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The Anthropocene: Acknowledging the Extent of Global Resource Overshoot , and What We Must Do About It
Research, education, and policy guidance for a better global future. The Anthropocene: Acknowledging the extent of global resource overshoot , and what we must do about it. Research, education, and policy guidance for a better global future. Understanding the balance between human needs and environmental resources Research, education, and policy guidance for a better global future. The Anthropocene Story 3 minute video Reflections on the Anthropocene Story “ … we must find a safe operating space for humanity” “... we must understand resource limits and size ourselves to operate within planetary boundaries” Reflections on the Anthropocene Story “…our creativity, energy, and industry offer hope” Empty words Cognitive and behavioral paradigm shifts would offer ‘guarded’ optimism for the future. A preview of this afternoon’s discussion: 1. Realistic meta-level picture of humanity’s relationship with the planet 2. Talk about that relationship and the conceptual meaning of sustainability 3. Discuss the need for ‘transformative’ change and one approach to achieving future sustainability The Problem Climate change is not the problem. Water shortages, overgrazing, erosion, desertification and the rapid extinction of species are not the problem. Deforestation, Deforestation, reduced cropland productivity, Deforestation, reduced cropland productivity, and the collapse of fisheries are not the problem. Each of these crises, though alarming, is a symptom of a single, over-riding issue. Humanity is simply demanding more than the earth can provide. Climate change Witnessing dysfunctional human behavior Deforestation Desertification Collapse of fisheries Rapid extinction of species Supply = 1 Earth Today’s reality: Global Resource Overshoot How do we know we are - living beyond our resource means? - exceeding global capacity? - experiencing resource overshoot? • Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Released in 2005, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was a four-year global effort involving more than 1,300 experts that assessed the condition of and trends in the world’s ecosystems. -
Reading 23 Limits to Growth1 Overshoot
Reading 23 Limits to Growth1 Overshoot To overshoot means to go too far, to go be- cal, political, psychological, or other features of a yond limits accidentally—without intention. Peo- system. ple experience overshoots every day. When you The delays, too, arise in many ways. They may rise too quickly from a chair, you may momen- result from inattention, faulty data, delayed in- tarily lose your balance. If you turn on the hot formation, slow reflexes, a cumbersome or quar- water faucet too far in the shower, you may be relling bureaucracy, a false theory about how the scalded. On an icy road your car might slide past system responds, or from momentum that pre- a stop sign. At a party you may drink much more vents the system from being stopped quickly de- alcohol than your body can safely metabolize; in spite the best efforts to halt it. For example, de- the morning you will have a ferocious headache. lays may result when a driver does not realize how Construction companies periodically build more much his car’s braking traction has been reduced condominiums than are demanded, forcing them by ice on the road; the contractor uses current to sell units below cost and confront the possi- prices to make decisions about construction activ- bility of bankruptcy. Too many fishing boats are ity that will affect the market two or three years in often constructed. Then fishing fleets grow so the future; the fishing fleet owners base their deci- large that they catch far more than the sustainable sions on data about recent catch, not information harvest. -
Jeremy Baskin, “Paradigm Dressed As Epoch: the Ideology of The
Paradigm Dressed as Epoch: The Ideology of the Anthropocene JEREMY BASKIN School of Social and Political Sciences University of Melbourne Victoria 3010, Australia Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT The Anthropocene is a radical reconceptualisation of the relationship between humanity and nature. It posits that we have entered a new geological epoch in which the human species is now the dominant Earth-shaping force, and it is rapidly gaining traction in both the natural and social sciences. This article critically explores the scientific representation of the concept and argues that the Anthropocene is less a scientific concept than the ideational underpinning for a particular worldview. It is paradigm dressed as epoch. In particular, it normalises a certain portion of humanity as the ‘human’ of the Anthropocene, reinserting ‘man’ into nature only to re-elevate ‘him’ above it. This move pro- motes instrumental reason. It implies that humanity and its planet are in an exceptional state, explicitly invoking the idea of planetary management and legitimising major interventions into the workings of the earth, such as geoen- gineering. I conclude that the scientific origins of the term have diminished its radical potential, and ask whether the concept’s radical core can be retrieved. KEYWORDS Anthropocene, ideology, geoengineering, environmental politics, earth management INTRODUCTION ‘The Anthropocene’ is an emergent idea, which posits that the human spe- cies is now the dominant Earth-shaping force. Initially promoted by scholars from the physical and earth sciences, it argues that we have exited the current geological epoch, the 12,000-year-old Holocene, and entered a new epoch, Environmental Values 24 (2015): 9–29. -
On the Confounding of Overshoot and Collapse Predictions by Economic Dynamics
On the Confounding of Overshoot and Collapse Predictions by Economic Dynamics Corey Lofdahl SAIC, 20 Mall Road, Suite 130 Burlington, Massachusetts USA 01803 [email protected] Abstract At the 19th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society held in Atlanta, Willard Fey and Ann Lam (2001) asked why system dynamicists by and large believe that the world population is limited and yet don’t act on this belief on a day to day basis. Because this is a deceptively difficult question, this study addresses it from several different perspectives. From the literature, it examines current critiques of The Limits to Growth, Malthus, and Simon’s bounded rationality. The study finds that theories, predictions, and criticisms concerning complex systems cannot be answered definitively. Instead both the initial theory and its criticisms must be considered together, a conclusion supported by 20th century philosophy. From this perspective, instead of offering definitive, closed-form solutions, three heuristics are developed. The first contrasts notions of possibility and prediction from an information theory perspective. The second examines the mechanics of standard overshoot and collapse systems and how collapse predictions can go awry. Third, an example of overshoot and collapse is examined with an eye towards timing the collapse and understanding how decision makers interpret information from within the system. Systematic errors from this smaller, economic system are then applied to Fey and Lam’s concern regarding world population, a system that may have overshot but has not yet collapsed. 1. Introduction At the 19th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society held in Atlanta, Willard Fey and Ann Lam (2001) discussed, explored, and furthered some of the key themes of The Limits to Growth (Meadows et al 1972). -
Pharmaceutical Policy in China
Pharmaceutical policy in China Challenges and opportunities for reform Elias Mossialos, Yanfeng Ge, Jia Hu and Liejun Wang Pharmaceutical policy in China: challenges and opportunities for reform Pharmaceutical policy in China: challenges and opportunities for reform Elias Mossialos, Yanfeng Ge, Jia Hu and Liejun Wang London School of Economics and Political Science and Development Research Center of the State Council of China Keywords DRUG AND NARCOTIC CONTROL PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS DRUG COSTS DRUG INDUSTRY HEALTH CARE REFORM HEALTH POLICY CHINA © World Health Organization 2016 (acting as the host organization for, and secretariat of, the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies) All rights reserved. The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies welcomes requests for permission to reproduce or translate its publications, in part or in full. Address requests about publications to: Publications, WHO Regional Office for Europe, UN City, Marmorvej 51, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark. Alternatively, complete an online request form for documentation, health information, or for permission to quote or translate, on the Regional Office web site (www.euro.who.int/pubrequest). The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concern- ing the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Dotted lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement. The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers’ products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. -
UN Environment 2019. a Review of 20 Years' Air Pollution Control in Beijing
1 A REVIEW OF 20 YEARS’ Air Pollution Control in Beijing Copyright © United Nations Environment Programme, 2019 ISBN: 978-92-807-3743-1 Job No.: DTI/2228/PA Reproduction This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. The United Nations Environment Programme would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source. No use of this publication may be made for resale or for any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing from the United Nations Environment Programme. Disclaimers The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations Environment Programme concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Moreover, the views expressed do not necessarily represent the decision or the stated policy of the United Nations Environment Programme, nor does citing of trade names or commercial processes constitute endorsement. Citation This document may be cited as: UN Environment 2019. A Review of 20 Years’ Air Pollution Control in Beijing. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, Kenya Photograph Credits The photos used in this report (except foreword) are from Beijing Municipal Environmental Publicity Center. UN Environment promotes environmentally sound practices globally and in its own activities. This publication is printed on FSC-certified paper, using eco-friendly practices. -
Air Pollution in China: Mapping of Concentrations and Sources
Air Pollution in China: Mapping of Concentrations and Sources Robert A. Rohde1, Richard A. Muller2 Abstract China has recently made available hourly air pollution data from over 1500 sites, including airborne particulate matter (PM), SO2, NO2, and O3. We apply Kriging interpolation to four months of data to derive pollution maps for eastern China. Consistent with prior findings, the greatest pollution occurs in the east, but significant levels are widespread across northern and central China and are not limited to major cities or geologic basins. Sources of pollution are widespread, but are particularly intense in a northeast corridor that extends from near Shanghai to north of Beijing. During our analysis period, 92% of the population of China experienced >120 hours of unhealthy air (US EPA standard), and 38% experienced average concentrations 3 that were unhealthy. China’s population-weighted average exposure to PM2.5 was 52 µg/m . The observed air pollution is calculated to contribute to 1.6 million deaths/year in China [0.7–2.2 million deaths/year at 95% confidence], roughly 17% of all deaths in China. Introduction Air pollution is a problem for much of the developing world and is believed to kill more people worldwide than AIDS, malaria, breast cancer, or tuberculosis (1-4). Airborne particulate matter (PM) is especially detrimental to health (5-8), and has previously been estimated to cause between 3 and 7 million deaths every year, primarily by creating or worsening cardiorespiratory disease (2-4,6,7). Particulate sources include electric power plants, industrial facilities, automobiles, biomass burning, and fossil fuels used in homes and factories for heating. -
Mitigation Pathways Compatible with 1.5°C in the Context of Sustainable Development
Mitigation Pathways Compatible with 1.5°C in the Context 2 of Sustainable Development Coordinating Lead Authors: Joeri Rogelj (Austria/Belgium), Drew Shindell (USA), Kejun Jiang (China) Lead Authors: Solomone Fifita (Fiji), Piers Forster (UK), Veronika Ginzburg (Russia), Collins Handa (Kenya), Haroon Kheshgi (USA), Shigeki Kobayashi (Japan), Elmar Kriegler (Germany), Luis Mundaca (Sweden/Chile), Roland Séférian (France), Maria Virginia Vilariño (Argentina) Contributing Authors: Katherine Calvin (USA), Joana Correia de Oliveira de Portugal Pereira (UK/Portugal), Oreane Edelenbosch (Netherlands/Italy), Johannes Emmerling (Italy/Germany), Sabine Fuss (Germany), Thomas Gasser (Austria/France), Nathan Gillett (Canada), Chenmin He (China), Edgar Hertwich (USA/Austria), Lena Höglund-Isaksson (Austria/Sweden), Daniel Huppmann (Austria), Gunnar Luderer (Germany), Anil Markandya (Spain/UK), David L. McCollum (USA/Austria), Malte Meinshausen (Australia/Germany), Richard Millar (UK), Alexander Popp (Germany), Pallav Purohit (Austria/India), Keywan Riahi (Austria), Aurélien Ribes (France), Harry Saunders (Canada/USA), Christina Schädel (USA/Switzerland), Chris Smith (UK), Pete Smith (UK), Evelina Trutnevyte (Switzerland/Lithuania), Yang Xiu (China), Wenji Zhou (Austria/China), Kirsten Zickfeld (Canada/Germany) Chapter Scientists: Daniel Huppmann (Austria), Chris Smith (UK) Review Editors: Greg Flato (Canada), Jan Fuglestvedt (Norway), Rachid Mrabet (Morocco), Roberto Schaeffer (Brazil) This chapter should be cited as: Rogelj, J., D. Shindell, K. Jiang, -
UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations
UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Essays in Environmental Economics Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/61r4c86w Author Lin, Lan Publication Date 2019 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Essays in Environmental Economics by Lan Lin A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural and Resource Economics in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Michael Anderson, Chair Professor Lucas Davis Professor James Sallee Spring 2019 Essays in Environmental Economics Copyright 2019 by Lan Lin 1 Abstract Essays in Environmental Economics by Lan Lin Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural and Resource Economics University of California, Berkeley Professor Michael Anderson, Chair This dissertation features three empirical studies on the interaction of economic activities and the environment. Chapter 1 estimates the costs of environment reg- ulations by analyzing administrative records of industrial firms in China. Chapter 2 investigates the relationship between environmental conditions and birth decisions and uses online purchases to infer fertility trends. The last chapter examines house- hold panel scanner data to evaluate the impact of changing fuel prices on consumers' shopping patterns. These three papers take advantage of different data sources to answer important questions in environmental economics, on both the producer and the consumer side. The first chapter measures the impacts of ad hoc environmental regulations in China on firm performance. Under global attention and pressure, the Chinese gov- ernment adopted a number of radical emergency pollution control measures to ensure good air quality during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. -
Overpopulation Is Not the Problem - Nytimes.Com Page 1 of 3
Overpopulation Is Not the Problem - NYTimes.com Page 1 of 3 September 13, 2013 Overpopulation Is Not the Problem By ERLE C. ELLIS BALTIMORE — MANY scientists believe that by transforming the earth’s natural landscapes, we are undermining the very life support systems that sustain us. Like bacteria in a petri dish, our exploding numbers are reaching the limits of a finite planet, with dire consequences. Disaster looms as humans exceed the earth’s natural carrying capacity. Clearly, this could not be sustainable. This is nonsense. Even today, I hear some of my scientific colleagues repeat these and similar claims — often unchallenged. And once, I too believed them. Yet these claims demonstrate a profound misunderstanding of the ecology of human systems. The conditions that sustain humanity are not natural and never have been. Since prehistory, human populations have used technologies and engineered ecosystems to sustain populations well beyond the capabilities of unaltered “natural” ecosystems. The evidence from archaeology is clear. Our predecessors in the genus Homo used social hunting strategies and tools of stone and fire to extract more sustenance from landscapes than would otherwise be possible. And, of course, Homo sapiens went much further, learning over generations, once their preferred big game became rare or extinct, to make use of a far broader spectrum of species. They did this by extracting more nutrients from these species by cooking and grinding them, by propagating the most useful species and by burning woodlands to enhance hunting and foraging success. Even before the last ice age had ended, thousands of years before agriculture, hunter- gatherer societies were well established across the earth and depended increasingly on sophisticated technological strategies to sustain growing populations in landscapes long ago transformed by their ancestors. -
Ethical Implications of Population Growth and Reduction Tiana Sepahpour [email protected]
Fordham University Masthead Logo DigitalResearch@Fordham Student Theses 2015-Present Environmental Studies Spring 5-10-2019 Ethical Implications of Population Growth and Reduction Tiana Sepahpour [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://fordham.bepress.com/environ_2015 Part of the Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, and the Natural Resources and Conservation Commons Recommended Citation Sepahpour, Tiana, "Ethical Implications of Population Growth and Reduction" (2019). Student Theses 2015-Present. 75. https://fordham.bepress.com/environ_2015/75 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Environmental Studies at DigitalResearch@Fordham. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Theses 2015-Present by an authorized administrator of DigitalResearch@Fordham. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Ethical Implications of Population Growth and Reduction Tiana Sepahpour Fordham University Department of Environmental Studies and Philosophy May 2019 Abstract This thesis addresses the ethical dimensions of the overuse of the Earth’s ecosystem services and how human population growth exacerbates it, necessitating an ethically motivated reduction in human population size by means of changes in population policy. This policy change serves the goal of reducing the overall global population as the most effective means to alleviate global issues of climate change and resource abuse. Chapter 1 draws on the United Nations’ Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and other sources to document the human overuse and degradation of ecosystem services, including energy resources. Chapter 2 explores the history of energy consumption and climate change. Chapter 3 examines the economic impact of reducing populations and how healthcare and retirement plans would be impacted by a decrease in a working population. -
Health Damages from Air Pollution in China
Global Environmental Change 22 (2012) 55–66 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Global Environmental Change jo urnal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/gloenvcha Health damages from air pollution in China a,1 b,1, c d b b Kira Matus , Kyung-Min Nam *, Noelle E. Selin , Lok N. Lamsal , John M. Reilly , Sergey Paltsev a Department of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK b Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA c Engineering Systems Division and Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA d Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Article history: This study evaluates air pollution-related health impacts on the Chinese economy by using an expanded Received 27 January 2011 version of the Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis model. We estimated that marginal welfare Received in revised form 22 August 2011 impact to the Chinese economy of ozone and particulate-matter concentrations above background levels Accepted 23 August 2011 increased from 1997 US$22 billion in 1975 to 1997 US$112 billion in 2005, despite improvements in Available online 16 September 2011 overall air quality. This increase is a result of the growing urban population and rising wages that thus increased the value of lost labor and leisure.