innovation systems and government policy. Bridging this gap in the literature could further understanding of how these firms navigate competitive forces as they seek to upgrade technology or move into new technologies? This paper considers whether predictions may be made of the point at which a country passes a ‘technological leapfrogging marker or turning point?’ Whilst a number of studies in the literature present concepts on how technological transformation and leapfrogging may occur, there is limited research analysis presented on the theoretical prediction of the leapfrogging phenomena. Further research would enrich understanding of the technological transformation process within key sectors of developing states. Research Design Methodology and Findings The research utilizes a quantitative research methodological approach. A regression analysis was undertaken utilizing patent data of 46 countries over a 25-year period sourced from the US patent classification agency, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).