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Environmental psychology

Environmental psychology is a branch of psychology that explores the relationship between humans and the external world. It examines the way in which the natural environment and our built environments shape us as individuals. Environmental psychology investigates how humans change the environment and how the environment influences humans' experiences and behaviors. The field defines the term environment broadly, encompassing natural environments, social settings, built environments, learning environments, and informational environments. According to an article on APA Psychnet, environmental psychology is when a person thinks to a plan, travels to a certain place, and follows through with the plan throughout their behavior. Environmental psychology was not fully recognized as its own field until the late 1960s when scientists began to question the tie between human behavior and our natural and built environments. Since its conception, the field has been committed to the development of a discipline that is both value oriented and problem oriented, prioritizing research aimed at solving complex environmental problems in the pursuit of individual well-being within a larger society. When solving problems involving human-environment interactions, whether global or local, one must have a model of human nature that predicts the environmental conditions under which humans will respond well. This model can help design, manage, protect and/or restore environments that enhance reasonable behavior, predict the likely outcomes when these conditions are not met, and diagnose problem within the environment. The field develops such a model of human nature while retaining a broad and inherently multidisciplinary focus. It explores such dissimilar issues as common property resource management, wayfinding in complex settings, the effect of environmental stress on human performance, the characteristics of restorative environments, human information processing, and the promotion of durable conservation behavior. Lately, alongside the increased focus on climate change in society and the social sciences and the re-emergence of limits-to-growth concerns, there has been an increased focus on environmental sustainability issues within the field. This multidisciplinary paradigm has not only characterized the dynamic for which environmental psychology is expected to develop, but it has also been the catalyst in attracting experts and scholars from other fields of study, aside from research psychologists. In environmental psychology, geographers, economists, landscape architects, policy-makers, sociologists, anthropologists, educators, and product developers all have discovered and participated in this field. Although "environmental psychology" is arguably the best-known and most comprehensive description of the field, it is also known as human factors science, cognitive ergonomics, ecological psychology, ecopsychology, environment–behavior studies, and person–environment studies. Closely related fields include architectural psychology, socio-architecture, behavioral geography, environmental sociology, social ecology, and environmental design research. History The origins of the field can be traced to the Romantic poets, such as Wordsworth and Coleridge who drew attention to the power of nature intersect with the significance of human interaction. Darwin pointed to the role of the environment in shaping evolution. This idea was quickly applied to human interactions with the surroundings. An extreme Victorian acceptance of this were 'environmental determinists' who insisted the physical environment and climate influenced the evolution of racial characteristics. Willy Hellpach is said to be the first to mention "environmental psychology". One of his books, Geopsyche, discusses topics such as how the sun and the moon affect human activity, the impact of extreme environments, and the effects of color and form (Pol, E., 2006, Blueprints for a history of environmental psychology (I): From first birth to American transition. "Medio Ambiente y Comportamiento Humano", 7(2), 95-113). Among the other major scholars at the roots of environmental psychology were Jakob von Uexküll, Kurt Lewin, Egon Brunswik, and later Gerhard Kaminski and Carl Friedrich Graumann. The end of World War II brought about a demand for guidance on the urgent building programme after the destruction of war. To provide government planning requirements many countries set up research centered around the studies on how people used space. In the U.K. the Building Research Centre studied space use in houses leading to further study around noise levels, heating, and lighting requirements in a living space. Pilkingtons, a glassmaker company, set up a daylight research unit, led by Thomas Markus to provide information on the influence of natural lighting in buildings and guidelines on daylight requirements. In the 1960s, Peter Manning further developed the study at the Pilkington Research Unit at the University of Liverpool. He studied offices and employed Brian Wells, one of the first people to obtain a Ph.D in environmental psychology. Markus set up the Building Performance Research Unit at the University of Strathclyde in 1968, employing the psychologist David Canter, whom Wells and Manning had supervised for his Ph.D with the Pilkington Research Unit. Canter then went to the University of Surrey to set up an Environmental Psychology program in 1971 with the Department of Psychology. The head of the department was Terence Lee, who had conducted his PhD on the concept of the neighborhood under the supervision of Sir Frederick Bartlett at the University of Cambridge. In parallel with these developments, people in the US had begun to consider the issues in environmental design. One of the first areas was the consideration of psychiatric hospitals. Psychiatrists worked with architects to take account of the experience of patients who experience mentally ill and discomfort. Robert Sommer wrote his book on 'Personal Space,' and Edward T Hall, an anthropologist, commented on how people relate to each other spatially. Amos Rapoport caused considerable interest amongst architects with his book 'House Form and Culture', showing that the form of buildings was not solely functional but had with all sorts of cultural influences. The idea was contributed to the emergence of 'post-modernism' architecture, which took the symbolic qualities of architecture very seriously. These early developments in the 1960s and 1970s were often seen as part of 'architectural psychology'. When Harold Proshansky and William Ittelson set up the Environmental Psychology program at the City University of New York Graduate Center, the term Environmental Psychology replaces Architectural Psychology, the study of the ways in which people made sense of and interacted with their surroundings. When Canter established The Journal of Environmental Psychology in 1980 with Kenneth Craik a personality psychologist at the University of California at Berkeley, it became institutionalized to use the term environmental psychology. President Nixon's campaign to deal with depredations of the environment gave impetus to a change of direction in the field from aspects of buildings and making sense of cities to the broader issues of climate change and the impact of people in the global environment. Environmental psychologist Environmental psychologists are the ones who study the relationship between human behavior and the environment that surrounds them. These psychologist study any type of environment, even the ones who are "built" such as peoples homes. They study how we as humans behave and interact in the world. As of May 2020, the annual salary of an environmental psychologist is $82,180. The two sub-disciplines are conservation psychology and ecopsychology. Conservation Psychology is the study of the development of attitudes in the environment. Ecopsychology is close to the same as conservation psychology, but it focuses on the ties of environmental and societal degradation. Orientations Problem oriented Environmental psychology is a direct study of the relationship between an environment and how that environment affects its inhabitants. Specific aspects of this field work by identifying a problem and through the identification of the said problem, discovering a solution. Therefore, it is necessary for environmental psychology to be problem-oriented. One important aspect of a problem-oriented field is that by identifying problems, solutions arise from the research acquired. The solutions can aid in making society function better as a whole and create a wealth of knowledge about the inner workings of societies. Environmental psychologist Harold Proshansky discusses how the field is also "value-oriented" because of the field's commitment to bettering society through problem identification. Panyang discusses the importance of not only understanding the problem but also the necessity of a solution. Proshansky also points out some of the problems of a problem-oriented approach for environmental psychology. First, the problems being identified must be studied under certain specifications: they must be ongoing and occurring in real life, not in a laboratory. Second, the notions about the problems must derive directly from the source – meaning they must come directly from the specific environment where the problem is occurring. The solutions and understanding of the problems cannot come from an environment that has been constructed and modeled to look like real life. Environmental psychology needs to reflect the actual society, not a society built in a laboratory setting. The difficult task of the environmental psychologist is to study problems as they are occurring in everyday life. It is hard to reject all laboratory research because laboratory experiments are where theories may be tested without damaging the actual environment or can serve as models when testing solutions. Proshansky makes this point as well, discussing the difficulty in the overall problem oriented approach. He states that it is important, however, for the environmental psychologist to utilize all aspects of research and analysis of the findings and to take into account both the general and individualized aspects of the problems. Environmental psychology addresses environmental problems such as density and crowding, noise pollution, sub-standard living, and urban decay. Noise increases environmental stress. Although it has been found that control and predictability are the greatest factors in stressful effects of noise; context, pitch, source and habituation are also important variables [3]. Environmental psychologists have theorized that density and crowding can also have an adverse effect on mood and may cause stress-related illness or behavior. To understand and solve environmental problems, environmental psychologists believe concepts and principles should come directly from the physical settings and problems being looked at. For example, factors that reduce feelings of crowding within buildings include: Windows – particularly ones that can be opened and ones that provide a view as well as light High ceilings Doors to divide spaces (Baum and Davies) and provide access control Room shape – square rooms feel less crowded than rectangular ones (Dresor) Using partitions to create smaller, personalized spaces within an open plan office or larger work space. Providing increases in cognitive control over aspects of the internal environment, such as ventilation, light, privacy, etc. Conducting a cognitive appraisal of an environment and feelings of crowding in different settings. For example, one might be comfortable with crowding at a concert but not in school corridors. Creating a defensible space (Calhoun) Personal space and territory Proxemics is known as the study of human space. It also studies the effects that population has on human behavior, communication, and social interaction. Having an area of personal territory in a public space, e.g., at the office, is a key feature of many architectural designs. Having such a 'defensible space' can reduce the negative effects of crowding in urban environments. The term, coined by John B. Calhoun in 1947, is the result of multiple environmental experiments conducted on rats. Originally beginning as an experiment to measure how many rats could be accommodated in a given space, it expanded into determining how rats, given the proper food, shelter and bedding would behave under a confined environment. Under these circumstances, the males became aggressive, some exclusively homosexual. Others became pansexual and hypersexual, seeking every chance to mount any rat they encountered. As a result, mating behaviors were upset with an increase in infant mortalities. With parents failing to provide proper nests, thoughtlessly ditching their young and even attacking them, infant mortality rose as high as 96% in certain sections. Calhoun published the results as "Population Density and Social Pathology" in a 1962 edition of Scientific American. Creating barriers and customizing the space are ways of creating personal space, e.g., using pictures of one's family in an office setting. This increases cognitive control as one sees oneself as having control over the competitors to the personal space and therefore able to control the level of density and crowding in the space. Personal space can be both good and bad. It is good when it is used as stated above. Creating "personal space" in an office or work setting can make one feel more comfortable about being at work. Personal space can be bad when someone is in your personal space. In the image to the right, one person is mad at the other person because she is invading her personal space by laying on her. Systems oriented The systems-oriented approach to experimenting is applied to individuals or people that are a part of communities, groups, and organizations. These communities, groups, and organizations are systems in homeostasis. Homeostasis is known as the "state of steady conditions within a system." This approach particularly examines group interaction, as opposed to an individual's interaction and it emphasizes on factors of social integration. In the laboratory, experiments focus on cause and effect processes within human nature. Interdisciplinary oriented Environmental psychology relies on interaction with other disciplines in order to approach problems from multiple perspectives. The first discipline is the category of behavioral sciences, which include: sociology, political science, anthropology, and economics. Environmental psychology also interacts with the other interdisciplinary specialization field of psychology, which include: developmental psychology, cognitive science, industrial and organizational psychology, psychobiology, psychoanalysis, and social neuroscience. This multidisciplinary approach allows for a more comprehensive understanding of human-environment interactions. For instance, sociology provides insights into how social structures and cultural norms influence environmental behaviors, while economics helps analyze the financial incentives and barriers to sustainable practices. Cognitive science contributes to our understanding of how people perceive and process environmental information, which is crucial for developing effective environmental communication strategies. In addition to the more scientific fields of study, environmental psychology closely connect with the build environment. For instance, the green building designs promoting well-being and urban planning initiatives encouraging social interaction. Environmental psychology works with the design field which includes: the studies of architecture, interior design, urban planning, industrial and object design, landscape architecture, and preservation. This collaboration between environmental psychology and design fields has led to innovative approaches in creating spaces that enhance human well-being and environmental sustainability. For example, research in environmental psychology has informed the design of restorative environments in healthcare settings, improving patient outcomes. Additionally, insights from the field have contributed to the development of urban spaces that encourage pro-environmental behaviors, such as recycling and energy conservation. Space-over-time orientation Space over time orientation highlights the importance of the past. Examining problems with the past in mind creates a better understanding of how past forces, such as social, political, and economic forces, may be of relevance to present and future problems. Time and place are also important to consider. It is important to look at time over extended periods. Physical settings change over time; they change with respect to physical properties and they change because individuals using the space change over time. Looking at these spaces over time will help monitor the changes and possibly predict future problems. Concepts Nature restoration Environmental health shows the effects people have on the environment as well as the effects the environment has on people. From early studies showing that patients with a view of nature from their hospital recovered faster than patients with a window view of a brick wall, how, why, and to which extent nature has mental and physical restorative properties has been a central branch of the field. Although the positive effects of nature have been established, the theoretical underpinning of why it is restorative is still discussed. The most cited theory is the Attention Restoration Theory, which claims nature is a “soft fascination” which restores the ability to direct attention. It is said that being in nature can reduce stress. Studies show that it can reduce anger, improve mood, and even lower one's blood pressure. Secondly, Stress reduction theory claims that because humans have evolved in nature, this type of environment is relaxing, and more adjusted to the senses. Newer theoretical work includes the Conditioned Restoration Theory, which suggests a two-step process. The first step involves associating nature with relaxation, and the second step involves retrieving the same relaxation when presented with an associated stimulus. Place identity For many years Harold Proshansky and his colleagues at the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York, explored the concept of place identity. Place identity has been traditionally defined as a 'sub-structure of the self-identity of the person consisting of broadly conceived cognitions about the physical world in which the individual lives'. These cognitions define the daily experiences of every human being. Through one's attitudes, feelings, ideas, memories, personal values and preferences toward the range and type of physical settings, they can then understand the environment they live in and their overall experience. As a person interacts with various places and spaces, they are able to evaluate which properties in different environments fulfill his/her various needs. When a place contains components that satisfy a person biologically, socially, psychologically and/or culturally, it creates the environmental past of a person. Through 'good' or 'bad' experiences with a place, a person is then able to reflect and define their personal values, attitudes, feelings and beliefs about the physical world. Place identity has been described as the individual's incorporation of place into the larger concept of self; a "potpourri of memories, conceptions, interpretations, ideas, and related feelings about specific physical settings, as well as types of settings". Other theorists have been instrumental in the creation of the idea of place identity. Three humanistic geographers, Tuan (1980), Relph (1976) and Buttimer (1980), share a couple of basic assumptions. As a person lives and creates memories within a place, attachment is built and it is through one's personal connection to a place, that they gain a sense of belonging and purpose, which then gives significance and meaning to their life. Five central functions of place-identity have been depicted: recognition, meaning, expressive-requirement, mediating change, and anxiety and defense function. Place identity becomes a cognitive "database" against which every physical setting is experienced. The activities of a person often overlap with physical settings, which then create a background for the rest of life's interactions and events. The individual is frequently unaware of the array of feelings, values or memories of a singular place and simply becomes more comfortable or uncomfortable with certain broad kinds of physical settings, or prefers specific spaces to others. In the time since the term "place identity" was introduced, the theory has been the model for identity that has dominated environmental psychology. Place attachment According to the book, "Place Attachment", place attachment is a "complex phenomenon that incorporates people-place bonding" Many different perceptions of the bond between people and places have been hypothesized and studied. The most widespread terms include place attachment and sense of place. One consistent thread woven throughout most recent research on place attachment deals with the importance of the amount of time spent at a certain place (the length of association with a place). While both researchers and writers have made the case that time and experience in a place are important for deepening the meanings and emotional ties central to the person-place relationship, little in-depth research has studied these factors and their role in forging this connection. Place attachment is defined as one's emotional or affective ties to a place, and is generally thought to be the result of a long-term connection with a certain environment. This is different from a simple aesthetic response such as saying a certain place is special because it is beautiful. For example, one can have an emotional response to a beautiful (or ugly) landscape or place, but this response may sometimes be shallow and fleeting. This distinction is one that Schroeder labeled "meaning versus preference". According to Schroeder the definition of "meaning" is "the thoughts, feelings, memories and interpretations evoked by a landscape"; whereas "preference" is "the degree of liking for one landscape compared to another". For a deeper and lasting emotional attachment to develop (Or in Schroeder's terms, for it to have meaning) an enduring relationship with a place is usually a critical factor. Chigbu carried out a rural study of place-attachment using a qualitative approach to check its impact on a community, Uturu (in Nigeria), and found that it has a direct relationship to the level of community development. Environmental consciousness Leanne Rivlin theorized that one way to examine an individual's environmental consciousness is to recognize how the physical place is significant, and look at the people/place relationship. Environmental cognition (involved in human cognition) plays a crucial role in environmental perception. All different areas of the brain engage with environmentally relevant information. Some believe that the orbitofrontal cortex integrates environmentally relevant information from many distributed areas of the brain. Due to its anterior location within the frontal cortex, the orbitofrontal cortex may make judgments about the environment, and refine the organism's "understanding" through error analysis, and other processes specific to the prefrontal cortex. But to be certain, there is no single brain area dedicated to the organism's interactions with its environment. Rather, all brain areas are dedicated to this task. One area (probably the orbitofrontal cortex) may collate the various pieces of the informational puzzle in order to develop a long term strategy of engagement with the ever-changing "environment". Moreover, the orbitofrontal cortex may show the greatest change in blood oxygenation (BOLD level) when an organism thinks of the broad, and amorphous category referred to as "the environment". Research in this area is showing an increase in climate change related emotional experiences that are seen to be inherently adaptive. Engagement with these emotional experiences leads to a greater sense of connection with others and increased capacity to tolerate and reflect on emotions. Because of the recent concern with the environment, environmental consciousness or awareness has come to be related to the growth and development of understanding and consciousness toward the biophysical environment and its problems. Behavior settings The earliest noteworthy discoveries in the field of environmental psychology can be dated back to Roger Barker who created the field of ecological psychology. Founding his research station in Oskaloosa, Kansas in 1947, his field observations expanded into the theory that social settings influence behavior. Empirical data gathered in Oskaloosa from 1947 to 1972 helped him develop the concept of the "behavior setting" to help explain the relationship between the individual and the immediate environment. This was further explored in his work with Paul Gump in the book Big School, Small School: High School Size and Student Behavior. One of the first insightful explanations on why groups tend to be less satisfying for their members as they increase in size, their studies illustrated that large schools had a similar number of behavior settings to that of small schools. This resulted in the students' ability to presume many different roles in small schools (e.g. be in the school band and the school football team) but in larger schools, there was a propensity to deliberate over their social choices. In his book Ecological Psychology (1968), Barker stresses the importance of the town's behavior and environment as the residents' most ordinary instrument of describing their environment. "The hybrid, eco-behavioral character of behavior settings appear to present Midwest's inhabitants with no difficulty; nouns that combine milieu and standing behavior are common, e.g. oyster supper, basketball game, turkey dinner, golden gavel ceremony, cake walk, back surgery, gift exchange, livestock auction, auto repair." Barker argued that his students should implement T-methods (psychologist as 'transducer': i.e. methods in which they studied the man in his 'natural environment') rather than O-methods (psychologist as "operators" i.e. experimental methods). Basically, Barker preferred fieldwork and direct observation rather than controlled experiments. Some of the minute-by-minute observations of Kansan children from morning to night, jotted down by young and maternal graduate students, may be the most intimate and poignant documents in social science. Barker spent his career expanding on what he called ecological psychology, identifying these behavior settings, and publishing accounts such as One Boy's Day (1952) and Midwest and Its Children (1955). Natural environment research findings Environmental psychology research has observed various concepts relating to humans' innate connection to natural environments which begins in early childhood. One study shows that fostering children's connectedness to nature will, in turn, create habitual pro-ecological behaviors in time. Exposure to natural environment may lead to a positive psychological well-being and form positive attitudes and behavior towards nature. Connectedness to nature has shown to be a huge contributor to predicting people's general pro-ecological and pro-social behaviors. Connectedness to nature has also been shown to benefit well-being, happiness, and general satisfaction. "Nature-deficit disorder" has recently been coined to explain the lack of connectedness to nature due to a lack of consciousness identification and nature disconnect. Further research is required to make definitive claims about the effects of connectedness to nature. These positive mental health effects of environmental exposure and connection continue through adulthood and can be applied to work and other settings. One study found that nurses who weren't exposed to any natural elements throughout their work day would obtain a significantly lower score on scales measuring mental health, job satisfaction, and overall well-being. Additionally, the nurses who were not exposed to any natural elements were more likely to show signs of depression and anxiety than those who were exposed to natural elements throughout their work day. Applications Impact on the built environment Environmental psychologists rejected the laboratory-experimental paradigm because of its simplification and skewed view of the cause-and-effect relationships of human behaviors and experiences. Environmental psychologists examine how one or more parameters produce an effect while other measures are controlled. It is impossible to manipulate real-world settings in a laboratory. Environmental psychology is oriented towards influencing the work of design professionals (architects, engineers, interior designers, urban planners, etc.) and thereby improving the human environment. On a civic scale, efforts toward improving pedestrian landscapes have paid off, to some extent, from the involvement of figures like Jane Jacobs and Copenhagen's Jan Gehl. One prime figure here is the late writer and researcher William H. Whyte. His still-refreshing and perceptive "City", based on his accumulated observations of skilled Manhattan pedestrians, provides steps and patterns of use in urban plazas. The role and impact of architecture on human behavior is debated within the architectural profession. Views range from: supposing that people will adapt to new architectures and city forms; believing that architects cannot predict the impact of buildings on humans and therefore should base decisions on other factors; to those who undertake detailed precedent studies of local building types and how they are used by that society. Environmental psychology has conquered the whole architectural genre which is concerned with retail stores and any other commercial venues that have the power to manipulate the mood and behavior of customers (e.g. stadiums, casinos, malls, and now airports). From Philip Kotler's landmark paper on Atmospherics and Alan Hirsch's "Effects of Ambient Odors on Slot-Machine Usage in a Las Vegas Casino", through the creation and management of the Gruen transfer, retail relies heavily on psychology, original research, focus groups, and direct observation. One of William Whyte's students, Paco Underhill, makes a living as a "shopping anthropologist". Most of this advanced research remains a trade secret and proprietary. Environmental psychology is consulted thoroughly when discussing future city design. Eco-cities and eco-towns have been studied to determine the societal benefits of creating more sustainable and ecological designs. Eco-cities allow for humans to live in synch with nature and develop sustainable living techniques. The development of eco-cities requires knowledge in the interactions between "environmental, economic, political, and socio-cultural factors based on ecological principles". By increasing the focus on applying environmental psychology principles to urban planning and policy-making, we can create more livable and sustainable communities. Emerging of Technology As new technologies emerge, environmental psychologists research how these technologies are changing human-environment relationships. Smart home and city technologies are reshaping the human-environment relationship by creating more responsive and interactive living spaces. In many urban cities, technology was leveraged to promote sustainable behaviors, such as energy conservation and waste recycling, influencing individual daily habits. The urban design allow a living environment to be more adaptive and responsive to human behavior patterns. Smart home and city technologies open up opportunities for nudging sustainable behaviors but introduce corresponding privacy concerns. Environmental psychologists engage in research on the potential benefits, but also the risks, that these technologies have to promote well-being and environmental sustainability. As these technologies continue to evolve, they are doing far more than merely changing the environments we inhabit, they are also changing the ways in which we study and understand human-environment interactions. Organizations Project for Public Spaces (PPS) is a nonprofit organization that works to improve public spaces, particularly parks, civic centers, public markets, downtowns, and campuses. The staff of PPS is made up of individuals trained in environmental design, architecture, urban planning, urban geography, urban design, environmental psychology, landscape architecture, arts administration and information management. The organization has collaborated with many major institutions to improve the appearance and functionality of public spaces throughout the United States. In 2005, PPS co-founded The New York City Streets Renaissance, a campaign that worked to develop a new campaign model for transportation reform. This initiative implemented the transformation of excess sidewalk space in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan into public space. Also, by 2008, New York City reclaimed of traffic lanes and parking spots away from cars and gave it back to the public as bike lanes and public plazas. The Center for Human Environments at the CUNY Graduate Center is a research organization that examines the relationship between people and their physical settings. CHE has five subgroups that specialize in aiding specific populations: The Children's Environments Research Group, the Health and Society Research Group, the Housing Environments Research Group, the Public Space Research Group, and the Youth Studies Research Group. The most relevant scientific groups are the International Association of People-Environment Studies (IAPS) and the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA). Urban Ecology, The Urban Ecologist, and the International Eco-City Conference were some of the first collectives to establish the idea of eco-cities and townships. Challenges The field saw significant research findings and a fair surge of interest in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but has seen challenges of nomenclature, obtaining objective and repeatable results, scope, and the fact that some research rests on underlying assumptions about human perception, which is not fully understood. Being an interdisciplinary field is difficult because it lacks a solid definition and purpose. It is hard for the field to fit into organizational structures. In the words of Guido Francescato, speaking in 2000, environmental psychology encompasses a "somewhat bewildering array of disparate methodologies, conceptual orientations, and interpretations... making it difficult to delineate, with any degree of precision, just what the field is all about and what might it contribute to the construction of society and the unfolding of history." As environmental issues become increasingly urgent, environmental psychology is likely to play a more prominent role in addressing global challenges. A grand challenge in the field of environmental psychology today is to understand the impact of human behavior on the climate and climate change. Understanding why some people engage in pro-environment behaviors can help predict the necessary requirements to engage others in making sustainable change. Environmental psychology has not received nearly enough supporters to be considered an interdisciplinary field within psychology. Harold M. Proshanksy was one of the founders of environmental psychology and was quoted as saying "As I look at the field of environmental psychology today, I am concerned about its future. It has not, since its emergence in the early 1960s grown to the point where it can match the fields of social, personality, learning or cognitive psychology. To be sure, it has increased in membership, in the number of journals devoted to it, and even in the amount of professional organizational support it enjoys, but not enough so that one could look at any major university and find it to be a field of specialization in a department of psychology, or, more importantly, in an interdisciplinary center or institute". University courses University of Groningen offers a graduate program in environmental psychology focusing on the interactions between people and their environment. The program is taught by the world-leading Environmental Psychology group at the University of Groningen. University of Victoria offers general and advanced undergraduate courses in environmental psychology, and graduate courses in Psychology and Nature, as well as Environmental Psychology of the Built Environment. The psychology graduate department also offers individualized master's and PhD programs in Environmental Psychology under the supervision of Dr. Robert Gifford. Antioch University New England Graduate School offers graduate programs involving environmental education through a planning approach. With environmental psychology being such a diverse field with many different approaches, students have a variety of programs to choose from. Arizona State University offers a master's in Environmental Resources, which takes more of a planning approach to the field. The Environmental Psychology Ph.D program at the CUNY Graduate Center takes a multidisciplinary approach to examining and changing "the serious problems associated with the urban environment with a view towards affecting public policy" using social science theory and research methods. The GC-CUNY was the first academic institution in the U.S. to grant a Ph.D. in Environmental Psychology. As discussed in detail on the program website, "recent research has addressed the experiences of recently housed homeless people, the privatization of public space, socio-spatial conflicts, children's safety in the public environment, relocation, community based approaches to housing, the design of specialized environments such as museums, zoos, gardens and hospitals, the changing relationships between home, family and work, the environmental experiences of gay men and lesbians, and access to parks and other urban 'green spaces'." See also The Center for Human Environments. Cornell University's department of Design and Environmental Analysis offers undergraduate and graduate (Master of Science in Human Environment Relations, Master of Arts in Design, and Ph.D in Human Behavior and Design) studies in environmental psychology, interior design, sustainable design studies, human factors and ergonomics, and facility planning and management. Drexel University offers a Master of Science degree in Design Research. Of two degree paths, the Environmental Design and Health path includes study with community practitioners and researchers in design and related fields, including health, community design, and public policy. Research typically includes data collection and engaged research practices of design thinking and participatory design. This area of investigation has the potential to create innovative health and educational partnerships, economic opportunities and neighborhood initiatives and relates to the strategic mission of the university to be highly engaged in civic sustainability. Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences offers a Masters in Environmental psychology. The focus is on how people are affected by both physical and virtual environments, as well as how people affect nature. The program offers courses on environmental behaviour, environment and neuroscience, human factors, virtual environments and cognitive design, change management and greening organizations and architecture and aesthetics. The Ohio State University City & Regional Planning Program, in the School of Architecture, offers a specialization in environmental psychology (urban design/physical planning and behavior) at both the master's and PhD level. Dissertations have examined such topics as environmental aesthetics, spatial cognition, ethnic enclaves, neighborhood decline, neighborhood satisfaction, restorative and livable places, and behavior change. Prescott College offers a master's program that incorporates a number of the foundations of environmental psychology as well. The sub-fields in which the program provides includes environmental education, environmental studies, ecology, botany, resource policy, and planning. University of California, Irvine offers a doctoral specialization in Design & Behavior Research within the Department of Planning, Policy, and Design in the School of Social Ecology, and undergraduate coursework in Environmental Psychology offered jointly by the Departments of Psychology and Social Behavior, Planning, Policy, and Design, and the Program in Public Health. The University of Michigan offers Master of Science and Master of Arts degrees in its new School for Sustainability and Environment (SEAS). The focus is on how people affect and are affected by environments, and includes a pragmatic approach to promoting environmental stewardship behavior, as well as a focus on how "nearby nature" affects people's mental vitality, physical health and well-being. An emerging theme is helping people to remain optimistic while learning to respond well to increasingly difficult biophysical circumstances. Another strain of environmental psychology developed out of ergonomics in the 1960s. The beginning of this movement can be traced back to David Canter's work and the founding of the "Performance Research Unit" at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1966, which expanded traditional ergonomics to study broader issues relating to the environment and the extent to which human beings were "situated" within it (cf situated cognition). Canter led the field in the UK for years and was the editor of the Journal of Environmental Psychology for over 20 years, but has recently turned his attention to criminology. The University of Surrey was the first institution that offered an architectural psychology course in the UK starting in 1973. Since then, there have been over 250 graduates from over 25 countries. The Environmental Psychology Research Group (EPRG) within the University of Surrey, of which students on the M.Sc in Environmental Psychology are automatically members, has been undertaking research for more than thirty years. EPRG's mission is to gain a better understanding of the environmental and psychological effects of space, no matter the size, with help from social sciences, psychology, and methodologies. There are four categories under which the research projects fall: sustainable development, environmental risk, architectural assessment and environmental design, and environmental education and interpretation. Other universities in the UK now offer courses on the subject, which is an expanding field. See the APA's list of additional environmental psychology graduate programs here: http://www.apadivisions.org/division-34/about/resources/graduate-programs.aspx Academic and professional bodies The main academic and professional organizations for the discipline of Environmental Psychology are Division 34: Society for Environmental, Population, & Conservation Psychology of the American Psychological Association (APA), the International Association of People-Environment Studies (IAPS), Division 4: Environmental Psychology of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP), the Environmental Psychology Section of the German Psychological Society (DGPs), and the Environmental Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society. Academic journals There are several peer-reviewed psychological journals that publish academic work on environmental psychology: Journal of Environmental Psychology, Environment and Behavior, Umweltpsychologie, Global Environmental Psychology, Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology, Frontiers in Psychology: Section for Environmental Psychology. Academic work also appears in interdisciplinary journals that have a broad thematic focus: Global Environmental Change, Journal of Environmental Communication, Energy Research & Social Science, Nature Climate Change, Nature Human Behaviour, or PLOS One. Journals in the related field of Ecopsychology may also publish environmental psychological research. These journals include Ecological Psychology (journal), PsyEcology, Journal of Ecopsychology, and European Journal of Ecopsychology. Other contributors Other notable researchers and writers in this field include: Linda Steg, Professor of Environmental Psychology. Lead author of the IPCC special report in 2017 and awarded the Stevin Prize in 2020. David Canter, Emeritus Professor at The University of Liverpool. Developed the Environmental Psychology Program at the University of Surrey in 1971 and established, with Kenneth Craik The Journal of Environmental Psychology in 1980. Best known for his "Psychology of Place" theory and his development of building evaluations as part of the Building Performance Research Unit at The University of Strathclyde. Irwin Altman, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Utah Robert Gifford, Ph.D. Department of Psychology University of Victoria. Current Editor of the Journal of Environmental Psychology and author of Environmental Psychology: Principles and Practice (5th edition, 2014). James J. Gibson, Best known for coining the word affordance, a description of what the environment offers the animal in terms of action Roger Hart Professor of Environmental Psychology, Director of the Center for Human Environments and the Children's Environments Research Group, The Graduate Center, City University of New York Rachel and Stephen Kaplan, Professors of psychology at the University of Michigan, the Kaplans are known for their research on the effect of nature on people's relationships and health, including Attention Restoration Theory and are renowned in the field of environmental psychology Cindi Katz, Professor of Environmental Psychology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York Setha Low, Professor of Environmental Psychology and Director of the Public Space Research Group, The Graduate Center, City University of New York Kevin A. Lynch and his research into the formation of mental maps Francis T. McAndrew, Cornelia H. Dudley Professor of Psychology at Knox College and author of "Environmental Psychology" (1993). Bill Mollison, developed the Environmental Psychology Unit at the University of Tasmania, and also Permaculture with David Holmgren Amos Rapoport, Distinguished Professor Emeritus Department of Architecture Leanne Rivlin, Professor of Environmental Psychology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York Susan Saegert, Director of the Environmental Psychology PhD Program and of the Housing Environments Research Group at the City University of New York Perla Serfaty, Moroccan-born French and Canadian academic, sociologist, psychosociologist, writer; 2018 inductee into the International Association of People-Environment Studies Hall of Fame Robert Sommer, a pioneer of the field who first studied personal space in the 1950s and is perhaps best known for his 1969 book Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design, but is also the author of numerous other books, including Design Awareness, and hundreds of articles. Daniel Stokols, Chancellor's Professor, School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine; edited Handbook of Environmental Psychology with Irwin Altman; author, Perspectives on Environment and Behavior; co-author, Health, Behavior, and Environmental Stress with Sheldon Cohen, Gary Evans, and David Krantz Allan Wicker, who expanded behavior setting theories to include other areas of study, including qualitative research, and social psychology. Gary Winkel, Professor of Environmental Psychology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York James A. Swan, professor, media producer and writer who authored one of the first popular articles on environmental education, produced symposiums on the Gaia Hypothesis and the significance of place, produced several documentary films on environmental topics and Co-Executive Producer of the Wild Justice TV series on the National Geographic Channel. David Uzzell, first Professor of Environmental Psychology in UK, University of Surrey. Research on public understandings of climate crisis, behaviour change and environmental practices, environmental labour studies, environmental risk, heritage interpretation. See also Aesthetics Architectural psychology in Germany Biophilia hypothesis Children, Youth and Environments (journal) Climatotherapy Cognitive geography Conservation psychology Crime prevention through environmental design Deep ecology Eco-anxiety Ecological empathy Environmental dependence syndrome Evolutionary psychology Feng shui Healing environments Healthy building Hostile architecture Interior design psychology Journal of Environmental Psychology Mental environment Nidotherapy Situational strength References Notes Bibliography Allesch, Christian G. (2003). "Person and Environment: Reflections on the roots of environmental psychology". In 22nd Annual Conference of the European Society for the History of the Human Sciences. Barker, Roger Garlock (1968). "Ecological Psychology: Concepts and Methods for Studying the Environment of Human Behavior". Stanford University Press. Barrera-Hernández, Laura Fernanda; Sotelo-Castillo, Mirsha Alicia; Echeverría-Castro, Sonia Beatriz; Tapia-Fonllem, César Octavio (2020). "Connectedness to Nature: Its Impact on Sustainable Behaviors and Happiness in Children". Frontiers in Psychology. 0. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00276. ISSN 1664-1078. Barrera-Hernández, Laura Fernanda; Sotelo-Castillo, Mirsha Alicia; Echeverría-Castro, Sonia Beatriz; Tapia-Fonllem, César Octavio (2020). "Connectedness to Nature: Its Impact on Sustainable Behaviors and Happiness in Children". Frontiers in Psychology. 0. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00276. ISSN 1664-1078. Bell P., Greene T., Fisher, J., & Baum, A. (1996). Environmental Psychology. Ft Worth: Harcourt Brace. Canter D., (1977) "The Psychology of Place" London: Architectural Press. available as an eBook Chigbu, U.E. (2013). "Fostering rural sense of place: the missing piece in Uturu, Nigeria", Development In Practice 23 (2): 264-277. De Young, R. (2013). "Environmental Psychology Overview". In Ann H. Huffman & Stephanie Klein [Eds.] Green Organizations: Driving Change with IO Psychology. (Pp. 17-33). NY: Routledge. "Eco-innovations in Designing Eco-cities and Eco-towns". The Smart City Journal. Retrieved 2021-07-30. Gifford, R. (2014). Environmental Psychology: Principles and Practice (5th ed.). Colville, WA: Optimal Books. Gifford, R. (Ed.)(2016). Research Methods for Environmental Psychology. New York: Wiley. Ittelson, W. H., Proshansky, H., Rivlin, L., & Winkel, G. (1974). An Introduction to Environmental Psychology. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Translated into German and Japanese. Proshansky, H. M. (1987). "The field of environmental psychology: securing its future". In Handbook of Environmental Psychology, eds. D. Stokols and I. Altman. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Proshansky, Harold, Abbe Fabian, and Robert Kaminoff. (1983). "Place Identity: Physical World Socialization of the Self", Journal of Environmental Psychology 3 (1): 57-83. Rivlin, L. G. (1990). "Paths towards environmental consciousness". pp. 169–185 in Environment and Behavior Studies: Emergence of Intellectual Traditions, eds. I. Altman and K. Christensen. NY: Plenum. Sörqvist, Patrik (2016). "Grand Challenges in Environmental Psychology". Frontiers in Psychology. 0. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00583. ISSN 1664-1078. Stokols, D., and I. Altman, eds. (1987). Handbook of Environmental Psychology. New York: John Wiley & Sons. "What is environmental psychology? | APS". www.psychology.org.au. Retrieved 2021-07-30. Whitburn, Julie (2020). "Children's environmental psychology, behaviour and education and wellbeing: The role of connection to nature". Zube, E.H., and G. T. Moore, eds. (1991). Advances in Environment, Behavior, and Design, Volume 3. New York: Plenum Press. External links Environmental Psychology at Classification of Instructional Programs Environmental social science

Life-cycle assessment

Life cycle assessment (LCA), also known as life cycle analysis, is a methodology for assessing environmental impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service. For instance, in the case of a manufactured product, environmental impacts are assessed from raw material extraction and processing (cradle), through the product's manufacture, distribution and use, to the recycling or final disposal of the materials composing it (grave). An LCA study involves a thorough inventory of the energy and materials that are required across the supply chain and value chain of a product, process or service, and calculates the corresponding emissions to the environment. LCA thus assesses cumulative potential environmental impacts. The aim is to document and improve the overall environmental profile of the product by serving as a holistic baseline upon which carbon footprints can be accurately compared. Widely recognized procedures for conducting LCAs are included in the 14000 series of environmental management standards of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), in particular, in ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. ISO 14040 provides the 'principles and framework' of the Standard, while ISO 14044 provides an outline of the 'requirements and guidelines'. Generally, ISO 14040 was written for a managerial audience and ISO 14044 for practitioners. As part of the introductory section of ISO 14040, LCA has been defined as the following:LCA studies the environmental aspects and potential impacts throughout a product's life cycle (i.e., cradle-to-grave) from raw materials acquisition through production, use and disposal. The general categories of environmental impacts needing consideration include resource use, human health, and ecological consequences.Criticisms have been leveled against the LCA approach, both in general and with regard to specific cases (e.g., in the consistency of the methodology, the difficulty in performing, the cost in performing, revealing of intellectual property, and the understanding of system boundaries). When the understood methodology of performing an LCA is not followed, it can be completed based on a practitioner's views or the economic and political incentives of the sponsoring entity (an issue plaguing all known data-gathering practices). In turn, an LCA completed by 10 different parties could yield 10 different results. The ISO LCA Standard aims to normalize this; however, the guidelines are not overly restrictive and 10 different answers may still be generated. Definition, synonyms, goals, and purpose Life cycle assessment (LCA) is sometimes referred to synonymously as life cycle analysis in the scholarly and agency report literatures. Also, due to the general nature of an LCA study of examining the life cycle impacts from raw material extraction (cradle) through disposal (grave), it is sometimes referred to as "cradle-to-grave analysis". As stated by the National Risk Management Research Laboratory of the EPA, "LCA is a technique to assess the environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with a product, process, or service, by: Compiling an inventory of relevant energy and material inputs and environmental releases Evaluating the potential environmental impacts associated with identified inputs and releases Interpreting the results to help you make a more informed decision". Hence, it is a technique to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product's life from raw material extraction through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and disposal or recycling. The results are used to help decision-makers select products or processes that result in the least impact to the environment by considering an entire product system and avoiding sub-optimization that could occur if only a single process were used. Therefore, the goal of LCA is to compare the full range of environmental effects assignable to products and services by quantifying all inputs and outputs of material flows and assessing how these material flows affect the environment. This information is used to improve processes, support policy and provide a sound basis for informed decisions. The term life cycle refers to the notion that a fair, holistic assessment requires the assessment of raw-material production, manufacture, distribution, use and disposal including all intervening transportation steps necessary or caused by the product's existence. Despite attempts to standardize LCA, results from different LCAs are often contradictory, therefore it is unrealistic to expect these results to be unique and objective. Thus, it should not be considered as such, but rather as a family of methods attempting to quantify results through a different point-of-view. Among these methods are two main types: Attributional LCA and Consequential LCA. Attributional LCAs seek to attribute the burdens associated with the production and use of a product, or with a specific service or process, for an identified temporal period. Consequential LCAs seek to identify the environmental consequences of a decision or a proposed change in a system under study, and thus are oriented to the future and require that market and economic implications must be taken into account. In other words, Attributional LCA "attempts to answer 'how are things (i.e. pollutants, resources, and exchanges among processes) flowing within the chosen temporal window?', while Consequential LCA attempts to answer 'how will flows beyond the immediate system change in response to decisions?" A third type of LCA, termed "social LCA", is also under development and is a distinct approach to that is intended to assess potential social and socio-economic implications and impacts. Social life cycle assessment (SLCA) is a useful tool for companies to identify and assess potential social impacts along the lifecycle of a product or service on various stakeholders (for example: workers, local communities, consumers). SLCA is framed by the UNEP/SETAC’s Guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products published in 2009 in Quebec. The tool builds on the ISO 26000:2010 Guidelines for Social Responsibility and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Guidelines. The limitations of LCA to focus solely on the ecological aspects of sustainability, and not the economical or social aspects, distinguishes it from product line analysis (PLA) and similar methods. This limitation was made deliberately to avoid method overload but recognizes these factors should not be ignored when making product decisions. Some widely recognized procedures for LCA are included in the ISO 14000 series of environmental management standards, in particular, ISO 14040 and 14044. Greenhouse gas (GHG) product life cycle assessments can also comply with specifications such as Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2050 and the GHG Protocol Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard. Main ISO phases of LCA According to standards in the ISO 14040 and 14044, an LCA is carried out in four distinct phases, as illustrated in the figure shown at the above right (at opening of the article). The phases are often interdependent, in that the results of one phase will inform how other phases are completed. Therefore, none of the stages should be considered finalized until the entire study is complete. Goal and scope The ISO LCA Standard requires a series of parameters to be quantitatively and qualitatively expressed, which are occasionally referred to as study design parameters (SPDs). The two main SPDs for an LCA are the Goal and Scope, both which must be explicitly stated. It is recommended that a study uses the keywords represented in the Standard when documenting these details (e.g., "The goal of the study is...") to make sure there is no confusion and ensure the study is being interpreted for its intended use. Generally, an LCA study starts with a clear statement of its goal, outlining the study's context and detailing how and to whom the results will be communicated. Per ISO guidelines, the goal must unambiguously state the following items: The intended application Reasons for carrying out the study The audience Whether the results will be used in a comparative assertion released publicly The goal should also be defined with the commissioner for the study, and it is recommended a detailed description for why the study is being carried out is acquired from the commissioner. Following the goal, the scope must be defined by outlining the qualitative and quantitative information included in the study. Unlike the goal, which may only include a few sentences, the scope often requires multiple pages. It is set to describe the detail and depth of the study and demonstrate that the goal can be achieved within the stated limitations. Under the ISO LCA Standard guidelines, the scope of the study should outline the following: Product system, which is a collection of processes (activities that transform inputs to outputs) that are needed to perform a specified function and are within the system boundary of the study. It is representative of all the processes in the life cycle of a product or process. Functional unit, which defines precisely what is being studied, quantifies the service delivered by the system, provides a reference to which the inputs and outputs can be related, and provides a basis for comparing/analyzing alternative goods or services. The functional unit is a very important component of LCA and needs to be clearly defined. It is used as a basis for selecting one or more product systems that can provide the function. Therefore, the functional unit enables different systems to be treated as functionally equivalent. The defined functional unit should be quantifiable, include units, consider temporal coverage, and not contain product system inputs and outputs (e.g., kg emissions). Another way to look at it is by considering the following questions: What? How much? For how long / how many times? Where? How well? Reference flow, which is the amount of product or energy that is needed to realize the functional unit. Typically, the reference flow is different qualitatively and quantitatively for different products or systems across the same reference flow; however, there are instances where they can be the same. System boundary, which delimits which processes should be included in the analysis of a product system, including whether the system produces any co-products that must be accounted for by system expansion or allocation. The system boundary should be in accordance with the stated goal of the study. Assumptions and limitations, which includes any assumptions or decisions made throughout the study that may influence the final results. It is important these are made transmitted as the omittance may result in misinterpretation of the results. Additional assumptions and limitations necessary to accomplish the project are often made throughout the project and should recorded as necessary. Data quality requirements, which specify the kinds of data that will be included and what restrictions. According to ISO 14044, the following data quality considerations should be documented in the scope: Temporal coverage Geographical coverage Technological coverage Precision, completeness, and representativeness of the data Consistency and reproducibility of the methods used in the study Sources of data Uncertainty of information and any recognized data gaps Allocation procedure, which is used to partition the inputs and outputs of a product and is necessary for processes that produce multiple products, or co-products. This is also known as multifunctionality of a product system. ISO 14044 presents a hierarchy of solutions to deal with multifunctionality issues, as the choice of allocation method for co-products can significantly impact results of an LCA. The hierarchy methods are as follows: Avoid Allocation by Sub-Division - this method attempts to disaggregate the unit process into smaller sub-processes in order to separate the production of the product from the production of the co-product. Avoid Allocation through System Expansion (or substitution) - this method attempts to expand the process of the co-product with the most likely way of providing the secondary function of the determining product (or reference product). In other words, by expanding the system of the co-product in the most likely alternative way of producing the co-product independently (System 2). The impacts resulting from the alternative way of producing the co-product (System 2) are then subtracted from the determining product to isolate the impacts in System 1. Allocation (or partition) based on Physical Relationship - this method attempts to divide inputs and outputs and allocate them based on physical relationships between the products (e.g., mass, energy-use, etc.). Allocation (or partition) based on Other Relationship (non-physical) - this method attempts to divide inputs and outputs and allocate them based on non-physical relationships (e.g., economic value). Impact assessment, which includes an outline of the impact categories identified under interest for the study, and the selected methodology used to calculate the respective impacts. Specifically, life cycle inventory data is translated into environmental impact scores, which might include such categories as human toxicity, smog, global warming, and eutrophication. As part of the scope, only an overview needs to be provided, as the main analysis on the impact categories is discussed in the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) phase of the study. Documentation of data, which is the explicit documentation of the inputs/outputs (individual flows) used within the study. This is necessary as most analyses do not consider all inputs and outputs of a product system, so this provides the audience with a transparent representation of the selected data. It also provides transparency for why the system boundary, product system, functional unit, etc. was chosen. Life cycle inventory (LCI) Life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis involves creating an inventory of flows from and to nature (ecosphere) for a product system. It is the process of quantifying raw material and energy requirements, atmospheric emissions, land emissions, water emissions, resource uses, and other releases over the life cycle of a product or process. In other words, it is the aggregation of all elementary flows related to each unit process within a product system. To develop the inventory, it is often recommended to start with a flow model of the technical system using data on inputs and outputs of the product system. The flow model is typically illustrated with a flow diagram that includes the activities that are going to be assessed in the relevant supply chain and gives a clear picture of the technical system boundaries. Generally, the more detailed and complex the flow diagram, the more accurate the study and results. The input and output data needed for the construction of the model is collected for all activities within the system boundary, including from the supply chain (referred to as inputs from the technosphere). According to ISO 14044, an LCI should be documented using the following steps: Preparation of data collection based on goal and scope Data collection Data validation (even if using another work's data) Data allocation (if needed) Relating data to the unit process Relating data to the functional unit Data aggregation As referenced in the ISO 14044 standard, the data must be related to the functional unit, as well as the goal and scope. However, since the LCA stages are iterative in nature, the data collection phase may cause the goal or scope to change. Conversely, a change in the goal or scope during the course of the study may cause additional collection of data or removal of previously collected data in the LCI. The output of an LCI is a compiled inventory of elementary flows from all of the processes in the studied product system(s). The data is typically detailed in charts and requires a structured approach due to its complex nature. When collecting the data for each process within the system boundary, the ISO LCA standard requires the study to measure or estimate the data in order to quantitatively represent each process in the product system. Ideally, when collecting data, a practitioner should aim to collect data from primary sources (e.g., measuring inputs and outputs of a process on-site or other physical means). Questionnaire are frequently used to collect data on-site and can even be issued to the respective manufacturer or company to complete. Items on the questionnaire to be recorded may include: Product for data collection Data collector and date Period of data collection Detailed explanation of the process Inputs (raw materials, ancillary materials, energy, transportation) Outputs (emissions to air, water, and land) Quantity and quality of each input and output Oftentimes, the collection of primary data may be difficult and deemed proprietary or confidential by the owner. An alternative to primary data is secondary data, which is data that comes from LCA databases, literature sources, and other past studies. With secondary sources, it is often you find data that is similar to a process but not exact (e.g., data from a different country, slightly different process, similar but different machine, etc.). As such, it is important to explicitly document the differences in such data. However, secondary data is not always inferior to primary data. For example, referencing another work's data in which the author used very accurate primary data. Along with primary data, secondary data should document the source, reliability, and temporal, geographical, and technological representativeness. When identifying the inputs and outputs to document for each unit process within the product system of an LCI, a practitioner may come across the instance where a process has multiple input streams or generate multiple output streams. In such case, the practitioner should allocate the flows based on the "Allocation procedure" outlined in the previous "Goal and scope" section of this article. The technosphere is more simply defined as the human-made world, and considered by geologists as secondary resources, these resources are in theory 100% recyclable; however, in a practical sense, the primary goal is salvage. For an LCI, these technosphere products (supply chain products) are those that have been produced by humans, including products such as forestry, materials, and energy flows. Typically, they will not have access to data concerning inputs and outputs for previous production processes of the product. The entity undertaking the LCA must then turn to secondary sources if it does not already have that data from its own previous studies. National databases or data sets that come with LCA-practitioner tools, or that can be readily accessed, are the usual sources for that information. Care must then be taken to ensure that the secondary data source properly reflects regional or national conditions. LCI methods include "process-based LCAs", economic input–output LCA (EIOLCA), and hybrid approaches. Process-based LCA is a bottom-up LCI approach the constructs an LCI using knowledge about industrial processes within the life cycle of a product, and the physical flows connecting them. EIOLCA is a top-down approach to LCI and uses information on elementary flows associated with one unit of economic activity across different sectors. This information is typically pulled from government agency national statistics tracking trade and services between sectors. Hybrid LCA is a combination of process-based LCA and EIOLCA. The quality of LCI data is typically evaluated with the use of a pedigree matrix. Different pedigree matrices are available, but all contain a number of data quality indicators and a set of qualitative criteria per indicator. There is another hybrid approach integrates the widely used, semi-quantitative approach that uses a pedigree matrix, into a qualitative analysis to better illustrate the quality of LCI data for non-technical audiences, in particular policymakers. Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) Life cycle inventory analysis is followed by a life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). This phase of LCA is aimed at evaluating the potential environmental and human health impacts resulting from the elementary flows determined in the LCI. The ISO 14040 and 14044 standards require the following mandatory steps for completing an LCIA: Mandatory Selection of impaction categories, category indicators, and characterization models. The ISO Standard requires that a study selects multiple impacts that encompass "a comprehensive set of environmental issues". The impacts should be relevant to the geographical region of the study and justification for each chosen impact should be discussed. Often times in practice, this is completed by choosing an already existing LCIA method (e.g., TRACI, ReCiPe, AWARE, etc.). Classification of inventory results. In this step, the LCI results are assigned to the chosen impact categories based on their known environmental effects. In practice, this is often completed using LCI databases or LCA software. Common impact categories include Global Warming, Ozone Depletion, Acidification, Human Toxicity, etc. Characterization, which quantitatively transforms the LCI results within each impact category via "characterization factors" (also referred to as equivalency factors) to create "impact category indicators." In other words, this step is aimed at answering "how much does each result contribute to the impact category?" A main purpose of this step is to convert all classified flows for an impact into common units for comparison. For example, for Global Warming Potential, the unit is generally defined as CO2-equiv or CO2-e (CO2 equivalents) where CO2 is given a value of 1 and all other units are converted respective to their related impact. In many LCAs, characterization concludes the LCIA analysis, as it is the last compulsory stage according to ISO 14044. However, the ISO Standard provides the following optional steps to be taken in addition to the aforementioned mandatory steps: Optional Normalization of results. This step aims to answer "Is that a lot?" by expressing the LCIA results in respect to a chosen reference system. A separate reference value is often chosen for each impact category, and the rationale for the step is to provide temporal and spatial perspective and to help validate the LCIA results. Standard references are typical impacts per impact category per: geographical zone, inhabitant of geographical zone (per person), industrial sector, or another product system or baseline reference scenario. Grouping of LCIA results. This step is accomplished by sorting or ranking the LCIA results (either characterized or normalized depending on the prior steps chosen) into a single group or several groups as defined within the goal and scope. However, grouping is subjective and may be inconsistent across studies. Weighting of impact categories. This step aims to determine the significance of each category and how important it is relative to the others. It allows studies to aggregate impact scores into a single indicator for comparison. Weighting is highly subjective and as it is often decided based on the interested parties' ethics. There are three main categories of weighting methods: the panel method, monetization method, and target method. ISO 14044 generally advises against weighting, stating that "weighting, shall not be used in LCA studies intended to be used in comparative assertions intended to be disclosed to the public". If a study decides to weight results, then the weighted results should always be reported together with the non-weighted results for transparency. Life cycle impacts can also be categorized under the several phases of the development, production, use, and disposal of a product. Broadly speaking, these impacts can be divided into first impacts, use impacts, and end of life impacts. First impacts include extraction of raw materials, manufacturing (conversion of raw materials into a product), transportation of the product to a market or site, construction/installation, and the beginning of the use or occupancy. Use impacts include physical impacts of operating the product or facility (such as energy, water, etc.), and any maintenance, renovation, or repairs that are required to continue to use the product or facility. End of life impacts include demolition and processing of waste or recyclable materials. Interpretation Life cycle interpretation is a systematic technique to identify, quantify, check, and evaluate information from the results of the life cycle inventory and/or the life cycle impact assessment. The results from the inventory analysis and impact assessment are summarized during the interpretation phase. The outcome of the interpretation phase is a set of conclusions and recommendations for the study. According to ISO 14043, the interpretation should include the following: Identification of significant issues based on the results of the LCI and LCIA phases of an LCA Evaluation of the study considering completeness, sensitivity and consistency checks Conclusions, limitations and recommendations A key purpose of performing life cycle interpretation is to determine the level of confidence in the final results and communicate them in a fair, complete, and accurate manner. Interpreting the results of an LCA is not as simple as "3 is better than 2, therefore Alternative A is the best choice". Interpretation begins with understanding the accuracy of the results, and ensuring they meet the goal of the study. This is accomplished by identifying the data elements that contribute significantly to each impact category, evaluating the sensitivity of these significant data elements, assessing the completeness and consistency of the study, and drawing conclusions and recommendations based on a clear understanding of how the LCA was conducted and the results were developed. Specifically, as voiced by M.A. Curran, the goal of the LCA interpretation phase is to identify the alternative that has the least cradle-to-grave environmental negative impact on land, sea, and air resources. LCA uses LCA was primarily used as a comparison tool, providing informative information on the environmental impacts of a product and comparing it to available alternatives. Its potential applications expanded to include marketing, product design, product development, strategic planning, consumer education, ecolabeling and government policy. ISO specifies three types of classification in regard to standards and environmental labels: Type I environmental labelling requires a third-party certification process to verify a products compliance against a set of criteria, according to ISO 14024. Type II environmental labels are self-declared environmental claims, according to ISO 14021. Type III environmental declaration, also known as environmental product declaration (EPD), uses LCA as a tool to report the environmental performance of a product, while conforming to the ISO standards 14040 and 14044. EPDs provide a level of transparency that is being increasingly demanded through policies and standards around the world. They are used in the built environment as a tool for experts in the industry to compose whole building life cycle assessments more easily, as the environmental impact of individual products are known. Data analysis A life cycle analysis is only as accurate and valid as is its basis set of data. There are two fundamental types of LCA data–unit process data, and environmental input-output (EIO) data. A unit process data collects data around a single industrial activity and its product(s), including resources used from the environment and other industries, as well as its generated emissions throughout its life cycle. EIO data are based on national economic input-output data. In 2001, ISO published a technical specification on data documentation, describing the format for life cycle inventory data (ISO 14048). The format includes three areas: process, modeling and validation, and administrative information. When comparing LCAs, the data used in each LCA should be of equivalent quality, since no just comparison can be done if one product has a much higher availability of accurate and valid data, as compared to another product which has lower availability of such data. Moreover, time horizon is a sensitive parameter and was shown to introduce inadvertent bias by providing one perspective on the outcome of LCA, when comparing the toxicity potential between petrochemicals and biopolymers for instance. Therefore, conducting sensitivity analysis in LCA are important to determine which parameters considerably impact the results, and can also be used to identify which parameters cause uncertainties. Data sources used in LCAs are typically large databases. Common data sources include: HESTIA (University of Oxford) soca EuGeos' 15804-IA NEEDS CarbonCloud ecoinvent PSILCA ESU World Food GaBi ELCD LC-Inventories.ch Social Hotspots ProBas bioenergiedat Agribalyse USDA Ökobaudat Agri-footprint Comprehensive Environmental Data Archive (CEDA) As noted above, the inventory in the LCA usually considers a number of stages including materials extraction, processing and manufacturing, product use, and product disposal. When an LCA is done on a product across all stages, the stage with the highest environmental impact can be determined and altered. For example, woolen-garment was evaluated on its environmental impacts during its production, use and end-of-life, and identified the contribution of fossil fuel energy to be dominated by wool processing and GHG emissions to be dominated by wool production. However, the most influential factor was the number of garment wear and length of garment lifetime, indicating that the consumer has the largest influence on this products' overall environmental impact. Variants Cradle-to-grave or life cycle assessment Cradle-to-grave is the full life cycle assessment from resource extraction ('cradle'), to manufacturing, usage, and maintenance, all the way through to its disposal phase ('grave'). For example, trees produce paper, which can be recycled into low-energy production cellulose (fiberised paper) insulation, then used as an energy-saving device in the ceiling of a home for 40 years, saving 2,000 times the fossil-fuel energy used in its production. After 40 years the cellulose fibers are replaced and the old fibers are disposed of, possibly incinerated. All inputs and outputs are considered for all the phases of the life cycle. Cradle-to-gate Cradle-to-gate is an assessment of a partial product life cycle from resource extraction (cradle) to the factory gate (i.e., before it is transported to the consumer). The use phase and disposal phase of the product are omitted in this case. Cradle-to-gate assessments are sometimes the basis for environmental product declarations (EPD) termed business-to-business EPDs. One of the significant uses of the cradle-to-gate approach compiles the life cycle inventory (LCI) using cradle-to-gate. This allows the LCA to collect all of the impacts leading up to resources being purchased by the facility. They can then add the steps involved in their transport to plant and manufacture process to more easily produce their own cradle-to-gate values for their products. Cradle-to-cradle or closed loop production Cradle-to-cradle is a specific kind of cradle-to-grave assessment, where the end-of-life disposal step for the product is a recycling process. It is a method used to minimize the environmental impact of products by employing sustainable production, operation, and disposal practices and aims to incorporate social responsibility into product development. From the recycling process originate new, identical products (e.g., asphalt pavement from discarded asphalt pavement, glass bottles from collected glass bottles), or different products (e.g., glass wool insulation from collected glass bottles). Allocation of burden for products in open loop production systems presents considerable challenges for LCA. Various methods, such as the avoided burden approach have been proposed to deal with the issues involved. Gate-to-gate Gate-to-gate is a partial LCA looking at only one value-added process in the entire production chain. Gate-to-gate modules may also later be linked in their appropriate production chain to form a complete cradle-to-gate evaluation. Well-to-wheel Well-to-wheel (WtW) is the specific LCA used for transport fuels and vehicles. The analysis is often broken down into stages entitled "well-to-station", or "well-to-tank", and "station-to-wheel" or "tank-to-wheel", or "plug-to-wheel". The first stage, which incorporates the feedstock or fuel production and processing and fuel delivery or energy transmission, and is called the "upstream" stage, while the stage that deals with vehicle operation itself is sometimes called the "downstream" stage. The well-to-wheel analysis is commonly used to assess total energy consumption, or the energy conversion efficiency and emissions impact of marine vessels, aircraft and motor vehicles, including their carbon footprint, and the fuels used in each of these transport modes. WtW analysis is useful for reflecting the different efficiencies and emissions of energy technologies and fuels at both the upstream and downstream stages, giving a more complete picture of real emissions. The well-to-wheel variant has a significant input on a model developed by the Argonne National Laboratory. The Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model was developed to evaluate the impacts of new fuels and vehicle technologies. The model evaluates the impacts of fuel use using a well-to-wheel evaluation while a traditional cradle-to-grave approach is used to determine the impacts from the vehicle itself. The model reports energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and six additional pollutants: volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (NOx), particulate matter with size smaller than 10 micrometer (PM10), particulate matter with size smaller than 2.5 micrometer (PM2.5), and sulfur oxides (SOx). Quantitative values of greenhouse gas emissions calculated with the WTW or with the LCA method can differ, since the LCA is considering more emission sources. For example, while assessing the GHG emissions of a battery electric vehicle in comparison with a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle, the WTW (accounting only the GHG for manufacturing the fuels) concludes that an electric vehicle can save around 50–60% of GHG. On the other hand, using a hybrid LCA-WTW method, concludes that GHG emission savings are 10-13% lower than the WTW results, as the GHG due to the manufacturing and the end of life of the battery are also considered. Economic input–output life cycle assessment Economic input–output LCA (EIOLCA) involves use of aggregate sector-level data on how much environmental impact can be attributed to each sector of the economy and how much each sector purchases from other sectors. Such analysis can account for long chains (for example, building an automobile requires energy, but producing energy requires vehicles, and building those vehicles requires energy, etc.), which somewhat alleviates the scoping problem of process LCA; however, EIOLCA relies on sector-level averages that may or may not be representative of the specific subset of the sector relevant to a particular product and therefore is not suitable for evaluating the environmental impacts of products. Additionally, the translation of economic quantities into environmental impacts is not validated. Ecologically based LCA While a conventional LCA uses many of the same approaches and strategies as an Eco-LCA, the latter considers a much broader range of ecological impacts. It was designed to provide a guide to wise management of human activities by understanding the direct and indirect impacts on ecological resources and surrounding ecosystems. Developed by Ohio State University Center for resilience, Eco-LCA is a methodology that quantitatively takes into account regulating and supporting services during the life cycle of economic goods and products. In this approach services are categorized in four main groups: supporting, regulating, provisioning and cultural services. Exergy-based LCA Exergy of a system is the maximum useful work possible during a process that brings the system into equilibrium with a heat reservoir. Wall clearly states the relation between exergy analysis and resource accounting. This intuition confirmed by DeWulf and Sciubba lead to Exergo-economic accounting and to methods specifically dedicated to LCA such as Exergetic material input per unit of service (EMIPS). The concept of material input per unit of service (MIPS) is quantified in terms of the second law of thermodynamics, allowing the calculation of both resource input and service output in exergy terms. This exergetic material input per unit of service (EMIPS) has been elaborated for transport technology. The service not only takes into account the total mass to be transported and the total distance, but also the mass per single transport and the delivery time. Life cycle energy analysis Life cycle energy analysis (LCEA) is an approach in which all energy inputs to a product are accounted for, not only direct energy inputs during manufacture, but also all energy inputs needed to produce components, materials and services needed for the manufacturing process. With LCEA, the total life cycle energy input is established. Energy production It is recognized that much energy is lost in the production of energy commodities themselves, such as nuclear energy, photovoltaic electricity or high-quality petroleum products. Net energy content is the energy content of the product minus energy input used during extraction and conversion, directly or indirectly. A controversial early result of LCEA claimed that manufacturing solar cells requires more energy than can be recovered in using the solar cell. Although these results were true when solar cells were first manufactured, their efficiency increased greatly over the years. Currently, energy payback time of photovoltaic solar panels range from a few months to several years. Module recycling could further reduce the energy payback time to around one month. Another new concept that flows from life cycle assessments is energy cannibalism. Energy cannibalism refers to an effect where rapid growth of an entire energy-intensive industry creates a need for energy that uses (or cannibalizes) the energy of existing power plants. Thus, during rapid growth, the industry as a whole produces no energy because new energy is used to fuel the embodied energy of future power plants. Work has been undertaken in the UK to determine the life cycle energy (alongside full LCA) impacts of a number of renewable technologies. Energy recovery If materials are incinerated during the disposal process, the energy released during burning can be harnessed and used for electricity production. This provides a low-impact energy source, especially when compared with coal and natural gas. While incineration produces more greenhouse gas emissions than landfills, the waste plants are well-fitted with regulated pollution control equipment to minimize this negative impact. A study comparing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from landfills (without energy recovery) against incineration (with energy recovery) found incineration to be superior in all cases except for when landfill gas is recovered for electricity production. Criticism Energy efficiency is arguably only one consideration in deciding which alternative process to employ, and should not be elevated as the only criterion for determining environmental acceptability. For example, a simple energy analysis does not take into account the renewability of energy flows or the toxicity of waste products. Incorporating "dynamic LCAs", e.g., with regard to renewable energy technologies—which use sensitivity analyses to project future improvements in renewable systems and their share of the power grid—may help mitigate this criticism. In recent years, the literature on life cycle assessment of energy technology has begun to reflect the interactions between the current electrical grid and future energy technology. Some papers have focused on energy life cycle, while others have focused on carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases. The essential critique given by these sources is that when considering energy technology, the growing nature of the power grid must be taken into consideration. If this is not done, a given class energy technology may emit more CO2 over its lifetime than it initially thought it would mitigate, with this most well documented {{Citation needed|reason=Please include a study|date=October 2023}} in wind energy's case. A problem that arises when using the energy analysis method is that different energy forms—heat, electricity, chemical energy etc.—have inconsistent functional units, different quality, and different values. This is due to the fact that the first law of thermodynamics measures the change in internal energy, whereas the second law measures entropy increase. Approaches such as cost analysis or exergy may be used as the metric for LCA, instead of energy. LCA dataset creation There are structured systematic datasets of and for LCAs. A 2022 dataset provided standardized calculated detailed environmental impacts of >57,000 food products in supermarkets, potentially e.g., informing consumers or policy. There also is at least one crowdsourced database for collecting LCA data for food products. Datasets can also consist of options, activities, or approaches, rather than of products – for example one dataset assesses PET bottle waste management options in Bauru, Brazil. There are also LCA databases about buildings – complex products – which a 2014 study compared. LCA dataset platforms There are some initiatives to develop, integrate, populate, standardize, quality control, combine and maintain such datasets or LCAs – for example: The goal of the LCA Digital Commons Project of the U.S. National Agricultural Library is "to develop a database and tool set intended to provide data for use in LCAs of food, biofuels, and a variety of other bioproducts". The Global LCA Data Access network (GLAD) by the UN's Life Cycle Initiative is a "platform which allows to search, convert and download datasets from different life cycle assessment dataset providers". The BONSAI project "aims to build a shared resource where the community can contribute to data generation, validation, and management decisions" for "product footprinting" with its first goal being "to produce an open dataset and an open source toolchain capable of supporting LCA calculations". With product footprints they refer to the goal of "reliable, unbiased sustainability information on products". Dataset optimization Datasets that are suboptimal in accuracy or have gaps can be, temporarily until the complete data is available or permanently, be patched or optimized by various methods such as mechanisms for "selection of a dataset that represents the missing dataset that leads in most cases to a much better approximation of environmental impacts than a dataset selected by default or by geographical proximity" or machine learning. Integration in systems and systems theory Life cycle assessments can be integrated as routine processes of systems, as input for modeled future socio-economic pathways, or, more broadly, into a larger context (such as qualitative scenarios). For example, a study estimated the environmental benefits of microbial protein within a future socio-economic pathway, showing substantial deforestation reduction (56%) and climate change mitigation if only of per-capita beef was replaced by microbial protein by 2050. Life cycle assessments, including as product/technology analyses, can also be integrated in analyses of potentials, barriers and methods to shift or regulate consumption or production. The life cycle perspective also allows considering losses and lifetimes of rare goods and services in the economy. For example, the usespans of, often scarce, tech-critical metals were found to be short as of 2022. Such data could be combined with conventional life cycle analyses, e.g., to enable life-cycle material/labor cost analyses and long-term economic viability or sustainable design. One study suggests that in LCAs, resource availability is, as of 2013, "evaluated by means of models based on depletion time, surplus energy, etc." Broadly, various types of life cycle assessments (or commissioning such) could be used in various ways in various types of societal decision-making, especially because financial markets of the economy typically do not consider life cycle impacts or induced societal problems in the future and present—the "externalities" to the contemporary economy. Critiques Life cycle assessment is a powerful tool for analyzing commensurable aspects of quantifiable systems. Not every factor, however, can be reduced to a number and inserted into a model. Rigid system boundaries make accounting for changes in the system difficult. This is sometimes referred to as the boundary critique to systems thinking. The accuracy and availability of data can also contribute to inaccuracy. For instance, data from generic processes may be based on averages, unrepresentative sampling, or outdated results. This is especially the case for the use and end of life phases in the LCA. Additionally, social implications of products are generally lacking in LCAs. Comparative life cycle analysis is often used to determine a better process or product to use. However, because of aspects like differing system boundaries, different statistical information, different product uses, etc., these studies can easily be swayed in favor of one product or process over another in one study and the opposite in another study based on varying parameters and different available data. There are guidelines to help reduce such conflicts in results but the method still provides a lot of room for the researcher to decide what is important, how the product is typically manufactured, and how it is typically used. An in-depth review of 13 LCA studies of wood and paper products found a lack of consistency in the methods and assumptions used to track carbon during the product lifecycle. A wide variety of methods and assumptions were used, leading to different and potentially contrary conclusions—particularly with regard to carbon sequestration and methane generation in landfills and with carbon accounting during forest growth and product use. Moreover, the fidelity of LCAs can vary substantially as various data may not be incorporated, especially in early versions: for example, LCAs that do not consider regional emission information can under-estimate the life cycle environmental impact. See also Agroecology Agroecosystem analysis Anthropogenic metabolism Biofuel Carbon footprint Depreciation Design for the environment Ecodesign Ecological footprint End-of-life (product) ISO 15686 True cost accounting Water footprint References Further reading Crawford, R.H. (2011) Life Cycle Assessment in the Built Environment, London: Taylor and Francis. J. Guinée, ed:, Handbook on Life Cycle Assessment: Operational Guide to the ISO Standards, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002. Baumann, H. och Tillman, A-M. The hitchhiker's guide to LCA : an orientation in life cycle assessment methodology and application. 2004. Curran, Mary A. "Environmental Life Cycle Assessment", McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing, 1996, Ciambrone, D. F. (1997). Environmental Life Cycle Analysis. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. . Horne, Ralph., et al. "LCA: Principles, Practice and Prospects". CSIRO Publishing, Victoria, Australia, 2009., Vallero, Daniel A. and Brasier, Chris (2008), "Sustainable Design: The Science of Sustainability and Green Engineering", John Wiley and Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, . 350 pages. Vigon, B. W. (1994). Life Cycle Assessment: Inventory Guidelines and Principles. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. . Vogtländer, J.G., "A practical guide to LCA for students, designers, and business managers", VSSD, 2010, . When External links LCA Example: Light Emitting Diode (LED) from GSA's Sustainable Facilities Tool Design for X Environmental impact assessment Industrial ecology Management cybernetics

Systematics

Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phylogenies have two components: branching order (showing group relationships, graphically represented in cladograms) and branch length (showing amount of evolution). Phylogenetic trees of species and higher taxa are used to study the evolution of traits (e.g., anatomical or molecular characteristics) and the distribution of organisms (biogeography). Systematics, in other words, is used to understand the evolutionary history of life on Earth. The word systematics is derived from the Latin word of Ancient Greek origin systema, which means systematic arrangement of organisms. Carl Linnaeus used 'Systema Naturae' as the title of his book. Branches and applications In the study of biological systematics, researchers use the different branches to further understand the relationships between differing organisms. These branches are used to determine the applications and uses for modern day systematics. Biological systematics classifies species by using three specific branches. Numerical systematics, or biometry, uses biological statistics to identify and classify animals. Biochemical systematics classifies and identifies animals based on the analysis of the material that makes up the living part of a cell—such as the nucleus, organelles, and cytoplasm. Experimental systematics identifies and classifies animals based on the evolutionary units that comprise a species, as well as their importance in evolution itself. Factors such as mutations, genetic divergence, and hybridization all are considered evolutionary units. With the specific branches, researchers are able to determine the applications and uses for modern-day systematics. These applications include: Studying the diversity of organisms and the differentiation between extinct and living creatures. Biologists study the well-understood relationships by making many different diagrams and "trees" (cladograms, phylogenetic trees, phylogenies, etc.). Including the scientific names of organisms, species descriptions and overviews, taxonomic orders, and classifications of evolutionary and organism histories. Explaining the biodiversity of the planet and its organisms. The systematic study is that of conservation. Manipulating and controlling the natural world. This includes the practice of 'biological control', the intentional introduction of natural predators and disease. Definition and relation with taxonomy John Lindley provided an early definition of systematics in 1830, although he wrote of "systematic botany" rather than using the term "systematics". In 1970 Michener et al. defined "systematic biology" and "taxonomy" (terms that are often confused and used interchangeably) in relationship to one another as follows: Systematic biology (hereafter called simply systematics) is the field that (a) provides scientific names for organisms, (b) describes them, (c) preserves collections of them, (d) provides classifications for the organisms, keys for their identification, and data on their distributions, (e) investigates their evolutionary histories, and (f) considers their environmental adaptations. This is a field with a long history that in recent years has experienced a notable renaissance, principally with respect to theoretical content. Part of the theoretical material has to do with evolutionary areas (topics e and f above), the rest relates especially to the problem of classification. Taxonomy is that part of Systematics concerned with topics (a) to (d) above. The term "taxonomy" was coined by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle while the term "systematic" was coined by Carl Linnaeus the father of taxonomy. Taxonomy, systematic biology, systematics, biosystematics, scientific classification, biological classification, phylogenetics: At various times in history, all these words have had overlapping, related meanings. However, in modern usage, they can all be considered synonyms of each other. For example, Webster's 9th New Collegiate Dictionary of 1987 treats "classification", "taxonomy", and "systematics" as synonyms. According to this work, the terms originated in 1790, c. 1828, and in 1888 respectively. Some claim systematics alone deals specifically with relationships through time, and that it can be synonymous with phylogenetics, broadly dealing with the inferred hierarchy of organisms. This means it would be a subset of taxonomy as it is sometimes regarded, but the inverse is claimed by others. Europeans tend to use the terms "systematics" and "biosystematics" for the study of biodiversity as a whole, whereas North Americans tend to use "taxonomy" more frequently. However, taxonomy, and in particular alpha taxonomy, is more specifically the identification, description, and naming (i.e. nomenclature) of organisms, while "classification" focuses on placing organisms within hierarchical groups that show their relationships to other organisms. All of these biological disciplines can deal with both extinct and extant organisms. Systematics uses taxonomy as a primary tool in understanding, as nothing about an organism's relationships with other living things can be understood without it first being properly studied and described in sufficient detail to identify and classify it correctly. Scientific classifications are aids in recording and reporting information to other scientists and to laymen. The systematist, a scientist who specializes in systematics, must, therefore, be able to use existing classification systems, or at least know them well enough to skilfully justify not using them. Phenetics was an attempt to determine the relationships of organisms through a measure of overall similarity, making no distinction between plesiomorphies (shared ancestral traits) and apomorphies (derived traits). From the late-20th century onwards, it was superseded by cladistics, which rejects plesiomorphies in attempting to resolve the phylogeny of Earth's various organisms through time. systematists generally make extensive use of molecular biology and of computer programs to study organisms. Taxonomic characters Taxonomic characters are the taxonomic attributes that can be used to provide the evidence from which relationships (the phylogeny) between taxa are inferred. Kinds of taxonomic characters include: Morphological characters General external morphology Special structures (e.g. genitalia) Internal morphology (anatomy) Embryology Karyology and other cytological factors Physiological characters Metabolic factors Body secretions Genic sterility factors Molecular characters Immunological distance Electrophoretic differences Amino acid sequences of proteins DNA hybridization DNA and RNA sequences Restriction endonuclease analyses Other molecular differences Behavioral characters Courtship and other ethological isolating mechanisms Other behavior patterns Ecological characters Habit and habitats Food Seasonal variations Parasites and hosts Geographic characters General biogeographic distribution patterns Sympatric-allopatric relationship of populations See also Cladistics – a methodology in systematics Evolutionary systematics – a school of systematics Global biodiversity Phenetics – a methodology in systematics that does not infer phylogeny Phylogeny – the historical relationships between lineages of organism 16S ribosomal RNA – an intensively studied nucleic acid that has been useful in phylogenetics Phylogenetic comparative methods – use of evolutionary trees in other studies, such as biodiversity, comparative biology. adaptation, or evolutionary mechanisms References Notes Further reading Brower, Andrew V. Z. and Randall T. Schuh. 2021. Biological Systematics: Principles and Applications, 3rd edn. Simpson, Michael G. 2005. Plant Systematics. Wiley, Edward O. and Bruce S. Lieberman. 2011. "Phylogenetics: Theory and Practice of Phylogenetic Systematics, 2nd edn." External links Society of Australian Systematic Biologists Society of Systematic Biologists The Willi Hennig Society Evolutionary biology Biological classification

Phylogenetics

In biology, phylogenetics is the study of the evolutionary history of life using genetics, which is known as phylogenetic inference. It establishes the relationship between organisms with the empirical data and observed heritable traits of DNA sequences, protein amino acid sequences, and morphology. The results are a phylogenetic tree—a diagram setting the hypothetical relationships between organisms and their evolutionary history. The tips of a phylogenetic tree can be living taxa or fossils, which represent the present time or "end" of an evolutionary lineage, respectively. A phylogenetic diagram can be rooted or unrooted. A rooted tree diagram indicates the hypothetical common ancestor of the tree. An unrooted tree diagram (a network) makes no assumption about the ancestral line, and does not show the origin or "root" of the taxa in question or the direction of inferred evolutionary transformations. In addition to their use for inferring phylogenetic patterns among taxa, phylogenetic analyses are often employed to represent relationships among genes or individual organisms. Such uses have become central to understanding biodiversity, evolution, ecology, and genomes. Phylogenetics is a component of systematics that uses similarities and differences of the characteristics of species to interpret their evolutionary relationships and origins. Phylogenetics focuses on whether the characteristics of a species reinforce a phylogenetic inference that it diverged from the most recent common ancestor of a taxonomic group. In the field of cancer research, phylogenetics can be used to study the clonal evolution of tumors and molecular chronology, predicting and showing how cell populations vary throughout the progression of the disease and during treatment, using whole genome sequencing techniques. The evolutionary processes behind cancer progression are quite different from those in most species and are important to phylogenetic inference; these differences manifest in several areas: the types of aberrations that occur, the rates of mutation, the high heterogeneity (variability) of tumor cell subclones, and the absence of genetic recombination. Phylogenetics can also aid in drug design and discovery. Phylogenetics allows scientists to organize species and can show which species are likely to have inherited particular traits that are medically useful, such as producing biologically active compounds - those that have effects on the human body. For example, in drug discovery, venom-producing animals are particularly useful. Venoms from these animals produce several important drugs, e.g., ACE inhibitors and Prialt (Ziconotide). To find new venoms, scientists turn to phylogenetics to screen for closely related species that may have the same useful traits. The phylogenetic tree shows which species of fish have an origin of venom, and related fish they may contain the trait. Using this approach in studying venomous fish, biologists are able to identify the fish species that may be venomous. Biologist have used this approach in many species such as snakes and lizards. In forensic science, phylogenetic tools are useful to assess DNA evidence for court cases. The simple phylogenetic tree of viruses A-E shows the relationships between viruses e.g., all viruses are descendants of Virus A. HIV forensics uses phylogenetic analysis to track the differences in HIV genes and determine the relatedness of two samples. Phylogenetic analysis has been used in criminal trials to exonerate or hold individuals. HIV forensics does have its limitations, i.e., it cannot be the sole proof of transmission between individuals and phylogenetic analysis which shows transmission relatedness does not indicate direction of transmission. Taxonomy and classification Taxonomy is the identification, naming, and classification of organisms. Compared to systemization, classification emphasizes whether a species has characteristics of a taxonomic group. The Linnaean classification system developed in the 1700s by Carolus Linnaeus is the foundation for modern classification methods. Linnaean classification relies on an organism's phenotype or physical characteristics to group and organize species. With the emergence of biochemistry, organism classifications are now usually based on phylogenetic data, and many systematists contend that only monophyletic taxa should be recognized as named groups. The degree to which classification depends on inferred evolutionary history differs depending on the school of taxonomy: phenetics ignores phylogenetic speculation altogether, trying to represent the similarity between organisms instead; cladistics (phylogenetic systematics) tries to reflect phylogeny in its classifications by only recognizing groups based on shared, derived characters (synapomorphies); evolutionary taxonomy tries to take into account both the branching pattern and "degree of difference" to find a compromise between them. Inference of a phylogenetic tree Usual methods of phylogenetic inference involve computational approaches implementing the optimality criteria and methods of parsimony, maximum likelihood (ML), and MCMC-based Bayesian inference. All these depend upon an implicit or explicit mathematical model describing the evolution of characters observed. Phenetics, popular in the mid-20th century but now largely obsolete, used distance matrix-based methods to construct trees based on overall similarity in morphology or similar observable traits (i.e. in the phenotype or the overall similarity of DNA, not the DNA sequence), which was often assumed to approximate phylogenetic relationships. Prior to 1950, phylogenetic inferences were generally presented as narrative scenarios. Such methods are often ambiguous and lack explicit criteria for evaluating alternative hypotheses. Impacts of taxon sampling In phylogenetic analysis, taxon sampling selects a small group of taxa to represent the evolutionary history of its broader population. This process is also known as stratified sampling or clade-based sampling. The practice occurs given limited resources to compare and analyze every species within a target population. Based on the representative group selected, the construction and accuracy of phylogenetic trees vary, which impacts derived phylogenetic inferences. Unavailable datasets, such as an organism's incomplete DNA and protein amino acid sequences in genomic databases, directly restrict taxonomic sampling. Consequently, a significant source of error within phylogenetic analysis occurs due to inadequate taxon samples. Accuracy may be improved by increasing the number of genetic samples within its monophyletic group. Conversely, increasing sampling from outgroups extraneous to the target stratified population may decrease accuracy. Long branch attraction is an attributed theory for this occurrence, where nonrelated branches are incorrectly classified together, insinuating a shared evolutionary history. There are debates if increasing the number of taxa sampled improves phylogenetic accuracy more than increasing the number of genes sampled per taxon. Differences in each method's sampling impact the number of nucleotide sites utilized in a sequence alignment, which may contribute to disagreements. For example, phylogenetic trees constructed utilizing a more significant number of total nucleotides are generally more accurate, as supported by phylogenetic trees' bootstrapping replicability from random sampling. The graphic presented in Taxon Sampling, Bioinformatics, and Phylogenomics, compares the correctness of phylogenetic trees generated using fewer taxa and more sites per taxon on the x-axis to more taxa and fewer sites per taxon on the y-axis. With fewer taxa, more genes are sampled amongst the taxonomic group; in comparison, with more taxa added to the taxonomic sampling group, fewer genes are sampled. Each method has the same total number of nucleotide sites sampled. Furthermore, the dotted line represents a 1:1 accuracy between the two sampling methods. As seen in the graphic, most of the plotted points are located below the dotted line, which indicates gravitation toward increased accuracy when sampling fewer taxa with more sites per taxon. The research performed utilizes four different phylogenetic tree construction models to verify the theory; neighbor-joining (NJ), minimum evolution (ME), unweighted maximum parsimony (MP), and maximum likelihood (ML). In the majority of models, sampling fewer taxon with more sites per taxon demonstrated higher accuracy. Generally, with the alignment of a relatively equal number of total nucleotide sites, sampling more genes per taxon has higher bootstrapping replicability than sampling more taxa. However, unbalanced datasets within genomic databases make increasing the gene comparison per taxon in uncommonly sampled organisms increasingly difficult. History Overview The term "phylogeny" derives from the German , introduced by Haeckel in 1866, and the Darwinian approach to classification became known as the "phyletic" approach. It can be traced back to Aristotle, who wrote in his Posterior Analytics, "We may assume the superiority ceteris paribus [other things being equal] of the demonstration which derives from fewer postulates or hypotheses." Ernst Haeckel's recapitulation theory The modern concept of phylogenetics evolved primarily as a disproof of a previously widely accepted theory. During the late 19th century, Ernst Haeckel's recapitulation theory, or "biogenetic fundamental law", was widely popular. It was often expressed as "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny", i.e. the development of a single organism during its lifetime, from germ to adult, successively mirrors the adult stages of successive ancestors of the species to which it belongs. But this theory has long been rejected. Instead, ontogeny evolves – the phylogenetic history of a species cannot be read directly from its ontogeny, as Haeckel thought would be possible, but characters from ontogeny can be (and have been) used as data for phylogenetic analyses; the more closely related two species are, the more apomorphies their embryos share. Timeline of key points 14th century, lex parsimoniae (parsimony principle), William of Ockam, English philosopher, theologian, and Franciscan friar, but the idea actually goes back to Aristotle, as a precursor concept. He introduced the concept of Occam's razor, which is the problem solving principle that recommends searching for explanations constructed with the smallest possible set of elements. Though he did not use these exact words, the principle can be summarized as "Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity." The principle advocates that when presented with competing hypotheses about the same prediction, one should prefer the one that requires fewest assumptions. 1763, Bayesian probability, Rev. Thomas Bayes, a precursor concept. Bayesian probability began a resurgence in the 1950s, allowing scientists in the computing field to pair traditional Bayesian statistics with other more modern techniques. It is now used as a blanket term for several related interpretations of probability as an amount of epistemic confidence. 18th century, Pierre Simon (Marquis de Laplace), perhaps first to use ML (maximum likelihood), precursor concept. His work gave way to the Laplace distribution, which can be directly linked to least absolute deviations. 1809, evolutionary theory, Philosophie Zoologique, Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck, precursor concept, foreshadowed in the 17th century and 18th century by Voltaire, Descartes, and Leibniz, with Leibniz even proposing evolutionary changes to account for observed gaps suggesting that many species had become extinct, others transformed, and different species that share common traits may have at one time been a single race, also foreshadowed by some early Greek philosophers such as Anaximander in the 6th century BC and the atomists of the 5th century BC, who proposed rudimentary theories of evolution 1837, Darwin's notebooks show an evolutionary tree 1840, American Geologist Edward Hitchcock published what is considered to be the first paleontological "Tree of Life". Many critiques, modifications, and explanations would follow. 1843, distinction between homology and analogy (the latter now referred to as homoplasy), Richard Owen, precursor concept. Homology is the term used to characterize the similarity of features that can be parsimoniously explained by common ancestry. Homoplasy is the term used to describe a feature that has been gained or lost independently in separate lineages over the course of evolution. 1858, Paleontologist Heinrich Georg Bronn (1800–1862) published a hypothetical tree to illustrating the paleontological "arrival" of new, similar species. following the extinction of an older species. Bronn did not propose a mechanism responsible for such phenomena, precursor concept. 1858, elaboration of evolutionary theory, Darwin and Wallace, also in Origin of Species by Darwin the following year, precursor concept. 1866, Ernst Haeckel, first publishes his phylogeny-based evolutionary tree, precursor concept. Haeckel introduces the now-disproved recapitulation theory. He introduced the term "Cladus" as a taxonomic category just below subphylum. 1893, Dollo's Law of Character State Irreversibility, precursor concept. Dollo's Law of Irreversibility states that "an organism never comes back exactly to its previous state due to the indestructible nature of the past, it always retains some trace of the transitional stages through which it has passed." 1912, ML (maximum likelihood recommended, analyzed, and popularized by Ronald Fisher, precursor concept. Fisher is one of the main contributors to the early 20th-century revival of Darwinism, and has been called the "greatest of Darwin's successors" for his contributions to the revision of the theory of evolution and his use of mathematics to combine Mendelian genetics and natural selection in the 20th century "modern synthesis". 1921, Tillyard uses term "phylogenetic" and distinguishes between archaic and specialized characters in his classification system. 1940, Lucien Cuénot coined the term "clade" in 1940: "terme nouveau de clade (du grec κλάδοςç, branche) [A new term clade (from the Greek word klados, meaning branch)]". He used it for evolutionary branching. 1947, Bernhard Rensch introduced the term Kladogenesis in his German book Neuere Probleme der Abstammungslehre Die transspezifische Evolution, translated into English in 1959 as Evolution Above the Species Level (still using the same spelling). 1949, Jackknife resampling, Maurice Quenouille (foreshadowed in '46 by Mahalanobis and extended in '58 by Tukey), precursor concept. 1950, Willi Hennig's classic formalization. Hennig is considered the founder of phylogenetic systematics, and published his first works in German of this year. He also asserted a version of the parsimony principle, stating that the presence of amorphous characters in different species 'is always reason for suspecting kinship, and that their origin by convergence should not be presumed a priori'. This has been considered a foundational view of phylogenetic inference. 1952, William Wagner's ground plan divergence method. 1957, Julian Huxley adopted Rensch's terminology as "cladogenesis" with a full definition: "Cladogenesis I have taken over directly from Rensch, to denote all splitting, from subspeciation through adaptive radiation to the divergence of phyla and kingdoms." With it he introduced the word "clades", defining it as: "Cladogenesis results in the formation of delimitable monophyletic units, which may be called clades." 1960, Arthur Cain and Geoffrey Ainsworth Harrison coined "cladistic" to mean evolutionary relationship, 1963, first attempt to use ML (maximum likelihood) for phylogenetics, Edwards and Cavalli-Sforza. 1965 Camin-Sokal parsimony, first parsimony (optimization) criterion and first computer program/algorithm for cladistic analysis both by Camin and Sokal. Character compatibility method, also called clique analysis, introduced independently by Camin and Sokal (loc. cit.) and E. O. Wilson. 1966 English translation of Hennig. "Cladistics" and "cladogram" coined (Webster's, loc. cit.) 1969 Dynamic and successive weighting, James Farris. Wagner parsimony, Kluge and Farris. CI (consistency index), Kluge and Farris. Introduction of pairwise compatibility for clique analysis, Le Quesne. 1970, Wagner parsimony generalized by Farris. 1971 First successful application of ML (maximum likelihood) to phylogenetics (for protein sequences), Neyman. Fitch parsimony, Walter M. Fitch. These gave way to the most basic ideas of maximum parsimony. Fitch is known for his work on reconstructing phylogenetic trees from protein and DNA sequences. His definition of orthologous sequences has been referenced in many research publications. NNI (nearest neighbour interchange), first branch-swapping search strategy, developed independently by Robinson and Moore et al. ME (minimum evolution), Kidd and Sgaramella-Zonta (it is unclear if this is the pairwise distance method or related to ML as Edwards and Cavalli-Sforza call ML "minimum evolution"). 1972, Adams consensus, Adams. 1976, prefix system for ranks, Farris. 1977, Dollo parsimony, Farris. 1979 Nelson consensus, Nelson. MAST (maximum agreement subtree)((GAS) greatest agreement subtree), a consensus method, Gordon. Bootstrap, Bradley Efron, precursor concept. 1980, PHYLIP, first software package for phylogenetic analysis, Joseph Felsenstein. A free computational phylogenetics package of programs for inferring evolutionary trees (phylogenies). One such example tree created by PHYLIP, called a "drawgram", generates rooted trees. This image shown in the figure below shows the evolution of phylogenetic trees over time. 1981 Majority consensus, Margush and MacMorris. Strict consensus, Sokal and Rohlffirst computationally efficient ML (maximum likelihood) algorithm. Felsenstein created the Felsenstein Maximum Likelihood method, used for the inference of phylogeny which evaluates a hypothesis about evolutionary history in terms of the probability that the proposed model and the hypothesized history would give rise to the observed data set. 1982 PHYSIS, Mikevich and Farris Branch and bound, Hendy and Penny 1985 First cladistic analysis of eukaryotes based on combined phenotypic and genotypic evidence Diana Lipscomb. First issue of Cladistics. First phylogenetic application of bootstrap, Felsenstein. First phylogenetic application of jackknife, Scott Lanyon. 1986, MacClade, Maddison and Maddison. 1987, neighbor-joining method Saitou and Nei 1988, Hennig86 (version 1.5), Farris Bremer support (decay index), Bremer. 1989 RI (retention index), RCI (rescaled consistency index), Farris. HER (homoplasy excess ratio), Archie. 1990 combinable components (semi-strict) consensus, Bremer. SPR (subtree pruning and regrafting), TBR (tree bisection and reconnection), Swofford and Olsen. 1991 DDI (data decisiveness index), Goloboff. First cladistic analysis of eukaryotes based only on phenotypic evidence, Lipscomb. 1993, implied weighting Goloboff. 1994, reduced consensus: RCC (reduced cladistic consensus) for rooted trees, Wilkinson. 1995, reduced consensus RPC (reduced partition consensus) for unrooted trees, Wilkinson. 1996, first working methods for BI (Bayesian Inference) independently developed by Li, Mau, and Rannala and Yang and all using MCMC (Markov chain-Monte Carlo). 1998, TNT (Tree Analysis Using New Technology), Goloboff, Farris, and Nixon. 1999, Winclada, Nixon. 2003, symmetrical resampling, Goloboff. 2004, 2005, similarity metric (using an approximation to Kolmogorov complexity) or NCD (normalized compression distance), Li et al., Cilibrasi and Vitanyi. Uses of phylogenetic analysis Pharmacology One use of phylogenetic analysis involves the pharmacological examination of closely related groups of organisms. Advances in cladistics analysis through faster computer programs and improved molecular techniques have increased the precision of phylogenetic determination, allowing for the identification of species with pharmacological potential. Historically, phylogenetic screens for pharmacological purposes were used in a basic manner, such as studying the Apocynaceae family of plants, which includes alkaloid-producing species like Catharanthus, known for producing vincristine, an antileukemia drug. Modern techniques now enable researchers to study close relatives of a species to uncover either a higher abundance of important bioactive compounds (e.g., species of Taxus for taxol) or natural variants of known pharmaceuticals (e.g., species of Catharanthus for different forms of vincristine or vinblastine). Biodiversity Phylogenetic analysis has also been applied to biodiversity studies within the fungi family. Phylogenetic analysis helps understand the evolutionary history of various groups of organisms, identify relationships between different species, and predict future evolutionary changes. Emerging imagery systems and new analysis techniques allow for the discovery of more genetic relationships in biodiverse fields, which can aid in conservation efforts by identifying rare species that could benefit ecosystems globally. Infectious disease epidemiology Whole-genome sequence data from outbreaks or epidemics of infectious diseases can provide important insights into transmission dynamics and inform public health strategies. Traditionally, studies have combined genomic and epidemiological data to reconstruct transmission events. However, recent research has explored deducing transmission patterns solely from genomic data using phylodynamics, which involves analyzing the properties of pathogen phylogenies. Phylodynamics uses theoretical models to compare predicted branch lengths with actual branch lengths in phylogenies to infer transmission patterns. Additionally, coalescent theory, which describes probability distributions on trees based on population size, has been adapted for epidemiological purposes. Another source of information within phylogenies that has been explored is "tree shape." These approaches, while computationally intensive, have the potential to provide valuable insights into pathogen transmission dynamics. The structure of the host contact network significantly impacts the dynamics of outbreaks, and management strategies rely on understanding these transmission patterns. Pathogen genomes spreading through different contact network structures, such as chains, homogeneous networks, or networks with super-spreaders, accumulate mutations in distinct patterns, resulting in noticeable differences in the shape of phylogenetic trees, as illustrated in Fig. 1. Researchers have analyzed the structural characteristics of phylogenetic trees generated from simulated bacterial genome evolution across multiple types of contact networks. By examining simple topological properties of these trees, researchers can classify them into chain-like, homogeneous, or super-spreading dynamics, revealing transmission patterns. These properties form the basis of a computational classifier used to analyze real-world outbreaks. Computational predictions of transmission dynamics for each outbreak often align with known epidemiological data. Different transmission networks result in quantitatively different tree shapes. To determine whether tree shapes captured information about underlying disease transmission patterns, researchers simulated the evolution of a bacterial genome over three types of outbreak contact networks—homogeneous, super-spreading, and chain-like. They summarized the resulting phylogenies with five metrics describing tree shape. Figures 2 and 3 illustrate the distributions of these metrics across the three types of outbreaks, revealing clear differences in tree topology depending on the underlying host contact network. Super-spreader networks give rise to phylogenies with higher Colless imbalance, longer ladder patterns, lower Δw, and deeper trees than those from homogeneous contact networks. Trees from chain-like networks are less variable, deeper, more imbalanced, and narrower than those from other networks. Scatter plots can be used to visualize the relationship between two variables in pathogen transmission analysis, such as the number of infected individuals and the time since infection. These plots can help identify trends and patterns, such as whether the spread of the pathogen is increasing or decreasing over time, and can highlight potential transmission routes or super-spreader events. Box plots displaying the range, median, quartiles, and potential outliers datasets can also be valuable for analyzing pathogen transmission data, helping to identify important features in the data distribution. They may be used to quickly identify differences or similarities in the transmission data. Disciplines other than biology Phylogenetic tools and representations (trees and networks) can also be applied to philology, the study of the evolution of oral languages and written text and manuscripts, such as in the field of quantitative comparative linguistics. Computational phylogenetics can be used to investigate a language as an evolutionary system. The evolution of human language closely corresponds with human's biological evolution which allows phylogenetic methods to be applied. The concept of a "tree" serves as an efficient way to represent relationships between languages and language splits. It also serves as a way of testing hypotheses about the connections and ages of language families. For example, relationships among languages can be shown by using cognates as characters. The phylogenetic tree of Indo-European languages shows the relationships between several of the languages in a timeline, as well as the similarity between words and word order. There are three types of criticisms about using phylogenetics in philology, the first arguing that languages and species are different entities, therefore you can not use the same methods to study both. The second being how phylogenetic methods are being applied to linguistic data. And the third, discusses the types of data that is being used to construct the trees. Bayesian phylogenetic methods, which are sensitive to how treelike the data is, allow for the reconstruction of relationships among languages, locally and globally. The main two reasons for the use of Bayesian phylogenetics are that (1) diverse scenarios can be included in calculations and (2) the output is a sample of trees and not a single tree with true claim. The same process can be applied to texts and manuscripts. In Paleography, the study of historical writings and manuscripts, texts were replicated by scribes who copied from their source and alterations - i.e., 'mutations' - occurred when the scribe did not precisely copy the source. Phylogenetics has been applied to archaeological artefacts such as the early hominin hand-axes, late Palaeolithic figurines, Neolithic stone arrowheads, Bronze Age ceramics, and historical-period houses. Bayesian methods have also been employed by archaeologists in an attempt to quantify uncertainty in the tree topology and divergence times of stone projectile point shapes in the European Final Palaeolithic and earliest Mesolithic. See also Angiosperm Phylogeny Group Bauplan Bioinformatics Biomathematics Coalescent theory EDGE of Existence programme Evolutionary taxonomy Language family Maximum parsimony Microbial phylogenetics Molecular phylogeny Ontogeny PhyloCode Phylodynamics Phylogenesis Phylogenetic comparative methods Phylogenetic network Phylogenetic nomenclature Phylogenetic tree viewers Phylogenetics software Phylogenomics Phylogeny (psychoanalysis) Phylogeography Systematics References Bibliography External links

Nutrition

Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain the required amount of nutrients causes malnutrition. Nutritional science is the study of nutrition, though it typically emphasizes human nutrition. The type of organism determines what nutrients it needs and how it obtains them. Organisms obtain nutrients by consuming organic matter, consuming inorganic matter, absorbing light, or some combination of these. Some can produce nutrients internally by consuming basic elements, while some must consume other organisms to obtain pre-existing nutrients. All forms of life require carbon, energy, and water as well as various other molecules. Animals require complex nutrients such as carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins, obtaining them by consuming other organisms. Humans have developed agriculture and cooking to replace foraging and advance human nutrition. Plants acquire nutrients through the soil and the atmosphere. Fungi absorb nutrients around them by breaking them down and absorbing them through the mycelium. History Scientific analysis of food and nutrients began during the chemical revolution in the late 18th century. Chemists in the 18th and 19th centuries experimented with different elements and food sources to develop theories of nutrition. Modern nutrition science began in the 1910s as individual micronutrients began to be identified. The first vitamin to be chemically identified was thiamine in 1926, and vitamin C was identified as a protection against scurvy in 1932. The role of vitamins in nutrition was studied in the following decades. The first recommended dietary allowances for humans were developed to address fears of disease caused by food deficiencies during the Great Depression and the Second World War. Due to its importance in human health, the study of nutrition has heavily emphasized human nutrition and agriculture, while ecology is a secondary concern. Nutrients Nutrients are substances that provide energy and physical components to the organism, allowing it to survive, grow, and reproduce. Nutrients can be basic elements or complex macromolecules. Approximately 30 elements are found in organic matter, with nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus being the most important. Macronutrients are the primary substances required by an organism, and micronutrients are substances required by an organism in trace amounts. Organic micronutrients are classified as vitamins, and inorganic micronutrients are classified as minerals. Nutrients are absorbed by the cells and used in metabolic biochemical reactions. These include fueling reactions that create precursor metabolites and energy, biosynthetic reactions that convert precursor metabolites into building block molecules, polymerizations that combine these molecules into macromolecule polymers, and assembly reactions that use these polymers to construct cellular structures. Nutritional groups Organisms can be classified by how they obtain carbon and energy. Heterotrophs are organisms that obtain nutrients by consuming the carbon of other organisms, while autotrophs are organisms that produce their own nutrients from the carbon of inorganic substances like carbon dioxide. Mixotrophs are organisms that can be heterotrophs and autotrophs, including some plankton and carnivorous plants. Phototrophs obtain energy from light, while chemotrophs obtain energy by consuming chemical energy from matter. Organotrophs consume other organisms to obtain electrons, while lithotrophs obtain electrons from inorganic substances, such as water, hydrogen sulfide, dihydrogen, iron(II), sulfur, or ammonium. Prototrophs can create essential nutrients from other compounds, while auxotrophs must consume preexisting nutrients. Diet In nutrition, the diet of an organism is the sum of the foods it eats. A healthy diet improves the physical and mental health of an organism. This requires ingestion and absorption of vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids from protein and essential fatty acids from fat-containing food. Carbohydrates, protein and fat play major roles in ensuring the quality of life, health and longevity of the organism. Some cultures and religions have restrictions on what is acceptable for their diet. Nutrient cycle A nutrient cycle is a biogeochemical cycle involving the movement of inorganic matter through a combination of soil, organisms, air or water, where they are exchanged in organic matter. Energy flow is a unidirectional and noncyclic pathway, whereas the movement of mineral nutrients is cyclic. Mineral cycles include the carbon cycle, sulfur cycle, nitrogen cycle, water cycle, phosphorus cycle, and oxygen cycle, among others that continually recycle along with other mineral nutrients into productive ecological nutrition. Biogeochemical cycles that are performed by living organisms and natural processes are water, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur cycles. Nutrient cycles allow these essential elements to return to the environment after being absorbed or consumed. Without proper nutrient cycling, there would be risk of change in oxygen levels, climate, and ecosystem function. Foraging Foraging is the process of seeking out nutrients in the environment. It may also be defined to include the subsequent use of the resources. Some organisms, such as animals and bacteria, can navigate to find nutrients, while others, such as plants and fungi, extend outward to find nutrients. Foraging may be random, in which the organism seeks nutrients without method, or it may be systematic, in which the organism can go directly to a food source. Organisms are able to detect nutrients through taste or other forms of nutrient sensing, allowing them to regulate nutrient intake. Optimal foraging theory is a model that explains foraging behavior as a cost–benefit analysis in which an animal must maximize the gain of nutrients while minimizing the amount of time and energy spent foraging. It was created to analyze the foraging habits of animals, but it can also be extended to other organisms. Some organisms are specialists that are adapted to forage for a single food source, while others are generalists that can consume a variety of food sources. Nutrient deficiency Nutrient deficiencies, known as malnutrition, occur when an organism does not have the nutrients that it needs. This may be caused by suddenly losing nutrients or the inability to absorb proper nutrients. Not only is malnutrition the result of a lack of necessary nutrients, but it can also be a result of other illnesses and health conditions. When this occurs, an organism will adapt by reducing energy consumption and expenditure to prolong the use of stored nutrients. It will use stored energy reserves until they are depleted, and it will then break down its own body mass for additional energy. A balanced diet includes appropriate amounts of all essential and nonessential nutrients. These can vary by age, weight, sex, physical activity levels, and more. A lack of just one essential nutrient can cause bodily harm, just as an overabundance can cause toxicity. The Daily Reference Values keep the majority of people from nutrient deficiencies. DRVs are not recommendations but a combination of nutrient references to educate professionals and policymakers on what the maximum and minimum nutrient intakes are for the average person. Food labels also use DRVs as a reference to create safe nutritional guidelines for the average healthy person. In organisms Animal Animals are heterotrophs that consume other organisms to obtain nutrients. Herbivores are animals that eat plants, carnivores are animals that eat other animals, and omnivores are animals that eat both plants and other animals. Many herbivores rely on bacterial fermentation to create digestible nutrients from indigestible plant cellulose, while obligate carnivores must eat animal meats to obtain certain vitamins or nutrients their bodies cannot otherwise synthesize. Animals generally have a higher requirement of energy in comparison to plants. The macronutrients essential to animal life are carbohydrates, amino acids, and fatty acids. All macronutrients except water are required by the body for energy, however, this is not their sole physiological function. The energy provided by macronutrients in food is measured in kilocalories, usually called Calories, where 1 Calorie is the amount of energy required to raise 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius. Carbohydrates are molecules that store significant amounts of energy. Animals digest and metabolize carbohydrates to obtain this energy. Carbohydrates are typically synthesized by plants during metabolism, and animals have to obtain most carbohydrates from nature, as they have only a limited ability to generate them. They include sugars, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides. Glucose is the simplest form of carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are broken down to produce glucose and short-chain fatty acids, and they are the most abundant nutrients for herbivorous land animals. Carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram. Lipids provide animals with fats and oils. They are not soluble in water, and they can store energy for an extended period of time. They can be obtained from many different plant and animal sources. Most dietary lipids are triglycerides, composed of glycerol and fatty acids. Phospholipids and sterols are found in smaller amounts. An animal's body will reduce the amount of fatty acids it produces as dietary fat intake increases, while it increases the amount of fatty acids it produces as carbohydrate intake increases. Fats contain 9 calories per gram. Protein consumed by animals is broken down to amino acids, which would be later used to synthesize new proteins. Protein is used to form cellular structures, fluids, and enzymes (biological catalysts). Enzymes are essential to most metabolic processes, as well as DNA replication, repair, and transcription. Protein contains 4 calories per gram. Much of animal behavior is governed by nutrition. Migration patterns and seasonal breeding take place in conjunction with food availability, and courtship displays are used to display an animal's health. Animals develop positive and negative associations with foods that affect their health, and they can instinctively avoid foods that have caused toxic injury or nutritional imbalances through a conditioned food aversion. Some animals, such as rats, do not seek out new types of foods unless they have a nutrient deficiency. Human Early human nutrition consisted of foraging for nutrients, like other animals, but it diverged at the beginning of the Holocene with the Neolithic Revolution, in which humans developed agriculture to produce food. The Chemical Revolution in the 18th century allowed humans to study the nutrients in foods and develop more advanced methods of food preparation. Major advances in economics and technology during the 20th century allowed mass production and food fortification to better meet the nutritional needs of humans. Human behavior is closely related to human nutrition, making it a subject of social science in addition to biology. Nutrition in humans is balanced with eating for pleasure, and optimal diet may vary depending on the demographics and health concerns of each person. Humans are omnivores that eat a variety of foods. Cultivation of cereals and production of bread has made up a key component of human nutrition since the beginning of agriculture. Early humans hunted animals for meat, and modern humans domesticate animals to consume their meat and eggs. The development of animal husbandry has also allowed humans in some cultures to consume the milk of other animals and process it into foods such as cheese. Other foods eaten by humans include nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables. Access to domesticated animals as well as vegetable oils has caused a significant increase in human intake of fats and oils. Humans have developed advanced methods of food processing that prevent contamination of pathogenic microorganisms and simplify the production of food. These include drying, freezing, heating, milling, pressing, packaging, refrigeration, and irradiation. Most cultures add herbs and spices to foods before eating to add flavor, though most do not significantly affect nutrition. Other additives are also used to improve the safety, quality, flavor, and nutritional content of food. Humans obtain most carbohydrates as starch from cereals, though sugar has grown in importance. Lipids can be found in animal fat, butterfat, vegetable oil, and leaf vegetables, and they are also used to increase flavor in foods. Protein can be found in virtually all foods, as it makes up cellular material, though certain methods of food processing may reduce the amount of protein in a food. Humans can also obtain energy from ethanol, which is both a food and a drug, but it provides relatively few essential nutrients and is associated with nutritional deficiencies and other health risks. In humans, poor nutrition can cause deficiency-related diseases, such as blindness, anemia, scurvy, preterm birth, stillbirth and cretinism, or nutrient-excess conditions, such as obesity and metabolic syndrome. Other conditions possibly affected by nutrition disorders include cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and osteoporosis. Undernutrition can lead to wasting in acute cases, and stunting of marasmus in chronic cases of malnutrition. Domesticated animal In domesticated animals, such as pets, livestock, and working animals, as well as other animals in captivity, nutrition is managed by humans through animal feed. Fodder and forage are provided to livestock. Specialized pet food has been manufactured since 1860, and subsequent research and development have addressed the nutritional needs of pets. Dog food and cat food in particular are heavily studied and typically include all essential nutrients for these animals. Cats are sensitive to some common nutrients, such as taurine, and require additional nutrients derived from meat. Large-breed puppies are susceptible to overnutrition, as small-breed dog food is more energy dense than they can absorb. Plant Most plants obtain nutrients through inorganic substances absorbed from the soil or the atmosphere. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur are essential nutrients that make up organic material in a plant and allow enzymic processes. These are absorbed ions in the soil, such as bicarbonate, nitrate, ammonium, and sulfate, or they are absorbed as gases, such as carbon dioxide, water, oxygen gas, and sulfur dioxide. Phosphorus, boron, and silicon are used for esterification. They are obtained through the soil as phosphates, boric acid, and silicic acid, respectively. Other nutrients used by plants are potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, chlorine, iron, copper, zinc, and molybdenum. Plants uptake essential elements from the soil through their roots and from the air (consisting of mainly nitrogen and oxygen) through their leaves. Nutrient uptake in the soil is achieved by cation exchange, wherein root hairs pump hydrogen ions (H+) into the soil through proton pumps. These hydrogen ions displace cations attached to negatively charged soil particles so that the cations are available for uptake by the root. In the leaves, stomata open to take in carbon dioxide and expel oxygen. Although nitrogen is plentiful in the Earth's atmosphere, very few plants can use this directly. Most plants, therefore, require nitrogen compounds to be present in the soil in which they grow. This is made possible by the fact that largely inert atmospheric nitrogen is changed in a nitrogen fixation process to biologically usable forms in the soil by bacteria. As these nutrients do not provide the plant with energy, they must obtain energy by other means. Green plants absorb energy from sunlight with chloroplasts and convert it to usable energy through photosynthesis. Fungus Fungi are chemoheterotrophs that consume external matter for energy. Most fungi absorb matter through the root-like mycelium, which grows through the organism's source of nutrients and can extend indefinitely. The fungus excretes extracellular enzymes to break down surrounding matter and then absorbs the nutrients through the cell wall. Fungi can be parasitic, saprophytic, or symbiotic. Parasitic fungi attach and feed on living hosts, such as animals, plants, or other fungi. Saprophytic fungi feed on dead and decomposing organisms. Symbiotic fungi grow around other organisms and exchange nutrients with them. Protist Protists include all eukaryotes that are not animals, plants, or fungi, resulting in great diversity between them. Algae are photosynthetic protists that can produce energy from light. Several types of protists use mycelium similar to those of fungi. Protozoa are heterotrophic protists, and different protozoa seek nutrients in different ways. Flagellate protozoa use a flagellum to assist in hunting for food, and some protozoa travel via infectious spores to act as parasites. Many protists are mixotrophic, having both phototrophic and heterotrophic characteristics. Mixotrophic protists will typically depend on one source of nutrients while using the other as a supplemental source or a temporary alternative when its primary source is unavailable. Prokaryote Prokaryotes, including bacteria and archaea, vary greatly in how they obtain nutrients across nutritional groups. Prokaryotes can only transport soluble compounds across their cell envelopes, but they can break down chemical components around them. Some lithotrophic prokaryotes are extremophiles that can survive in nutrient-deprived environments by breaking down inorganic matter. Phototrophic prokaryotes, such as cyanobacteria and Chloroflexia, can engage in photosynthesis to obtain energy from sunlight. This is common among bacteria that form in mats atop geothermal springs. Phototrophic prokaryotes typically obtain carbon from assimilating carbon dioxide through the Calvin cycle. Some prokaryotes, such as Bdellovibrio and Ensifer, are predatory and feed on other single-celled organisms. Predatory prokaryotes seek out other organisms through chemotaxis or random collision, merge with the organism, degrade it, and absorb the released nutrients. Predatory strategies of prokaryotes include attaching to the outer surface of the organism and degrading it externally, entering the cytoplasm of the organism, or by entering the periplasmic space of the organism. Groups of predatory prokaryotes may forgo attachment by collectively producing hydrolytic enzymes. See also Milan Charter 2015 Charter on Nutrition References Bibliography External links

Research design

Research design refers to the overall strategy utilized to answer research questions. A research design typically outlines the theories and models underlying a project; the research question(s) of a project; a strategy for gathering data and information; and a strategy for producing answers from the data. A strong research design yields valid answers to research questions while weak designs yield unreliable, imprecise or irrelevant answers. Incorporated in the design of a research study will depend on the standpoint of the researcher over their beliefs in the nature of knowledge (see epistemology) and reality (see ontology), often shaped by the disciplinary areas the researcher belongs to. The design of a study defines the study type (descriptive, correlational, semi-experimental, experimental, review, meta-analytic) and sub-type (e.g., descriptive-longitudinal case study), research problem, hypotheses, independent and dependent variables, experimental design, and, if applicable, data collection methods and a statistical analysis plan. A research design is a framework that has been created to find answers to research questions. Design types and sub-types There are many ways to classify research designs. Nonetheless, the list below offers a number of useful distinctions between possible research designs. A research design is an arrangement of conditions or collection. Descriptive (e.g., case-study, naturalistic observation, survey) Correlational (e.g., case-control study, observational study) Experimental (e.g., field experiment, controlled experiment, quasi-experiment) Review (literature review, systematic review) Meta-analytic (meta-analysis) Sometimes a distinction is made between "fixed" and "flexible" designs. In some cases, these types coincide with quantitative and qualitative research designs respectively, though this need not be the case. In fixed designs, the design of the study is fixed before the main stage of data collection takes place. Fixed designs are normally theory-driven; otherwise, it is impossible to know in advance which variables need to be controlled and measured. Often, these variables are measured quantitatively. Flexible designs allow for more freedom during the data collection process. One reason for using a flexible research design can be that the variable of interest is not quantitatively measurable, such as culture. In other cases, the theory might not be available before one starts the research. Grouping The choice of how to group participants depends on the research hypothesis and on how the participants are sampled. In a typical experimental study, there will be at least one "experimental" condition (e.g., "treatment") and one "control" condition ("no treatment"), but the appropriate method of grouping may depend on factors such as the duration of measurement phase and participant characteristics: Cohort study Cross-sectional study Cross-sequential study Longitudinal study Confirmatory versus exploratory research research tests a priori hypotheses — outcome predictions that are made before the measurement phase begins. Such a priori hypotheses are usually derived from a theory or the results of previous studies. The advantage of confirmatory research is that the result is more meaningful, in the sense that it is much harder to claim that a certain result is generalizable beyond the data set. The reason for this is that in confirmatory research, one ideally strives to reduce the probability of falsely reporting a coincidental result as meaningful. This probability is known as α-level or the probability of a type I error. research, on the other hand, seeks to generate a posteriori hypotheses by examining a data-set and looking for potential relations between variables. It is also possible to have an idea about a relation between variables but to lack knowledge of the direction and strength of the relation. If the researcher does not have any specific hypotheses beforehand, the study is exploratory with respect to the variables in question (although it might be confirmatory for others). The advantage of exploratory research is that it is easier to make new discoveries due to the less stringent methodological restrictions. Here, the researcher does not want to miss a potentially interesting relation and therefore aims to minimize the probability of rejecting a real effect or relation; this probability is sometimes referred to as β and the associated error is of type II. In other words, if the researcher simply wants to see whether some measured variables could be related, he would want to increase the chances of finding a significant result by lowering the threshold of what is deemed to be significant. Sometimes, a researcher may conduct exploratory research but report it as if it had been confirmatory ('Hypothesizing After the Results are Known', HARKing—see Hypotheses suggested by the data); this is a questionable research practice bordering on fraud. State problems versus process problems A distinction can be made between state problems and process problems. State problems aim to answer what the state of a phenomenon is at a given time, while process problems deal with the change of phenomena over time. Examples of state problems are the level of mathematical skills of sixteen-year-old children, the computer skills of the elderly, the depression level of a person, etc. Examples of process problems are the development of mathematical skills from puberty to adulthood, the change in computer skills when people get older, and how depression symptoms change during therapy. State problems are easier to measure than process problems. State problems just require one measurement of the phenomena of interest, while process problems always require multiple measurements. Research designs such as repeated measurements and longitudinal study are needed to address process problems. Examples of fixed designs Experimental research designs In an experimental design, the researcher actively tries to change the situation, circumstances, or experience of participants (manipulation), which may lead to a change in behavior or outcomes for the participants of the study. The researcher randomly assigns participants to different conditions, measures the variables of interest, and tries to control for confounding variables. Therefore, experiments are often highly fixed even before the data collection starts. In a good experimental design, a few things are of great importance. First of all, it is necessary to think of the best way to operationalize the variables that will be measured, as well as which statistical methods would be most appropriate to answer the research question. Thus, the researcher should consider what the expectations of the study are as well as how to analyze any potential results. Finally, in an experimental design, the researcher must think of the practical limitations including the availability of participants as well as how representative the participants are to the target population. It is important to consider each of these factors before beginning the experiment. Additionally, many researchers employ power analysis before they conduct an experiment, in order to determine how large the sample must be to find an effect of a given size with a given design at the desired probability of making a Type I or Type II error. The researcher has the advantage of minimizing resources in experimental research designs. Non-experimental research designs Non-experimental research designs do not involve a manipulation of the situation, circumstances or experience of the participants. Non-experimental research designs can be broadly classified into three categories. First, in relational designs, a range of variables are measured. These designs are also called correlation studies because correlation data are most often used in the analysis. Since correlation does not imply causation, such studies simply identify co-movements of variables. Correlational designs are helpful in identifying the relation of one variable to another, and seeing the frequency of co-occurrence in two natural groups (see Correlation and dependence). The second type is comparative research. These designs compare two or more groups on one or more variable, such as the effect of gender on grades. The third type of non-experimental research is a longitudinal design. A longitudinal design examines variables such as performance exhibited by a group or groups over time (see Longitudinal study). Examples of flexible research designs Case study Famous case studies are for example the descriptions about the patients of Freud, who were thoroughly analysed and described. Bell (1999) states "a case study approach is particularly appropriate for individual researchers because it gives an opportunity for one aspect of a problem to be studied in some depth within a limited time scale". Grounded theory study Grounded theory research is a systematic research process that works to develop "a process, and action or an interaction about a substantive topic". See also Bold hypothesis Clinical study design Design of experiments Grey box completion and validation Research proposal Royal Commission on Animal Magnetism References design

Ecological systems theory

Ecological systems theory is a broad term used to capture the theoretical contributions of developmental psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner. Bronfenbrenner developed the foundations of the theory throughout his career, published a major statement of the theory in American Psychologist, articulated it in a series of propositions and hypotheses in his most cited book, The Ecology of Human Development and further developing it in The Bioecological Model of Human Development and later writings. A primary contribution of ecological systems theory was to systemically examine contextual variability in development processes. As the theory evolved, it placed increasing emphasis on the role of the developing person as an active agent in development and on understanding developmental process rather than "social addresses" (e.g., gender, ethnicity) as explanatory mechanisms. Overview Ecological systems theory describes a scientific approach to studying lifespan development that emphasizes the interrelationship of different developmental processes (e.g., cognitive, social, biological). It is characterized by its emphasis on naturalistic and quasi-experimental studies, although several important studies using this framework use experimental methodology. Although developmental processes are thought to be universal, they are thought to (a) show contextual variability in their likelihood of occurring, (b) occur in different constellations in different settings and (c) affect different people differently. Because of this variability, scientists working within this framework use individual and contextual variability to provide insight into these universal processes. The foundations of ecological systems theory can be seen throughout Bronfennbrenner's career. For example, in the 1950s he analyzed historical and social class variations in parenting practices, in the 1960s he wrote an analysis of gender differences focusing on the different cultural meanings of the same parenting practices for boys and girls, and in the 1970s he compared childrearing in the US and USSR, focusing how cultural differences in the concordance of values across social institutions change parent influences. The formal development of ecological systems theory occurred in three major stages. A major statement of the theory was published in American Psychologist. Bronfenbrenner critiqued then current methods of studying children in laboratories as providing a limited window on development, calling it "the science of the strange behavior of children in strange situations with strange adults for the briefest possible periods of time" (p. 513) and calling for more "ecologically valid" studies of developing individuals in their natural environment. For example, he argued that laboratory studies of children provided insight into their behavior in an unfamiliar ("strange") setting that had limited generalizability to their behavior in more familiar environments, such as home or school. The Ecology of Human Development articulated a series of definitions, propositions and hypotheses that could be used to study human development. This work categorized developmental processes, beginning with genetic and personal characteristics, though proximal influences that the developing person interacted with directly (e.g., social relationships), to influences such as parents' work, government policies or cultural value systems that affected them indirectly. As the theory evolved, it placed increasing emphasis on the role of the developing person as an active agent in development and on understanding developmental process rather than "social addresses" (e.g., gender, ethnicity) as explanatory mechanisms. The final form of the theory, developed in conjunction with Stephen Ceci, was called the Bioecological Model of Human Development and addresses critiques that previous statements of the theory under-emphasized individual difference and efficacy. Developmental processes were conceived of as co-occurring in niches that were lawfully defined and reinforcing. Because of this, Bronfenbrenner was a strong proponent of using social policy interventions as both a way of using science to improve child well-being and as an important scientific tool. Early examples of the application of ecological systems theory are evident in Head Start. The five systems Microsystem: Refers to the institutions and groups that most immediately and directly impact the child's development including: family, school, siblings, neighborhood, and peers. Mesosystem: Consists of interconnections between the microsystems, for example between the family and teachers or between the child's peers and the family. Exosystem: Involves links between social settings that do not involve the child. For example, a child's experience at home may be influenced by their parent's experiences at work. A parent might receive a promotion that requires more travel, which in turn increases conflict with the other parent resulting in changes in their patterns of interaction with the child. Macrosystem: Describes the overarching culture that influences the developing child, as well as the microsystems and mesosystems embedded in those cultures. Cultural contexts can differ based on geographic location, socioeconomic status, poverty, and ethnicity. Members of a cultural group often share a common identity, heritage, and values. Macrosystems evolve across time and from generation to generation. Chronosystem: Consists of the pattern of environmental events and transitions over the life course, as well as changing socio-historical circumstances. For example, researchers have found that the negative effects of divorce on children often peak in the first year after the divorce. By two years after the divorce, family interaction is less chaotic and more stable. An example of changing sociohistorical circumstances is the increase in opportunities for women to pursue a career during the last thirty years. Later work by Bronfenbrenner considered the role of biology in this model as well; thus the theory has sometimes been called the bioecological model. Per this theoretical construction, each system contains roles, norms and rules which may shape psychological development. For example, an inner-city family faces many challenges which an affluent family in a gated community does not, and vice versa. The inner-city family is more likely to experience environmental hardships, like crime and squalor. On the other hand, the sheltered family is more likely to lack the nurturing support of extended family. Since its publication in 1979, Bronfenbrenner's major statement of this theory, The Ecology of Human Development has had widespread influence on the way psychologists and others approach the study of human beings and their environments. As a result of his groundbreaking work in human ecology, these environments—from the family to economic and political structures—have come to be viewed as part of the life course from childhood through adulthood. Bronfenbrenner has identified Soviet developmental psychologist Lev Vygotsky and German-born psychologist Kurt Lewin as important influences on his theory. Bronfenbrenner's work provides one of the foundational elements of the ecological counseling perspective, as espoused by Robert K. Conyne, Ellen Cook, and the University of Cincinnati Counseling Program. There are many different theories related to human development. Human ecology theory emphasizes environmental factors as central to development. See also Bioecological model Ecosystem Ecosystem ecology Systems ecology Systems psychology Theoretical ecology Urie Bronfenbrenner References The diagram of the ecosystemic model was created by Buehler (2000) as part of a dissertation on assessing interactions between a child, their family, and the school and medical systems. Further reading Urie Bronfenbrenner. (2009). The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Dede Paquette & John Ryan. (2001). Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory Marlowe E. Trance, Kerstin O. Flores. (2014). " Child and Adolescent Development" Vol. 32. no. 5 9407 Ecological Systems Review The ecological framework facilitates organizing information about people and their environment in order to understand their interconnectedness. Individuals move through a series of life transitions, all of which necessitate environmental support and coping skills. Social problems involving health care, family relations, inadequate income, mental health difficulties, conflicts with law enforcement agencies, unemployment, educational difficulties, and so on can all be subsumed under the ecological model, which would enable practitioners to assess factors that are relevant to such problems (Hepworth, Rooney, Rooney, Strom-Gottfried, & Larsen, 2010, p. 16). Thus, examining the ecological contexts of parenting success of children with disabilities is particularly important. Utilizing Bronfenbrenner's (1977, 1979) ecological framework, this article explores parenting success factors at the micro- (i.e., parenting practice, parent-child relations), meso- (i.e., caregivers' marital relations, religious social support), and macro-system levels (i.e., cultural variations, racial and ethnic disparities, and health care delivery system) of practice. Developmental psychology Human ecology Psychological schools Psychological theories Systems psychology Systems theory

Planetary boundaries

Planetary boundaries are a framework to describe limits to the impacts of human activities on the Earth system. Beyond these limits, the environment may not be able to self-regulate anymore. This would mean the Earth system would leave the period of stability of the Holocene, in which human society developed. The framework is based on scientific evidence that human actions, especially those of industrialized societies since the Industrial Revolution, have become the main driver of global environmental change. According to the framework, "transgressing one or more planetary boundaries may be deleterious or even catastrophic due to the risk of crossing thresholds that will trigger non-linear, abrupt environmental change within continental-scale to planetary-scale systems." The normative component of the framework is that human societies have been able to thrive under the comparatively stable climatic and ecological conditions of the Holocene. To the extent that these Earth system process boundaries have not been crossed, they mark the "safe zone" for human societies on the planet. Proponents of the planetary boundary framework propose returning to this environmental and climatic system; as opposed to human science and technology deliberately creating a more beneficial climate. The concept doesn't address how humans have massively altered ecological conditions to better suit themselves. The climatic and ecological Holocene this framework considers as a "safe zone" doesn't involve massive industrial farming. So this framework begs a reassessment of how to feed modern populations. The concept has since become influential in the international community (e.g. United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development), including governments at all levels, international organizations, civil society and the scientific community. The framework consists of nine global change processes. In 2009, according to Rockström and others, three boundaries were already crossed (biodiversity loss, climate change and nitrogen cycle), while others were in imminent danger of being crossed. In 2015, several of the scientists in the original group published an update, bringing in new co-authors and new model-based analysis. According to this update, four of the boundaries were crossed: climate change, loss of biosphere integrity, land-system change, altered biogeochemical cycles (phosphorus and nitrogen). The scientists also changed the name of the boundary "Loss of biodiversity" to "Change in biosphere integrity" to emphasize that not only the number of species but also the functioning of the biosphere as a whole is important for Earth system stability. Similarly, the "Chemical pollution" boundary was renamed to "Introduction of novel entities", widening the scope to consider different kinds of human-generated materials that disrupt Earth system processes. In 2022, based on the available literature, the introduction of novel entities was concluded to be the 5th transgressed planetary boundary. Freshwater change was concluded to be the 6th transgressed planetary boundary in 2023. Framework overview and principles The basic idea of the Planetary Boundaries framework is that maintaining the observed resilience of the Earth system in the Holocene is a precondition for humanity's pursuit of long-term social and economic development. The Planetary Boundaries framework contributes to an understanding of global sustainability because it brings a planetary scale and a long timeframe into focus. The framework described nine "planetary life support systems" essential for maintaining a "desired Holocene state", and attempted to quantify how far seven of these systems had been pushed already. Boundaries were defined to help define a "safe space for human development", which was an improvement on approaches aiming at minimizing human impacts on the planet. The framework is based on scientific evidence that human actions, especially those of industrialized societies since the Industrial Revolution, have become the main driver of global environmental change. According to the framework, "transgressing one or more planetary boundaries may be deleterious or even catastrophic due to the risk of crossing thresholds that will trigger non-linear, abrupt environmental change within continental-scale to planetary-scale systems." The framework consists of nine global change processes. In 2009, two boundaries were already crossed, while others were in imminent danger of being crossed. Later estimates indicated that three of these boundaries—climate change, biodiversity loss, and the biogeochemical flow boundary—appear to have been crossed. The scientists outlined how breaching the boundaries increases the threat of functional disruption, even collapse, in Earth's biophysical systems in ways that could be catastrophic for human wellbeing. While they highlighted scientific uncertainty, they indicated that breaching boundaries could "trigger feedbacks that may result in crossing thresholds that drastically reduce the ability to return within safe levels". The boundaries were "rough, first estimates only, surrounded by large uncertainties and knowledge gaps" which interact in complex ways that are not yet well understood. The planetary boundaries framework lays the groundwork for a shifting approach to governance and management, away from the essentially sectoral analyses of limits to growth aimed at minimizing negative externalities, toward the estimation of the safe space for human development. Planetary boundaries demarcate, as it were, the "planetary playing field" for humanity if major human-induced environmental change on a global scale is to be avoided. Authors The authors of this framework was a group of Earth System and environmental scientists in 2009 led by Johan Rockström from the Stockholm Resilience Centre and Will Steffen from the Australian National University. They collaborated with 26 leading academics, including Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen, Goddard Institute for Space Studies climate scientist James Hansen, oceanographer Katherine Richardson, geographer Diana Liverman and the German Chancellor's chief climate adviser Hans Joachim Schellnhuber. Most of the contributing scientists were involved in strategy-setting for the Earth System Science Partnership, the precursor to the international global change research network Future Earth. The group wanted to define a "safe operating space for humanity" for the wider scientific community, as a precondition for sustainable development. Nine boundaries Thresholds and tipping points The 2009 study identified nine planetary boundaries and, drawing on current scientific understanding, the researchers proposed quantifications for seven of them. These are: climate change (CO2 concentration in the atmosphere < 350 ppm and/or a maximum change of +1 W/m2 in radiative forcing); ocean acidification (mean surface seawater saturation state with respect to aragonite ≥ 80% of pre-industrial levels); stratospheric ozone depletion (less than 5% reduction in total atmospheric O3 from a pre-industrial level of 290 Dobson Units); biogeochemical flows in the nitrogen (N) cycle (limit industrial and agricultural fixation of N2 to 35 Tg N/yr) and phosphorus (P) cycle (annual P inflow to oceans not to exceed 10 times the natural background weathering of P); global freshwater use (< 4000 km3/yr of consumptive use of runoff resources); land system change (< 15% of the ice-free land surface under cropland); the erosion of biosphere integrity (an annual rate of loss of biological diversity of < 10 extinctions per million species). chemical pollution (introduction of novel entities in the environment). For one process in the planetary boundaries framework, the scientists have not specified a global boundary quantification: atmospheric aerosol loading; The quantification of individual planetary boundaries is based on the observed dynamics of the interacting Earth system processes included in the framework. The control variables were chosen because together they provide an effective way to track the human-caused shift away from Holocene conditions. For some of Earth's dynamic processes, historic data display clear thresholds between comparatively stable conditions. For example, past ice-ages show that during peak glacial conditions, the atmospheric concentration of CO2 was ~180-200 ppm. In interglacial periods (including the Holocene), CO2 concentration has fluctuated around 280 ppm. To know what past climate conditions were like with an atmosphere with over 350 ppm CO2, scientists need to look back about 3 million years. The paleo record of climatic, ecological and biogeochemical changes shows that the Earth system has experienced tipping points, when a very small increment for a control variable (like CO2) triggers a larger, possibly catastrophic, change in the response variable (global warming) through feedbacks in the natural Earth System itself. For several of the processes in the planetary boundaries framework, it is difficult to locate individual points that mark the threshold shift away from Holocene-like conditions. This is because the Earth system is complex and the scientific evidence base is still partial and fragmented. Instead, the planetary boundaries framework identifies many Earth system thresholds at multiple scales that will be influenced by increases in the control variables. Examples include shifts in monsoon behavior linked to the aerosol loading and freshwater use planetary boundaries. "Safe operating spaces" The planetary boundaries framework proposes a range of values for its control variables. This range is supposed to span the threshold between a 'safe operating space' where Holocene-like dynamics can be maintained and a highly uncertain, poorly predictable world where Earth system changes likely increase risks to societies. The boundary is defined as the lower end of that range. If the boundaries are persistently crossed, the world goes further into a danger zone. It is difficult to restore a 'safe operating space' for humanity that is described by the planetary boundary concept. Even if past biophysical changes could be mitigated, the predominant paradigms of social and economic development appear largely indifferent to the looming possibilities of large scale environmental disasters triggered by human actions. Legal boundaries can help keep human activities in check, but are only as effective as the political will to make and enforce them. Interaction among boundaries Understanding the Earth system is fundamentally about understanding interactions among environmental change processes. The planetary boundaries are defined with reference to dynamic conditions of the Earth system, but scientific discussions about how different planetary boundaries relate to each other are often philosophically and analytically muddled. Clearer definitions of the basic concepts and terms might help give clarity. There are many many interactions among the processes in the planetary boundaries framework. While these interactions can create both stabilizing and destabilizing feedbacks in the Earth system, the authors suggested that a transgressed planetary boundary will reduce the safe operating space for other processes in the framework rather than expand it from the proposed boundary levels. They give the example that the land use boundary could "shift downward" if the freshwater boundary is breached, causing lands to become arid and unavailable for agriculture. At a regional level, water resources may decline in Asia if deforestation continues in the Amazon. That way of framing the interactions shifts from the framework's biophysical definition of boundaries based on Holocene-like conditions to an anthropocentric definition (demand for agricultural land). Despite this conceptual slippage, considerations of known Earth system interactions across scales suggest the need for "extreme caution in approaching or transgressing any individual planetary boundaries." Another example has to do with coral reefs and marine ecosystems: In 2009, researchers showed that, since 1990, calcification in the reefs of the Great Barrier that they examined decreased at a rate unprecedented over the last 400 years (14% in less than 20 years). Their evidence suggests that the increasing temperature stress and the declining ocean saturation state of aragonite is making it difficult for reef corals to deposit calcium carbonate. Multiple stressors, such as increased nutrient loads and fishing pressure, moves corals into less desirable ecosystem states. Ocean acidification will significantly change the distribution and abundance of a whole range of marine life, particularly species "that build skeletons, shells, and tests of biogenic calcium carbonate. Increasing temperatures, surface UV radiation levels and ocean acidity all stress marine biota, and the combination of these stresses may well cause perturbations in the abundance and diversity of marine biological systems that go well beyond the effects of a single stressor acting alone." Proposed new or expanded boundaries since 2012 In 2012, Steven Running suggested a tenth boundary, the annual net global primary production of all terrestrial plants, as an easily determinable measure integrating many variables that will give "a clear signal about the health of ecosystems". In 2015, a second paper was published in Science to update the Planetary Boundaries concept. The update concluded four boundaries had now been transgressed: climate, biodiversity, land use and biogeochemical cycles. The 2015 paper emphasized interactions of the nine boundaries and identified climate change and loss of biodiversity integrity as 'core boundaries' of central importance to the framework because the interactions of climate and the biosphere are what scientifically defines Earth system conditions. In 2017, some authors argued that marine systems are underrepresented in the framework. Their proposed remedy was to include the seabed as a component of the earth surface change boundary. They also wrote that the framework should account for "changes in vertical mixing and ocean circulation patterns". Subsequent work on planetary boundaries begins to relate these thresholds at the regional scale. Debate and further research per boundary Climate change A 2018 study calls into question the adequacy of efforts to limit warming to 2 °C above pre-industrial temperatures, as set out in the Paris Agreement. The scientists raise the possibility that even if greenhouse gas emissions are substantially reduced to limit warming to 2 °C, that might exceed the "threshold" at which self-reinforcing climate feedbacks add additional warming until the climate system stabilizes in a hothouse climate state. This would make parts of the world uninhabitable for people, raise sea levels by up to , and raise temperatures by to levels that are higher than any interglacial period in the past 1.2 million years. Change in biosphere integrity According to the biologist Cristián Samper, a "boundary that expresses the probability of families of species disappearing over time would better reflect our potential impacts on the future of life on Earth." The biodiversity boundary has also been criticized for framing biodiversity solely in terms of the extinction rate. The global extinction rate has been highly variable over the Earth's history, and thus using it as the only biodiversity variable can be of limited usefulness. Nitrogen and phosphorus The biogeochemist William Schlesinger thinks waiting until we near some suggested limit for nitrogen deposition and other pollutions will just permit us to continue to a point where it is too late. He says the boundary suggested for phosphorus is not sustainable, and would exhaust the known phosphorus reserves in less than 200 years. The ocean chemist Peter Brewer queries whether it is "truly useful to create a list of environmental limits without serious plans for how they may be achieved ... they may become just another stick to beat citizens with. Disruption of the global nitrogen cycle is one clear example: it is likely that a large fraction of people on Earth would not be alive today without the artificial production of fertilizer. How can such ethical and economic issues be matched with a simple call to set limits? ... food is not optional." Peak phosphorus is a concept to describe the point in time at which the maximum global phosphorus production rate is reached. Phosphorus is a scarce finite resource on earth and means of production other than mining are unavailable because of its non-gaseous environmental cycle. According to some researchers, Earth's phosphorus reserves are expected to be completely depleted in 50–100 years and peak phosphorus to be reached by approximately 2030. Ocean acidification Surface ocean acidity is clearly interconnected with the climate change boundaries, since the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is also the underlying control variable for the ocean acidification boundary. The ocean chemist Peter Brewer thinks "ocean acidification has impacts other than simple changes in pH, and these may need boundaries too." Land-system change Across the planet, forests, wetlands and other vegetation types are being converted to agricultural and other land uses, impacting freshwater, carbon and other cycles, and reducing biodiversity. In the year 2015 the boundary was defined as 75% of forests rested intact, including 85% of boreal forests, 50% of temperate forests and 85% of tropical forests. The boundary is crossed because only 62% of forests rested intact as of the year 2015. The boundary for land use has been criticized as follows: "The boundary of 15 per cent land-use change is, in practice, a premature policy guideline that dilutes the authors' overall scientific proposition. Instead, the authors might want to consider a limit on soil degradation or soil loss. This would be a more valid and useful indicator of the state of terrestrial health." Freshwater The freshwater cycle is another boundary significantly affected by climate change. Overexploitation of freshwater occurs if a water resource is mined or extracted at a rate that exceeds the recharge rate. Water pollution and saltwater intrusion can also turn much of the world's underground water and lakes into finite resources with "peak water" usage debates similar to oil. The hydrologist David Molden stated in 2009 that planetary boundaries are a welcome new approach in the "limits to growth" debate but said "a global limit on water consumption is necessary, but the suggested planetary boundary of 4,000 cubic kilometres per year is too generous." Green and blue water A study concludes that the 'Freshwater use' boundary should be renamed to the 'Freshwater change', composed of "green" and "blue" water components. 'Green water' refers to disturbances of terrestrial precipitation, evaporation and soil moisture. Water scarcity can have substantial effects in agriculture. When measuring and projecting water scarcity in agriculture for climate change scenarios, both "green water" and "blue water" are of relevance. In April 2022, scientists proposed and preliminarily evaluated 'green water' in the water cycle as a likely transgressed planetary boundary, as measured by root-zone soil moisture deviation from Holocene variability. Ozone depletion The stratospheric ozone layer protectively filters ultraviolet radiation (UV) from the Sun, which would otherwise damage biological systems. The actions taken after the Montreal Protocol appeared to be keeping the planet within a safe boundary. The Nobel laureate in chemistry, Mario Molina, says "five per cent is a reasonable limit for acceptable ozone depletion, but it doesn't represent a tipping point". Atmospheric aerosols Worldwide each year, aerosol particles result in about 800,000 premature deaths from air pollution. Aerosol loading is sufficiently important to be included among the planetary boundaries, but it is not yet clear whether an appropriate safe threshold measure can be identified. Novel entities (chemical pollution) Some chemicals, such as persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals and radionuclides, have potentially irreversible additive and synergic effects on biological organisms, reducing fertility and resulting in permanent genetic damage. Sublethal uptakes are drastically reducing marine bird and mammal populations. This boundary seems important, although it is hard to quantify. In 2019, it was suggested that novel entities could include genetically modified organisms, pesticides and even artificial intelligence. A Bayesian emulator for persistent organic pollutants has been developed which can potentially be used to quantify the boundaries for chemical pollution. To date, critical exposure levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) above which mass mortality events of marine mammals are likely to occur, have been proposed as a chemical pollution planetary boundary. There are at least 350,000 artificial chemicals in the world. They are coming from "plastics, pesticides, industrial chemicals, chemicals in consumer products, antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals". They have mostly "negative effects on planetary health". Their production increased 50 times since 1950 and is expected to increase 3 times more by 2050. Plastic alone contain more than 10,000 chemicals and create large problems. The researchers are calling for limit on chemical production and shift to circular economy, meaning to products that can be reused and recycled. In January 2022 a group of scientists concluded that this planetary boundary is already exceeded, which puts in risk the stability of the Earth system. They integrated the literature information on how production and release of a number of novel entities, including plastics and hazardous chemicals, have rapidly increased in the last decades with significant impact on the planetary processes. In August 2022, scientists concluded that the (overall transgressed) boundary is a placeholder for multiple different boundaries for NEs that may emerge, reporting that PFAS pollution is one such new boundary. They show that levels of these so-called "forever chemicals" in rainwater are ubiquitously, and often greatly, above guideline safe levels worldwide. There are some moves to restrict and replace their use. Related concepts Planetary integrity Planetary integrity is also called earth's life-support systems or ecological integrity. Scholars have pointed out that planetary integrity "needs to be maintained for long-term sustainability". The current biodiversity loss is threatening ecological integrity on a global scale. The term integrity refers to ecological health in this context. The concept of planetary integrity is interlinked within the concept of planetary boundaries. An expert Panel on Ecological Integrity in 1998 has defined ecological integrity as follows: "Ecosystems have integrity when they have their native components (plants, animals and other organisms) and processes (such as growth and reproduction) intact." The Sustainable Development Goals might be able to act as a steering mechanism to address the current loss of planetary integrity. There are many negative human impacts on the environment that are causing a reduction in planetary integrity. The "Limits to Growth" (1972) and Gaia theory The idea that there are limits to the burden placed upon our planet by human activities has been around for a long time. The Planetary Boundaries framework acknowledges the influence of the 1972 study, The Limits to Growth, that presented a model in which exponential growth in world population, industrialization, pollution, food production, and resources depletion outstrip the ability of technology to increase resources availability. Subsequently, the report was widely dismissed, particularly by economists and business people, and it has often been claimed that history has proved the projections to be incorrect. In 2008, Graham Turner from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) published "A comparison of The Limits to Growth with thirty years of reality". The Limits to Growth has been widely discussed, both by critics of the modelling approach and its conclusions and by analysts who argue that the insight that societies do not live in an unlimited world and that historical data since the 1970s support the report's findings. The Limits to Growth approach explores how the socio-technical dynamics of the world economy may limit humanity's opportunities and introduce risks of collapse. In contrast, the Planetary Boundaries framework focuses on the biophysical dynamics of the Earth system. Our Common Future was published in 1987 by United Nations' World Commission on Environment and Development. It tried to recapture the spirit of the Stockholm Conference. Its aim was to interlock the concepts of development and environment for future political discussions. It introduced the famous definition for sustainable development: "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Another key idea influencing the Planetary Boundaries framework is the Gaia theory or hypothesis. In the 1970s, James Lovelock and microbiologist Lynn Margulis presented the idea that all organisms and their inorganic surroundings on Earth are integrated into a single self-regulating system. The system has the ability to react to perturbations or deviations, much like a living organism adjusts its regulation mechanisms to accommodate environmental changes such as temperature (homeostasis). Nevertheless, this capacity has limits. For instance, when a living organism is subjected to a temperature that is lower or higher than its living range, it can perish because its regulating mechanism cannot make the necessary adjustments. Similarly the Earth may not be able to react to large deviations in critical parameters. In Lovelock's book The Revenge of Gaia, he suggests that the destruction of rainforests and biodiversity, compounded with global warming resulting from the increase of greenhouse gases made by humans, could shift feedbacks in the Earth system away from a self-regulating balance to a positive (intensifying) feedback loop. Anthropocene Scientists have affirmed that the planet has entered a new epoch, the Anthropocene. In the Anthropocene, humans have become the main agents of not only change to the Earth System but also the driver of Earth System rupture, disruption of the Earth System's ability to be resilient and recover from that change, potentially ultimately threatening planetary habitability. The previous geological epoch, the Holocene began about 10,000 years ago. It is the current interglacial period, and was a relatively stable environment of the Earth. There have been natural environmental fluctuations during the Holocene, but the key atmospheric and biogeochemical parameters have remained within relatively narrow bounds. This stability has allowed societies to thrive worldwide, developing agriculture, large-scale settlements and complex networks of trade. According to Rockström et al., we "have now become so dependent on those investments for our way of life, and how we have organized society, technologies, and economies around them, that we must take the range within which Earth System processes varied in the Holocene as a scientific reference point for a desirable planetary state." Various biophysical processes that are important in maintaining the resilience of the Earth system are also undergoing large and rapid change because of human actions. For example, since the advent of the Anthropocene, the rate at which species are going extinct has increased over 100 times, and humans are now the driving force altering global river flows as well as water vapor flows from the land surface. Continuing perturbation of Earth system processes by human activities raises the possibility that further pressure could be destabilizing, leading to non-linear, abrupt, large-scale or irreversible environmental change responses by the Earth system within continental- to planetary-scale systems. Reception and debate The 2009 report was presented to the General Assembly of the Club of Rome in Amsterdam. An edited summary of the report was published as the featured article in a special 2009 edition of Nature alongside invited critical commentary from leading academics like Nobel laureate Mario J. Molina and biologist Cristián Samper. Development studies scholars have been critical of aspects of the framework and constraints that its adoption could place on the Global South. Proposals to conserve a certain proportion of Earth's remaining forests can be seen as rewarding the countries such as those in Europe that have already economically benefitted from exhausting their forests and converting land for agriculture. In contrast, countries that have yet to industrialize are asked to make sacrifices for global environmental damage they may have had little role in creating. The biogeochemist William Schlesinger queries whether thresholds are a good idea for pollutions at all. He thinks waiting until we near some suggested limit will just permit us to continue to a point where it is too late. "Management based on thresholds, although attractive in its simplicity, allows pernicious, slow and diffuse degradation to persist nearly indefinitely." In a global empirical study, researchers investigated how students of environmental and sustainability studies in 35 countries assessed the planetary boundaries. It was found that there are substantial global differences in the perception of planetary boundaries. Subsequent developments The "safe and just space" doughnut National environmental footprints Several studies have assessed environmental footprints of nations based on planetary boundaries: for Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the European Union, India, many of Belt and Road Initiative countries as well as for the world's most important economies. While the metrics and allocation approaches applied varied, there is a converging outcome that resource use of wealthier nations – if extrapolated to world population – is not compatible with planetary boundaries. Boundaries related to agriculture and food consumption Human activities related to agriculture and nutrition globally contribute to the transgression of four out of nine planetary boundaries. Surplus nutrient flows (N, P) into aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems are of highest importance, followed by excessive land-system change and biodiversity loss. Whereas in the case of biodiversity loss, P cycle and land-system change, the transgression is in the zone of uncertainty—indicating an increasing risk (yellow circle in the figure), the N boundary related to agriculture is more than 200% transgressed—indicating a high risk (red marked circle in the figure). Here, nutrition includes food processing and trade as well as food consumption (preparation of food in households and gastronomy). Consumption-related environmental impacts are not quantified at the global level for the planetary boundaries of freshwater use, atmospheric aerosol loading (air pollution) and stratospheric ozone depletion. Individual and collective allowances Approaches based on a general framework of ecological limits include (transferable) personal carbon allowances and "legislated" national greenhouse gas emissions limits. Consumers would have freedom in their (informed) choice within (the collective) boundaries. Usage at international policy level United Nations The United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon endorsed the concept of planetary boundaries on 16 March 2012, when he presented the key points of the report of his High Level Panel on Global Sustainability to an informal plenary of the UN General Assembly. Ban stated: "The Panel's vision is to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality, to make growth inclusive and production and consumption more sustainable, while combating climate change and respecting a range of other planetary boundaries." The concept was incorporated into the so-called "zero draft" of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development to be convened in Rio de Janeiro 20–22 June 2012. However, the use of the concept was subsequently withdrawn from the text of the conference, "partly due to concerns from some poorer countries that its adoption could lead to the sidelining of poverty reduction and economic development. It is also, say observers, because the idea is simply too new to be officially adopted, and needed to be challenged, weathered and chewed over to test its robustness before standing a chance of being internationally accepted at UN negotiations." In 2011, at their second meeting, the High-level Panel on Global Sustainability of the United Nations had incorporated the concept of planetary boundaries into their framework, stating that their goal was: "To eradicate poverty and reduce inequality, make growth inclusive, and production and consumption more sustainable while combating climate change and respecting the range of other planetary boundaries." Elsewhere in their proceedings, panel members have expressed reservations about the political effectiveness of using the concept of "planetary boundaries": "Planetary boundaries are still an evolving concept that should be used with caution [...] The planetary boundaries question can be divisive as it can be perceived as a tool of the "North" to tell the "South" not to follow the resource intensive and environmentally destructive development pathway that rich countries took themselves... This language is unacceptable to most of the developing countries as they fear that an emphasis on boundaries would place unacceptable brakes on poor countries." However, the concept is routinely used in the proceedings of the United Nations, and in the UN Daily News. For example, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner states that the challenge of agriculture is to "feed a growing global population without pushing humanity's footprint beyond planetary boundaries." The UNEP Yearbook 2010 also repeated Rockström's message, conceptually linking it with ecosystem management and environmental governance indicators. In their 2012 report entitled "Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A future worth choosing", The High-level Panel on Global Sustainability called for bold global efforts, "including launching a major global scientific initiative, to strengthen the interface between science and policy. We must define, through science, what scientists refer to as "planetary boundaries", "environmental thresholds" and "tipping points"". European Commission The planetary boundaries concept is also used in proceedings by the European Commission, and was referred to in the European Environment Agency synthesis report The European environment – state and outlook 2010. See also Ecological footprint Global catastrophic risk Global change Holocene extinction Human impact on the nitrogen cycle Human impacts on the environment Planetary health Planetary management Sustainability Triple Planetary Crisis References Sources See also: Peak water. The web page inverts the book title. External links Figures and data for the updated Planetary Boundaries can be found at the Stockholm Resilience Centre website. Planetary Boundaries: Specials Nature, 24 September 2009. Johan Rockstrom: Let the environment guide our development TED video, July 2010. Transcript html Earth sciences Global environmental issues Globalization Sustainability Criticism of capitalism

Rights of nature

Rights of nature or Earth rights is a legal and jurisprudential theory that describes inherent rights as associated with ecosystems and species, similar to the concept of fundamental human rights. The rights of nature concept challenges twentieth-century laws as generally grounded in a flawed frame of nature as "resource" to be owned, used, and degraded. Proponents argue that laws grounded in rights of nature direct humanity to act appropriately and in a way consistent with modern, system-based science, which demonstrates that humans and the natural world are fundamentally interconnected. This school of thought is underpinned by two basic lines of reasoning. First, since the recognition of human rights is based in part on the philosophical belief that those rights emanate from humanity's own existence, logically, so too do inherent rights of the natural world arise from the natural world's own existence. A second and more pragmatic argument asserts that the survival of humans depends on healthy ecosystems, and so protection of nature's rights in turn, advances human rights and well-being. From a rights of nature perspective, most environmental laws of the twentieth century are based on an outmoded framework that considers nature to be composed of separate and independent parts, rather than components of a larger whole. A more significant criticism is that those laws tend to be subordinate to economic interests, and aim at reacting to and just partially mitigating economics-driven degradation, rather than placing nature's right to thrive as the primary goal of those laws. This critique of existing environmental laws is an important component of tactics such as climate change litigation that seeks to force societal action to mitigate climate change. As of June 2021, rights of nature laws exist at the local to national levels in 39 countries, including dozens of cities and counties throughout the United States. They take the form of constitutional provisions, treaty agreements, statutes, local ordinances, and court decisions. A state constitutional provision is being sought in Florida. Basic tenets Proponents of rights of nature argue that, just as human rights have been recognized increasingly in law, so should nature's rights be recognized and incorporated into human ethics and laws. This claim is underpinned by two lines of reasoning: that the same ethics that justify human rights, also justify nature's rights, and, that humans' own survival depend on healthy ecosystems. First, it is argued that if inherent human rights arise from human existence, so too logically do inherent rights of the natural world arise from the natural world's own existence. Human rights, and associated duties to protect those rights, have expanded over time. Most notably, the 1948 adoption by the United Nations, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that formalized recognition of broad categories of inalienable human rights. Drafters of the UDHR stated their belief that the concept of fundamental human rights arose not from "the decision of a worldly power, but rather in the fact of existing." Some scholars have contended thereafter that, given that basic human rights emanate from humans' own existence, nature's rights similarly arise from the similar existence of nature, and so humans' legal systems should continue to expand to recognize the rights of nature. Some notable proponents of this approach include U.S. cultural historian Thomas Berry, South African attorney Cormac Cullinan, Indian physicist and eco-social advocate Vandana Shiva, and Canadian law professor and U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights and the Environment David R. Boyd. Thomas Berry introduced a philosophy and ethics of law concept called Earth jurisprudence that identifies the earth's laws as primary and reasons that everything by the fact of its existence, therefore, has an intrinsic right to be and evolve. Earth Jurisprudence has been increasingly recognized and promoted worldwide by legal scholars, the United Nations, lawmakers, philosophers, ecological economists, and other experts as a foundation for Earth-centered governance, including laws and economic systems that protect the fundamental rights of nature. Second, support for rights of nature also is supported through the utilitarian argument that humanity can only thrive in the long term by accepting integrated co-existence of humans with the natural world. Berry noted that the concept of human well-being derived from natural systems with no fundamental right to exist is inherently illogical, and that by protecting nature's rights, humans advance their own self-interest. The legal and philosophical concept of rights of nature offers a shift from a frame of nature as property or resource, to nature as an interconnected Earth community partner. This school of thought aims at following the same path that human rights movements have followed, where at first recognition of rights in the rightless appeared "unthinkable", but later matured into a broadly-espoused worldview. Christopher Stone, a law professor at the University of Southern California, wrote extensively on this topic in his seminal essay, "Should Trees Have Standing", cited by a U.S. Supreme Court dissent in Sierra Club v. Morton for the position that "environmental issues should be tendered by [nature] itself." As described by Stone and others, human rights have increasingly been "found" over time and declared "self-evident", as in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, even where essentially non-existent in the law. The successes of past and current human rights movements provide lessons for the current movement to widen the circle of Earth community to include natural systems and species populations as rights-bearing entities. Underpinnings and development Critique of anthropocentric legal systems Proponents of a shift to a more environmentally protective system of law contend that current legal and economic systems fail because they consider nature fundamentally as property, which can be degraded for profit and human desire. They point out that the perspective of nature as primarily an economic resource already has degraded some ecosystems and species so significantly that now, prominent policy experts are examining "endangered species triage" strategies to decide which species will be let go, rather than re-examine the economics driving the degradation. While twentieth and twenty-first century environmental laws do afford some level of protection to ecosystems and species, it is argued that such protections fail to stop, let alone reverse, overall environmental decline, because nature is by definition subordinated to anthropogenic and economic interests, rather than biocentric well-being. Rights of nature proponents contend that re-envisioning current environmental laws from a nature's rights frame demonstrates the limitations of current legal systems. For example, the U.S. Endangered Species Act prioritizes protection of existing economic interests by activating only when species populations are headed toward extinction. By contrast, a "Healthy Species Act" would prioritize achievement of thriving species populations and facilitate economic systems that drive conservation of species. As another example, the European Union's Water Framework Directive of 2000, "widely accepted as the most substantial and ambitious piece of European environmental legislation to date", relies on a target of "good status" of all EU waters, which includes consideration of needed "ecological flows". However, decades after the Directive's adoption, despite scientific advances in identifying flow-ecology relationships, there remains no EU definition of "ecological flow", nor a common understanding of how it should be calculated. A nature's rights frame would recognize not only the existing human right to water for basic needs, but would also recognize the rights of waterways to adequate, timely, clean water flows, and would define such basic ecological flow needs accordingly. Underlying science and ethics Modern environmental laws began to arise in the 1960s out of a foundational perspective of the environment as best managed in discrete pieces. For example, United States laws such as the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, and numerous others began to be adopted in the early 1970s to address various elements of the natural world, separately from other elements. Some laws, such as the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act, called for a more holistic analysis of proposed infrastructure projects and required the disclosure of expected negative environmental impacts. However, it did not require that actions be taken to address those impacts in order to ensure ecosystem and species health. These laws reflected the science of the time, which was grounded in a reductionist analysis of the natural world; the modern, system-based understanding of the natural world, and the integrated place of humans with it, was still in development. The first major textbook on ecological science that described the natural world as a system rather than a collection of different parts, was not written until 1983. The Gaia Hypothesis, which offered a scientific vision of the world as a self-regulating, complex system, first arose in the 1970s. Systems dynamics similarly began to evolve from a business focus to include socioeconomic and natural systems starting in the 1970s. Since then, scientific disciplines have been converging and advancing on the concept that humans live in a dynamic, relationship-based world that "den[ies] the possibility of isolation". While science in the late twentieth century shifted to a systems-based perspective, describing natural systems and human populations as fundamentally interconnected on a shared planet, environmental laws generally did not evolve with this shift. Reductionist U.S. environmental laws passed in the early 1970s remained largely unchanged, and other national and international environmental law regimes similarly stopped short of embracing the modern science of systems. Nineteenth century linguist and scholar Edward Payson Evans, an early rights of nature theorist and author of "the first extensive American statement of (...) environmental ethics", wrote that each human is "truly a part and product of Nature as any other animal, and [the] attempt to set him up on an isolated point outside of it is philosophically false and morally pernicious". Thomas Berry proposed that society's laws should derive from the laws of nature, explaining that "the universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects". From the scientific perspective that all life arose from the context of the universe, Berry offered the ethical perspective that it is flawed to view humans as the universe's only subjects, with all other beings merely a collection of objects to be owned and used. Rather, consideration of life as a web of relationships extending back to a shared ancestry confers subject status to all, including the inherent rights associated with that status. Laws based on a recognition of the intrinsic moral value of the natural world, create a new societal moral compass that directs society's interactions with the natural world more effectively toward well-being for all. Scientists who similarly wrote in support of expanded human moral development and ethical obligation include naturalist John Muir and scientist and forester Aldo Leopold. Leopold expressed that "[w]hen we see land as a community to which we belong", rather than "a commodity belonging to us", we can "begin to use it with love and respect". Leopold offered implementation guidance for his position, stating that a "thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." Berry similarly observed that "whatever preserves and enhances this meadow in the natural cycles of its transformation is good; what is opposed to this meadow or negates it is not good." Physician and philosopher Albert Schweizer defined right actions as those that recognize a reverence for life and the "will to live". The outgrowth of scientific and ethical advances around natural systems and species is a proposed new frame for legal and governance systems, one grounded in an ethic and a language that guide behavior away from ecological and social practices that ignore or minimize human-nature interconnections. Court decisions including examples in Ecuador, Colombia and India have relied on these scientific developments in recognizing, interpreting and giving content to the legal rights of nature. Rather than a vision of merely "sustainable development", which reflects a frame of nature maintained as economic feedstock, scholars supporting rights of nature suggest that society is beginning to consider visions such as "thriving communities", where "communities" includes nature as a full subject, rather than simply an object to be used. While some rights-of-nature laws grant rights to nature without any duties, others view nature as a legal person with rights as well duties and legal liability. History Common roots with Indigenous worldviews The ethical and philosophical foundation of a nature's rights legal theory and movement is a worldview of respect for nature, as contrasted with the "nature domination" worldview that underlies the concept of nature as object and property. Indigenous law professor John Borrows observed that "[w]ithin indigenous legal traditions, creation stories... give guidance about how to live with the world", rather than live at odds with it. A 2012 international Declaration of Indigenous Peoples found that modern laws destroy the earth because they do not respect the "natural order of Creation". The Declaration observed that humans "have our place and our responsibilities within Creation's sacred order" and benefit from "sustaining joy as things occur in harmony with the Earth and with all life that it creates and sustains". Indigenous worldviews align with and have accelerated the development of rights of nature law, including in Ecuador and Bolivia. Ecuador amended its constitution in 2008 to recognize the rights of nature in light of the perceived need to better protect and respect Pachamama, a term that embodies both the physical and the spiritual aspects of the natural world. Bolivia similarly amended its constitution and enacted nature's rights statutes to reflect traditional Indigenous respect for Pachamama, and a worldview of natural systems and humans as part of one family. New Zealand law professor Catherine Iorns Magallanes observed that traditional Indigenous worldviews embody a connection with nature is so deep that nature is regarded as a living ancestor. From this worldview arises responsibilities to protect nature as one would a family member, and the need for a legal structure that reflects a primary frame of responsibilities to the natural world as kin. However, several scholars have denounced the Indigenous aspects of rights of nature to be a myth, and some have argued that one-sided implementations of rights of nature could be detrimental to indigenous communities. Common roots with world religions Many of the world's other religious and spiritual traditions offer insights consistent with a nature's rights worldview. Eastern religious and philosophical traditions embrace a holistic conception of spirituality that includes the Earth. Chinese Daoism and Neo-Confucianism, as well as Japanese Buddhism, teach that the world is a dynamic force field of energies known as bussho (Buddha nature or qi), the material force that flows through humans, nature, and universe. As the eleventh century pioneering Neo-Confucianist philosopher Zhang Zai explained, "that which extends throughout the universe I regard as my body and that which directs the universe I consider as my nature". In both Hinduism and Buddhism, karma ("action" or "declaration" in Sanskrit) reflects the reality of humanity's networked interrelations with Earth and universe. Buddhist concepts of "co-dependent arising" similarly hold that all phenomena are intimately connected. Mahayana Buddhism's "Indra's Net" symbolizes a universe of infinitely repeated mutual relations, with no one thing dominating. Western religious and philosophical traditions have recognized the context of Earth and universe in providing spiritual guidance as well. From the Neolithic through the Bronze ages, the societies of "Old Europe" revered numerous female deities as incarnations of Mother Earth. In early Greece, the earth goddess Gaia was worshipped as a supreme deity. In the Philebus and Timaeus, Plato asserted that the "world is indeed a living being endowed with a soul and intelligence (...) a single visible living entity containing all other living entities, which by their nature are all related". Medieval theologian St. Thomas Aquinas later wrote of the place of humans, not at the center of being, but as one part of an integrated whole with the universe as primary, stating that "The order of the universe is the ultimate and noblest perfection in things." More recently, Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Catholic Church, reflected that, "[t]he obedience to the voice of Earth is more important for our future happiness... than the desires of the moment. Our Earth is talking to us and we must listen to it and decipher its message if we want to survive." His successor, Pope Francis, has been particularly vocal on humanity's relationship with the Earth, describing how humans must change their current actions in light of the fact that "a true 'right of the environment' does exist". He warned against humanity's current path, stating that "the deepest roots of our present failures" lie in the direction and meaning of economic growth, and the overarching rule of a "deified market". The Qur’an, Islam's primary authority in all matters of individual and communal life, reflects that "the whole creation praises God by its very being". Scholars describe the "ultimate purpose of the Shari'ah" as "the universal common good, the welfare of the entire creation," and note that "not a single creature, present or future, may be excluded from consideration in deciding a course of action." Bringing together Western and Indigenous traditions, Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke of "Ubuntu", an African ethical concept that translates roughly to "I am because you are", observing that: "Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness... We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world." Common roots with human rights Human rights have been developing over centuries, with the most notable outgrowth being the adoption of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations in 1948. Key to the development of those rights are the concepts of natural rights, and rights of humans emanating from the existence of humanity. Roderick Fraser Nash, professor of history and environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, traced the history of rights for species and the natural world back to the thirteenth century Magna Carta's launch of the concept of "natural rights" that underlies modern rights discourse. Peter Burdon, professor at the University of Adelaide Law School and an Earth Jurisprudence scholar, has expanded upon Nash's analysis, offering that seventeenth century English philosopher and physician John Locke's transformative natural rights thesis led to the American Revolution, through the concept that the British monarchy was denying colonists their natural rights. Building on that concept, U.S. President, attorney, and philosopher Thomas Jefferson argued that the "laws of nature and of nature's God" reveal "self-evident" truths that "all Men are created equal" in their possession of "certain unalienable rights", particularly "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". The 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen later recognized as well the "natural, inalienable and sacred rights of Man", adding that the "final end of every political institution is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of Man." The expansion of rights continued out to animals, with eighteenth-nineteenth century English philosopher and legal theorist Jeremy Bentham claiming that the "day may come when the rest of the animal creation may acquire those rights which never could have been withholden from them but by the hand of tyranny". Nineteenth-century linguist and scholar Edward Payson Evans observed that: [i]n tracing the history of the evolution of ethics we find the recognition of mutual rights and duties confined at first to members of the same horde or tribe, then extended to worshippers of the same gods, and gradually enlarged so as to include every civilized nation, until at length all races of men are at least theoretically conceived as being united in a common bond of brotherhood and benevolent sympathy, which is now slowly expanding so as to comprise not only the higher species of animals, but also every sensitive embodiment of organic life. The 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations was another milestone, underpinned by the belief that fundamental human rights arise from "the fact of existing". The movement for rights of nature built on this belief, arguing that if "existence" is the defining condition for fundamental rights, this defining condition could not be limited to the rights of only one form of existence, and that all forms of existence should enjoy fundamental rights. For example, Aldo Leopold's land ethic explicitly recognized nature's "right to continued existence" and sought to "change the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it". Proponents of the rights of nature also contend that from the abolition of slavery, to the granting of the right to vote to women, to the civil rights movement, and the recognition of other fundamental rights, societies have continued to expand rights in parallel with a growing acceptance of the inherent moral worth of the potential new rights holders. And, that this expansion of the circle of community ought to continue to grow to encompass the natural world, a position that has seen growing acceptance in the late twentieth century and early twenty-first. Proponents suggest that rights derived from existence in nature do not confer human rights to all beings, but rather confer unique rights to different kinds of beings. Thomas Berry put forth the theory that rights "are species specific and limited"; that is, "rivers have river rights", "birds have bird rights", and "humans have human rights". In his view, the difference is "qualitative, not quantitative". Extending this point, the common ethical and moral grounding of human rights and the rights of nature gives rise to the concept of "co-violations" of rights, defined as a "situation in which governments, industries, or others violate both the rights of nature and human rights, including indigenous rights, with the same action". For example, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, pollution from Texaco's (now Chevron) oil drilling operations from 1967 to 1992 resulted in an epidemic of birth defects, miscarriages, and an estimated 1,400 cancer deaths, that were particularly devastating to indigenous communities. These operations further caused more than one million acres of deforestation and polluted local waterways with 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater and contaminants, severely damaging a formerly pristine rainforest of extraordinary biodiversity. Asserting that the same human actions that created such impacts violated the fundamental rights of both people and natural systems, it is argued that ethical and legal theories that recognize both sets of rights will better guide human behavior to recognize and respect humans' interconnected relationships with each other and the natural world. As with the recognition of human rights, legal scholars find that recognition of the rights of nature alters the framework of human laws and practices. Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe theorized further that "choosing to accord nature a fraternal rather than an exploited role... might well make us different persons from the manipulators and subjugators we are in danger of becoming". 20th and 21st century developments The adoption of the UDHR in 1948 formalized recognition of broad categories of inalienable human rights globally. These include recognition that "[a]ll human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights", that "[e]veryone has the right to life, liberty and security of person", and that "[e]veryone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted". Recognition of fundamental rights in "soft law" instruments such as the UDHR provided guidance to nations around the world, who have since developed constitutional provisions, statutes, court decisions, regulations, and other bodies of law based on the UDHR and the human rights it champions. Decades later, USC law professor Christopher Stone called for recognition of the legal standing and associated rights of the natural world as well, consistent with the "successive extension of rights" throughout legal history. As was done in the UDHR, Stone outlined the necessary elements of nature's participation in human legal systems, describing such a legal system as necessarily including: recognition of injuries as subject to redress by public body, standing to institute legal actions (with guardians acting on behalf of the natural entity), redress calculated for natural entity's own damages, and relief running to the benefit of the injured natural entity. In addition to Stone's legal work, other late twentieth and early twenty-first century drivers of the rights of nature movement include indigenous perspectives and the work of the indigenous rights movement; the writings of Arne Naess and the Deep Ecology movement; Thomas Berry's 2001 jurisprudential call for recognizing the laws of nature as the "primary text"; the publication of Cormac Cullinan's Wild Law book in 2003, followed by the creation of an eponymous legal association in the UK; growing concern about corporate power through the expansion of legal personhood for corporations; adoption by U.S. communities of local laws addressing rights of nature; the creation of the Global Alliance of the Rights of Nature in 2010 (GARN; a nonprofit advancing rights on nature worldwide); and mounting global concerns with species losses, ecosystem destruction, and the existential threat of climate change. These and other factors supported the development of the 2010 Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth (UDRME). The UDRME was adopted by representatives of 130 nations at the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, convened in Bolivia following the concerns of many regarding the disappointing results of the 2009 Copenhagen climate negotiations. Just as the U.N. recognized human rights as arising from existence, so did the UDRME find that the "inherent rights of Mother Earth are inalienable in that they arise from the same source as existence". Like the UDHR, the UDRME defends the rights-bearing entity (nature and her elements) from the excesses of governing authorities. These rights include, among others, the recognition that "Mother Earth and all beings of which she is composed have... the right to life and to exist" as well as the "right to integral health". The UDRME adds that "[e]ach being has the right to a place and to play its role in Mother Earth for her harmonious functioning". Just as the rights protected by the UDHR are enforceable by the "right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals", so too does the UDRME specifically require humans and their institutions to "recognize and promote the full implementation and enforcement of the rights and obligations recognized in this Declaration". The UDRME addresses enforcement by requiring "damages caused by human violations of the inherent rights" to be "rectified", with those responsible "held accountable".[88] Moreover, it calls on states to "empower human beings and institutions to defend the rights of Mother Earth and of all beings". Bolivian President Evo Morales urged then-U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to make U.N. adoption of the UDRME a priority. While that recommendation remains to be addressed, since then the UDRME has served to inform other international and national efforts, such as a 2012 Resolution by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) proposing a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Nature. The Incorporation of the Rights of Nature was adopted at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii (2016). As of 2021 rights of nature has been reflected in treaties, constitutions, court decisions, and statutory and administrative law at all levels of government. Craig Kauffman, political science professor at the University of Oregon, and scholar of nature's rights and global governance, contends that evolving rights of nature initiatives and networks represent an "important new global movement" arising from "an informal global governance system... being constructed by citizens disillusioned by the failure of governments to take stronger actions to address the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss". As well in 2021, the Declaration of the Rights of the Moon was created by a group of "lawyers, space archaeologists and concerned citizens", drawing on precedents in the Rights of Nature movement and the concept of legal personality for non-human entities in space. Rights of nature law The early 2000s saw a significant expansion of rights of nature law, in the form of constitutional provisions, treaty agreements, national and subnational statutes, local laws, and court decisions. As of 2022, nature's rights laws exist in 24 countries (up from 17 in 2021), including in Canada, at least seven Tribal Nations in the U.S. and Canada, and over 60 cities and counties throughout the United States. The total number of countries with either existing or pending rights of nature legal provisions was 29 as of 2022. Related initiatives The development of stronger and more active transnational rights of nature networks during the early 2000s, is a likely cause for the greater adoption of those championed principles into law. This has occurred in close integration with other, system-changing initiatives and movements for rights, including: development and implementation of new economic and finance models that seek to better reflect human rights and nature's rights; indigenous leadership to advance both the rights of indigenous peoples and nature's rights; international social movements such as the human right to water; advancement of practical solutions consistent with a nature's rights frame, such as rewilding; and rights of nature movement capacity building, including through development of nature's rights movement hubs globally. To illustrate implementation of nature's rights laws, the nonprofit Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature established "International Rights of Nature Tribunals". These are civil society initiatives and they issue non-binding recommendations. The tribunals bring together advocates of rights of nature, human rights, and rights of indigenous peoples into a process similar to the Permanent Peoples' Tribunals. The goal of the tribunals is to provide formal public recognition, visibility, and voice to the people and natural systems injured by alleged violations of fundamental rights and marginalized in current law, and to offer a model for redress for such injuries. As awareness of rights of nature law and jurisprudence has spread, a new field of academic research is developing, where legal scholars and other scholars have begun to offer strategies and analysis to drive broader application of such laws, particularly in the face of early implementation successes and challenges. In popular culture The 2018 documentary Rights of Nature: A Global Movement, directed by Isaac Goeckeritz, Hal Crimmel and Valeria Berros explores the challenges of creating new legal structures in relation to Rights of Nature. A documentary film entitled Invisible Hand about the rights of nature movement, directed by Joshua Boaz Pribanic and Melissa Troutman of Public Herald, was released in 2020, executive-produced and narrated by actor Mark Ruffalo. It won four Best Documentary Awards. The Overstory, which won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and spent over a year on the New York Times bestseller list, examined relationships with and rights of trees. The podcast Damages explores the concept of the rights of nature in different contexts. The Daily Show covered the concept of the rights of nature in an episode. See also Animal rights Common heritage of humanity Deep ecology (an environmental philosophy promoting the inherent worth of living beings regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs) Earth jurisprudence Ecocide (attempts to criminalize human activities that cause extensive damage to ecosystems) Environmental personhood Florida Right To Clean Water proposed amendment to state constitution Sumak kawsay (Buen Vivir, or "good living", rooted in the worldview of the Quechua peoples of the Andes) Wild law (human laws that are consistent with Earth jurisprudence) Notes References Further reading Epstein, Yaffa; Ellison, Aaron M.; Echeverria, Hugo; Abbott, Jessica K., "Science and the Legal Rights of Nature". Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science. 380(6646). https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adf4155. Hillebrecht, Tabios, Anna Leah, María Valeria Berros, eds. "Can Nature Have Rights? Legal and Political Insights," RCC Perspectives: Transformations in Environment and Society 2017, no. 6. doi.org/10.5282/rcc/8164. Kings College London Legal Clinic (January 2024). "A Rights of Nature Toolkit: How to Protect Rivers in England and Wales" (PDF). External links Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature International Rights of Nature Tribunal Thomas Berry and the Great Work United Nations, Harmony with Nature initiative Rights of Nature Law, Policy and Education (United Nations, Harmony with Nature) – A list of laws and judicial decisions by country, on the rights on nature. Rights of nature

Metabolism

Metabolism (, from metabolē, "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the conversion of food to building blocks of proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and some carbohydrates; and the elimination of metabolic wastes. These enzyme-catalyzed reactions allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. The word metabolism can also refer to the sum of all chemical reactions that occur in living organisms, including digestion and the transportation of substances into and between different cells, in which case the above described set of reactions within the cells is called intermediary (or intermediate) metabolism. Metabolic reactions may be categorized as catabolic—the breaking down of compounds (for example, of glucose to pyruvate by cellular respiration); or anabolic—the building up (synthesis) of compounds (such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids). Usually, catabolism releases energy, and anabolism consumes energy. The chemical reactions of metabolism are organized into metabolic pathways, in which one chemical is transformed through a series of steps into another chemical, each step being facilitated by a specific enzyme. Enzymes are crucial to metabolism because they allow organisms to drive desirable reactions that require energy and will not occur by themselves, by coupling them to spontaneous reactions that release energy. Enzymes act as catalysts—they allow a reaction to proceed more rapidly—and they also allow the regulation of the rate of a metabolic reaction, for example in response to changes in the cell's environment or to signals from other cells. The metabolic system of a particular organism determines which substances it will find nutritious and which poisonous. For example, some prokaryotes use hydrogen sulfide as a nutrient, yet this gas is poisonous to animals. The basal metabolic rate of an organism is the measure of the amount of energy consumed by all of these chemical reactions. A striking feature of metabolism is the similarity of the basic metabolic pathways among vastly different species. For example, the set of carboxylic acids that are best known as the intermediates in the citric acid cycle are present in all known organisms, being found in species as diverse as the unicellular bacterium Escherichia coli and huge multicellular organisms like elephants. These similarities in metabolic pathways are likely due to their early appearance in evolutionary history, and their retention is likely due to their efficacy. In various diseases, such as type II diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cancer, normal metabolism is disrupted. The metabolism of cancer cells is also different from the metabolism of normal cells, and these differences can be used to find targets for therapeutic intervention in cancer. Key biochemicals Most of the structures that make up animals, plants and microbes are made from four basic classes of molecules: amino acids, carbohydrates, nucleic acid and lipids (often called fats). As these molecules are vital for life, metabolic reactions either focus on making these molecules during the construction of cells and tissues, or on breaking them down and using them to obtain energy, by their digestion. These biochemicals can be joined to make polymers such as DNA and proteins, essential macromolecules of life. Amino acids and proteins Proteins are made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain joined by peptide bonds. Many proteins are enzymes that catalyze the chemical reactions in metabolism. Other proteins have structural or mechanical functions, such as those that form the cytoskeleton, a system of scaffolding that maintains the cell shape. Proteins are also important in cell signaling, immune responses, cell adhesion, active transport across membranes, and the cell cycle. Amino acids also contribute to cellular energy metabolism by providing a carbon source for entry into the citric acid cycle (tricarboxylic acid cycle), especially when a primary source of energy, such as glucose, is scarce, or when cells undergo metabolic stress. Lipids Lipids are the most diverse group of biochemicals. Their main structural uses are as part of internal and external biological membranes, such as the cell membrane. Their chemical energy can also be used. Lipids contain a long, non-polar hydrocarbon chain with a small polar region containing oxygen. Lipids are usually defined as hydrophobic or amphipathic biological molecules but will dissolve in organic solvents such as ethanol, benzene or chloroform. The fats are a large group of compounds that contain fatty acids and glycerol; a glycerol molecule attached to three fatty acids by ester linkages is called a triacylglyceride. Several variations of the basic structure exist, including backbones such as sphingosine in sphingomyelin, and hydrophilic groups such as phosphate in phospholipids. Steroids such as sterol are another major class of lipids. Carbohydrates Carbohydrates are aldehydes or ketones, with many hydroxyl groups attached, that can exist as straight chains or rings. Carbohydrates are the most abundant biological molecules, and fill numerous roles, such as the storage and transport of energy (starch, glycogen) and structural components (cellulose in plants, chitin in animals). The basic carbohydrate units are called monosaccharides and include galactose, fructose, and most importantly glucose. Monosaccharides can be linked together to form polysaccharides in almost limitless ways. Nucleotides The two nucleic acids, DNA and RNA, are polymers of nucleotides. Each nucleotide is composed of a phosphate attached to a ribose or deoxyribose sugar group which is attached to a nitrogenous base. Nucleic acids are critical for the storage and use of genetic information, and its interpretation through the processes of transcription and protein biosynthesis. This information is protected by DNA repair mechanisms and propagated through DNA replication. Many viruses have an RNA genome, such as HIV, which uses reverse transcription to create a DNA template from its viral RNA genome. RNA in ribozymes such as spliceosomes and ribosomes is similar to enzymes as it can catalyze chemical reactions. Individual nucleosides are made by attaching a nucleobase to a ribose sugar. These bases are heterocyclic rings containing nitrogen, classified as purines or pyrimidines. Nucleotides also act as coenzymes in metabolic-group-transfer reactions. Coenzymes Metabolism involves a vast array of chemical reactions, but most fall under a few basic types of reactions that involve the transfer of functional groups of atoms and their bonds within molecules. This common chemistry allows cells to use a small set of metabolic intermediates to carry chemical groups between different reactions. These group-transfer intermediates are called coenzymes. Each class of group-transfer reactions is carried out by a particular coenzyme, which is the substrate for a set of enzymes that produce it, and a set of enzymes that consume it. These coenzymes are therefore continuously made, consumed and then recycled. One central coenzyme is adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy currency of cells. This nucleotide is used to transfer chemical energy between different chemical reactions. There is only a small amount of ATP in cells, but as it is continuously regenerated, the human body can use about its own weight in ATP per day. ATP acts as a bridge between catabolism and anabolism. Catabolism breaks down molecules, and anabolism puts them together. Catabolic reactions generate ATP, and anabolic reactions consume it. It also serves as a carrier of phosphate groups in phosphorylation reactions. A vitamin is an organic compound needed in small quantities that cannot be made in cells. In human nutrition, most vitamins function as coenzymes after modification; for example, all water-soluble vitamins are phosphorylated or are coupled to nucleotides when they are used in cells. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), a derivative of vitamin B3 (niacin), is an important coenzyme that acts as a hydrogen acceptor. Hundreds of separate types of dehydrogenases remove electrons from their substrates and reduce NAD+ into NADH. This reduced form of the coenzyme is then a substrate for any of the reductases in the cell that need to transfer hydrogen atoms to their substrates. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide exists in two related forms in the cell, NADH and NADPH. The NAD+/NADH form is more important in catabolic reactions, while NADP+/NADPH is used in anabolic reactions. Mineral and cofactors Inorganic elements play critical roles in metabolism; some are abundant (e.g. sodium and potassium) while others function at minute concentrations. About 99% of a human's body weight is made up of the elements carbon, nitrogen, calcium, sodium, chlorine, potassium, hydrogen, phosphorus, oxygen and sulfur. Organic compounds (proteins, lipids and carbohydrates) contain the majority of the carbon and nitrogen; most of the oxygen and hydrogen is present as water. The abundant inorganic elements act as electrolytes. The most important ions are sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, phosphate and the organic ion bicarbonate. The maintenance of precise ion gradients across cell membranes maintains osmotic pressure and pH. Ions are also critical for nerve and muscle function, as action potentials in these tissues are produced by the exchange of electrolytes between the extracellular fluid and the cell's fluid, the cytosol. Electrolytes enter and leave cells through proteins in the cell membrane called ion channels. For example, muscle contraction depends upon the movement of calcium, sodium and potassium through ion channels in the cell membrane and T-tubules. Transition metals are usually present as trace elements in organisms, with zinc and iron being most abundant of those. Metal cofactors are bound tightly to specific sites in proteins; although enzyme cofactors can be modified during catalysis, they always return to their original state by the end of the reaction catalyzed. Metal micronutrients are taken up into organisms by specific transporters and bind to storage proteins such as ferritin or metallothionein when not in use. Catabolism Catabolism is the set of metabolic processes that break down large molecules. These include breaking down and oxidizing food molecules. The purpose of the catabolic reactions is to provide the energy and components needed by anabolic reactions which build molecules. The exact nature of these catabolic reactions differ from organism to organism, and organisms can be classified based on their sources of energy, hydrogen, and carbon (their primary nutritional groups), as shown in the table below. Organic molecules are used as a source of hydrogen atoms or electrons by organotrophs, while lithotrophs use inorganic substrates. Whereas phototrophs convert sunlight to chemical energy, chemotrophs depend on redox reactions that involve the transfer of electrons from reduced donor molecules such as organic molecules, hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide or ferrous ions to oxygen, nitrate or sulfate. In animals, these reactions involve complex organic molecules that are broken down to simpler molecules, such as carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthetic organisms, such as plants and cyanobacteria, use similar electron-transfer reactions to store energy absorbed from sunlight. The most common set of catabolic reactions in animals can be separated into three main stages. In the first stage, large organic molecules, such as proteins, polysaccharides or lipids, are digested into their smaller components outside cells. Next, these smaller molecules are taken up by cells and converted to smaller molecules, usually acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA), which releases some energy. Finally, the acetyl group on acetyl-CoA is oxidized to water and carbon dioxide in the citric acid cycle and electron transport chain, releasing more energy while reducing the coenzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) into NADH. Digestion Macromolecules cannot be directly processed by cells. Macromolecules must be broken into smaller units before they can be used in cell metabolism. Different classes of enzymes are used to digest these polymers. These digestive enzymes include proteases that digest proteins into amino acids, as well as glycoside hydrolases that digest polysaccharides into simple sugars known as monosaccharides. Microbes simply secrete digestive enzymes into their surroundings, while animals only secrete these enzymes from specialized cells in their guts, including the stomach and pancreas, and in salivary glands. The amino acids or sugars released by these extracellular enzymes are then pumped into cells by active transport proteins. Energy from organic compounds Carbohydrate catabolism is the breakdown of carbohydrates into smaller units. Carbohydrates are usually taken into cells after they have been digested into monosaccharides such as glucose and fructose. Once inside, the major route of breakdown is glycolysis, in which glucose is converted into pyruvate. This process generates the energy-conveying molecule NADH from NAD+, and generates ATP from ADP for use in powering many processes within the cell. Pyruvate is an intermediate in several metabolic pathways, but the majority is converted to acetyl-CoA and fed into the citric acid cycle, which enables more ATP production by means of oxidative phosphorylation. This oxidation consumes molecular oxygen and releases water and the waste product carbon dioxide. When oxygen is lacking, or when pyruvate is temporarily produced faster than it can be consumed by the citric acid cycle (as in intense muscular exertion), pyruvate is converted to lactate by the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase, a process that also oxidizes NADH back to NAD+ for re-use in further glycolysis, allowing energy production to continue. The lactate is later converted back to pyruvate for ATP production where energy is needed, or back to glucose in the Cori cycle. An alternative route for glucose breakdown is the pentose phosphate pathway, which produces less energy but supports anabolism (biomolecule synthesis). This pathway reduces the coenzyme NADP+ to NADPH and produces pentose compounds such as ribose 5-phosphate for synthesis of many biomolecules such as nucleotides and aromatic amino acids. Fats are catabolized by hydrolysis to free fatty acids and glycerol. The glycerol enters glycolysis and the fatty acids are broken down by beta oxidation to release acetyl-CoA, which then is fed into the citric acid cycle. Fatty acids release more energy upon oxidation than carbohydrates. Steroids are also broken down by some bacteria in a process similar to beta oxidation, and this breakdown process involves the release of significant amounts of acetyl-CoA, propionyl-CoA, and pyruvate, which can all be used by the cell for energy. M. tuberculosis can also grow on the lipid cholesterol as a sole source of carbon, and genes involved in the cholesterol-use pathway(s) have been validated as important during various stages of the infection lifecycle of M. tuberculosis. Amino acids are either used to synthesize proteins and other biomolecules, or oxidized to urea and carbon dioxide to produce energy. The oxidation pathway starts with the removal of the amino group by a transaminase. The amino group is fed into the urea cycle, leaving a deaminated carbon skeleton in the form of a keto acid. Several of these keto acids are intermediates in the citric acid cycle, for example α-ketoglutarate formed by deamination of glutamate. The glucogenic amino acids can also be converted into glucose, through gluconeogenesis. Energy transformations Oxidative phosphorylation In oxidative phosphorylation, the electrons removed from organic molecules in areas such as the citric acid cycle are transferred to oxygen and the energy released is used to make ATP. This is done in eukaryotes by a series of proteins in the membranes of mitochondria called the electron transport chain. In prokaryotes, these proteins are found in the cell's inner membrane. These proteins use the energy from reduced molecules like NADH to pump protons across a membrane. Pumping protons out of the mitochondria creates a proton concentration difference across the membrane and generates an electrochemical gradient. This force drives protons back into the mitochondrion through the base of an enzyme called ATP synthase. The flow of protons makes the stalk subunit rotate, causing the active site of the synthase domain to change shape and phosphorylate adenosine diphosphate—turning it into ATP. Energy from inorganic compounds Chemolithotrophy is a type of metabolism found in prokaryotes where energy is obtained from the oxidation of inorganic compounds. These organisms can use hydrogen, reduced sulfur compounds (such as sulfide, hydrogen sulfide and thiosulfate), ferrous iron (Fe(II)) or ammonia as sources of reducing power and they gain energy from the oxidation of these compounds. These microbial processes are important in global biogeochemical cycles such as acetogenesis, nitrification and denitrification and are critical for soil fertility. Energy from light The energy in sunlight is captured by plants, cyanobacteria, purple bacteria, green sulfur bacteria and some protists. This process is often coupled to the conversion of carbon dioxide into organic compounds, as part of photosynthesis, which is discussed below. The energy capture and carbon fixation systems can, however, operate separately in prokaryotes, as purple bacteria and green sulfur bacteria can use sunlight as a source of energy, while switching between carbon fixation and the fermentation of organic compounds. In many organisms, the capture of solar energy is similar in principle to oxidative phosphorylation, as it involves the storage of energy as a proton concentration gradient. This proton motive force then drives ATP synthesis. The electrons needed to drive this electron transport chain come from light-gathering proteins called photosynthetic reaction centres. Reaction centers are classified into two types depending on the nature of photosynthetic pigment present, with most photosynthetic bacteria only having one type, while plants and cyanobacteria have two. In plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, photosystem II uses light energy to remove electrons from water, releasing oxygen as a waste product. The electrons then flow to the cytochrome b6f complex, which uses their energy to pump protons across the thylakoid membrane in the chloroplast. These protons move back through the membrane as they drive the ATP synthase, as before. The electrons then flow through photosystem I and can then be used to reduce the coenzyme NADP+. Anabolism Anabolism is the set of constructive metabolic processes where the energy released by catabolism is used to synthesize complex molecules. In general, the complex molecules that make up cellular structures are constructed step-by-step from smaller and simpler precursors. Anabolism involves three basic stages. First, the production of precursors such as amino acids, monosaccharides, isoprenoids and nucleotides, secondly, their activation into reactive forms using energy from ATP, and thirdly, the assembly of these precursors into complex molecules such as proteins, polysaccharides, lipids and nucleic acids. Anabolism in organisms can be different according to the source of constructed molecules in their cells. Autotrophs such as plants can construct the complex organic molecules in their cells such as polysaccharides and proteins from simple molecules like carbon dioxide and water. Heterotrophs, on the other hand, require a source of more complex substances, such as monosaccharides and amino acids, to produce these complex molecules. Organisms can be further classified by ultimate source of their energy: photoautotrophs and photoheterotrophs obtain energy from light, whereas chemoautotrophs and chemoheterotrophs obtain energy from oxidation reactions. Carbon fixation Photosynthesis is the synthesis of carbohydrates from sunlight and carbon dioxide (CO2). In plants, cyanobacteria and algae, oxygenic photosynthesis splits water, with oxygen produced as a waste product. This process uses the ATP and NADPH produced by the photosynthetic reaction centres, as described above, to convert CO2 into glycerate 3-phosphate, which can then be converted into glucose. This carbon-fixation reaction is carried out by the enzyme RuBisCO as part of the Calvin–Benson cycle. Three types of photosynthesis occur in plants, C3 carbon fixation, C4 carbon fixation and CAM photosynthesis. These differ by the route that carbon dioxide takes to the Calvin cycle, with C3 plants fixing CO2 directly, while C4 and CAM photosynthesis incorporate the CO2 into other compounds first, as adaptations to deal with intense sunlight and dry conditions. In photosynthetic prokaryotes the mechanisms of carbon fixation are more diverse. Here, carbon dioxide can be fixed by the Calvin–Benson cycle, a reversed citric acid cycle, or the carboxylation of acetyl-CoA. Prokaryotic chemoautotrophs also fix CO2 through the Calvin–Benson cycle, but use energy from inorganic compounds to drive the reaction. Carbohydrates and glycans In carbohydrate anabolism, simple organic acids can be converted into monosaccharides such as glucose and then used to assemble polysaccharides such as starch. The generation of glucose from compounds like pyruvate, lactate, glycerol, glycerate 3-phosphate and amino acids is called gluconeogenesis. Gluconeogenesis converts pyruvate to glucose-6-phosphate through a series of intermediates, many of which are shared with glycolysis. However, this pathway is not simply glycolysis run in reverse, as several steps are catalyzed by non-glycolytic enzymes. This is important as it allows the formation and breakdown of glucose to be regulated separately, and prevents both pathways from running simultaneously in a futile cycle. Although fat is a common way of storing energy, in vertebrates such as humans the fatty acids in these stores cannot be converted to glucose through gluconeogenesis as these organisms cannot convert acetyl-CoA into pyruvate; plants do, but animals do not, have the necessary enzymatic machinery. As a result, after long-term starvation, vertebrates need to produce ketone bodies from fatty acids to replace glucose in tissues such as the brain that cannot metabolize fatty acids. In other organisms such as plants and bacteria, this metabolic problem is solved using the glyoxylate cycle, which bypasses the decarboxylation step in the citric acid cycle and allows the transformation of acetyl-CoA to oxaloacetate, where it can be used for the production of glucose. Other than fat, glucose is stored in most tissues, as an energy resource available within the tissue through glycogenesis which was usually being used to maintained glucose level in blood. Polysaccharides and glycans are made by the sequential addition of monosaccharides by glycosyltransferase from a reactive sugar-phosphate donor such as uridine diphosphate glucose (UDP-Glc) to an acceptor hydroxyl group on the growing polysaccharide. As any of the hydroxyl groups on the ring of the substrate can be acceptors, the polysaccharides produced can have straight or branched structures. The polysaccharides produced can have structural or metabolic functions themselves, or be transferred to lipids and proteins by the enzymes oligosaccharyltransferases. Fatty acids, isoprenoids and sterol Fatty acids are made by fatty acid synthases that polymerize and then reduce acetyl-CoA units. The acyl chains in the fatty acids are extended by a cycle of reactions that add the acyl group, reduce it to an alcohol, dehydrate it to an alkene group and then reduce it again to an alkane group. The enzymes of fatty acid biosynthesis are divided into two groups: in animals and fungi, all these fatty acid synthase reactions are carried out by a single multifunctional type I protein, while in plant plastids and bacteria separate type II enzymes perform each step in the pathway. Terpenes and isoprenoids are a large class of lipids that include the carotenoids and form the largest class of plant natural products. These compounds are made by the assembly and modification of isoprene units donated from the reactive precursors isopentenyl pyrophosphate and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate. These precursors can be made in different ways. In animals and archaea, the mevalonate pathway produces these compounds from acetyl-CoA, while in plants and bacteria the non-mevalonate pathway uses pyruvate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate as substrates. One important reaction that uses these activated isoprene donors is sterol biosynthesis. Here, the isoprene units are joined to make squalene and then folded up and formed into a set of rings to make lanosterol. Lanosterol can then be converted into other sterols such as cholesterol and ergosterol. Proteins Organisms vary in their ability to synthesize the 20 common amino acids. Most bacteria and plants can synthesize all twenty, but mammals can only synthesize eleven nonessential amino acids, so nine essential amino acids must be obtained from food. Some simple parasites, such as the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae, lack all amino acid synthesis and take their amino acids directly from their hosts. All amino acids are synthesized from intermediates in glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, or the pentose phosphate pathway. Nitrogen is provided by glutamate and glutamine. Nonessensial amino acid synthesis depends on the formation of the appropriate alpha-keto acid, which is then transaminated to form an amino acid. Amino acids are made into proteins by being joined in a chain of peptide bonds. Each different protein has a unique sequence of amino acid residues: this is its primary structure. Just as the letters of the alphabet can be combined to form an almost endless variety of words, amino acids can be linked in varying sequences to form a huge variety of proteins. Proteins are made from amino acids that have been activated by attachment to a transfer RNA molecule through an ester bond. This aminoacyl-tRNA precursor is produced in an ATP-dependent reaction carried out by an aminoacyl tRNA synthetase. This aminoacyl-tRNA is then a substrate for the ribosome, which joins the amino acid onto the elongating protein chain, using the sequence information in a messenger RNA. Nucleotide synthesis and salvage Nucleotides are made from amino acids, carbon dioxide and formic acid in pathways that require large amounts of metabolic energy. Consequently, most organisms have efficient systems to salvage preformed nucleotides. Purines are synthesized as nucleosides (bases attached to ribose). Both adenine and guanine are made from the precursor nucleoside inosine monophosphate, which is synthesized using atoms from the amino acids glycine, glutamine, and aspartic acid, as well as formate transferred from the coenzyme tetrahydrofolate. Pyrimidines, on the other hand, are synthesized from the base orotate, which is formed from glutamine and aspartate. Xenobiotics and redox metabolism All organisms are constantly exposed to compounds that they cannot use as foods and that would be harmful if they accumulated in cells, as they have no metabolic function. These potentially damaging compounds are called xenobiotics. Xenobiotics such as synthetic drugs, natural poisons and antibiotics are detoxified by a set of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes. In humans, these include cytochrome P450 oxidases, UDP-glucuronosyltransferases, and glutathione S-transferases. This system of enzymes acts in three stages to firstly oxidize the xenobiotic (phase I) and then conjugate water-soluble groups onto the molecule (phase II). The modified water-soluble xenobiotic can then be pumped out of cells and in multicellular organisms may be further metabolized before being excreted (phase III). In ecology, these reactions are particularly important in microbial biodegradation of pollutants and the bioremediation of contaminated land and oil spills. Many of these microbial reactions are shared with multicellular organisms, but due to the incredible diversity of types of microbes these organisms are able to deal with a far wider range of xenobiotics than multicellular organisms, and can degrade even persistent organic pollutants such as organochloride compounds. A related problem for aerobic organisms is oxidative stress. Here, processes including oxidative phosphorylation and the formation of disulfide bonds during protein folding produce reactive oxygen species such as hydrogen peroxide. These damaging oxidants are removed by antioxidant metabolites such as glutathione and enzymes such as catalases and peroxidases. Thermodynamics of living organisms Living organisms must obey the laws of thermodynamics, which describe the transfer of heat and work. The second law of thermodynamics states that in any isolated system, the amount of entropy (disorder) cannot decrease. Although living organisms' amazing complexity appears to contradict this law, life is possible as all organisms are open systems that exchange matter and energy with their surroundings. Living systems are not in equilibrium, but instead are dissipative systems that maintain their state of high complexity by causing a larger increase in the entropy of their environments. The metabolism of a cell achieves this by coupling the spontaneous processes of catabolism to the non-spontaneous processes of anabolism. In thermodynamic terms, metabolism maintains order by creating disorder. Regulation and control As the environments of most organisms are constantly changing, the reactions of metabolism must be finely regulated to maintain a constant set of conditions within cells, a condition called homeostasis. Metabolic regulation also allows organisms to respond to signals and interact actively with their environments. Two closely linked concepts are important for understanding how metabolic pathways are controlled. Firstly, the regulation of an enzyme in a pathway is how its activity is increased and decreased in response to signals. Secondly, the control exerted by this enzyme is the effect that these changes in its activity have on the overall rate of the pathway (the flux through the pathway). For example, an enzyme may show large changes in activity (i.e. it is highly regulated) but if these changes have little effect on the flux of a metabolic pathway, then this enzyme is not involved in the control of the pathway. There are multiple levels of metabolic regulation. In intrinsic regulation, the metabolic pathway self-regulates to respond to changes in the levels of substrates or products; for example, a decrease in the amount of product can increase the flux through the pathway to compensate. This type of regulation often involves allosteric regulation of the activities of multiple enzymes in the pathway. Extrinsic control involves a cell in a multicellular organism changing its metabolism in response to signals from other cells. These signals are usually in the form of water-soluble messengers such as hormones and growth factors and are detected by specific receptors on the cell surface. These signals are then transmitted inside the cell by second messenger systems that often involved the phosphorylation of proteins. A very well understood example of extrinsic control is the regulation of glucose metabolism by the hormone insulin. Insulin is produced in response to rises in blood glucose levels. Binding of the hormone to insulin receptors on cells then activates a cascade of protein kinases that cause the cells to take up glucose and convert it into storage molecules such as fatty acids and glycogen. The metabolism of glycogen is controlled by activity of phosphorylase, the enzyme that breaks down glycogen, and glycogen synthase, the enzyme that makes it. These enzymes are regulated in a reciprocal fashion, with phosphorylation inhibiting glycogen synthase, but activating phosphorylase. Insulin causes glycogen synthesis by activating protein phosphatases and producing a decrease in the phosphorylation of these enzymes. Evolution The central pathways of metabolism described above, such as glycolysis and the citric acid cycle, are present in all three domains of living things and were present in the last universal common ancestor. This universal ancestral cell was prokaryotic and probably a methanogen that had extensive amino acid, nucleotide, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. The retention of these ancient pathways during later evolution may be the result of these reactions having been an optimal solution to their particular metabolic problems, with pathways such as glycolysis and the citric acid cycle producing their end products highly efficiently and in a minimal number of steps. The first pathways of enzyme-based metabolism may have been parts of purine nucleotide metabolism, while previous metabolic pathways were a part of the ancient RNA world. Many models have been proposed to describe the mechanisms by which novel metabolic pathways evolve. These include the sequential addition of novel enzymes to a short ancestral pathway, the duplication and then divergence of entire pathways as well as the recruitment of pre-existing enzymes and their assembly into a novel reaction pathway. The relative importance of these mechanisms is unclear, but genomic studies have shown that enzymes in a pathway are likely to have a shared ancestry, suggesting that many pathways have evolved in a step-by-step fashion with novel functions created from pre-existing steps in the pathway. An alternative model comes from studies that trace the evolution of proteins' structures in metabolic networks, this has suggested that enzymes are pervasively recruited, borrowing enzymes to perform similar functions in different metabolic pathways (evident in the MANET database) These recruitment processes result in an evolutionary enzymatic mosaic. A third possibility is that some parts of metabolism might exist as "modules" that can be reused in different pathways and perform similar functions on different molecules. As well as the evolution of new metabolic pathways, evolution can also cause the loss of metabolic functions. For example, in some parasites metabolic processes that are not essential for survival are lost and preformed amino acids, nucleotides and carbohydrates may instead be scavenged from the host. Similar reduced metabolic capabilities are seen in endosymbiotic organisms. Investigation and manipulation Classically, metabolism is studied by a reductionist approach that focuses on a single metabolic pathway. Particularly valuable is the use of radioactive tracers at the whole-organism, tissue and cellular levels, which define the paths from precursors to final products by identifying radioactively labelled intermediates and products. The enzymes that catalyze these chemical reactions can then be purified and their kinetics and responses to inhibitors investigated. A parallel approach is to identify the small molecules in a cell or tissue; the complete set of these molecules is called the metabolome. Overall, these studies give a good view of the structure and function of simple metabolic pathways, but are inadequate when applied to more complex systems such as the metabolism of a complete cell. An idea of the complexity of the metabolic networks in cells that contain thousands of different enzymes is given by the figure showing the interactions between just 43 proteins and 40 metabolites to the right: the sequences of genomes provide lists containing anything up to 26.500 genes. However, it is now possible to use this genomic data to reconstruct complete networks of biochemical reactions and produce more holistic mathematical models that may explain and predict their behavior. These models are especially powerful when used to integrate the pathway and metabolite data obtained through classical methods with data on gene expression from proteomic and DNA microarray studies. Using these techniques, a model of human metabolism has now been produced, which will guide future drug discovery and biochemical research. These models are now used in network analysis, to classify human diseases into groups that share common proteins or metabolites. Bacterial metabolic networks are a striking example of bow-tie organization, an architecture able to input a wide range of nutrients and produce a large variety of products and complex macromolecules using a relatively few intermediate common currencies. A major technological application of this information is metabolic engineering. Here, organisms such as yeast, plants or bacteria are genetically modified to make them more useful in biotechnology and aid the production of drugs such as antibiotics or industrial chemicals such as 1,3-propanediol and shikimic acid. These genetic modifications usually aim to reduce the amount of energy used to produce the product, increase yields and reduce the production of wastes. History The term metabolism is derived from the Ancient Greek word μεταβολή—"metabole" for "a change" which is derived from μεταβάλλειν—"metaballein", meaning "to change" Greek philosophy Aristotle's The Parts of Animals sets out enough details of his views on metabolism for an open flow model to be made. He believed that at each stage of the process, materials from food were transformed, with heat being released as the classical element of fire, and residual materials being excreted as urine, bile, or faeces. Ibn al-Nafis described metabolism in his 1260 AD work titled Al-Risalah al-Kamiliyyah fil Siera al-Nabawiyyah (The Treatise of Kamil on the Prophet's Biography) which included the following phrase "Both the body and its parts are in a continuous state of dissolution and nourishment, so they are inevitably undergoing permanent change." Application of the scientific method and Modern metabolic theories The history of the scientific study of metabolism spans several centuries and has moved from examining whole animals in early studies, to examining individual metabolic reactions in modern biochemistry. The first controlled experiments in human metabolism were published by Santorio Santorio in 1614 in his book Ars de statica medicina. He described how he weighed himself before and after eating, sleep, working, sex, fasting, drinking, and excreting. He found that most of the food he took in was lost through what he called "insensible perspiration". In these early studies, the mechanisms of these metabolic processes had not been identified and a vital force was thought to animate living tissue. In the 19th century, when studying the fermentation of sugar to alcohol by yeast, Louis Pasteur concluded that fermentation was catalyzed by substances within the yeast cells he called "ferments". He wrote that "alcoholic fermentation is an act correlated with the life and organization of the yeast cells, not with the death or putrefaction of the cells." This discovery, along with the publication by Friedrich Wöhler in 1828 of a paper on the chemical synthesis of urea, and is notable for being the first organic compound prepared from wholly inorganic precursors. This proved that the organic compounds and chemical reactions found in cells were no different in principle than any other part of chemistry. It was the discovery of enzymes at the beginning of the 20th century by Eduard Buchner that separated the study of the chemical reactions of metabolism from the biological study of cells, and marked the beginnings of biochemistry. The mass of biochemical knowledge grew rapidly throughout the early 20th century. One of the most prolific of these modern biochemists was Hans Krebs who made huge contributions to the study of metabolism. He discovered the urea cycle and later, working with Hans Kornberg, the citric acid cycle and the glyoxylate cycle. See also , a "metabolism first" theory of the origin of life Microphysiometry Oncometabolism References Further reading Introductory Advanced External links General information The Biochemistry of Metabolism (archived 8 March 2005) Sparknotes SAT biochemistry Overview of biochemistry. School level. MIT Biology Hypertextbook Undergraduate-level guide to molecular biology. Human metabolism Topics in Medical Biochemistry Guide to human metabolic pathways. School level. THE Medical Biochemistry Page Comprehensive resource on human metabolism. Databases Flow Chart of Metabolic Pathways at ExPASy IUBMB-Nicholson Metabolic Pathways Chart SuperCYP: Database for Drug-Cytochrome-Metabolism Metabolic pathways Metabolism reference Pathway Underwater diving physiology

Social change

Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Sustained at a larger scale, it may lead to social transformation or societal transformation. Definition Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or sociocultural evolution, the philosophical idea that society moves forward by evolutionary means. It may refer to a paradigmatic change in the socio-economic structure, for instance the transition from feudalism to capitalism, or hypothetical future transition to some form of post-capitalism. Social development is the people that develop social and emotional skills across the lifespan, with particular attention to childhood and adolescence. Healthy social development allows us to form positive relationships with family, friends, teachers, and other people in our lives. Accordingly, it may also refer to social revolution, such as the Socialist revolution presented in Marxism, or to other social movements, such as women's suffrage or the civil rights movement. Social change may be driven through cultural, religious, economic, environmental, scientific or technological forces. Prominent theories Change comes from two sources. One source is unique factors such as climate, weather, or the presence of specific groups of people. Another source is systematic factors. For example, successful development generally has the same requirements, such as a stable and flexible government, enough free and available resources, and a diverse social organization of society. On the whole, social change is usually a combination of systematic factors along with some random or unique factors. Many theories attempt to explain social change. One view suggests that a theory of change should include elements such as structural aspects of change (like population shifts), processes and mechanisms of social change, and directions of change. Christian: In Christianity & Judaism social change is seen in terms of God's blessings on faithfulness or curses on disobedience. See Deuteronomy chapter 28. Hegelian: The classic Hegelian dialectic model of change is based on the interaction of opposing forces. Starting from a point of momentary stasis, Thesis countered by Antithesis first yields conflict, then it subsequently results in a new Synthesis. Marxist: Marxism presents a dialectical and materialist concept of history, seeing humankind's history as a fundamental "struggle between social classes". Kuhnian: The philosopher of science, Thomas Kuhn argues in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions with respect to the Copernican Revolution that people are likely to continue utilizing an apparently unworkable paradigm until a better paradigm is commonly accepted. A Kuhnian approach to the study of societies is provided by the critical juncture approach to social order and change. Heraclitan: The Greek philosopher Heraclitus used the metaphor of a river to speak of change thus: "On those stepping into rivers staying the same other and other waters flow" (DK22B12). What Heraclitus seems to be suggesting here, later interpretations notwithstanding, is that, in order for the river to remain the river, change must constantly be taking place. Thus one may think of the Heraclitan model as parallel to that of a living organism, which, in order to remain alive, must constantly change. A contemporary application of this approach is shown in the social-change theory SEED-SCALE which builds off of the complexity theory subfield of emergence. Daoist: The Chinese philosophical work Dao De Jing, I.8 and II.78 uses the metaphor of water as the ideal agent of change. Water, although soft and yielding, will eventually wear away stone. Change, in this model, is to be natural, harmonious and steady, albeit imperceptible. Types of change Social changes can vary according to speed and scope and impetus. Some research on the various types of social change focuses on social organizations such as corporations. Different manifestations of change include: Fabian change – gradual and reformist incremental amelioration after the manner of the Fabian Society radical change – improvements root and branch in the style of political radicalism revolutionary change – abrupt, radical and drastic change, with implications of violence and of starting afresh (perhaps most popular as a political bogeyman) transformational change – a New-age version of radical change, and thus difficult to define continuous change, open-ended change – change (allegedly) for the sake of change top-down change – reliance on leadership bottom-up change – reliance on the huddled masses socio-tectonic change – postulated deep-seated fundamental social shifts Current examples Global demographic shifts One of the most obvious changes currently occurring is the change in the relative global population distribution between countries. In recent decades, developing countries have become a larger proportion of the world population, increasing from 68% in 1950 to 82% in 2010, and the population of the developed countries has declined from 32% of the total world population in 1950 to 18% in 2010. China and India continue to be the largest countries, followed by the US as a distant third. However, population growth throughout the world is slowing. Population growth among developed countries has been slowing since the 1950s and is now at 0.3% annual growth. Population growth among the less developed countries excluding the least developed ones has also been slowing since 1960 and is now at 1.3% annually. Population growth among the least developed countries has slowed relatively little; as of 2022, the annual growth rate is 2.33%. Gendered patterns of work and care In much of the developed world, changes from distinct men's work and women's work to more gender equal patterns have been economically important since the mid-20th century. Both men and women are considered to be great contributors to social change worldwide. See also Accelerating change Activism Alternative movement Comparative historical research Constitutional economics Critical juncture theory Culture change Decadence Global Social Change Research Project Globalization Historical sociology Industrialisation Lifestyle (sociology) Modernization theory Reform movement Reformism Revolution Secularization Social conservatism Social degeneration Social development theory Social movement Social progress Social relation Social revolution Social transformation Societal collapse Societal transformation Sociocultural evolution References Further reading Eisenstadt, S. N. (1973). Tradition, Change, and Modernity. Krieger Publishing. Giddens, Anthony (2006). Sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press. Haralambos, Michael and Holborn, Martin (2008). Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. London: HarperCollins. Harper, C. L. (1993). Exploring Social Change. New Jersey: Engelwood Cliffs. Milstein, T. & Castro-Sotomayor, J. (2020). "Routledge Handbook of Ecocultural Identity." London, UK: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351068840. Talcott Parsons, The Social System (1951). New York: The Free Press Polanyi, Karl (1944). The Great Transformation. New York: Farrar & Rinehart. Tilly, Charles (1988). "Misreading, then Rereading, Nineteenth-Century Social Change." Pp. 332–58 in Social Structures: A Network Approach, eds. Barry Wellman and S. D. Berkowitz. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tilly, Charles (2004). Social Movements, 1768-2004. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers. . Vago, Steven (1999). Social Change, 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. . External links Understanding The World Today – reports about global social, political, economic, demographic and technological change Social Change Collection from Georgia State University Social movements

Culture

Culture is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitude, and habits of the individuals in these groups. Culture is often originated from or attributed to a specific region or location. Humans acquire culture through the learning processes of enculturation and socialization, which is shown by the diversity of cultures across societies. A cultural norm codifies acceptable conduct in society; it serves as a guideline for behavior, dress, language, and demeanor in a situation, which serves as a template for expectations in a social group. Accepting only a monoculture in a social group can bear risks, just as a single species can wither in the face of environmental change, for lack of functional responses to the change. Thus in military culture, valor is counted a typical behavior for an individual and duty, honor, and loyalty to the social group are counted as virtues or functional responses in the continuum of conflict. In the practice of religion, analogous attributes can be identified in a social group. Cultural change, or repositioning, is the reconstruction of a cultural concept of a society. Cultures are internally affected by both forces encouraging change and forces resisting change. Cultures are externally affected via contact between societies. Organizations like UNESCO attempt to preserve culture and cultural heritage. Description Culture is considered a central concept in anthropology, encompassing the range of phenomena that are transmitted through social learning in human societies. Cultural universals are found in all human societies. These include expressive forms like art, music, dance, ritual, religion, and technologies like tool usage, cooking, shelter, and clothing. The concept of material culture covers the physical expressions of culture, such as technology, architecture and art, whereas the immaterial aspects of culture such as principles of social organization (including practices of political organization and social institutions), mythology, philosophy, literature (both written and oral), and science comprise the intangible cultural heritage of a society. In the humanities, one sense of culture as an attribute of the individual has been the degree to which they have cultivated a particular level of sophistication in the arts, sciences, education, or manners. The level of cultural sophistication has also sometimes been used to distinguish civilizations from less complex societies. Such hierarchical perspectives on culture are also found in class-based distinctions between a high culture of the social elite and a low culture, popular culture, or folk culture of the lower classes, distinguished by the stratified access to cultural capital. In common parlance, culture is often used to refer specifically to the symbolic markers used by ethnic groups to distinguish themselves visibly from each other such as body modification, clothing or jewelry. Mass culture refers to the mass-produced and mass mediated forms of consumer culture that emerged in the 20th century. Some schools of philosophy, such as Marxism and critical theory, have argued that culture is often used politically as a tool of the elites to manipulate the proletariat and create a false consciousness. Such perspectives are common in the discipline of cultural studies. In the wider social sciences, the theoretical perspective of cultural materialism holds that human symbolic culture arises from the material conditions of human life, as humans create the conditions for physical survival, and that the basis of culture is found in evolved biological dispositions. When used as a count noun, a "culture" is the set of customs, traditions, and values of a society or community, such as an ethnic group or nation. Culture is the set of knowledge acquired over time. In this sense, multiculturalism values the peaceful coexistence and mutual respect between different cultures inhabiting the same planet. Sometimes "culture" is also used to describe specific practices within a subgroup of a society, a subculture (e.g. "bro culture"), or a counterculture. Within cultural anthropology, the ideology and analytical stance of cultural relativism hold that cultures cannot easily be objectively ranked or evaluated because any evaluation is necessarily situated within the value system of a given culture. Etymology The modern term "culture" is based on a term used by the ancient Roman orator Cicero in his Tusculanae Disputationes, where he wrote of a cultivation of the soul or "cultura animi", using an agricultural metaphor for the development of a philosophical soul, understood teleologically as the highest possible ideal for human development. Samuel Pufendorf took over this metaphor in a modern context, meaning something similar, but no longer assuming that philosophy was man's natural perfection. His use, and that of many writers after him, "refers to all the ways in which human beings overcome their original barbarism, and through artifice, become fully human." In 1986, philosopher Edward S. Casey wrote, "The very word culture meant 'place tilled' in Middle English, and the same word goes back to Latin colere, 'to inhabit, care for, till, worship' and cultus, 'A cult, especially a religious one.' To be cultural, to have a culture, is to inhabit a place sufficiently intensely to cultivate it—to be responsible for it, to respond to it, to attend to it caringly." Culture described by Richard Velkley: ... originally meant the cultivation of the soul or mind, acquires most of its later modern meaning in the writings of the 18th-century German thinkers, who were on various levels developing Rousseau's criticism of "modern liberalism and Enlightenment." Thus a contrast between "culture" and "civilization" is usually implied in these authors, even when not expressed as such. In the words of anthropologist E.B. Tylor, it is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." Alternatively, in a contemporary variant, "Culture is defined as a social domain that emphasizes the practices, discourses and material expressions, which, over time, express the continuities and discontinuities of social meaning of a life held in common. The Cambridge English Dictionary states that culture is "the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time." Terror management theory posits that culture is a series of activities and worldviews that provide humans with the basis for perceiving themselves as "person[s] of worth within the world of meaning"—raising themselves above the merely physical aspects of existence, in order to deny the animal insignificance and death that Homo sapiens became aware of when they acquired a larger brain. The word is used in a general sense as the evolved ability to categorize and represent experiences with symbols and to act imaginatively and creatively. This ability arose with the evolution of behavioral modernity in humans around 50,000 years ago and is often thought to be unique to humans. However, some other species have demonstrated similar, though much less complicated, abilities for social learning. It is also used to denote the complex networks of practices and accumulated knowledge and ideas that are transmitted through social interaction and exist in specific human groups, or cultures, using the plural form. Change Raimon Panikkar identified 29 ways in which cultural change can be brought about, including growth, development, evolution, involution, renovation, reconception, reform, innovation, revivalism, revolution, mutation, progress, diffusion, osmosis, borrowing, eclecticism, syncretism, modernization, indigenization, and transformation. In this context, modernization could be viewed as adoption of Enlightenment era beliefs and practices, such as science, rationalism, industry, commerce, democracy, and the notion of progress. Rein Raud, building on the work of Umberto Eco, Pierre Bourdieu and Jeffrey C. Alexander, has proposed a model of cultural change based on claims and bids, which are judged by their cognitive adequacy and endorsed or not endorsed by the symbolic authority of the cultural community in question. Cultural invention has come to mean any innovation that is new and found to be useful to a group of people and expressed in their behavior but which does not exist as a physical object. Humanity is in a global "accelerating culture change period," driven by the expansion of international commerce, the mass media, and above all, the human population explosion, among other factors. Culture repositioning means the reconstruction of the cultural concept of a society. Cultures are internally affected by both forces encouraging change and forces resisting change. These forces are related to both social structures and natural events, and are involved in the perpetuation of cultural ideas and practices within current structures, which themselves are subject to change. Social conflict and the development of technologies can produce changes within a society by altering social dynamics and promoting new cultural models, and spurring or enabling generative action. These social shifts may accompany ideological shifts and other types of cultural change. For example, the U.S. feminist movement involved new practices that produced a shift in gender relations, altering both gender and economic structures. Environmental conditions may also enter as factors. For example, after tropical forests returned at the end of the last ice age, plants suitable for domestication were available, leading to the invention of agriculture, which in turn brought about many cultural innovations and shifts in social dynamics. Cultures are externally affected via contact between societies, which may also produce—or inhibit—social shifts and changes in cultural practices. War or competition over resources may impact technological development or social dynamics. Additionally, cultural ideas may transfer from one society to another, through diffusion or acculturation. In diffusion, the form of something (though not necessarily its meaning) moves from one culture to another. For example, Western restaurant chains and culinary brands sparked curiosity and fascination to the Chinese as China opened its economy to international trade in the late 20th-century. "Stimulus diffusion" (the sharing of ideas) refers to an element of one culture leading to an invention or propagation in another. "Direct borrowing", on the other hand, tends to refer to technological or tangible diffusion from one culture to another. Diffusion of innovations theory presents a research-based model of why and when individuals and cultures adopt new ideas, practices, and products. Acculturation has different meanings. Still, in this context, it refers to the replacement of traits of one culture with another, such as what happened to certain Native American tribes and many indigenous peoples across the globe during the process of colonization. Related processes on an individual level include assimilation (adoption of a different culture by an individual) and transculturation. The transnational flow of culture has played a major role in merging different cultures and sharing thoughts, ideas, and beliefs. Early modern discourses German Romanticism Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) formulated an individualist definition of "enlightenment" similar to the concept of : "Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity." He argued that this immaturity comes not from a lack of understanding, but from a lack of courage to think independently. Against this intellectual cowardice, Kant urged: "" ("Dare to be wise!"). In reaction to Kant, German scholars such as Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803) argued that human creativity, which necessarily takes unpredictable and highly diverse forms, is as important as human rationality. Moreover, Herder proposed a collective form of : "For Herder, was the totality of experiences that provide a coherent identity, and sense of common destiny, to a people." In 1795, the Prussian linguist and philosopher Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835) called for an anthropology that would synthesize Kant's and Herder's interests. During the Romantic era, scholars in Germany, especially those concerned with nationalist movements—such as the nationalist struggle to create a "Germany" out of diverse principalities, and the nationalist struggles by ethnic minorities against the Austro-Hungarian Empire—developed a more inclusive notion of culture as "worldview". According to this school of thought, each ethnic group has a distinct worldview that is incommensurable with the worldviews of other groups. Although more inclusive than earlier views, this approach to culture still allowed for distinctions between "civilized" and "primitive" or "tribal" cultures. In 1860, Adolf Bastian (1826–1905) argued for "the psychic unity of mankind." He proposed that a scientific comparison of all human societies would reveal that distinct worldviews consisted of the same basic elements. According to Bastian, all human societies share a set of "elementary ideas"; different cultures, or different "folk ideas", are local modifications of the elementary ideas. This view paved the way for the modern understanding of culture. Franz Boas (1858–1942) was trained in this tradition, and he brought it with him when he left Germany for the United States. English Romanticism In the 19th century, humanists such as English poet and essayist Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) used the word "culture" to refer to an ideal of individual human refinement, of "the best that has been thought and said in the world." This concept of culture is also comparable to the German concept of : "...culture being a pursuit of our total perfection by means of getting to know, on all the matters which most concern us, the best which has been thought and said in the world." In practice, culture referred to an elite ideal and was associated with such activities as art, classical music, and haute cuisine. As these forms were associated with urban life, "culture" was identified with "civilization" (from ). Another facet of the Romantic movement was an interest in folklore, which led to identifying a "culture" among non-elites. This distinction is often characterized as that between high culture, namely that of the ruling social group, and low culture. In other words, the idea of "culture" that developed in Europe during the 18th and early 19th centuries reflected inequalities within European societies. Matthew Arnold contrasted "culture" with anarchy; other Europeans, following philosophers Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, contrasted "culture" with "the state of nature." According to Hobbes and Rousseau, the Native Americans who were being conquered by Europeans from the 16th centuries on were living in a state of nature; this opposition was expressed through the contrast between "civilized" and "uncivilized." According to this way of thinking, one could classify some countries and nations as more civilized than others and some people as more cultured than others. This contrast led to Herbert Spencer's theory of Social Darwinism and Lewis Henry Morgan's theory of cultural evolution. Just as some critics have argued that the distinction between high and low cultures is an expression of the conflict between European elites and non-elites, other critics have argued that the distinction between civilized and uncivilized people is an expression of the conflict between European colonial powers and their colonial subjects. Other 19th-century critics, following Rousseau, have accepted this differentiation between higher and lower culture, but have seen the refinement and sophistication of high culture as corrupting and unnatural developments that obscure and distort people's essential nature. These critics considered folk music (as produced by "the folk," i.e., rural, illiterate, peasants) to honestly express a natural way of life, while classical music seemed superficial and decadent. Equally, this view often portrayed indigenous peoples as "noble savages" living authentic and unblemished lives, uncomplicated and uncorrupted by the highly stratified capitalist systems of the West. In 1870 the anthropologist Edward Tylor (1832–1917) applied these ideas of higher versus lower culture to propose a theory of the evolution of religion. According to this theory, religion evolves from more polytheistic to more monotheistic forms. In the process, he redefined culture as a diverse set of activities characteristic of all human societies. This view paved the way for the modern understanding of religion. Anthropology Although anthropologists worldwide refer to Tylor's definition of culture, in the 20th century "culture" emerged as the central and unifying concept of American anthropology, where it most commonly refers to the universal human capacity to classify and encode human experiences symbolically, and to communicate symbolically encoded experiences socially. American anthropology is organized into four fields, each of which plays an important role in research on culture: biological anthropology, linguistic anthropology, cultural anthropology, and in the United States and Canada, archaeology. The term , or "culture glasses," coined by German American anthropologist Franz Boas, refers to the "lenses" through which a person sees their own culture. Martin Lindstrom asserts that , which allow a person to make sense of the culture they inhabit, "can blind us to things outsiders pick up immediately." Sociology The sociology of culture concerns culture as manifested in society. For sociologist Georg Simmel (1858–1918), culture referred to "the cultivation of individuals through the agency of external forms which have been objectified in the course of history." As such, culture in the sociological field can be defined as the ways of thinking, the ways of acting, and the material objects that together shape a people's way of life. Culture can be either of two types, non-material culture or material culture. Non-material culture refers to the non-physical ideas that individuals have about their culture, including values, belief systems, rules, norms, morals, language, organizations, and institutions, while material culture is the physical evidence of a culture in the objects and architecture they make or have made. The term tends to be relevant only in archeological and anthropological studies, but it specifically means all material evidence which can be attributed to culture, past or present. Cultural sociology first emerged in Weimar Germany (1918–1933), where sociologists such as Alfred Weber used the term ('cultural sociology'). Cultural sociology was then reinvented in the English-speaking world as a product of the cultural turn of the 1960s, which ushered in structuralist and postmodern approaches to social science. This type of cultural sociology may be loosely regarded as an approach incorporating cultural analysis and critical theory. Cultural sociologists tend to reject scientific methods, instead hermeneutically focusing on words, artifacts and symbols. Culture has since become an important concept across many branches of sociology, including resolutely scientific fields like social stratification and social network analysis. As a result, there has been a recent influx of quantitative sociologists to the field. Thus, there is now a growing group of sociologists of culture who are, confusingly, not cultural sociologists. These scholars reject the abstracted postmodern aspects of cultural sociology, and instead, look for a theoretical backing in the more scientific vein of social psychology and cognitive science. Early researchers and development of cultural sociology The sociology of culture grew from the intersection between sociology (as shaped by early theorists like Marx, Durkheim, and Weber) with the growing discipline of anthropology, wherein researchers pioneered ethnographic strategies for describing and analyzing a variety of cultures around the world. Part of the legacy of the early development of the field lingers in the methods (much of cultural, sociological research is qualitative), in the theories (a variety of critical approaches to sociology are central to current research communities), and in the substantive focus of the field. For instance, relationships between popular culture, political control, and social class were early and lasting concerns in the field. Cultural studies In the United Kingdom, sociologists and other scholars influenced by Marxism such as Stuart Hall (1932–2014) and Raymond Williams (1921–1988) developed cultural studies. Following nineteenth-century Romantics, they identified culture with consumption goods and leisure activities (such as art, music, film, food, sports, and clothing). They saw patterns of consumption and leisure as determined by relations of production, which led them to focus on class relations and the organization of production. In the United Kingdom, cultural studies focuses largely on the study of popular culture; that is, on the social meanings of mass-produced consumer and leisure goods. Richard Hoggart coined the term in 1964 when he founded the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies or CCCS. It has since become strongly associated with Stuart Hall, who succeeded Hoggart as Director. Cultural studies in this sense, then, can be viewed as a limited concentration scoped on the intricacies of consumerism, which belongs to a wider culture sometimes referred to as Western civilization or globalism. From the 1970s onward, Stuart Hall's pioneering work, along with that of his colleagues Paul Willis, Dick Hebdige, Tony Jefferson, and Angela McRobbie, created an international intellectual movement. As the field developed, it began to combine political economy, communication, sociology, social theory, literary theory, media theory, film/video studies, cultural anthropology, philosophy, museum studies, and art history to study cultural phenomena or cultural texts. In this field researchers often concentrate on how particular phenomena relate to matters of ideology, nationality, ethnicity, social class, and/or gender. Cultural studies is concerned with the meaning and practices of everyday life. These practices comprise the ways people do particular things (such as watching television or eating out) in a given culture. It also studies the meanings and uses people attribute to various objects and practices. Specifically, culture involves those meanings and practices held independently of reason. Watching television to view a public perspective on a historical event should not be thought of as culture unless referring to the medium of television itself, which may have been selected culturally; however, schoolchildren watching television after school with their friends to "fit in" certainly qualifies since there is no grounded reason for one's participation in this practice. In the context of cultural studies, a text includes not only written language, but also films, photographs, fashion, or hairstyles: the texts of cultural studies comprise all the meaningful artifacts of culture. Similarly, the discipline widens the concept of culture. Culture, for a cultural-studies researcher, not only includes traditional high culture (the culture of ruling social groups) and popular culture, but also everyday meanings and practices. The last two, in fact, have become the main focus of cultural studies. A further and recent approach is comparative cultural studies, based on the disciplines of comparative literature and cultural studies. Scholars in the United Kingdom and the United States developed somewhat different versions of cultural studies after the late 1970s. The British version of cultural studies had originated in the 1950s and 1960s, mainly under the influence of Richard Hoggart, E.P. Thompson, and Raymond Williams, and later that of Stuart Hall and others at the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at the University of Birmingham. This included overtly political, left-wing views, and criticisms of popular culture as "capitalist" mass culture; it absorbed some of the ideas of the Frankfurt School critique of the "culture industry" (i.e. mass culture). This emerges in the writings of early British cultural-studies scholars and their influences: see the work of (for example) Raymond Williams, Stuart Hall, Paul Willis, and Paul Gilroy. In the United States, Lindlof and Taylor write, "cultural studies [were] grounded in a pragmatic, liberal-pluralist tradition." The American version of cultural studies initially concerned itself more with understanding the subjective and appropriative side of audience reactions to, and uses of, mass culture; for example, American cultural-studies advocates wrote about the liberatory aspects of fandom. The distinction between American and British strands, however, has faded. Some researchers, especially in early British cultural studies, apply a Marxist model to the field. This strain of thinking has some influence from the Frankfurt School, but especially from the structuralist Marxism of Louis Althusser and others. The main focus of an orthodox Marxist approach concentrates on the production of meaning. This model assumes a mass production of culture and identifies power as residing with those producing cultural artifacts. In a Marxist view, the mode and relations of production form the economic base of society, which constantly interacts and influences superstructures, such as culture. Other approaches to cultural studies, such as feminist cultural studies and later American developments of the field, distance themselves from this view. They criticize the Marxist assumption of a single, dominant meaning, shared by all, for any cultural product. The non-Marxist approaches suggest that different ways of consuming cultural artifacts affect the meaning of the product. This view comes through in the book Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of the Sony Walkman (by Paul du Gay et al.), which seeks to challenge the notion that those who produce commodities control the meanings that people attribute to them. Feminist cultural analyst, theorist, and art historian Griselda Pollock contributed to cultural studies from viewpoints of art history and psychoanalysis. The writer Julia Kristeva is among influential voices at the turn of the century, contributing to cultural studies from the field of art and psychoanalytical French feminism. Petrakis and Kostis (2013) divide cultural background variables into two main groups: The first group covers the variables that represent the "efficiency orientation" of the societies: performance orientation, future orientation, assertiveness, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance. The second covers the variables that represent the "social orientation" of societies, i.e., the attitudes and lifestyles of their members. These variables include gender egalitarianism, institutional collectivism, in-group collectivism, and human orientation. In 2016, a new approach to culture was suggested by Rein Raud, who defines culture as the sum of resources available to human beings for making sense of their world and proposes a two-tiered approach, combining the study of texts (all reified meanings in circulation) and cultural practices (all repeatable actions that involve the production, dissemination or transmission of purposes), thus making it possible to re-link anthropological and sociological study of culture with the tradition of textual theory. Psychology Starting in the 1990s, psychological research on culture influence began to grow and challenge the universality assumed in general psychology. Culture psychologists began to try to explore the relationship between emotions and culture, and answer whether the human mind is independent from culture. For example, people from collectivistic cultures, such as the Japanese, suppress their positive emotions more than their American counterparts. Culture may affect the way that people experience and express emotions. On the other hand, some researchers try to look for differences between people's personalities across cultures. As different cultures dictate distinctive norms, culture shock is also studied to understand how people react when they are confronted with other cultures. LGBT culture is displayed with significantly different levels of tolerance within different cultures and nations. Cognitive tools may not be accessible or they may function differently cross culture. For example, people who are raised in a culture with an abacus are trained with distinctive reasoning style. Cultural lenses may also make people view the same outcome of events differently. Westerners are more motivated by their successes than their failures, while East Asians are better motivated by the avoidance of failure. Culture is important for psychologists to consider when understanding the human mental operation. The notion of the anxious, unstable, and rebellious adolescent has been criticized by experts, such as Robert Epstein, who state that an undeveloped brain is not the main cause of teenagers' turmoils. Some have criticized this understanding of adolescence, classifying it as a relatively recent phenomenon in human history created by modern society, and have been highly critical of what they view as the infantilization of young adults in American society. According to Robert Epstein and Jennifer, "American-style teen turmoil is absent in more than 100 cultures around the world, suggesting that such mayhem is not biologically inevitable. Second, the brain itself changes in response to experiences, raising the question of whether adolescent brain characteristics are the cause of teen tumult or rather the result of lifestyle and experiences." David Moshman has also stated in regards to adolescence that brain research "is crucial for a full picture, but it does not provide an ultimate explanation." Protection of culture There are a number of international agreements and national laws relating to the protection of cultural heritage and cultural diversity. UNESCO and its partner organizations such as Blue Shield International coordinate international protection and local implementation. The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions deal with the protection of culture. Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights deals with cultural heritage in two ways: it gives people the right to participate in cultural life on the one hand and the right to the protection of their contributions to cultural life on the other. In the 21st century, the protection of culture has been the focus of increasing activity by national and international organizations. The UN and UNESCO promote cultural preservation and cultural diversity through declarations and legally-binding conventions or treaties. The aim is not to protect a person's property, but rather to preserve the cultural heritage of humanity, especially in the event of war and armed conflict. According to Karl von Habsburg, President of Blue Shield International, the destruction of cultural assets is also part of psychological warfare. The target of the attack is the identity of the opponent, which is why symbolic cultural assets become a main target. It is also intended to affect the particularly sensitive cultural memory, the growing cultural diversity and the economic basis (such as tourism) of a state, region or municipality. Tourism is having an increasing impact on the various forms of culture. On the one hand, this can be physical impact on individual objects or the destruction caused by increasing environmental pollution and, on the other hand, socio-cultural effects on society. See also Animal culture Anthropology Cultural area Cultural studies Cultural identity Cultural tourism Culture 21 – United Nations plan of action Outline of culture Recombinant culture Semiotics of culture References Sources Further reading Books Bastian, Adolf (2009), Encyclopædia Britannica Online Arnold, Matthew. 1869. Culture and Anarchy. New York: Macmillan. Third edition, 1882, available online. Retrieved: 2006-06-28. Bakhtin, M.M. (1981) The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays. Ed. Michael Holquist. Trans. Caryl Press. . Barzilai, Gad (2003). Communities and Law: Politics and Cultures of Legal Identities University of Michigan Press. Bourdieu, Pierre (1977). Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge University Press. Carhart. Michael C. (2007). The Science of Culture in Enlightenment Germany, Cambridge, Harvard University press. Cohen, Anthony P. (1985). The Symbolic Construction of Community. New York: Routledge Dawkins, R. (1999) [1982]. The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene. Oxford Paperbacks. Findley & Rothney (1986). Twentieth-Century World, Houghton Mifflin Geertz, Clifford (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. New York. . Goodall, J. (1986). The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Hoult, T.F., ed. (1969). Dictionary of Modern Sociology. Totowa, New Jersey: Littlefield, Adams & Co. Jary, D. and J. Jary (1991). The HarperCollins Dictionary of Sociology. New York: HarperCollins. Keiser, R. Lincoln (1969). The Vice Lords: Warriors of the Streets. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. . Kroeber, A.L. and C. Kluckhohn (1952). Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum Kim, Uichol (2001). "Culture, science and indigenous psychologies: An integrated analysis." In D. Matsumoto (Ed.), Handbook of culture and psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press McClenon, James. Tylor, Edward B(urnett) (1998) Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Ed. William Swatos and Peter Kivisto. Walnut Creek: AltaMira, pp. 528–529. Middleton, R. (1990). Studying Popular Music. Philadelphia: Open University Press. . O'Neil, D. (2006). Cultural Anthropology Tutorials , Behavioral Sciences Department, Palomar College, San Marco, California. Retrieved: 2006-07-10. Reagan, Ronald. "Final Radio Address to the Nation" , January 14, 1989. Retrieved June 3, 2006. Reese, W.L. (1980). Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion: Eastern and Western Thought. New Jersey US; Sussex, UK: Humanities Press. UNESCO (2002). Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, issued on International Mother Language Day, White, L. (1949). The Science of Culture: A study of man and civilization. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Wilson, Edward O. (1998). Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge. New York: Vintage. . Articles The Meaning of "Culture" (2014-12-27), Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker External links Cultura: International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology What is Culture? Social concepts Social constructionism Main topic articles

Ecosophy

Ecosophy or ecophilosophy (a portmanteau of ecological philosophy) is a philosophy of ecological harmony or equilibrium. The term was coined by the French post-structuralist philosopher and psychoanalyst Félix Guattari and the Norwegian father of deep ecology, Arne Næss. Félix Guattari Ecosophy also refers to a field of practice introduced by psychoanalyst, poststructuralist philosopher, and political activist Félix Guattari. In part Guattari's use of the term demarcates a necessity for the proponents of social liberation, whose struggles in the 20th century were dominated by the paradigm of social revolution, to embed their arguments within an ecological framework which understands the interconnections of social and environmental spheres. Guattari holds that traditional environmentalist perspectives obscure the complexity of the relationship between humans and their natural environment through their maintenance of the dualistic separation of human (cultural) and nonhuman (natural) systems; he envisions ecosophy as a new field with a monistic and pluralistic approach to such study. Ecology in the Guattarian sense, then, is a study of complex phenomena, including human subjectivity, the environment, and social relations, all of which are intimately interconnected. Despite this emphasis on interconnection, throughout his individual writings and more famous collaborations with Gilles Deleuze, Guattari has resisted calls for holism, preferring to emphasize heterogeneity and difference, synthesizing assemblages and multiplicities in order to trace rhizomatic structures rather than creating unified and holistic structures. Guattari's concept of the three interacting and interdependent ecologies of mind, society, and environment stems from the outline of the three ecologies presented in Steps to an Ecology of Mind, a collection of writings by cyberneticist Gregory Bateson. Næss's definition Næss defined ecosophy in the following way: While a professor at the University of Oslo in 1972, Arne Næss, introduced the terms "deep ecology movement" and "ecosophy" into environmental literature. Næss based his article on a talk he gave in Bucharest in 1972 at the Third World Future Research Conference. As Drengson notes in Ecophilosophy, Ecosophy and the Deep Ecology Movement: An Overview, "In his talk, Næss discussed the longer-range background of the ecology movement and its connection with respect for Nature and the inherent worth of other beings." Næss's view of humans as an integral part of a "total-field image" of Nature contrasts with the alternative construction of ecosophy outlined by Guattari. The term ecological wisdom, synonymous with ecosophy, was introduced by Næss in 1973. The concept has become one of the foundations of the deep ecology movement. All expressions of values by Green Parties list ecological wisdom as a key value—it was one of the original Four Pillars of the Green Party and is often considered the most basic value of these parties. It is also often associated with indigenous religion and cultural practices. In its political context, it is necessarily not as easily defined as ecological health or scientific ecology concepts. See also Ecology Environmental philosophy Global Greens Charter Green syndicalism Silvilization Simple living Spiritual ecology Sustainable living Yin and yang Notes References Drengson, A. and Y. Inoue, eds. (1995) The Deep Ecology Movement: An Introductory Anthology. Berkeley: North Atlantic Publishers. Guattari, Félix: »Pour une refondation des pratiques sociales«. In: Le Monde Diplomatique (Oct. 1992): 26-7. Guattari, Félix: »Remaking Social Practices«. In: Genosko, Gary (Hg.) (1996): The Guattari Reader. Oxford, Blackwell, S. 262-273. Maybury-Lewis, David. (1992) "On the Importance of Being Tribal: Tribal Wisdom." Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World. Binimun Productions Ltd. Næss, Arne. (1973) The Shallow and the Deep Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary". Inquiry, 16:95-100 Drengson A. & B. Devall (2008) (Eds) The Ecology of Wisdom. Writings by Arne Naess. Berkeley: Counterpoint Levesque, Simon (2016) Two versions of ecosophy: Arne Næss, Félix Guattari, and their connection with semiotics. Sign Systems Studies'' 44(4): 511-541. http://dx.doi.org/10.12697/SSS.2016.44.4.03 External links Ecophilosophy, Ecosophy and the Deep Ecology Movement: An Overview by Alan Drengson Ecospherics.net. Accessed 2005-08-14. The Trumpeter, A Journal of Ecosophy. Ecology Postmodern theory Environmental philosophy Environmentalism Arne Næss

Content analysis

Content analysis is the study of documents and communication artifacts, which might be texts of various formats, pictures, audio or video. Social scientists use content analysis to examine patterns in communication in a replicable and systematic manner. One of the key advantages of using content analysis to analyse social phenomena is their non-invasive nature, in contrast to simulating social experiences or collecting survey answers. Practices and philosophies of content analysis vary between academic disciplines. They all involve systematic reading or observation of texts or artifacts which are assigned labels (sometimes called codes) to indicate the presence of interesting, meaningful pieces of content. By systematically labeling the content of a set of texts, researchers can analyse patterns of content quantitatively using statistical methods, or use qualitative methods to analyse meanings of content within texts. Computers are increasingly used in content analysis to automate the labeling (or coding) of documents. Simple computational techniques can provide descriptive data such as word frequencies and document lengths. Machine learning classifiers can greatly increase the number of texts that can be labeled, but the scientific utility of doing so is a matter of debate. Further, numerous computer-aided text analysis (CATA) computer programs are available that analyze text for predetermined linguistic, semantic, and psychological characteristics. Goals Content analysis is best understood as a broad family of techniques. Effective researchers choose techniques that best help them answer their substantive questions. That said, according to Klaus Krippendorff, six questions must be addressed in every content analysis: Which data are analyzed? How are the data defined? From what population are data drawn? What is the relevant context? What are the boundaries of the analysis? What is to be measured? The simplest and most objective form of content analysis considers unambiguous characteristics of the text such as word frequencies, the page area taken by a newspaper column, or the duration of a radio or television program. Analysis of simple word frequencies is limited because the meaning of a word depends on surrounding text. Key Word In Context (KWIC) routines address this by placing words in their textual context. This helps resolve ambiguities such as those introduced by synonyms and homonyms. A further step in analysis is the distinction between dictionary-based (quantitative) approaches and qualitative approaches. Dictionary-based approaches set up a list of categories derived from the frequency list of words and control the distribution of words and their respective categories over the texts. While methods in quantitative content analysis in this way transform observations of found categories into quantitative statistical data, the qualitative content analysis focuses more on the intentionality and its implications. There are strong parallels between qualitative content analysis and thematic analysis. Qualitative and quantitative content analysis Quantitative content analysis highlights frequency counts and statistical analysis of these coded frequencies. Additionally, quantitative content analysis begins with a framed hypothesis with coding decided on before the analysis begins. These coding categories are strictly relevant to the researcher's hypothesis. Quantitative analysis also takes a deductive approach. Examples of content-analytical variables and constructs can be found, for example, in the open-access database DOCA. This database compiles, systematizes, and evaluates relevant content-analytical variables of communication and political science research areas and topics. Siegfried Kracauer provides a critique of quantitative analysis, asserting that it oversimplifies complex communications in order to be more reliable. On the other hand, qualitative analysis deals with the intricacies of latent interpretations, whereas quantitative has a focus on manifest meanings. He also acknowledges an "overlap" of qualitative and quantitative content analysis. Patterns are looked at more closely in qualitative analysis, and based on the latent meanings that the researcher may find, the course of the research could be changed. It is inductive and begins with open research questions, as opposed to a hypothesis. Codebooks The data collection instrument used in content analysis is the codebook or coding scheme. In qualitative content analysis the codebook is constructed and improved during coding, while in quantitative content analysis the codebook needs to be developed and pretested for reliability and validity before coding. The codebook includes detailed instructions for human coders plus clear definitions of the respective concepts or variables to be coded plus the assigned values. According to current standards of good scientific practice, each content analysis study should provide their codebook in the appendix or as supplementary material so that reproducibility of the study is ensured. On the Open Science Framework (OSF) server of the Center for Open Science a lot of codebooks of content analysis studies are freely available via search for "codebook". Furthermore, the Database of Variables for Content Analysis (DOCA) provides an open access archive of pretested variables and established codebooks for content analyses. Measures from the archive can be adopted in future studies to ensure the use of high-quality and comparable instruments. DOCA covers, among others, measures for the content analysis of fictional media and entertainment (e.g., measures for sexualization in video games), of user-generated media content (e.g., measures for online hate speech), and of news media and journalism (e.g., measures for stock photo use in press reporting on child sexual abuse, and measures of personalization in election campaign coverage). Computational tools With the rise of common computing facilities like PCs, computer-based methods of analysis are growing in popularity. Answers to open ended questions, newspaper articles, political party manifestos, medical records or systematic observations in experiments can all be subject to systematic analysis of textual data. By having contents of communication available in form of machine readable texts, the input is analyzed for frequencies and coded into categories for building up inferences. Computer-assisted analysis can help with large, electronic data sets by cutting out time and eliminating the need for multiple human coders to establish inter-coder reliability. However, human coders can still be employed for content analysis, as they are often more able to pick out nuanced and latent meanings in text. A study found that human coders were able to evaluate a broader range and make inferences based on latent meanings. Reliability and Validity Robert Weber notes: "To make valid inferences from the text, it is important that the classification procedure be reliable in the sense of being consistent: Different people should code the same text in the same way". The validity, inter-coder reliability and intra-coder reliability are subject to intense methodological research efforts over long years. Neuendorf suggests that when human coders are used in content analysis at least two independent coders should be used. Reliability of human coding is often measured using a statistical measure of inter-coder reliability or "the amount of agreement or correspondence among two or more coders". Lacy and Riffe identify the measurement of inter-coder reliability as a strength of quantitative content analysis, arguing that, if content analysts do not measure inter-coder reliability, their data are no more reliable than the subjective impressions of a single reader. According to today's reporting standards, quantitative content analyses should be published with complete codebooks and for all variables or measures in the codebook the appropriate inter-coder or inter-rater reliability coefficients should be reported based on empirical pre-tests. Furthermore, the validity of all variables or measures in the codebook must be ensured. This can be achieved through the use of established measures that have proven their validity in earlier studies. Also, the content validity of the measures can be checked by experts from the field who scrutinize and then approve or correct coding instructions, definitions and examples in the codebook. Kinds of text There are five types of texts in content analysis: written text, such as books and papers oral text, such as speech and theatrical performance iconic text, such as drawings, paintings, and icons audio-visual text, such as TV programs, movies, and videos hypertexts, which are texts found on the Internet History Content analysis is research using the categorization and classification of speech, written text, interviews, images, or other forms of communication. In its beginnings, using the first newspapers at the end of the 19th century, analysis was done manually by measuring the number of columns given a subject. The approach can also be traced back to a university student studying patterns in Shakespeare's literature in 1893. Over the years, content analysis has been applied to a variety of scopes. Hermeneutics and philology have long used content analysis to interpret sacred and profane texts and, in many cases, to attribute texts' authorship and authenticity. In recent times, particularly with the advent of mass communication, content analysis has known an increasing use to deeply analyze and understand media content and media logic. The political scientist Harold Lasswell formulated the core questions of content analysis in its early-mid 20th-century mainstream version: "Who says what, to whom, why, to what extent and with what effect?". The strong emphasis for a quantitative approach started up by Lasswell was finally carried out by another "father" of content analysis, Bernard Berelson, who proposed a definition of content analysis which, from this point of view, is emblematic: "a research technique for the objective, systematic and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication". Quantitative content analysis has enjoyed a renewed popularity in recent years thanks to technological advances and fruitful application in of mass communication and personal communication research. Content analysis of textual big data produced by new media, particularly social media and mobile devices has become popular. These approaches take a simplified view of language that ignores the complexity of semiosis, the process by which meaning is formed out of language. Quantitative content analysts have been criticized for limiting the scope of content analysis to simple counting, and for applying the measurement methodologies of the natural sciences without reflecting critically on their appropriateness to social science. Conversely, qualitative content analysts have been criticized for being insufficiently systematic and too impressionistic. Krippendorff argues that quantitative and qualitative approaches to content analysis tend to overlap, and that there can be no generalisable conclusion as to which approach is superior. Content analysis can also be described as studying traces, which are documents from past times, and artifacts, which are non-linguistic documents. Texts are understood to be produced by communication processes in a broad sense of that phrase—often gaining mean through abduction. Latent and manifest content Manifest content is readily understandable at its face value. Its meaning is direct. Latent content is not as overt, and requires interpretation to uncover the meaning or implication. Uses Holsti groups fifteen uses of content analysis into three basic categories: make inferences about the antecedents of a communication describe and make inferences about characteristics of a communication make inferences about the effects of a communication. He also places these uses into the context of the basic communication paradigm. The following table shows fifteen uses of content analysis in terms of their general purpose, element of the communication paradigm to which they apply, and the general question they are intended to answer. As a counterpoint, there are limits to the scope of use for the procedures that characterize content analysis. In particular, if access to the goal of analysis can be obtained by direct means without material interference, then direct measurement techniques yield better data. Thus, while content analysis attempts to quantifiably describe communications whose features are primarily categorical——limited usually to a nominal or ordinal scale——via selected conceptual units (the unitization) which are assigned values (the categorization) for enumeration while monitoring intercoder reliability, if instead the target quantity manifestly is already directly measurable——typically on an interval or ratio scale——especially a continuous physical quantity, then such targets usually are not listed among those needing the "subjective" selections and formulations of content analysis. For example (from mixed research and clinical application), as medical images communicate diagnostic features to physicians, neuroimaging's stroke (infarct) volume scale called ASPECTS is unitized as 10 qualitatively delineated (unequal) brain regions in the middle cerebral artery territory, which it categorizes as being at least partly versus not at all infarcted in order to enumerate the latter, with published series often assessing intercoder reliability by Cohen's kappa. The foregoing italicized operations impose the uncredited form of content analysis onto an estimation of infarct extent, which instead is easily enough and more accurately measured as a volume directly on the images. ("Accuracy ... is the highest form of reliability.") The concomitant clinical assessment, however, by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) or the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), retains the necessary form of content analysis. Recognizing potential limits of content analysis across the contents of language and images alike, Klaus Krippendorff affirms that "comprehen[sion] ... may ... not conform at all to the process of classification and/or counting by which most content analyses proceed," suggesting that content analysis might materially distort a message. The development of the initial coding scheme The process of the initial coding scheme or approach to coding is contingent on the particular content analysis approach selected. Through a directed content analysis, the scholars draft a preliminary coding scheme from pre-existing theory or assumptions. While with the conventional content analysis approach, the initial coding scheme developed from the data. The conventional process of coding With either approach above, immersing oneself into the data to obtain an overall picture is recommendable for researchers to conduct. Furthermore, identifying a consistent and clear unit of coding is vital, and researchers' choices range from a single word to several paragraphs, from texts to iconic symbols. Last, constructing the relationships between codes by sorting out them within specific categories or themes. See also Donald Wayne Foster Hermeneutics Text mining The Polish Peasant in Europe and America Transition words Video content analysis Grounded theory References Further reading Quantitative research Qualitative research Hermeneutics

Regenerative design

Regenerative design is an approach to designing systems or solutions that aims to work with or mimic natural ecosystem processes for returning energy from less usable to more usable forms. Regenerative design uses whole systems thinking to create resilient and equitable systems that integrate the needs of society with the integrity of nature. Regenerative design is an active topic of discussion in engineering, landscape design, food systems, and community development. The regenerative design paradigm encourages designers to use systems thinking, applied permaculture design principles, and community development processes to design human and ecological systems. The development of regenerative design has been influenced by approaches found in biomimicry, biophilic design, net-positive design, ecological economics, circular economics, as well as social movements such as permaculture, transition and the new economy. Regenerative design can also refer to the process of designing systems such as restorative justice, rewilding and regenerative agriculture. In other words, regenerative refers to advances in Sustainable design since the 1990s, and the terms sustainable and regenerative are largely used interchangeably. Regenerative design is increasingly being applied in such sectors as agriculture, architecture, community planning, cities, enterprises, economics and ecosystem regeneration. These designers are using green design principles observed in systems ecology and recognize that ecosystems are resilient largely because they operate in closed loop systems. Using this model regenerative design seeks feedback at every stage of the design process. Feedback loops are an integral to regenerative systems as understood by processes used in restorative practice and community development. Regenerative design is interconnected with the approaches of systems thinking and with New Economy movement. The 'new economy' considers that the current economic system needs to be restructured. The theory is based on the assumption that people and the planet should come first, and that it is human well-being, not economic growth, which should be prioritized. Whereas the weak definition of sustainable development was to satisfy fundamental human needs today without compromising the possibility of future generations to satisfy theirs, the goal of sustainable design was to develop restorative systems that are beneficial for humans and other species. Sustainable design is participatory, iterative and individual to the community and environment it is applied to. It intends to revitalize communities, human and natural resources, and society as a whole. In recent years regenerative design is made possible on a larger scale using open source socio- technical platforms and technological systems as used in SMART cities. It includes community and city development processes like gathering feedback, participatory governance, sortition and participatory budgeting. History Permaculture The term permaculture was developed and coined by David Holmgren, then a graduate student at the Tasmanian College of Advanced Education's Department of Environmental Design, and Bill Mollison, senior lecturer in environmental psychology at University of Tasmania, in 1978. The word permaculture originally referred to "permanent agriculture", but was expanded to stand also for "permanent culture", as it was understood that social aspects were integral to a truly sustainable system as inspired by Masanobu Fukuoka's natural farming philosophy. Regenerative design is integral to permaculture design. In 1974, David Holmgren and Bill Mollison first started working together to develop the theory and practice of permaculture. They met when Mollison spoke at a seminar at the Department of Environmental Design and began to work together. During their first three years together Mollison worked at applying their ideas, and Holmgren wrote the manuscript for what would become Permaculture One: a perennial agricultural system for human settlements as he completed his environmental design studies, and submitted it as the major reference for his thesis. He then handed the manuscript to Mollison for editing and additions, before it was published in 1978. Regenerative organic agriculture Robert Rodale, son of American organic pioneer and Rodale Institute founder J.I. Rodale, coined the term 'regenerative organic agriculture.' The term distinguished a kind of farming that goes beyond simply 'sustainable yield'. Regenerative organic agriculture "takes advantage of the natural tendencies of ecosystems to regenerate when disturbed. In that primary sense it is distinguished from other types of agriculture that either oppose or ignore the value of those natural tendencies." This type of farming is marked by "tendencies towards closed nutrient loops, greater diversity in the biological community, fewer annuals and more perennials, and greater reliance on internal rather than external resources." John T. Lyle (1934–1998), a landscape architecture professor saw the connection between concepts developed by Bob Rodale for regenerative agriculture and the opportunity to develop regenerative systems for all other aspects of the world. While regenerative agriculture focused solely on agriculture, Lyle expanded its concepts and use to all systems. Lyle understood that when developing for other types of systems, more complicated ideas such as entropy and emergy must be taken into consideration. In the built environment In 1976, Lyle challenged his landscape architecture graduate students at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona to "envision a community in which daily activities were based on the value of living within the limits of available renewable resources without environmental degradation." Over the next few decades an eclectic group of students, professors and experts from around the world and crossing many disciplines developed designs for an institute to be built at Cal Poly Pomona. In 1994, the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies opened after two years of construction. In that same year Lyle's book Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development was published by Wiley. In 1995 Lyle worked with William McDonough at Oberlin College on the design of the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies completed in 2000. In 2002, McDonough's book, the more popular and successful, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things was published reiterating the concepts developed by Lyle. Swiss architect Walter R. Stahel developed approaches entirely similar to Lyle's also in the late 1970s but instead coined the term cradle-to-cradle design made popular by McDonough and Michael Braungart. Sim Van Der Ryn is an architect, author, and educator with more than 40 years of experience integrating ecological principles into the built environment. Author of eight publications, one of his most influential books titled Ecological Design, published in 1996, provides a framework for integrating human design with living systems. The book challenges designers to push beyond "green building" to create buildings, infrastructure and landscapes that truly restore and regenerative of the surrounding ecosystems. The Living Building Challenge (LBC) is recognized as the most progressive green building standard that can be applied to any building type around the world. The goal is to create Living Buildings that incorporate regenerative design solutions that actually improve the local environment rather than simply reducing harm. LBC was created by Jason F. McLennan and administered by the non-profit International Living Future Institute (ILFI), a global network dedicated to creating a healthy future for all. In addition to the Living Building Challenge, ILFI runs the Living Community Challenge, Living Product Challenge, Net Zero Energy Certification, the Cascadia Green Building Council, Ecotone Publishing, Declare, JUST and other leading-edge programs. "What if every single act of design and construction made the world a better place?" — The Living Building Challenge (LBC). Regenerative Cultures Regenerative design advocate and author Daniel Christian Wahl argues that regenerative design is about sustaining "the underlying pattern of health, resilience and adaptability that maintain this planet in a condition where life as a whole can flourish." In his book, Designing Regenerative Cultures, he argues that regeneration is not simply a technical, economic, ecological or social shift, but has to go hand-in-hand with an underlying shift in the way we think about ourselves, our relationships with each other and with life as a whole. Green vs. sustainable vs. regenerative vs net positive There is an important distinction that should be made between the words 'green', 'sustainable', and 'regenerative' and how they influence design. Green design In the article Transitioning from green to regenerative design, Raymond J. Cole explores the concept of regenerative design and what it means in relation to 'green' and 'sustainable' design. Cole identifies eight key attributes of green buildings: Reduces damage to natural or sensitive sites Reduces the need for new infrastructure Reduces the impacts on natural feature and site ecology during construction Reduces the potential environmental damage from emissions and outflows Reduces the contributions to global environmental damage Reduces resource use – energy, water, materials Minimizes the discomfort of building occupants Minimizes harmful substances and irritants within building interiors By these eight key attributes, 'green' design is accomplished by reducing the harmful, damaging and negative impacts to both the environment and humans that result from the construction of the built environment. Another characteristic that separates 'green' design is that it is aimed at broad market transformation and therefore green building assessment frameworks and tools are typically generic in nature. Sustainable design 'Sustainable' and 'green' are for the most part used interchangeably; however, there is a slight distinction between them. 'Green' design is centralized around specifically decreasing environmental impacts from human development, whereas sustainability can be viewed through an environmental, economic or social lens. The implication is that sustainability can be incorporated into all three aspects of the Triple Bottom Line: people, planet, profit. The definition of sustainable or sustainability has been widely accepted as the ability to meet the needs of the current generation without depleting the resources needed to meet the needs of future generations. It "promotes a bio-centric view that places the human presence within a larger natural context, and focuses on constraints and on fundamental values and behavioral change." David Orr defines two approaches to sustainability in his book Ecological Literacy: "technological sustainability" and "ecological sustainability." "Technological sustainability" emphasizes the anthropocentric view by focusing on making technological and engineering processes more efficient whereas "ecological sustainability" emphasizes the bio-centric view and focuses on enabling and maintaining the essential and natural functions of ecosystems. The sustainability movement has gained momentum over the last two decades, with interest from all sectors increasing rapidly each year. In the book Regenerative Development and Design: A Framework for Evolving Sustainability, the Regenesis Group asserts that the sustainability "debate is shifting from whether we should work on sustainability to how we're going to get it done." Sustainability was first viewed as a "steady state of equilibrium" in which there was a balance between inputs and outputs with the idea that sustainable practices meant future resources were not compromised by current processes. As this idea of sustainability and sustainable building has become more widely accepted and adopted, the idea of "net-zero" and even "net-positive" have become topics of interest. These relatively newer concepts focus on positively impacting the surrounding environment of a building rather than simply reducing the negative impacts. Regenerative design J.T. Gibberd argued "a building is an element set within wider human endeavors and is necessarily dependent on this context. Thus, a building can support sustainable patterns of living, but in and of itself cannot be sustainable" Regenerative design goes a step further than sustainable design. In a regenerative system, feedback loops allow for adaptability, dynamism and emergence to create and develop resilient and flourishing eco-systems. Cole highlights a key distinction of regenerative design is the recognition and emphasis of the "co-evolutionary, partnered relationship between human and natural systems" and thus importance of project location and place. Bruno Duarte Dias asserts that regenerative design goes beyond the traditional weighing and measuring of various environmental, social and economic impacts of sustainable design and instead focuses on mapping relationships. Dias is in agreement with Cole stating three fundamental aspects of regenerative design which include: understanding place and its unique patterns, designing for harmony within place, and co-evolution. Net-positive design Positive Development (PD) theory and net-positive design emerged from 2002 as a critique of sustainable and regenerative design. It argued that buildings, landscapes and infrastructure that restore the damage they do over their lifecycle are, in reality, negative in the context of the overshoot of planetary boundaries. The thesis was that buildings could in fact have net positive (global) outcomes that reverse ecocide and environmental injustices. However, as the textbook Positive Development explained - current institutions of governance, planning, and decision-making, as well as design, must be redesigned and retrofitted on radically different premises. A subsequent 2020 textbook, Net-Positive Design, detailed the theory and explained the 'STARfish' net-positive design app, a free online resource, which guides (synergistic, adaptable and multi-functional) net-positive design. The app is also used for building assessment. The STARfish inverts three dozen fundamental flaws with both quantitative and qualitative green building certification or rating tools. In Positive Development, a building is not sustainable if it merely has more good than bad impacts. It must increase natural and social life-support systems in absolute (global) terms - sufficient to reverse its share of the cumulative and remote impacts of human expansion and consumption. Fundamental aspects Co-evolution of humans and nature Regenerative design is built on the idea that humans and the built environment exist within natural systems and thus, the built environment should be designed to co-evolve with the surrounding natural environment. Dias asserts that a building should serve as a "catalyst for positive change." The project does not end with the completion of construction and certificate of occupancy, instead the building serves to enhance the relationships between people, the built environment and the surrounding natural systems over a long period of time. Designing in context of place Understanding the location of the project, the unique dynamics of the site and the relationship of the project to the living natural systems is a fundamental concept in the regenerative design process. In their article Designing from place: a regenerative framework and methodology, Pamela Mang and Bill Reed define place as a "unique, multilayered network of living systems within a geographic region that results from the complex interactions, through time, of the natural ecology (climate, mineral and other deposits, soil, vegetation, water and wildlife, etc.) and culture (distinctive customs, expressions of values, economic activities, forms of association, ideas for education, traditions, etc.)" A systems-based approach to design in which the design team looks at the building within the larger system is crucial. Gardener analogy Beatrice Benne and Pamela Mang emphasize the importance of the distinction between working with a place rather than working on a place within the regenerative design process. They use an analogy of a gardener to re-define the role of a designer in the building process. "A gardener does not 'make' a garden. Instead, a skilled gardener is one who has developed an understanding of the key processes operating in the garden" and thus the gardener "makes judicious decisions on how and where to intervene to reestablish the flows of energy that are vital to the health of the garden." In the same way a designer does not create a thriving ecosystem rather they make decisions that indirectly influence whether the ecosystem degrades or flourishes over time. This requires designers to push beyond the prescriptive and narrow way of thinking they have been taught and use complex systems thinking that will be ambiguous and overwhelming at times. This includes accepting that the solutions do not exclusively lie in technological advancements and are instead a combination of sustainable technologies and an understanding of the natural flow of resources and underlying ecological processes. Benne and Mang identify these challenges and state the most difficult of these will be shifting from a mechanistic to an ecological worldview. The tendency is to view building as the physical processes of the structure rather than the complex network of relationships the building has with the surrounding environment including the natural systems and the human community. Conservation vs. preservation Regenerative design places more importance on conservation and biodiversity rather than on preservation. It is recognized in regenerative design that humans are a part of natural ecosystems. To exclude people is to create dense areas that destroy pockets of existing ecosystems while preserving pockets of ecosystems without allowing them to change naturally over time. Regenerative design frameworks There are a few regenerative design frameworks that have been developed in recent years. Unlike many green building rating systems, these frameworks are not prescriptive checklists. Instead they are conceptual and meant to guide dialogue throughout the design process. They should not be used exclusively rather in conjunction with existing green building rating systems such as LEED, BREEAM or Living Building Challenge. REGEN The regenerative design framework REGEN was proposed by Berkebile Nelson Immenschuh McDowell (BNIM), a US architectural firm, for the US Green Building Council (USGBC). The tool was intended to be a web-based, data-rich framework to guide dialogue between professionals in the design and development process as well as "address the gap in information and integration of information." The framework has three components: Framework – the framework encourages systems thinking and collaboration as well as linking individual strategies to the goals of the project as a whole Resources – the framework includes place-based data and information for project teams to use Projects – the framework includes examples of successful projects that have incorporated regenerative ideas into the design as models for project teams LENSES Living Environments in Natural, Social and Economic Systems (LENSES) was created by Colorado State University's Institute for the Built Environment. The framework is intended to be process-based rather than product-based. The goals of the framework include: to direct the development of eco-regional guiding principles for living built environments to illustrate connections and relationships between sustainability issues to guide collaborative dialogue to present complex concepts quickly and effectively to development teams and decision-makers The framework consists of three "lenses": Foundational Lens, Aspects of Place Lens and Flows Lens. The lenses work together to guide the design process, emphasizing the guiding principles and core values, understanding the delicate relationship between building and place and how elements flow through the natural and human systems. Case study – VanDusen Botanical Garden The Visitor Centre at the VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver, British Columbia was designed in parallel with the regenerative design framework developed by Perkins+Will. The site of the new visitor center was 17,575 m2 and the building itself 1,784 m2. A four stage process was identified and included: education and project aspirations, goal setting, strategies and synergies, and whole systems approaches. Each stage raises important questions that require the design team to define place and look at the project in a much larger context, identify key resources flows and understand the complex holistic systems, determine synergistic relationships and identify approaches that provoke the coevolution of both humans and ecological systems. The visitor centre was the first project that Perkins+Will worked on in collaboration with an ecologist. Incorporating an ecologist on the project team allowed the team to focus on the project from a larger scale and understand how the building and its specific design would interact with the surrounding ecosystem through its energy, water and environmental performance. For retrofitting existing buildings Importance and implications It is said that the majority of buildings estimated to exist in the year 2050 have already been built. Additionally, current buildings account for roughly 40 percent of the total energy consumption within the United States. This means that in order to meet climate change goals – such as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change – and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, existing buildings need to be updated to reflect sustainable and regenerative design strategies. Strategies Craft et al. attempted to create a regenerative design model that could be applied to retrofitting existing buildings. This model was prompted by the large number of currently existing buildings projected to be present in 2050. The model presented in this article for building retrofits follows a 'Levels of Work' framework consisting of four levels that are said to be pertinent in increasing the "vitality, viability and capacity for evolution" which require a deep understanding of place and how the building interacts with the natural systems. These four levels are classified as either proactive or reactive and include regenerate, improve, maintain and operate. Case study University of New South Wales Craft et al. present a case study in which the chemical science building at the University of New South Wales was retrofitted to incorporate these regenerative design principles. The strategy uses biophilia to improve occupants health and wellbeing by strengthening their connection to nature. The facade acts as a "vertical ecosystem" by providing habitats for indigenous wildlife to increase biodiversity. This included the addition of balconies to increase the connection between humans and nature. Regenerative agriculture Regenerative farming or 'regenerative agriculture' calls for the creation of demand on agricultural systems to produce food in a way that is beneficial to the production and the ecology of the environment. It uses the science of systems ecology, and the design and application through permaculture. As understanding of its benefits to human biology and ecological systems that sustain us is increased as has the demand for organic food. Organic food grown using regenerative and permaculture design increases the biodiversity and is used to develop business models that regenerate communities. Whereas some foods are organic some are not strictly regenerative because it is not clearly seeking to maximize biodiversity and the resilience of the environment and the workforce. Regenerative agriculture grows organic produce through ethical supply chains, zero waste policies, fair wages, staff development and wellbeing, and in some cases cooperative and social enterprise models. It seeks to benefit the staff along the supply chain, customers, and ecosystems with the outcome of human and ecological restoration and regeneration. Size of regenerative systems The size of the regenerative system affects the complexity of the design process. The smaller a system is designed the more likely it is to be resilient and regenerative. Multiple small regenerative systems that are put together to create larger regenerative systems help to create supplies for multiple human-inclusive-ecological systems. See also Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies Appropriate technology Booker T. Whatley Circular economy Cradle to cradle Landscape urbanism Permaculture Regenerative agriculture Regenerative economics Sustainability Walter R. Stahel References External links Design for Human Ecosystems Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development Systems theory Sustainable design Industrial ecology Environmental design Environmental social science concepts

Land degradation

Land degradation is a process in which the value of a biophysical or biochemical environment is affected by a combination of natural or human-induced processes acting upon the land. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable. Natural hazards are excluded as a cause; however human activities can indirectly affect phenomena such as floods and bush fires. Expert projections suggest that land degradation will be an important theme of the 21st century, impacting agricultural productivity, biodiversity loss, environmental change, and its effects on food security. It is estimated that up to 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded. According to the Special Report on Climate Change and Land of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, "About a quarter of the Earth's ice-free land area is subject to human-induced degradation (medium confidence). Soil erosion from agricultural fields is estimated to be currently 11 to 20 times (no-tillage) to more than 100 times (conventional tillage) higher than the soil formation rate (medium confidence)." The United Nations estimate that about 30% of land is degraded worldwide, and about 3.2 billion people reside in these degrading areas, giving a high rate of environmental pollution. About 12 million hectares of productive land—which roughly equals the size of Greece—is degraded every year. This happens because people exploit the land without protecting it. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 15 has a target to restore degraded land and soil and achieve a land degradation-neutral world by 2030. Consequences The results of land degradation are significant and complex. They include lower crop yields, less diverse ecosystems, more vulnerability to natural disasters like floods and droughts, people losing their homes, less food available, and economic problems. Degraded land also releases greenhouse gases, making climate change worse. There are four main ways of looking at land degradation and its impact on the environment around it: A temporary or permanent decline in the productive capacity of the land. This can be seen through a loss of biomass, a loss of actual productivity or in potential productivity, or a loss or change in vegetative cover and soil nutrients. Action in the land's capacity to provide resources for human livelihoods. This can be measured from a base line of past land use. Loss of biodiversity: A loss of range of species or ecosystem complexity as a decline in the environmental quality. Shifting ecological risk: increased vulnerability of the environment or people to destruction or crisis. This is measured through a base line in the form of pre-existing risk of crisis or destruction. A problem with defining land degradation is that what one group of people might view as degradation, others might view as a benefit or opportunity. For example, planting crops at a location with heavy rainfall and steep slopes would create scientific and environmental concern regarding the risk of soil erosion by water, yet farmers could view the location as a favourable one for high crop yields. Different types In addition to the usual types of land degradation that have been known for centuries (water, wind and mechanical erosion, physical, chemical and biological degradation), four other types have emerged in the last 50 years: pollution, often chemical, due to agricultural, industrial, mining or commercial activities; loss of arable land due to urban construction, road building, land conversion, agricultural expansion, etc.; artificial radioactivity, sometimes accidental; land-use constraints associated with armed conflicts. Overall, more than 36 types of land degradation can be assessed. All are induced or aggravated by human activities, e.g. soil erosion, soil contamination, soil acidification, sheet erosion, silting, aridification, salinization, urbanization, etc. Causes Land degradation is a global problem largely related to the agricultural sector, general deforestation and climate change. Causes include: Land clearance, such as clearcutting and deforestation Agricultural depletion of soil nutrients through poor farming practices such as exposure of naked soil after crop harvesting. Poor livestock farming practices such as overgrazing Inappropriate irrigation and overdrafting Urban sprawl and commercial development Vehicle off-roading Quarrying of stone, sand and mineral/ore deposits Increase in field size due to economies of scale, reducing shelter for wildlife, as hedgerows and copses disappear . Monoculture which destabilizes the local ecosystem Dumping of poorly-biodegradable trash, such as plastic waste. Introduction of invasive species Climate change Loss of soil carbon Overcutting of vegetation occurs when people cut forests, woodlands and shrublands—to obtain timber, fuelwood and other products—at a pace exceeding the rate of natural regrowth. This is frequent in semi-arid environments, where fuelwood shortages are often severe. Overgrazing is the grazing of natural pastures at stocking intensities above the livestock carrying capacity; the resulting decrease in the vegetation cover is a leading cause of wind and water erosion. It is a significant factor in Afghanistan. The growing population pressure, during 1980–1990, has led to decreases in the already small areas of agricultural land per person in six out of eight countries (14% for India and 21% for Pakistan). Population pressure also operates through other mechanisms. Improper agricultural practices, for instance, occur only under constraints such as the saturation of good lands under population pressure which leads settlers to cultivate too shallow or too steep soils, plough fallow land before it has recovered its fertility, or attempt to obtain multiple crops by irrigating unsuitable soils. High population density is not always related to land degradation. Rather, it is the practices of the human population that can cause a landscape to become degraded. Populations can be a benefit to the land and make it more productive than it is in its natural state. Land degradation is an important factor of internal displacement in many African and Asian countries. Severe land degradation affects a significant portion of the Earth's arable lands, decreasing the wealth and economic development of nations. As the land resource base becomes less productive, food security is compromised and competition for dwindling resources increases, the seeds of famine and potential conflict are sown. Climate change and land degradation According to the Special Report on Climate Change and Land of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate change is one of the causes of land degradation. The report state that: "Climate change exacerbates land degradation, particularly in lowlying coastal areas, river deltas, drylands and in permafrost areas (high confidence). Over the period 1961–2013, the annual area of drylands in drought has increased, on average by slightly more than 1% per year, with large inter-annual variability. In 2015, about 500 (380–620) million people lived within areas which experienced desertification between the year 1980s and 2000s. The highest numbers of people affected are in South and East Asia, the circum Sahara region including North Africa, and the Middle East including the Arabian Peninsula (low confidence). Other dryland regions have also experienced desertification. People living in already degraded or desertified areas are increasingly negatively affected by climate change (high confidence)." Additionally, it is claimed that 74% of the poor are directly affected by land degradation globally. Significant land degradation from seawater inundation, particularly in river deltas and on low-lying islands, is a potential hazard that was identified in a 2007 IPCC report. As a result of sea-level rise from climate change, salinity levels can reach levels where agriculture becomes impossible in very low-lying areas. One way to consider climate change and land degradation is through the discipline of Land Change Science, which, among other things, tracks the long-term consequences of land degradation on the climate of a given area. By understanding the links between land degradation and climate change, scientists can better inform the creation of policies to reduce harm. In 2009 the European Investment Bank agreed to invest up to $45 million in the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund (LDN Fund). Launched at UNCCD COP 13 in 2017, the LDN Fund invests in projects that generate environmental benefits, socio-economic benefits, and financial returns for investors. The Fund was initially capitalized at US$100 million and is expected to grow to US$300 million. In the 2022 IPCC report, land degradation is responding more directly to climate change as all types of erosion and SOM declines (soil focus) are increasing. Other land degradation pressures are also being caused by human pressures like managed ecosystems. These systems include human run croplands and pastures. Landslides also come into effect which is the cause of intensive events such as individual rain storms. Sensitivity and resilience Sensitivity and resilience are measures of the vulnerability of a landscape to degradation. These two factors combine to explain the degree of vulnerability. Sensitivity is the degree to which a land system undergoes change due to natural forces, human intervention or a combination of both. Resilience is the ability of a landscape to absorb change, without significantly altering the relationship between the relative importance and numbers of individuals and species that compose the community. It also refers to the ability of the region to return to its original state after being changed in some way. The resilience of a landscape can be increased or decreased through human interaction based upon different methods of land-use management. Land that is degraded becomes less resilient than undegraded land, which can lead to even further degradation through shocks to the landscape. Public awareness and education Increasing public awareness about the importance of land conservation, sustainable land management, and the consequences of land degradation is vital for fostering behavioral change and mobilizing support for action. Education, outreach campaigns, and knowledge-sharing platforms can empower individuals, communities, and stakeholders to adopt more sustainable practices and become stewards of the land. See also Environmental impact of irrigation Land improvement Land reclamation Sustainable agriculture Economics of Land Degradation Initiative Desertification Population growth Tillage erosion References Further reading This article incorporates text in the public domain produced by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service D.L. Johnson and L.A. Lewis Land Degradation: Creation and Destruction, 2nd edition, Rowman and Littlefield, Lanham, Boulder, New York, Toronto, Oxford, 2007. External links The Economics of Land Degradation Initiative – Homepage Environmental issues with soil Physical geography Human impact on the environment

Science studies

Science studies is an interdisciplinary research area that seeks to situate scientific expertise in broad social, historical, and philosophical contexts. It uses various methods to analyze the production, representation and reception of scientific knowledge and its epistemic and semiotic role. Similarly to cultural studies, science studies are defined by the subject of their research and encompass a large range of different theoretical and methodological perspectives and practices. The interdisciplinary approach may include and borrow methods from the humanities, natural and formal sciences, from scientometrics to ethnomethodology or cognitive science. Science studies have a certain importance for evaluation and science policy. Overlapping with the field of science, technology and society, practitioners study the relationship between science and technology, and the interaction of expert and lay knowledge in the public realm. Scope The field started with a tendency toward navel-gazing: it was extremely self-conscious in its genesis and applications. From early concerns with scientific discourse, practitioners soon started to deal with the relation of scientific expertise to politics and lay people. Practical examples include bioethics, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), pollution, global warming, biomedical sciences, physical sciences, natural hazard predictions, the (alleged) impact of the Chernobyl disaster in the UK, generation and review of science policy and risk governance and its historical and geographic contexts. While staying a discipline with multiple metanarratives, the fundamental concern is about the role of the perceived expert in providing governments and local authorities with information from which they can make decisions. The approach poses various important questions about what makes an expert and how experts and their authority are to be distinguished from the lay population and interacts with the values and policy making process in liberal democratic societies. Practitioners examine the forces within and through which scientists investigate specific phenomena such as technological milieus, epistemic instruments and cultures and laboratory life (compare Karin Knorr-Cetina, Bruno Latour, Hans-Jörg Rheinberger) science and technology (e.g. Wiebe Bijker, Trevor Pinch, Thomas P. Hughes) science, technology and society (e.g. Peter Weingart, Ulrike Felt, Helga Nowotny and Reiner Grundmann) language and rhetoric of science (e.g. Charles Bazerman, Alan G. Gross, Greg Myers) aesthetics of science and visual culture in science (u.a. Peter Geimer), the role of aesthetic criteria in scientific practice (compare mathematical beauty) and the relation between emotion, cognition and rationality in the development of science. semiotic studies of creative processes, as in the discovery, conceptualization, and realization of new ideas. or the interaction and management of different forms of knowledge in cooperative research. large-scale research and research institutions, e.g. particle colliders (Sharon Traweek) research ethics, science policy, and the role of the university. History of the field In 1935, in a celebrated paper, the Polish sociologist couple Maria Ossowska and Stanisław Ossowski proposed the founding of a "science of science" to study the scientific enterprise, its practitioners, and the factors influencing their work. Earlier, in 1923, the Polish sociologist Florian Znaniecki had made a similar proposal. Fifty years before Znaniecki, in 1873, Aleksander Głowacki, better known in Poland by his pen name "Bolesław Prus", had delivered a public lecture – later published as a booklet – On Discoveries and Inventions, in which he said: It is striking that, while early 20th-century sociologist proponents of a discipline to study science and its practitioners wrote in general theoretical terms, Prus had already half a century earlier described, with many specific examples, the scope and methods of such a discipline. Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962) increased interest both in the history of science and in science's philosophical underpinnings. Kuhn posited that the history of science was less a linear succession of discoveries than a succession of paradigms within the philosophy of science. Paradigms are broader, socio-intellectual constructs that determine which types of truth claims are permissible. Science studies seeks to identify key dichotomies – such as those between science and technology, nature and culture, theory and experiment, and science and fine art – leading to the differentiation of scientific fields and practices. The sociology of scientific knowledge arose at the University of Edinburgh, where David Bloor and his colleagues developed what has been termed "the strong programme". It proposed that both "true" and "false" scientific theories should be treated the same way. Both are informed by social factors such as cultural context and self-interest. Human knowledge, abiding as it does within human cognition, is ineluctably influenced by social factors. It proved difficult, however, to address natural-science topics with sociological methods, as was abundantly evidenced by the US science wars. Use of a deconstructive approach (as in relation to works on arts or religion) to the natural sciences risked endangering not only the "hard facts" of the natural sciences, but the objectivity and positivist tradition of sociology itself. The view on scientific knowledge production as a (at least partial) social construct was not easily accepted. Latour and others identified a dichotomy crucial for modernity, the division between nature (things, objects) as being transcendent, allowing to detect them, and society (the subject, the state) as immanent as being artificial, constructed. The dichotomy allowed for mass production of things (technical-natural hybrids) and large-scale global issues that endangered the distinction as such. E.g. We Have Never Been Modern asks to reconnect the social and natural worlds, returning to the pre-modern use of "thing"—addressing objects as hybrids made and scrutinized by the public interaction of people, things, and concepts. Science studies scholars such as Trevor Pinch and Steve Woolgar started already in the 1980s to involve "technology", and called their field "science, technology and society". This "turn to technology" brought science studies into communication with academics in science, technology, and society programs. More recently, a novel approach known as mapping controversies has been gaining momentum among science studies practitioners, and was introduced as a course for students in engineering, and architecture schools. In 2002 Harry Collins and Robert Evans asked for a third wave of science studies (a pun on The Third Wave), namely studies of expertise and experience answering to recent tendencies to dissolve the boundary between experts and the public. Application to natural and man-made hazards Sheepfarming after Chernobyl A showcase of the rather complex problems of scientific information and its interaction with lay persons is Brian Wynne's study of Sheepfarming in Cumbria after the Chernobyl disaster. He elaborated on the responses of sheep farmers in Cumbria, who had been subjected to administrative restrictions because of radioactive contamination, allegedly caused by the nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986. The sheep farmers suffered economic losses, and their resistance against the imposed regulation was being deemed irrational and inadequate. It turned out that the source of radioactivity was actually the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing complex; thus, the experts who were responsible for the duration of the restrictions were completely mistaken. The example led to attempts to better involve local knowledge and lay-persons' experience and to assess its often highly geographically and historically defined background. Science studies on volcanology Donovan et al. (2012) used social studies of volcanology to investigate the generation of knowledge and expert advice on various active volcanoes. It contains a survey of volcanologists carried out during 2008 and 2009 and interviews with scientists in the UK, Montserrat, Italy and Iceland during fieldwork seasons. Donovan et al. (2012) asked the experts about the felt purpose of volcanology and what they considered the most important eruptions in historical time. The survey tries to identify eruptions that had an influence on volcanology as a science and to assess the role of scientists in policymaking. A main focus was on the impact of the Montserrat eruption 1997. The eruption, a classical example of the black swan theory directly killed (only) 19 persons. However the outbreak had major impacts on the local society and destroyed important infrastructure, as the island's airport. About 7,000 people, or two-thirds of the population, left Montserrat; 4,000 to the United Kingdom. The Montserrat case put immense pressure on volcanologists, as their expertise suddenly became the primary driver of various public policy approaches. The science studies approach provided valuable insights in that situation. There were various miscommunications among scientists. Matching scientific uncertainty (typical of volcanic unrest) and the request for a single unified voice for political advice was a challenge. The Montserrat Volcanologists began to use statistical elicitation models to estimate the probabilities of particular events, a rather subjective method, but allowing to synthesizing consensus and experience-based expertise step by step. It involved as well local knowledge and experience. Volcanology as a science currently faces a shift of its epistemological foundations of volcanology. The science started to involve more research into risk assessment and risk management. It requires new, integrated methodologies for knowledge collection that transcend scientific disciplinary boundaries but combine qualitative and quantitative outcomes in a structured whole. Experts and democracy Science has become a major force in Western democratic societies, which depend on innovation and technology (compare Risk society) to address its risks. Beliefs about science can be very different from those of the scientists themselves, for reasons of e.g. moral values, epistemology or political motivations.The designation of expertise as authoritative in the interaction with lay people and decision makers of all kind is nevertheless challenged in contemporary risk societies, as suggested by scholars who follow Ulrich Beck's theorisation. The role of expertise in contemporary democracies is an important theme for debate among science studies scholars. Some argue for a more widely distributed, pluralist understanding of expertise (Sheila Jasanoff and Brian Wynne, for example), while others argue for a more nuanced understanding of the idea of expertise and its social functions (Collins and Evans, for example). See also Logology (study of science) Merton thesis Public awareness of science Science and technology studies Science and technology studies in India Social construction of technology Sociology of scientific knowledge Sokal affair References Bibliography Science studies, general Bauchspies, W., Jennifer Croissant and Sal Restivo: Science, Technology, and Society: A Sociological Perspective (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005). Biagioli, Mario, ed. The Science Studies Reader (New York: Routledge, 1999). Bloor, David; Barnes, Barry & Henry, John, Scientific knowledge: a sociological analysis (Chicago: University Press, 1996). Gross, Alan. Starring the Text: The Place of Rhetoric in Science Studies. Carbondale: SIU Press, 2006. Fuller, Steve, The Philosophy of Science and Technology Studies (New York: Routledge, 2006). Hess, David J. Science Studies: An Advanced Introduction (New York: NYU Press, 1997). Jasanoff, Sheila, ed. Handbook of science and technology studies (Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications, 1995). Latour, Bruno, "The Last Critique," Harper's Magazine (April 2004): 15–20. Latour, Bruno. Science in Action. Cambridge. 1987. Latour, Bruno, "Do You Believe in Reality: News from the Trenches of the Science Wars," in Pandora's Hope (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999) Vinck, Dominique. The Sociology of Scientific Work. The Fundamental Relationship between Science and Society (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2010). Wyer, Mary; Donna Cookmeyer; Mary Barbercheck, eds. Women, Science and Technology: A Reader in Feminist Science Studies, Routledge 200 Haraway, Donna J. "Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective," in Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: the Reinvention of Nature (New York: Routledge, 1991), 183–201. Originally published in Feminist Studies, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Autumn, 1988), pp. 575–599. (available online) Foucault, Michel, "Truth and Power," in Power/Knowledge (New York: Pantheon Books, 1997), 109–133. Porter, Theodore M. Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995). Restivo, Sal: "Science, Society, and Values: Toward a Sociology of Objectivity" (Lehigh PA: Lehigh University Press, 1994). Medicine and biology Media, culture, society and technology Hancock, Jeff. Deception and design: the impact of communication technology on lying behavior Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture. Penguin USA, 2004. MacKenzie, Donald. The Social Shaping of Technology Open University Press: 2nd ed. 1999. Mitchell, William J. Rethinking Media Change Thorburn and Jennings eds. Cambridge, Massachusetts : MIT Press, 2003. Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. Penguin USA, 1985. Rheingold, Howard. Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. Cambridge: Mass., Perseus Publishing. 2002. External links Sociology of Science, an introductory article by Joseph Ben-David & Teresa A. Sullivan, Annual Review of Sociology, 1975 The Incommensurability of Scientific and Poetic Knowledge University of Washington Science Studies Network Historiography of science Philosophy of science Pedagogy Science and technology studies

Integrated assessment modelling

Integrated assessment modelling (IAM) or integrated modelling (IM) is a term used for a type of scientific modelling that tries to link main features of society and economy with the biosphere and atmosphere into one modelling framework. The goal of integrated assessment modelling is to accommodate informed policy-making, usually in the context of climate change though also in other areas of human and social development. While the detail and extent of integrated disciplines varies strongly per model, all climatic integrated assessment modelling includes economic processes as well as processes producing greenhouse gases. Other integrated assessment models also integrate other aspects of human development such as education, health, infrastructure, and governance. These models are integrated because they span multiple academic disciplines, including economics and climate science and for more comprehensive models also energy systems, land-use change, agriculture, infrastructure, conflict, governance, technology, education, and health. The word assessment comes from the use of these models to provide information for answering policy questions. To quantify these integrated assessment studies, numerical models are used. Integrated assessment modelling does not provide predictions for the future but rather estimates what possible scenarios look like. There are different types of integrated assessment models. One classification distinguishes between firstly models that quantify future developmental pathways or scenarios and provide detailed, sectoral information on the complex processes modelled. Here they are called process-based models. Secondly, there are models that aggregate the costs of climate change and climate change mitigation to find estimates of the total costs of climate change. A second classification makes a distinction between models that extrapolate verified patterns (via econometrics equations), or models that determine (globally) optimal economic solutions from the perspective of a social planner, assuming (partial) equilibrium of the economy. Process-based models Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has relied on process-based integrated assessment models to quantify mitigation scenarios. They have been used to explore different pathways for staying within climate policy targets such as the 1.5 °C target agreed upon in the Paris Agreement. Moreover, these models have underpinned research including energy policy assessment and simulate the Shared socioeconomic pathways. Notable modelling frameworks include IMAGE, MESSAGEix, AIM/GCE, GCAM, REMIND-MAgPIE, and WITCH-GLOBIOM. While these scenarios are highly policy-relevant, interpretation of the scenarios should be done with care. Non-equilibrium models include those based on econometric equations and evolutionary economics (such as E3ME), and agent-based models (such as the agent-based DSK-model). These models typically do not assume rational and representative agents, nor market equilibrium in the long term. Aggregate cost-benefit models Cost-benefit integrated assessment models are the main tools for calculating the social cost of carbon, or the marginal social cost of emitting one more tonne of carbon (as carbon dioxide) into the atmosphere at any point in time. For instance, the DICE, PAGE, and FUND models have been used by the US Interagency Working Group to calculate the social cost of carbon and its results have been used for regulatory impact analysis. This type of modelling is carried out to find the total cost of climate impacts, which are generally considered a negative externality not captured by conventional markets. In order to correct such a market failure, for instance by using a carbon tax, the cost of emissions is required. However, the estimates of the social cost of carbon are highly uncertain and will remain so for the foreseeable future. It has been argued that "IAM-based analyses of climate policy create a perception of knowledge and precision that is illusory, and can fool policy-makers into thinking that the forecasts the models generate have some kind of scientific legitimacy". Still, it has been argued that attempting to calculate the social cost of carbon is useful to gain insight into the effect of certain processes on climate impacts, as well as to better understand one of the determinants international cooperation in the governance of climate agreements. Integrated assessment models have not been used solely to assess environmental or climate change-related fields. They have also been used to analyze patterns of conflict, the Sustainable Development Goals, trends across issue area in Africa, and food security. Shortcomings All numerical models have shortcomings. Integrated Assessment Models for climate change, in particular, have been severely criticized for problematic assumptions that led to greatly overestimating the cost/benefit ratio for mitigating climate change while relying on economic models inappropriate to the problem. In 2021, the integrated assessment modeling community examined gaps in what was termed the "possibility space" and how these might best be consolidated and addressed. In an October2021 working paper, Nicholas Stern argues that existing IAMs are inherently unable to capture the economic realities of the climate crisis under its current state of rapid progress. Models undertaking optimisation methodologies have received numerous different critiques, a prominent one however, draws on the ideas of dynamical systems theory which understands systems as changing with no deterministic pathway or end-state. This implies a very large, or even infinite, number of possible states of the system in the future with aspects and dynamics that cannot be known to observers of the current state of the system. This type of uncertainty around future states of an evolutionary system has been referred to as ‘radical’ or ‘fundamental’ uncertainty. This has led some researchers to call for more work on the broader array of possible futures and calling for modelling research on those alternative scenarios that have yet to receive substantial attention, for example post-growth scenarios. Notes References External links Integrated Assessment Society Integrated Assessment Journal Climate change policy Environmental science Environmental social science Scientific modelling Management cybernetics

Biophysics

Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. Biophysical research shares significant overlap with biochemistry, molecular biology, physical chemistry, physiology, nanotechnology, bioengineering, computational biology, biomechanics, developmental biology and systems biology. The term biophysics was originally introduced by Karl Pearson in 1892. The term biophysics is also regularly used in academia to indicate the study of the physical quantities (e.g. electric current, temperature, stress, entropy) in biological systems. Other biological sciences also perform research on the biophysical properties of living organisms including molecular biology, cell biology, chemical biology, and biochemistry. Overview Molecular biophysics typically addresses biological questions similar to those in biochemistry and molecular biology, seeking to find the physical underpinnings of biomolecular phenomena. Scientists in this field conduct research concerned with understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell, including the interactions between DNA, RNA and protein biosynthesis, as well as how these interactions are regulated. A great variety of techniques are used to answer these questions. Fluorescent imaging techniques, as well as electron microscopy, x-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and small-angle scattering (SAS) both with X-rays and neutrons (SAXS/SANS) are often used to visualize structures of biological significance. Protein dynamics can be observed by neutron spin echo spectroscopy. Conformational change in structure can be measured using techniques such as dual polarisation interferometry, circular dichroism, SAXS and SANS. Direct manipulation of molecules using optical tweezers or AFM, can also be used to monitor biological events where forces and distances are at the nanoscale. Molecular biophysicists often consider complex biological events as systems of interacting entities which can be understood e.g. through statistical mechanics, thermodynamics and chemical kinetics. By drawing knowledge and experimental techniques from a wide variety of disciplines, biophysicists are often able to directly observe, model or even manipulate the structures and interactions of individual molecules or complexes of molecules. In addition to traditional (i.e. molecular and cellular) biophysical topics like structural biology or enzyme kinetics, modern biophysics encompasses an extraordinarily broad range of research, from bioelectronics to quantum biology involving both experimental and theoretical tools. It is becoming increasingly common for biophysicists to apply the models and experimental techniques derived from physics, as well as mathematics and statistics, to larger systems such as tissues, organs, populations and ecosystems. Biophysical models are used extensively in the study of electrical conduction in single neurons, as well as neural circuit analysis in both tissue and whole brain. Medical physics, a branch of biophysics, is any application of physics to medicine or healthcare, ranging from radiology to microscopy and nanomedicine. For example, physicist Richard Feynman theorized about the future of nanomedicine. He wrote about the idea of a medical use for biological machines (see nanomachines). Feynman and Albert Hibbs suggested that certain repair machines might one day be reduced in size to the point that it would be possible to (as Feynman put it) "swallow the doctor". The idea was discussed in Feynman's 1959 essay There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom. History The studies of Luigi Galvani (1737–1798) laid groundwork for the later field of biophysics. Some of the earlier studies in biophysics were conducted in the 1840s by a group known as the Berlin school of physiologists. Among its members were pioneers such as Hermann von Helmholtz, Ernst Heinrich Weber, Carl F. W. Ludwig, and Johannes Peter Müller. William T. Bovie (1882–1958) is credited as a leader of the field's further development in the mid-20th century. He was a leader in developing electrosurgery. The popularity of the field rose when the book What Is Life?'' by Erwin Schrödinger was published. Since 1957, biophysicists have organized themselves into the Biophysical Society which now has about 9,000 members over the world. Some authors such as Robert Rosen criticize biophysics on the ground that the biophysical method does not take into account the specificity of biological phenomena. Focus as a subfield While some colleges and universities have dedicated departments of biophysics, usually at the graduate level, many do not have university-level biophysics departments, instead having groups in related departments such as biochemistry, cell biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, medicine, molecular biology, neuroscience, pharmacology, physics, and physiology. Depending on the strengths of a department at a university differing emphasis will be given to fields of biophysics. What follows is a list of examples of how each department applies its efforts toward the study of biophysics. This list is hardly all inclusive. Nor does each subject of study belong exclusively to any particular department. Each academic institution makes its own rules and there is much overlap between departments. Biology and molecular biology – Gene regulation, single protein dynamics, bioenergetics, patch clamping, biomechanics, virophysics. Structural biology – Ångstrom-resolution structures of proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, carbohydrates, and complexes thereof. Biochemistry and chemistry – biomolecular structure, siRNA, nucleic acid structure, structure-activity relationships. Computer science – Neural networks, biomolecular and drug databases. Computational chemistry – molecular dynamics simulation, molecular docking, quantum chemistry Bioinformatics – sequence alignment, structural alignment, protein structure prediction Mathematics – graph/network theory, population modeling, dynamical systems, phylogenetics. Medicine – biophysical research that emphasizes medicine. Medical biophysics is a field closely related to physiology. It explains various aspects and systems of the body from a physical and mathematical perspective. Examples are fluid dynamics of blood flow, gas physics of respiration, radiation in diagnostics/treatment and much more. Biophysics is taught as a preclinical subject in many medical schools, mainly in Europe. Neuroscience – studying neural networks experimentally (brain slicing) as well as theoretically (computer models), membrane permittivity. Pharmacology and physiology – channelomics, electrophysiology, biomolecular interactions, cellular membranes, polyketides. Physics – negentropy, stochastic processes, and the development of new physical techniques and instrumentation as well as their application. Quantum biology – The field of quantum biology applies quantum mechanics to biological objects and problems. Decohered isomers to yield time-dependent base substitutions. These studies imply applications in quantum computing. Agronomy and agriculture Many biophysical techniques are unique to this field. Research efforts in biophysics are often initiated by scientists who were biologists, chemists or physicists by training. See also Biophysical Society Index of biophysics articles List of publications in biology – Biophysics List of publications in physics – Biophysics List of biophysicists Outline of biophysics Biophysical chemistry European Biophysical Societies' Association Mathematical and theoretical biology Medical biophysics Membrane biophysics Molecular biophysics Neurophysics Physiomics Virophysics Single-particle trajectory References Sources External links Biophysical Society Journal of Physiology: 2012 virtual issue Biophysics and Beyond bio-physics-wiki Link archive of learning resources for students: biophysika.de (60% English, 40% German) Applied and interdisciplinary physics

Women and the environment

In the early 1960s, an interest in women and their connection with the environment was sparked largely by Ester Boserup's book Woman's Role in Economic Development. Starting in the 1980s, policy makers and governments became more mindful of the connection between the environment and gender issues. Changes regarding natural resource and environmental management were made with the specific role of women in mind. According to the World Bank in 1991, "Women play an essential role in the management of natural resources, including soil, water, forests and energy...and often have a profound traditional and contemporary knowledge of the natural world around them". Whereas women were previously neglected or ignored, there was increasing attention to the impact of women on the natural environment and, in return, the effects the environment has on the health and well-being of women. The gender-environment relations have ramifications in regard to the understanding of nature between men and women, the management and distribution of resources and responsibilities, and the day-to-day life and well-being of people. Women's connection with the environment Women, environment, and development (WED) debate Different discourses have shaped the way that sustainable development is approached, and women have become more integrated into shaping these ideas. The definition of sustainable development is highly debated, but is defined by Harcourt as a way to "establish equity between generations" and to take into account "social, economic, and environmental needs to conserve non-renewable resources" and decrease the amount of waste produced by industrialization. The first discourse that emerged was women in development (WID), the perspective that advocated for women's status to be improved in developing countries. WID placed women as central actors in household, rural and market economies and looked to the hierarchical institution of western development to fix the issues that arise because of this. Critics of WID argued that as part of a larger western mindset, it perpetuates a colonial and liberal discourse that is incompatible with supporting the global population of women. During the Progressive Era (late 19th to early 20th century), urbanization, industrialization, and the Women's Suffrage Movement all had an impact on the shifting gender roles and expectations in American society. The Progressive Era signaled a shift towards greater recognition of women's capabilities and contributions outside the home, even though societal expectations still prioritized women's roles as wives and mothers. This laid the groundwork for further advancements in women's rights and gender equality in the 20th century. A variety of people, including scientists, grassroots activists, and conservationists, attempted to address environmental issues during this time period and were part of the environmental movement. Women were important activists, educators, and public health and environmental conservation advocates. Women's perspectives on environmental issues are shaped and motivated to participate in efforts to address them by their experiences as caregivers for the home and family, as well as by their increasing presence in urban environments. Ad hoc groups of women were formed to address various issues including food safety, water quality, public health in schools, food disposal, street cleanliness, meat handling, and stable nuisances. These women's environmental organizations, such as the New York Ladies' Health Protective Association, emphasized their role in monitoring and enhancing the cleanliness and hygiene of urban areas by framing their mission as a type of municipal housekeeping. They claimed that because women are the primary caregivers for their families and homes, they are in a unique position to address these issues because they are constantly exposed to the negative effects of insufficient urban sanitation practices. Because men could not be trusted to protect the environment, many even thought that environmental activism was like doing housework. Due to this belief, women's involvement in the environmental movement expanded the influence of women outside the home and into the public sphere of environmental activism, challenging traditional gender roles. The next shift in discourse took place in the early 1970s, where people began to critique the roots of development and find alternative ways to interact with the global community and developing countries, with women and the environment as central actors. One such alternative was defined as women, environment, development (WED). According to Schultz et al., "The women, environment and development debate (WED-debate) is anchored in a critical view of development policies where the link between modernization/industrialization and technology on the one hand and environmental deterioration on the other is focused". WED discourse is centralized around the synthesis of different ideologies, including ecofeminism. Ecofeminism may be seen as a root ideology for WED, where women are viewed with a biological connection to nature that enables them to have a deeper connection and stewardship of it. This ideology was transformed into the political sphere as women having a socially constructed connection to nature through global systems. In the 1990s, the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) instituted programs based on the WED discourse. These programs were in response to the relation between gender and environmental violence such as waste disposal, pesticide use nuclear testing, and other detrimental environmental practices. Many of these programs did not produce the desired impacts on women. The WED discourse placed emphasis on women as solution holders to environmental issues. However, policies were not directed at empowering women but the sectors that women are involved in, such as agriculture. Leach argues that the overall impact of politicizing the role of women and the environment through the WED discourse appropriated women's labor without providing them with proper resources or capacity to succeed. Farming and agriculture In the majority of the world, women are responsible for farm work and related domestic food production. An increasing number of women are taking over and expanding their involvement in agricultural tasks, but this has not changed the gender division of labor with regard to reproductive work. Ester Boserup found that "in many African tribes, nearly all the tasks connected with food production continue to be left to women". Schultz et al. (2001), found that "90% of women in the developing world, where most of the planet's biological wealth is found, depend on their land for survival. Women head 30% of the households in developing countries, 80% of food production in sub-Saharan Africa is done by women, 60% in Asia and 50% in Latin America. Even though women are largely responsible for the actual agricultural work performed, men generally own the land, therefore controlling women's labor upon the land. There is evidence showing that improving women's access to agricultural resources can boost yields by 20–30% and overall production in underdeveloped nations by 2.5–4%. Increased production might reduce global hunger by 12–17%. Africa Ester Boserup examined the farming systems of men and women in Africa and found that "in many African tribes, nearly all the tasks connected with food production continue to be left to women". In Botswana, men typically have greater access to advanced technologies and plowing abilities. Zambia also has a high percentage of women farmers yet they are not explicitly recognize and often neglected entirely. Consistent lack of access to credit, mobility, technological advancements, and land ownership further complicate women's agricultural roles. A group of women in Kenya began farming trees way before climate change was prioritized because they had seen what happens to lands that are depleted of its nutrients and the adverse effects. In Zimbabwe, direct impacts of climate change and environmental degradation has on women and girls include: An increase in the amount of time spent doing expected unpaid work like collecting water and firewood. Limitation on ability to accelerate their careers and or income generating activities and education as they have fewer hours to spend on these activities. Activities like illegal mining reduce the amount of land available for farming which impacts the economic survival of rural women who depend on farming as a source of income. Women, children and people with disabilities are more likely to be affected more by environmental disasters and their effects than other groups. Latin America and Caribbean In Peru, women often participate in food production and family farming yet they do not generally benefit directly from their labor. Their work is not considered as valuable as men's. Women in the Caribbean have always been associated with agriculture and do have access to land ownership. However, women still do not have the same access to technology as men and generally have smaller plots of land. Dependence on nature and the environment for survival is common among women living in areas commonly designated as the Third World. Environmental feminists have argued that this dependence creates a deeply rooted connection between women and their surroundings. Women's dependence on natural resources, based on their responsibilities, creates a specific interest that may be different from the interests of men. Jiggins et al. suggests that women view nature uniquely in that they connect the land to immediate survival and concern for future generations, rather than treating the land as a resource with monetary value. With the development of newer technologies since the 1940s, there has been a shift to more non-farm activities; however, men participate in the shift more than women, leaving women behind. It is projected that as men continue to shift to urban livelihoods, the role of maintaining the household by farming will increasingly fall upon women. Especially during the neoliberal policy regime in Latin America, with the increasing use of exports, women were ideal for their 'gendered skills'. They were paid less for their farming labor and not likely to organize, coining the term 'feminization of responsibility'. Issues such as climate change could have a greater impact on women because the land they farm will be negatively affected. Asia and Pacific Islands In the Asian and Pacific Island regions, 58% of women involved in the economy are found in the agriculture sector. This involves work in own-account farms, labor in small enterprises for processing fruits, vegetables and fish, paid and unpaid work on other people's land, and collecting forest products. Out of all the women working in this sector, 10–20% have been found to have tenure to the land they work on. Reasons for this number include economic and legal barriers. For example, women get fewer and smaller loans to acquire land than men. One other factor that plays into women's land rights for agriculture is the cultural norms of the area. In Asia and the Pacific, women's societal roles have been defined by patriarchal norms, where men are viewed as breadwinners and women are viewed as caretakers. This can be expressed through the number of hours women spend doing unpaid care work per day. In developing countries in total, women spend 4 hours and 30 minutes of care work a day versus the 1 hour and 2 minutes that men spend. As the main economic sector of Southeast Asia, agriculture includes over one quarter of Association of Southeast Asian States's (ASEAN) working women, a significant difference from OECD's 3.5% average. Members of ASEAN have cited increased threats to the sector from more frequent natural disasters due to climate change with significant gendered impacts. These events have different effects for each country and each region of Southeast Asia, but harms upon both gender equality and economic production through agriculture are common across the region. The Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and deep seaport, located in a border region of Myanmar and Thailand, is an industrial development project with alleviated environmental regulations, among other relaxed rules, marketed for business investment. Out of Myanmar, as for residents who are displaced from homes and their agriculture work due to the Dawei SEZ's development, new higher paying jobs, and usually land rights, are granted to men. Women, whose prior experiences have been agricultural, resort to informal, insecure, and smaller-scale farm labor. In the Mekong River Delta Region of Vietnam, although women comprise about half of the labor involved in intensive rice production systems, they have the added responsibility of being the primary caretaker and securing food for their families. As climate change increasingly threatens agricultural systems, women in the Mekong Delta region face disproportionate risk to their livelihoods relative to men because of their dependency on the land for rice production combined with their role as domestic provider. In 2008, in the Sambas district of West Kalimantan, Indonesia, women protested oil palm plantation expansion and the land acquisitions associated with it. Although men were usually the legal owners of the land in conflict in Sambas, women are the main managers of the land and domestic care, meaning they would be disproportionately impacted by water pollution, land grabs and home loss, crop loss, and lack of other job opportunities, all due to increased palm production. Fishing industry Mexico San Evaristo In San Evaristo near Baja California Sur, Mexico Hunting, fishing and land ownership is the main source of income. Women are excluded from these activities even though they might have a land claim or are fishing for fun. The fishers are mostly men that work fourteen hours together in a boat so close together. They have their own ways of communication to build trust. Men tell harmless lies or brag about their daily earnings, which leads to building intimacy and avoiding further conflict that might happen. It became an even more important social skill when the MPA (Marine Protection Atlas) limited their access to fishing sites by designating some of them as protected waters. Men needed to bond when they became rivals for resources. They build trust by teasing their masculinity by subjugating women and bragging about their sexual power. For example, they encourage a researcher to go to a strip club; they pretend to betray their wives. Eventually, they confessed that they were lying about it to prove themselves sexually powerful. Women find these men's behaviors normal because they do not have access to the gender-based group to socialize and are limited to doing household work. When men build their own world distant from women and do not let any women in it, it is difficult for female conservationists to interact with them. Also, the male conservationist role in interacting with this male-dominant social capita is problematic. Land ownership and property management In many parts of the world, specifically developing countries, there is a great deal of inequality when it comes to land ownership. Traditional practices and bureaucratic factors often prevent women's access to natural resource development and management. Frequently, women do not have the right to own land and/or property, but they often are the ones who tend to the land. Bina Agarwal, has written a great deal about gender and land rights in Third World countries and according to her, "Hence, insofar as there is a gender and class-based division of labor and distribution of property and power, gender and class structure people's interactions with nature and so structure the effects of environmental change on people and their responses to it." Women's access to control of natural resources, land ownership and property management is a developing issue and is the subject of continuous debate in both the environmental realm and women's rights movement. Women's property status and the likelihood of violence Globally, "physical violence by husbands against wives is estimated to range between 10% and 50%" (p. 824). It is difficult to pinpoint the causes of marital violence but economic dependence is widely acknowledged as one of the main sources. Land or property ownership provides women who may be experiencing marital violence with a credible exit option. Land ownership creates a means of production of both income and power. A study performed in Kerala, India examined the effects of property status and the likelihood of violence against women. Close to 500 women were surveyed about a number of happenings in the household such as the amount of longterm and current violence that occurred, women's ownership of the land or house, and other sociodemographic characteristics. The violence that occurs can be physical, such as hitting or kicking or psychological, such as threats or belittlement. Long-term violence, or violence that had been occurring throughout the entirety of the marriage, was experienced by 41% of women in rural households, while 27% of urban household women reported violence in various forms. Current violence, or violence occurring within 12 months of the time of survey was experienced by 29% in a physical capacity and 49% experienced psychological violence. Of all the women surveyed, 35% did not own any property and of that 35%, 49% experienced physical violence while 84% experienced psychological violence. The amount of violence was significantly lower in households where women owned land or property. According to this particular study, women's access to land and property ownership reduces the risk of spousal abuse by enhancing the livelihood of women as well as providing an escape route and means for survival if abuse begins. In many developing countries, where marital violence is prominent, barriers such as unequal laws and social and administrative bias keep women from owning land and property. A vast number of women are left out of owning immovable property (land or house) furthering their likelihood of experiencing marital violence. It can also be argued that land rights greatly shape an individual's relationship with nature and the environment. Relationship between violence of nature and women The WED debate has examined the correlation between the degradation of the environment and the subordination of women. Carolyn Merchant and Vandana Shiva wrote that there is a connection between dominance of women and dominance of nature. Shiva said, "The rupture within nature and between man and nature, and its associated transformation from a life-force that sustains to an exploitable resource characterizes the Cartesian view which has displaced more ecological world-views and created a development paradigm which cripples nature and woman simultaneously". Exploitation of women's labor as well as the abuse of natural environment are connected as they are both marginalized within the economy. Both the environment and women have been viewed as exploitable resources that are significantly undervalued. This argument supports ecofeminism in that women in developing countries rely on nature to survive, therefore, destruction of the environment results in elimination of women's method to survival. According to Jiggins, environmental degradation effects women the most, furthering the inequalities between men and women. One study showed that new developments in technology and developments in land access are denied to women, furthering their subordination and inequality. Theoretical perspectives Global changes affect all human lives; some researchers and activists believe that there is no difference between women and men in how they are affected by these changes. Although some of them believe that the difference between women and men is in their biology, many believes the differences are rooted in a diverse array of cultural and social interpretations of biological differences. There are five major streams of feminism, each addressing these distinctions from a unique perspective: Ecofeminist: posits closeness of the relationship between women and environment in the context of patriarchy. Feminist environmentalist: emphasizes the gendered interest in particular resources based on their responsibilities. Socialist feminist: integrates gender into the political economy by using production to distinguish gender roles in economic systems. Feminist poststructuralist: explains gender and environment as manifestations of knowledge which is shaped by different dimensions of identity and demography. Environmental: treats women as both participants and partners in environmental protection and conservation program. Ecofeminism Ecofeminism postulates that the subordination, oppression, and domination of both women and the environment are similar in structure. Ecofeminism encompasses a variety of views but has a focus of patriarchal oppression and the social constructions relating to women and the environment. Some indicate the biology of women as the reason behind the connection between women and environment, while others credit culture and historical factors. This closeness, as understood by some theorists, makes women more nurturing and caring towards their environment. An ecofeminist believes in a direct connection between oppression of nature and the subordination of women. Vandana Shiva, is credited with bringing ecofeminism into public consciousness by her reports of the Chipko movement. The Chipko movement also led to the formation of anti alcoholism. Environmental or ecological feminism Environmental or ecological feminism differs from ecofeminism in that it is more focused on the actual, specific interactions with the environment. Connections between environment and gender can be made by looking at the gender division of labor and environmental roles rather than an inherent connection with nature. The gender division of labor requires a more nurturing and caring role for women, therefore that caring nature places women closer with the environment. The knowledge of nature is shaped by the experiences an individual has. Women have a distinct knowledge of the land, yet are excluded from policy decisions of development on that land. This is prominent in many developing countries where the responsibility of collecting fuel and fodder is placed upon the women. Both the resources and the meanings are taken into consideration with environmental feminism. There is a challenge to not only focus on the gender division of labor but also the actual appropriation methods of the resources. In other words, there is not simply an inherent connection between women and nature, rather there are material realities that exist. Bina Agarwal opposes ecofeminism and outlines three problematic elements which are: Historical characterization of the situation of women and nature Linking of the emancipation of women with that of nature Assumptions about women's agency Criticism Bina Agarwal has critiqued the ideas of environmental feminism. She proposes problems with welfare, efficiency, and source of land. Welfare Due to gender differences in income-spending patterns, women are at a higher risk of living in poverty. For this reason, access to land is of special importance. Land access allows for a number of production advantages such as growing trees, fodder and/or crops. But, land access also allows for increased credit, bargaining power and strengthens aggregate real wages rates. Even the smallest amount of land can have huge impacts on welfare directly as well as increasing entitlement to family welfare. Efficiency Incentive effect: If women are given secure land rights, there will be a greater incentive for higher production rates. Women will be motivated to use the best technologies, increase cultivation, and make long-term investments. Environmentally sound use of the land resource and reduced out-migration to cities by women and their dependents are other benefits of women's secure land rights. Credit and input access effect: "Titles would enhance women's ability to raise production by improving their access to agricultural credit, as well as by increasing women's independent access to output, savings and cash flow for reinvestment". Efficiency of resource use effect: Studies have shown the possibility that women use resources more efficiently than men. This could mean anything from making a more productive use of loans of money earned to the ability of women to achieve higher values of output based on cropping patterns. Gender specific knowledge and talent pool effect: Many women have specific and often greater knowledge about certain crops and planting patterns. If women are included as farm managers, a more diverse and talented informed pool will be created. Bargaining power and empowerment effect: Providing women with the opportunity to own land will increase their sense of empowerment and could help women to assert themselves more in various situations such as policy creation other government schemes. Source of land Because public land available for distribution is now quite limited, most of the land will need to come from private sectors. "To get a share of land, therefore, it is critical for women to stake a claim in privatised land". Feminist political ecology These frameworks construct a feminist political ecology that is different from political ecology in examining the importance of gender. In contrast, political ecology focuses on access to the resources based on class and ethnicity without considering gender roles. In the authors' view, feminist political ecology must address the following concerns: Women's roles as producers, reproducers, and consumers made them to have combined roles in household, community, and landscape. Specialized science that concentrates on one aspect mostly drops women's ability to integrate daily experiences. Women worldwide are mostly responsible for providing basic household's daily needs, and thus women may suffer more from the lack of subsistence. Ecology and health also have daily and ordinary aspects that are responsive to the feminist viewpoint even though they have become highly technical. While formal science relies on heavy fragmentations, many women have expressed a holistic point of view toward environmental and health issues. Most feminist criticism about science is summarized in inequity of participation, abuse of women in science, universality assumption, use of gendered metaphors, lack of women's everyday experience in ways of learning.Feminist political ecologists discovered that environmental management research is mostly on women. It may cause neglect of men's dominant roles in environmental resources management and put pressure on women. In the communities that men consider breadwinners and women are expected to be caregivers, men have an opportunity to form social capital based on their gender; they socialize, communicate, support each other and build trust in these social groups. Feminist political ecology seeks to discover the role and place of women in environmental development on a political scale. Feminist political ecology builds from ecofeminism and environmental feminism and lays out three essential factors which are: Gendered knowledge, or the ways in which access to scientific and ecological knowledge is structured by gender (this is considered part of gender feminism) Gendered environmental rights and responsibilities, including differential access by men and women to various legal and de facto claims to land and resources. Gendered politics and grassroots activism, including an examination of women within and as leaders of environmental movements. In developed nations Sweden Sweden has historically had a political culture that inherently protects the environment. Like in other developed nations, women in Sweden have been empowered to protect the environment through the government and policies. Sweden is one of the highest-ranking countries when assessing gender equality, though the government does agree there is room for improvement. In Sweden, the majority of local government workers are women at 64%. Since the 2010 election, women comprise 45% of the Swedish parliament. The government has recognized that women are the most affected by climate change and environmental degradation, and have committed to contribute to increasing the participation for women in decisions and policy debates surrounding climate change and other environmental issues. They also have committed to increasing resources for women in civil society who present issues about the environment, hoping to increase accountability and transparency. Peterson and Merchant draw on the idea that the women's environmental movement in Sweden was based on both symbolic and political perspectives. In the early stages of the environmental movement and women's movement in Sweden, women were aware that changes had to be made both within society and ideologies, then enacted politically to create a cohesive collective society. Elin Wagner (1882–1949) presented herself as a radical feminist in early movements. Wagner was a writer, journalist, environmentalist, ecologist and pacifist. In her writings, she addressed what she saw as a significant flaw in the popular ideology after World War II: that men had the ability to control and conserve nature for the entire global community. Her novel Alarm Clock was barely noticed when released in 1941, but during Sweden's women's movement in the 1970s, her messages became a driving force behind the movement. She believed that there should be a large presence of intellectuals in social movements. Wagner and other key Swedish feminist scholars and intellectuals of that time shaped the parameters of Swedish thinking and both the environmental and women's movements. Throughout her life, Wagner stressed the importance of nature and the environment. Sweden has it ingrained in both their identity and traditions to have a deep sense of nature, which has played a role in shaping the overall consensus of the country to protect the environment. Through the transformation of the opinion and ideologies of the Swedish people, it became much easier to entrench environmental policies. Women working within institutions protected the global environment by pushing for bans on nuclear energy or industry degrading local environment. In 1980, there was a national referendum on nuclear power in Sweden. The voting patterns revealed that 43% of women were against nuclear power, while only 21% of men opposed it. Sweden and the women of the country have demonstrated that environmental protection can be achieved through transitioning ideologies followed by institutional change. United States Women's involvement in the environmental movements of the United States can be traced back to the early 20th century when women of upper and middle-class backgrounds became active in urban organizations advocating for reform in environmental issues such as sanitation, smoke and noise abatement, civic cleanliness and purity in food and drugs. Female activists of this period included Alice Hamilton, Jane Addams, and Ellen Swallow Richards who brought to the forefront issues of pollution, urban degradation and health hazards. Rose Schneiderman, a labor activist, advocated for the cleanup of hazardous work environments during this period as well. During the eras of World War I, the Great Depression and World War II the United States saw a period of inactivity on environmental issues. It was not until 1962, with the publication of Silent Spring, written by Rachel Carson, denouncing the U.S. government's use of pesticides and the nation's increase in industrial waste, that women in the United States returned to environmental issues. The book is considered one of the seminal pieces of environmental works written. The 1970s found women actively engaging in environmental issues. W.A.R.N. (Women of All Red Nations) was formed by Native American women to combat the environmental and health effects of uranium mining on native lands. Lesbian women formed communal spaces, returning to living on the land, recycling materials, using solar power and growing organic foods in their efforts to combat industrial pollution and degradation of natural resources. The 1980s was an important decade for women in the environment. In 1980 the term 'ecofeminism' was born. In April 1980, the conference "Women and Life on Earth: Ecofeminism in the 1980's", the first in a series of conferences on ecofeminism, was held in Amherst, MA. In November 1980, the Women's Pentagon Action took place in Washington, D.C., when the group "Women and Life on Earth" gathered to protest war, militarism, nuclear weapons and the effects on the environment. At its core, ecofeminism recognizes the link between the oppression of women and the oppression of nature. The liberation of women and nature are linked and it is towards this end that ecofeminists work. Inherent to this concept is sexism. Australian ecofeminist Ariel Kay Salleh was an early critic of deep ecologists of this time claiming that most of its spokespersons were male and therefore were afraid to confront the naturism and sexism causing environmental crises. Carol Adams furthered this ideology with her work The Sexual Politics of Meat in which she established the link between sexual objectification of women to the consumption of animals as objects of food. Environmental issues continued to dominate women's activism work in the 1980s with the publication of Judith Plant's Healing the Wounds: the Promise of Ecofeminism, the first North American anthology of ecofeminism, in 1989. In June 1989, the Ecofeminist Caucus of the National Women's Studies Association was formed. The second half of the decade saw the emergence of American socialist ecofeminists, Karen Warren and Carolyn Merchant. Warren's work was instrumental in defining the four core principles of ecofeminism; the connections between women and nature, the need for the understanding of those connections, that feminist theory and perspective must include ecological perspectives and that ecological solutions must come from a feminist perspective. Socialist ecofeminists are concerned with issues impacting the environment resulting from the intersection of oppression by race, class or gender. Specific issues addressed by socialist ecofeminists are colonialism, multinational corporate development of the South, global distribution of wealth, overpopulation and the critique of biotechnology. Since the 1990s, women have continued to foster their concerns of the environment in the United States. The decade saw the growth of the Environmental Justice movement beginning with Lois Gibbs, who formed the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, helping community organizations battle toxic waste issues and others. The Principles of Environmental Justice were adopted at the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., on October 24–27, 1991. In a series of seventeen mandates, the principles call for public policies guaranteeing the right to responsible uses of renewable resources and land, creating a sustainable planet for all living beings. Feminists involved in current ecological movements continue the examination of the intersectionality of race, class and gender in human's experiences within their environments and the examination of perceptions and how values of the connection between humans and the environment are shaped by gender roles and assumptions. Other topics of concern include structures of power at the political and economic institutional level that are instrumental in the ecological movement, particularly the interdependence between oppression and domination. Today's environmental feminists' scholarship focuses upon transnational, post-structuralist and postcolonial deconstructions. During the 2000s, women turned their focus to gender justice, another aspect of the environmental justice movement. Gender justice differs from ecofeminism in that this perspective argues that women are affected by the environment in gender-specific ways as opposed to the focus on the connection between the oppression of women and nature. Gender disparities for women include the increase of environmental burdens due to their involvement in women's work of care taking and lack of access to resources due to lower incomes or poverty. Women are more likely to make food sacrifices for their family, and are more impacted by climate change, which impacts at a greater risk those that are already environmentally disadvantaged. Women are at greater risk during natural disasters, and subjected to increased levels of male violence in the wake of these disasters. Overall, women are less likely to be able to avoid or adapt to environmental degradation. The response to these gender inequities has been an increase in activism by women of color. In a marked difference from mainstream environmentalists, women of color, primarily Native American and Hispanic, are driving political change using grassroots organizations in a desire to address the gender specific differences of environmental effects. Gender justice activists also seek to empower their communities and preserve their cultural traditions in addition to preserving the environment. Following these principles, environmental leaders such as activist Julia Butterfly Hill, founder of the Circle of Life Foundation, and Native American activist Winona LaDuke (Anishinabe), founder of Indigenous Women's Network, are continuing women's participation in the environmental gender justice movement in the United States today. Women have had a longstanding impact on the environment in the United States, with efforts being shaped by larger feminist movements. In the early 20th century, women's involvement in the ecological movements grew out of the social feminist work that occurred in between the first and second waves of feminism. Ecofeminism stems from the second wave of radical feminism that was prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s. Environmental justice and gender justice arose from the feminist move towards intersectionality of race, class, and gender in the 1990s. As feminists continue to examine these issues, the environment and women's roles pertaining to it will continue to be topics of concern. International The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is one of the largest and most dominating scientific voice regarding climate change since 1990 when the first paper was published. Since then, there has been studies investigating the demographics of the authors of IPCC and the results are as follows: the dominating demographics are authors from developed countries, nonindigenous voices and men. Focusing on the woman contributors, during the time of the initial publishing in 1990, around 12 female authors participated. This has increased significantly since then; the most recent IPCC paper was published in 2013 and it was reported that 182 of the authors were women. What these women experienced when contributing to this paper varied, but many expressed that what is included in the report is controlled by a few scientists as well as the overall workload being unfair. Though our women authors felt they could write freely in their individual chapters, they believed they had little say in the overall content of the report. Some women expressed they had a pleasant experience when working on the IPCC report, while others felt they were not heard and faced obstacles their peers did not encounter. These barriers transcended their gender and targeted their race, nationality, being a native English speaker and their discipline. Women's attitude and the environment In recent decades, environmental movements have increased as the movements for women's rights have also increased. Today's union of nature preservation with women's rights and liberation has stemmed from invasion of their rights in the past. In developing areas of the world, women are considered the primary users of natural resources (land, forest, and water), because they are the ones who are responsible for gathering food, fuel, and fodder. Although women mostly cannot own the land and farms outright in these countries, they spend most of their time working on the farms to feed the household. Although technological inputs increase male involvement with land, many of them leave the farm to go to cities to find jobs, so women become increasingly responsible for an increasing portion of farm tasks. Shouldering this responsibility leads them to learn more about soil, plants, and trees and not misuse them. These rural women tend to have a closer relationship with land and other natural resources, which promotes a new culture of respectful use and preservation of natural resources and the environment, ensuring that the following generations can meet their needs. Besides considering how to achieve appropriate agricultural production and human nutrition, women want to secure access to the land. Women's perspectives and values for the environment are somewhat different from men's. Women give greater priority to protection of and improving the capacity of nature, maintaining farming lands, and caring for nature and environment's future. Repeated studies have shown that women have a stake in environment, and this stake is reflected in the degree to which they care about natural resources. Climate change Population One of the biggest drivers of climate change is population growth. The world's population is set to reach 10 billion by the end of the 21st century, putting a strain on resources such as water supplies, food, and energy. To accommodate this growth in population, it is estimated that almost 40% more food, 40% more water and 50% more energy is necessary. Projections for the future are based on data from past years, such as the period from 1950 to 1960 when the developing world's population doubled, increasing from three billion to over six billion by 2000. Niger is projected to go from 15 million to 80 million by 2050, alongside Afghanistan, which is anticipated to go from 30 million to 82 million. This population growth, coupled with consumption and waste will have large effects on ecosystems and communities. With an increase in population, there is also projection for an increase in emissions, effects of industrialization, contributing to climate change. Some argue that the third world is not responsible for the brunt of climate change as the first world is using more resources, which is more impactful on climate change. Population growth is influenced by women's education. Education of women with information and access to birth control are key factors that influence population. Education for women leads to few children, has been seen to improve health and reduce mortality, affecting the global population outlook. In addition, according to Wolfgang, there is literature and research surrounding the idea that education leads to better health and income, changing thinking and attitudes around jobs with an emphasis on social and economic opportunities instead of family size. The idea of using education as a means of controlling population in developing countries is questioned, along with the discourse around 'third world' women requiring 'intervention' and excessively reproducing. The subsequent response to the connection between women and climate change has evoked multiple responses in the policy realm. Policy makers have shifted policy to reflect gender sensitive frameworks to address climate change. Arora-Jonsson argues that by focusing on the vulnerability of women in relation to climate change, it places more responsibility on women and shifts the narrative to ignore the root causes of the issue, power relations and institutional inequality. The outcome of UN movements and policies for promoting women in areas impacted by climate change such as agriculture have not been scientifically proven to have any beneficial results on women communities. Women-led climate projects There are many climate projects with women at the forefront. Women in Climate Founded by Stephanie Holthaus in 2018, the vision for Women in Climate (WIC) is to unite and support all women driving equitable solutions to climate change. This is a subgroup of another organization called The Nature Conservancy, a global environmental nonprofit with the hopes of creating a world where people and life can thrive. Nous Sommes la Solution Also referred to as We Are the Solution in English, this movement was started in 2011 by twelve women's organizations from West Africa. This group of women strive to promote good practices and agricultural knowledge, advocate for family farming and influence decision makers regarding agricultural management. Indonesia Women's Earth Alliance Grassroots Accelerator Founded in 2019, this programs goal is to initiate and accelerate the efforts of women in Indonesia who are leaders in the mission to protect their communities from negative impacts of climate change. This is a four month program geared towards these leaders and offer them the ability to hone, and refine their skills and solidify any future plans to be drafted and initiated within their individual organizations. Gender and perception of the environment Given the environmental degradation caused while men have had dominance over women, and women's large investment in environmental sustainability, some have theorized that women would protect the Earth better than men if in power. Although there is no evidence for this hypothesis, recent movements have shown that women are more sensitive to the earth and its problems. They have created a special value system about environmental issues. People's approaches to environmental issues may depend on their relationship with nature. Both women and nature have been considered as subordinates entities by men throughout history, which conveys a close affiliation between them. Historically, the perception of the natural environment between men and women differs. As an example, rural Indian women collect the dead branches which are cut by storm for fuel wood to use rather than cutting the live trees. Since African, Asian, and Latin American women use the land to produce food for their family, they acquire the knowledge of the land/soil conditions, water, and other environmental features. Any changes in the environment, like deforestation, have the greatest negative effects on women of that area until they can cope with these changes. One example would be the Nepali women whose grandmothers had to climb to the mountain to be able to bring in wood and fodder. An example of female prominence in the defense of natural forests comes from India in 1906. As forest clearing was expanding conflict between loggers and government and peasant communities increased. To thwart resistance to the forest clearing, the men were diverted from their villages to a fictional payment compensation site and loggers were sent to the forests. The women left in the villages, however, protested by physically hugging themselves to the trees to prevent their being cut down, giving rise to what is now called the Chipko movement, an environmentalist movement initiated by these Indian women (which also is where the term tree-huggers originated). This conflict started because men wanted to cut the trees to use them for industrial purposes while women wanted to keep them since it was their food resource and deforestation was a survival matter for local people. Women environmentalists Mei Ng Mei Ng was born in Hong Kong, China and she received her B.A. in anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1972 and has worked diligently to promote environmental awareness throughout China. Mei Ng is an advocate of responsible consumption, renewable energy utilization, and sustainable development through the women and youth of China, and works to mobilize women to defend the environment and to bring environmental education to all parts of China. She previously held the position of Director for Friends of the Earth (HK) in Hong Kong, an environmental organization which seeks to encourage environmental protection in China. In 2001, she was appointed to the Advisory Council on the Environment. In 2002, Mei Ng was elected to the United Nations Global 500 Roll of Honor on World Environment Day. Also in 2002, she was appointed by the Chinese State Environmental Protection Agency as China Environment Envoy. In 2003, the Hong Kong SAR Government awarded her the Bronze Bauhinia Star, and in 2004, she was appointed to become a member of the Harbour Enhancement Committee. She founded the Earth Station, Hong Kong's first renewable energy education center, which has been well received by policy makers and citizens alike. Vandana Shiva Vandana Shiva was born on November 5, 1952, in India. Vandana Shiva has a B.S. in physics, a M.A. in philosophy from the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada) and received her Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario in Quantum Theory Physics. Vandana Shiva is an environmental scholar and activist who campaigns for women in India as well as around the world. As a physicist-environmentalist adhering to ecofeminism, Vandana Shiva has published numerous papers on the unequal burden placed on women by environmental degradation, stating that women and children "bore the costs but were excluded from the benefits" of development. Vandana Shiva is also an active voice for localized, organic agriculture. She began a movement entitled Navdanya where participating Indian farmers have created 'freedom zones' to revitalize an organic food market in India. She has received many honorary degrees awards. In 1993 she received the Right Livelihood Award. In 2010 Sydney Peace Prize and in 2011 she received the Calgary Peace Prize. In addition, Vandana Shiva was named "one of the 7 most influential women in the world" by Forbes. Wangari Muta Maathai In 1940 Wangari Maathai was born in Nyeri, Kenya. She attended Mount St. Scholastica College in Kansas and received her degree in biological sciences in 1964. This was a part of the 1960 'Kennedy Airlift' which brought 300 Kenyans (including Barack Obama's father Barack Obama, Sr.) to the United States to study at American universities. She then obtained her M.S. from University of Pittsburgh in 1966 and her Ph.D. from the University of Nairobi. She was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. Wangari Maathai was an advocate for human rights, preaching the necessity for democracy. Her passion for environmental conservation lead her to found the Greenbelt Movement in 1977. Wangari Maathai's personal life was turbulent with divorce and jailings, as well as constant confrontations with the Kenyan government. Her push to protect national land from development made her less than favorable to Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi, who served from 1978 to 2002. In 2004, Wangari Maathai received the Nobel Peace Prize, making her the first African woman to win. On September 25, 2011, Wangari Maathai died of ovarian cancer. BBC World News noted this as a 'Death of Visionary'. Maria Cherkasova Maria Cherkasova (b. 1938) is a Russian journalist, ecologist, and director of Centre for Independent Ecological Programmers (CIEP). She is known for coordinating a 4-year campaign to stop construction of hydro-electric dam on the Katun River. After Cherkasova's involvement in the student movement on environmental protection in the 1960s, she began to work for the Red Data Book for the Department of Environmental Protection Institute. She researched and preserved rare species until she became the editor of USSR Red Data Book. She co-founded the Socio-Ecological Union, which has become the largest ecological NGO in the former Soviet Union. In 1990, she became director of CIEP, which arrange and drives activities in an extensive range of ecologically related areas on both domestic and international fronts. Cherkasova recently has shifted her focus on protecting children's rights to live in a healthy environment and speaks for them both inside and outside Russia. Rachel Carson Rachel Carson (1907–1964) was an American scientist, writer, and ecologist. Rachel Carson went to the Pennsylvania College for Women, majoring in English, but she was inspired by her biology teacher so she switched her major to biology. She became more interested and focused on the sea while she was working at the Marine Biological Laboratories in Massachusetts. Her eloquent prose let to the publication of her first book, Under the Sea-Wind: a Naturalists' Picture of Ocean Life, in 1941. In 1949 she became chief editor of the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Her second book, The Sea Around Us, won the National Book Award and sold more than 200,000 copies. After that she retired from FWS and became a full-time writer. After her third and final book about the sea, The Edge of the Sea, Carson focused on effects of chemicals and pesticides on the environment. That is when she wrote her book about environment, Silent Spring. The book was about what man has done to the nature and eventually to himself, and started a modern environmental movement. Carson believed that humanity and nature are mutually dependent on each other. She argued that industrial activities such as pesticides use can damages the earth ecosystem and will have far-reaching ecological consequences such as future human health problems. Today, scientific studies have demonstrated these consequences. Jane Goodall Jane Goodall (b. 1934) is a female environmentalist most well known for her chimpanzee study, in which she lived among the primates. She became interested in animals as a young child and spent her early adulthood saving money to fund her dream of taking a trip to Africa. Her position as secretary to Louis Leakey led to her participation in several anthropological digs and animal studies, and eventually she was selected to study chimpanzee behavior in Tanzania. She made several discoveries about the behavior of chimpanzees on these studies and is credited with discovering the chimpanzee behavior of eating meat and creating tools. She published a book about the study entitled In the Shadow of Man. She is also known for her activism, promoting the preservation of wild chimpanzee environments and opposing the use of animals in research. She has received numerous awards for her achievements and runs the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education, and Conservation, a nonprofit organization. Dr. Sandra Steingraber Dr. Sandra Steingraber, a distinguished scientist based in the United States, has made significant contributions to the field of biology as an author and activist. During her academic tenure, she drew inspiration from Rachel Carson, who served as a pivotal influence in her studies. She also battled bladder during this time, which went into remission allowing her to continue her education. Following her educational pursuits, Dr. Steingraber became actively involved in environmental advocacy. Notably, in March 2013, she protested against the industrialization of the Finger Lakes region. In the subsequent year, she participated in a campaign known as the civil disobedience campaign. Both instances of activism resulted in her arrest. Presently, Dr. Steingraber continues to contribute to the field through her writings and lectures, focusing on the environmental factors affecting reproductive health and the correlation between cancer and the air, water, and food we consume. Ecological movements initiated by women Chipko movement One of the first environmentalist movements led by women was the Chipko movement (women tree-huggers in India). Its name comes from a Hindi word meaning "to stick" (as in glue). After the Indian Government granted an order for sport equipments to a local company of Utrakhand, India, the Maharajah of Jodhpur wanted to build a new palace in Rajasthan, which is India's Himalayan foothills. While the axemen were cutting the trees, martyr Amrita Devi hugged one of the trees. This is because in Jodhpur, each child had a tree that could talk to it. The axmen ignored Devi, and after taking her off the tree, cut it down. Her daughters are environmentalists like Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Sunderlal Bahuguna. After the state government granted permission to a corporation for commercial logging, the women of the villages resisted, embracing trees to prevent their felling to safeguard their lifestyles, which were dependent on the forests. Deforestation could qualitatively alter the lives of all village residents, but it was the women who agitated for saving the forests. Organized by a non-governmental organization led by Chandi Prasad Bhatt, the Chipko movement adopted the slogan "ecology is permanent economy". The women embracing the trees did not tag their action as feminist activism; however, "as a movement that demonstrated resistance against oppression, it had all the markings of such." Green Belt movement Another movement, which is one of the biggest in women's and environmental history, is the Green Belt movement. Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai founded this movement on the World Environment Day in June 1977. The starting ceremony was very simple: a few women planted seven trees in Maathai's backyard. By 2005, 30 million trees had been planted by participants in the Green Belt movement on public and private lands. The Green Belt movement aims to bring environmental restoration along with society's economic growth. This movement led by Maathai focused on restoration of Kenya's rapidly diminishing forests as well as empowering the rural women through environmental preservation, with a special emphasis on planting indigenous trees. Navdanya Movement Navdanya also known as the 'Nine Seeds Movement' seeks to empower local Indian farmers to move away from growing any genetically modified organism (GMOs) on their land and return to organic, chemical-free practices. This movement has reached over 5,000,000 Indian farmers and created over 65 seed banks around India. Navdanya fights to eliminate the commercialization of indigenous knowledge also known as 'biopiracy'. Navdanya addresses multiple other international issues including climate change, food security, misapplication of technology, food sovereignty, fair trade, and many others. This movement also created a learning center entitled Bija Vidyapeeth. Bija Vidyapeeth, in collaboration with Schumacher College in the United Kingdom, seeks to educate participants in sustainability and ecological principles. Kenyan land takeover In Kenya, starting in the mid-1980s, women protested against the elites and big foreign corporations who were coercing and controlling the production of the land. Rather than allowing food to be grown for survival, women were pressured by both their husbands and the government to cultivate coffee for foreign profit. Protests continued and gained strength over the next couple of decades. The protests eventually ended in a Kenyan power shift enforcing democratic national elections which resulted in redistribution of land possible. Dakota Access Pipeline protests The Dakota Access Pipeline protests (also known by the hashtag campaign #NoDAPL) was an opposition to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Dakota Access Pipeline is 1,172 miles long, traveling from North to South Dakota and has the capability of transporting thousands of barrels of oil. The pipeline runs under Lake Oahe, an important water source for the Standing Rock Reservation located near the projected site in South Dakota. In 2016 construction was set to begin but was soon halted by the opposition the project faced. The Standing Rock Reservation claimed that the construction of the pipeline was an environmental injustice and could lead to their water source becoming polluted if the pipeline was to burst. The reservation also claimed that the proposed site that was to be dug was sacred ground and contained buried ancestors. The United States Army Corps of Engineers, who were responsible for approving the permit needed to proceed with construction, claimed that proper assessments had been taken to ensure that it was environmentally and culturally safe to proceed with the completion of the pipeline. With the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continuing to move forward with construction, the NoDAPL movement was created in April 2016 to try to halt construction of the pipeline in order to protect the Standing Rock Reservation's water source and members. The movement grew historically large due to the threat of pollution and violence against women. Although the NoDAPL movement was largely labeled as only an environmental justice movement, the NoDAPL movement's concerns were also gendered. The gendered perspective of the NoDAPL movement was told in the documentary, Rise: Standing Rock. Many Standing Rock tribe members claimed that the construction of the pipeline would also lead to an increase of sexual violence against women and girls living on the reservation. Visiting tribe members from the Fort Berthold Reservation shared stories of the danger young girls now faced after the increase of fracking in their community. A Fort Berthold tribe member described how oil workers would pick up young girls walking home within the reservation and kidnap them to be sold amongst the workers for sex. According to the book, The Beginning and End of Rape: Confronting Sexual Violence in Native America, Indigenous women are more likely to experience sexual violence than any other ethnic groups. Although there are many factors that contribute to those high numbers in a 2013 article, Genevieve Le May stated that the increase of oil extraction sites and pipelines near reservations is a big contributing factor due to "man camps" built by reservations to house the oil workers. Le May also claims that it is hard for reservations to seek justice for sexual assaults due to lack of police interference. That is why some considered the mobilization of Indigenous people, particularly Indigenous women, in the NoDAPL movement to be historical. Many female tribe members explained that the water coming out of their faucets was water from Lake Oahe. This means that any pollution to the lake would directly affect them and their families since they drink, bathe and cook with the water. Because this pipeline directly affected their community, participants of the Standing Rock. The movement grew due to support of tribes across the nation, including many members that travelled to Standing Rock Reservation. Due to social media the NoDAPL movement was able to include thousands of supporters from all over the world. The NoDAPL movement included many protests at Standing Rock Reservation and confrontations with police and NoDAPL supporters all throughout 2016. During his last few months in office President Barack Obama responded to the protests by ceasing all construction of the pipeline. The halt of construction was short due to succeeding president, Donald Trump. During the first year of his administration, President Donald Trump ordered for the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which occurred in 2017. In the article "Living In A Liminal Space: Standing Rock And Storytelling As A Tool Of Activism", author Janelle Cronin states that one of the NoDAPL women leaders that needs recognition is LaDonna BraveBull Allard, a member of the Sioux Tribe of Standing Rock. In 2016 Allard published a video on Facebook asking for the surrounding tribes to come and support Standing Rock in protesting the pipeline, sparking public interest in the NoDAPL movement. In response to people answering her call, Allard created Sacred Stone Camp, which housed protestors for the months that the NoDAPL movement took place. The VICELAND documentary Rise: Standing Rock showed that Allard provided the camp with food and anything else needed to keep the camp functioning, paying with donations given as well as out of her own pocket. Even though the pipeline has been completed, the Sacred Stone Camp remains. The camp's official website claims that there is still a need to educate people about the importance of a sustainable lifestyle as well as a need to protect water due to threats that still exist globally. Another noticeable leader in the NoDAPL movement is Bobbi Jean Three Legs, another member of the Sioux Tribe. In her article, Mary Ferguson claims that Bobbi played an important role in keeping the nation's attention on Standing Rock. Bobbie and other young tribe members organized a run that would take them from South Dakota to Washington, D.C. This run was created in order to hand deliver a petition asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deny the construction of the pipeline through their water source. Bobbi claimed that she became involved with NoDAPL because of her concern for future generations living on the reservation and because she wanted to make sure that clean water would always be available for her daughter. See also Women and animal advocacy References Further reading Harrison Moore, Abigail, Ruth Sandwell, eds. "Women and Energy," RCC Perspectives: Transformations in Environment and Society 2020, no. 1. doi.org/10.5282/rcc/9049. External links Women and the Environment Gender and the Environment United Nations Chronicle Green Belt Movement Rachel Carson's Silent Spring visual history curated by the Michigan State University Museum Environment and society Women in society

Digital footprint

Digital footprint or digital shadow refers to one's unique set of traceable digital activities, actions, contributions, and communications manifested on the Internet or digital devices. Digital footprints can be classified as either passive or active. The former is composed of a user's web-browsing activity and information stored as cookies. The latter is often released deliberately by a user to share information on websites or social media. While the term usually applies to a person, a digital footprint can also refer to a business, organization or corporation. The use of a digital footprint has both positive and negative consequences. On one side, it is the subject of many privacy issues. For example, without an individual's authorization, strangers can piece together information about that individual by only using search engines. Corporations are also able to produce customized ads based on browsing history. On the other hand, others can reap the benefits by profiting off their digital footprint as social media influencers. Furthermore, employers use a candidate's digital footprint for online vetting and assessing fit due to its reduced cost and accessibility. Between two equal candidates, a candidate with a positive digital footprint may have an advantage. As technology usage becomes more widespread, even children generate larger digital footprints with potential positive and negative consequences such as college admissions. Since it is hard not to have a digital footprint, it is in one's best interest to create a positive one. Types of digital footprints Passive digital footprints are a data trail that an individual involuntarily leaves online. They can be stored in various ways depending on the situation. A footprint may be stored in an online database as a "hit" in an online environment. The footprint may track the user's IP address, when it was created, where it came from, and the footprint later being analyzed. In an offline environment, administrators can access and view the machine's actions without seeing who performed them. Examples of passive digital footprints are apps that use geolocations, websites that download cookies onto your appliance, or browser history. Although passive digital footprints are inevitable, they can be lessened by deleting old accounts, using privacy settings (public or private accounts), and occasionally online searching yourself to see the information left behind. Active digital footprints are deliberate, as they are posted or shared information willingly. They can also be stored in a variety of ways depending on the situation. A digital footprint can be stored when a user logs into a site and makes a post or change; the registered name is connected to the edit in an online environment. Examples of active digital footprints include social media posts, video or image uploads, or changes to various websites. Privacy issues Digital footprints are not a digital identity or passport, but the content and metadata collected impacts internet privacy, trust, security, digital reputation, and recommendation. As the digital world expands and integrates with more aspects of life, ownership and rights concerning data become increasingly important. Digital footprints are controversial in that privacy and openness compete. Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, said in 1999 Get Over It when referring to privacy on the Internet. The quote later became a commonly used phrase in discussing private data and what companies do with it. Digital footprints are a privacy concern because they are a set of traceable actions, contributions, and ideas shared by users. It can be tracked and can allow internet users to learn about human actions. Interested parties use Internet footprints for several reasons; including cyber-vetting, where interviewers could research applicants based on their online activities. Internet footprints are also used by law enforcement agencies to provide information unavailable otherwise due to a lack of probable cause. Also, digital footprints are used by marketers to find what products a user is interested in or to inspire ones' interest in a particular product based on similar interests. Social networking systems may record the activities of individuals, with data becoming a life stream. Such social media usage and roaming services allow digital tracing data to include individual interests, social groups, behaviors, and location. Such data is gathered from sensors within devices and collected and analyzed without user awareness. When many users choose to share personal information about themselves through social media platforms, including places they visited, timelines and their connections, they are unaware of the privacy setting choices and the security consequences associated with them. Many social media sites, like Facebook, collect an extensive amount of information that can be used to piece together a user's personality. Information gathered from social media, such as the number of friends a user has, can predict whether or not the user has an introvert or extrovert personality. Moreover, a survey of SNS users revealed that 87% identified their work or education level, 84% identified their full date of birth, 78% identified their location, and 23% listed their phone numbers. While one's digital footprint may infer personal information, such as demographic traits, sexual orientation, race, religious and political views, personality, or intelligence without individuals' knowledge, it also exposes individuals' private psychological spheres into the social sphere. Lifelogging is an example of an indiscriminate collection of information concerning an individual's life and behavior. There are actions to take to make a digital footprint challenging to track. An example of the usage or interpretation of data trails is through Facebook-influenced creditworthiness ratings, the judicial investigations around German social scientist Andrej Holm, advertisement-junk mails by the American company OfficeMax or the border incident of Canadian citizen Ellen Richardson. Impacts Workforce An increasing number of employers are evaluating applicants by their digital footprint through their interaction on social media due to its reduced cost and easy accessibility during the hiring process. By using such resources, employers can gain more insight on candidates beyond their well-scripted interview responses and perfected resumes. Candidates who display poor communication skills, use inappropriate language, or use drugs or alcohol are rated lower. Conversely, a candidate with a professional or family-oriented social media presence receives higher ratings. Employers also assess a candidate through their digital footprint to determine if a candidate is a good cultural fit for their organization. Suppose a candidate upholds an organization's values or shows existing passion for its mission. In that case, the candidate is more likely to integrate within the organization and could accomplish more than the average person. Although these assessments are known not to be accurate predictors of performance or turnover rates, employers still use digital footprints to evaluate their applicants. Thus, job seekers prefer to create a social media presence that would be viewed positively from a professional point of view. In some professions, maintaining a digital footprint is essential. People will search the internet for specific doctors and their reviews. Half of the search results for a particular physician link to third-party rating websites. For this reason, prospective patients may unknowingly choose their physicians based on their digital footprint in addition to online reviews. Furthermore, a generation relies on social media for livelihood as influencers by using their digital footprint. These influencers have dedicated fan bases that may be eager to follow recommendations. As a result, marketers pay influencers to promote their products among their followers, since this medium may yield better returns than traditional advertising. Consequently, one's career may be reliant on their digital footprint. Children Generation Alpha will not be the first generation born into the internet world. As such, a child's digital footprint is becoming more significant than ever before and their consequences may be unclear. As a result of parenting enthusiasm, an increasing amount of parents will create social media accounts for their children at a young age, sometimes even before they are born. Parents may post up to 13,000 photos of a child on social media in their celebratory state before their teen years of everyday life or birthday celebrations. Furthermore, these children are predicted to post 70,000 times online on their own by 18. The advent of posting on social media creates many opportunities to gather data from minors. Since an identity's basic components contain a name, birth date, and address, these children are susceptible to identity theft. While parents may assume that privacy settings may prevent children's photos and data from being exposed, they also have to trust that their followers will not be compromised. Outsiders may take the images to pose as these children's parents or post the content publicly. For example, during the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal, friends of friends leaked data to data miners. Due to the child's presence on social media, their privacy may be at risk. Teenagers Some professionals argue that young people entering the workforce should consider the effect of their digital footprint on their marketability and professionalism. Having a digital footprint may be very good for students, as college admissions staff and potential employers may decide to research into prospective student's and employee's online profiles, leading to an enormous impact on the students' futures. Teens will be set up for more success if they consider the kind of impact they are making and how it can affect their future. Instead, someone who acts apathetic towards the impression they are making online will struggle if they one day choose to attend college or enter into the workforce. Teens who plan to receive a higher education will have their digital footprint reviewed and assessed as a part of the application process. Besides, if the teens that have the intention of receiving a higher education are planning to do so with financial help and scholarships, then they need to consider that their digital footprint will be evaluated in the application process to get scholarships. See also Alternative data Behavioral targeting Browser isolation Data exhaust Digital identity Internet anonymity Internet privacy Online advertising Online identity Reality mining Reputation management SIGINT Social engineering Social genome Targeted marketing UK/USA Agreement Universal Product Code Web tracking Website Wire data References Further reading Computing and society Digital marketing Information privacy Past Internet privacy

Environmental design

Environmental design is the process of addressing surrounding environmental parameters when devising plans, programs, policies, buildings, or products. It seeks to create spaces that will enhance the natural, social, cultural and physical environment of particular areas. Classical prudent design may have always considered environmental factors; however, the environmental movement beginning in the 1940s has made the concept more explicit. Environmental design can also refer to the applied arts and sciences dealing with creating the human-designed environment. These fields include architecture, geography, urban planning, landscape architecture, and interior design. Environmental design can also encompass interdisciplinary areas such as historical preservation and lighting design. In terms of a larger scope, environmental design has implications for the industrial design of products: innovative automobiles, wind power generators, solar-powered equipment, and other kinds of equipment could serve as examples. Currently, the term has expanded to apply to ecological and sustainability issues. Core Principals 1. Sustainability - Minimizing the environmental impact of human activities through the use of renewable resources, energy-efficient technologies, and eco-friendly materials. 2. Functionality - Designing spaces that are practical, accessible, and tailored to the needs and behaviors of the people who will use them. 3. Aesthetics - Incorporating elements of visual appeal, sensory experience, and emotional connection into the design. 4. Holistic Approach - Considering the interconnected social, economic, and ecological factors that shape the environment. Modern Uses Today, environmental design is applied across a wide range of scales, from small-scale residential projects to large-scale urban planning initiatives. Key areas of focus include: - Sustainable architecture and green building - Landscape architecture and urban planning - Transportation design and infrastructure - Industrial design and product development - Interior design and space planning Environmental designers often collaborate with experts from disciplines such as engineering, ecology, sociology, and public policy to create holistic solutions that address the complex challenges of modern environments. History The first traceable concepts of environmental designs focused primarily on solar heating, which began in Ancient Greece around 500 BCE. At the time, most of Greece had exhausted its supply of wood for fuel, leading architects to design houses that would capture the solar energy of the sun. The Greeks understood that the position of the sun varies throughout the year. For a latitude of 40 degrees in summer the sun is high in the south, at an angle of 70 degrees at the zenith, while in winter, the sun travels a lower trajectory, with a zenith of 26 degrees. Greek houses were built with south-facing façades which received little to no sun in the summer but would receive full sun in the winter, warming the house. Additionally, the southern orientation also protected the house from the colder northern winds. This clever arrangement of buildings influenced the use of the grid pattern of ancient cities. With the north–south orientation of the houses, the streets of Greek cities mainly ran east–west. The practice of solar architecture continued with the Romans, who similarly had deforested much of their native Italian Peninsula by the first century BCE. The Roman heliocaminus, literally 'solar furnace', functioned with the same aspects of the earlier Greek houses. The numerous public baths were oriented to the south. Roman architects added glass to windows to allow for the passage of light and to conserve interior heat as it could not escape. The Romans also used greenhouses to grow crops all year long and to cultivate the exotic plants coming from the far corners of the Empire. Pliny the Elder wrote of greenhouses that supplied the kitchen of the Emperor Tiberius during the year. Along with the solar orientation of buildings and the use of glass as a solar heat collector, the ancients knew other ways of harnessing solar energy. The Greeks, Romans and Chinese developed curved mirrors that could concentrate the sun's rays on an object with enough intensity to make it burn in seconds. The solar reflectors were often made of polished silver, copper or brass. Early roots of modern environmental design began in the late 19th century with writer/designer William Morris, who rejected the use of industrialized materials and processes in wallpaper, fabrics and books his studio produced. He and others, such as John Ruskin felt that the industrial revolution would lead to harm done to nature and workers. The narrative of Brian Danitz and Chris Zelov's documentary film Ecological Design: Inventing the Future asserts that in the decades after World War II, "The world was forced to confront the dark shadow of science and industry." From the middle of the twentieth century, thinkers like Buckminster Fuller have acted as catalysts for a broadening and deepening of the concerns of environmental designers. Nowadays, energy efficiency, appropriate technology, organic horticulture and agriculture, land restoration, New Urbanism, and ecologically sustainable energy and waste systems are recognized considerations or options and may each find application. By integrating renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, and even geothermal energy into structures, it is possible to create zero emission buildings, where energy consumption is self-generating and non-polluting. It is also possible to construct "energy-plus buildings" which generate more energy than they consume, and the excess could then be sold to the grid. In the United States, the LEED Green Building Rating System rates structures on their environmental sustainability. Environmental design and planning Environmental design and planning is the moniker used by several Ph.D. programs that take a multidisciplinary approach to the built environment. Typically environmental design and planning programs address architectural history or design (interior or exterior), city or regional planning, landscape architecture history or design, environmental planning, construction science, cultural geography, or historic preservation. Social science methods are frequently employed; aspects of sociology or psychology can be part of a research program. The concept of "environmental" in these programs is quite broad and can encompass aspects of the natural, built, work, or social environments. Areas of research Architecture Construction science Ecology Environmental impact design Environmental planning Environmental psychology Environmental sociology Historic preservation Landscape architecture Sociology of architecture Sustainability Urban planning Academic programs The following universities offer a Ph.D. in environmental design and planning: Clemson University, College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities (Now called "Planning, Design, and the Built Environment") Arizona State University, College of Design Kansas State University University of Calgary (technically the Ph.D. is in "environmental design," but encompasses the same scope as the other programs) Virginia Tech until recently offered the degree program, but has since replaced it with programs in "architecture and design research" and "planning, governance, and globalization". Fanshawe College in London, Ontario Canada offers an honours bachelor's degree called "Environmental Design and planning. Related programs University of Missouri, Columbia: Ph.D. in Human Environmental Sciences (PDF file) with emphasis in Architectural Studies. Texas A & M University offers a Ph.D. in architecture that emphasizes environmental design. Examples Examples of the environmental design process include use of roadway noise computer models in design of noise barriers and use of roadway air dispersion models in analyzing and designing urban highways. Designers consciously working within this more recent framework of philosophy and practice seek a blending of nature and technology, regarding ecology as the basis for design. Some believe that strategies of conservation, stewardship, and regeneration can be applied at all levels of scale from the individual building to the community, with benefit to the human individual and local and planetary ecosystems. Specific examples of large scale environmental design projects include: Boston Transportation Planning Review BART – Bay Area Rapid Transit System Daly City Turn-back project and airport extension. Metropolitan Portland, Oregon light rail system See also Green building Green development Land recycling Passive solar building design Sustainable development Ecological design References 6. External links Environment Historic preservation

Agricultural education

Agricultural education is the systematic and organized teaching, instruction and training (theoretical as well as hands-on, real-world fieldwork-based) available to students, farmers or individuals interested in the science, business and technology of agriculture (animal and plant production) as well as the management of land, environment and natural resources. Agricultural education is part of the curriculum of primary and secondary schools along with tertiary institutions such as colleges, universities and vocational and technical schools. Agricultural education resources is provided by youth organizations, farm apprenticeships/internships, non-profit organizations, and government agencies/ministries. As well as agricultural workshops, trainings, shows, fairs, and research institutions. Online/distance learning programs are also available. In institutions, agricultural education serves as preparation for employment or careers in the farming and agricultural sector. Students learn about general principles of land management, soil science, pasture management. As well as the principles of agricultural economics, plant growth (plant physiology and how plants transport materials, reproduce and germinate), crop production (land preparation, cultivation of cash crops, crop selection, planting and maintenance), and protection (weed, pest and disease control, integrated pest management and the responsible use of farm chemicals). In addition to livestock anatomy and physiology, production (livestock housing, nutrition and health management for the well-being of animals and optimal production), and breeding. Students who pursue higher education in colleges and universities are provided with more in-depth and focused education so that they can develop expertise in specialized areas such as animal science (physiology, nutrition, reproduction and health aspects of domesticated animals such as dairy cattle, sheep, poultry, etc.), food science (sustainable food, food safety, physiochemical and biological aspects of food, etc.), genetics (animal and plant genetics and genomics and their application in breeding and biotechnology), international agriculture (global perspective on international agribusiness, global food systems, water and energy issues, cropping systems in different regions), Farm business management (budgeting, marketing, planning and other skills necessary to manage the financial and business aspects of agricultural operations), sustainable and organic agriculture. Horticulture, turf grass management, small animal welfare, etc. can also be taught. The main purposes of agricultural education encompass building a skilled agricultural workforce through training and preparation of future farmers and agricultural professionals, promotion of sustainable and responsible agricultural practices, enhancement of food security, development of cutting-edge agricultural technologists, innovators and leaders, improvement of awareness and understanding of agriculture to bridge the gap between the source of food and the broader community of consumers, contribution to rural economic development and growth, and strengthening the connection between urban and rural agricultural communities. Historically, farming techniques and knowledge were passed down through oral traditions. In 19th century, agricultural education was formalized as an academic discipline through the Morrill Acts in the United States. Over the years, it slowly subsumed a broad range of scientific subjects related to animals, plants and crops, soil, business, food, land, natural resources and environment. In recent decades agricultural education has been adapted to address the issues of new technology, global perspectives and food security. Recent technological advancements discussed in agricultural education include the integration of precision agriculture, biotechnology, advanced machinery and data-driven approaches to optimize production, reduce resource wastage, improve overall efficiency, and minimize agriculture's ecological footprint. In the future, online learning, interdisciplinary research, community outreach and preparation for diverse career opportunities will also play a crucial role in addressing the evolving challenges of the agricultural sector. Disciplines closely tied to agricultural education include agricultural communications, agricultural leadership, and extension education. In the United States The chief sources of agriculture education in the United States are high schools, community colleges, four-year colleges and universities, youth organizations, and the 10x15 program. History The rapid growth of agricultural education began during the late 19th century. In 1862, the United States Congress created the Department of Agriculture to gather and distribute agricultural information. The Morrill Act, which provided the land-grant schools, became law that same year. The Hatch Act of 1887 gave federal funds to establish agricultural experiment stations. The first dairy school in the U.S. was created at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1891. Government support for agricultural education has increased during the 20th century. For example, the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 created what is now the Cooperative Extension System (1988). The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 and the George-Barden Act of 1946 financed high-school instruction in farming. Woodlawn High School (Woodlawn, Virginia) was the first public high school in the United States to offer agricultural education classes under the Smith-Hughes Act. The Vocational Education Act of 1963 funded training in other fields of agriculture. Agricultural science and education expanded after 1900 in response to a need for more technical knowledge and skill in the use of newly developed agricultural technologies. This development led to the use of modern farming methods that required fewer farmworkers, resulting in larger, corporatized farms and ranches. This development increased the need for more agriculture science and education. Other legislation influenced the development of agricultural education into what the field is today. It has developed throughout the last century from various laws and pieces of legislation. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 required all public schools to provide a free and appropriate education to all students with disabilities. Under this provision, children with disabilities were now allowed to enroll in agricultural classes. The Americans with Disabilities Act, enacted in 1990, further required public schools to give students with disabilities equal opportunity for education to all other children in the country, and as a result, it increased opportunities for students with disabilities participate in agricultural classes. Educate America Act of 1994 raised benchmark standards for public education at the districts level, increasing curriculum and development requirements for all classes, including agricultural ones. The School-to-Work Opportunities Act, also of 1994, required teachers to teach students tasks and disciplines that would help their students prepare for employment once they graduated, of which practical education in agriculture was a major part. Finally, No Child Left Behind (Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001) further raised standards for students in public schools and increased requirements of teachers in order to reach these standards, affecting agricultural education as part of the general curriculum of many schools. Elementary school In 2006, Walton Rural Life Center in Walton, Kansas was the first public elementary school in the United States to base its curriculum around agriculture. Integrating agricultural components into the classroom is one of the challenges that elementary teachers face. They are also expected to teach with outdated teaching substances. John Block, who was a previous Secretary of Agriculture for the United States, encouraged agricultural competence. Agriculture in the Classroom was one of Block's achievements to stress agricultural literacy in 1981. Agriculture in the Classroom soon became utilized in each state. Though Agriculture in the Classroom was the beginning of agriculture education in all fifty states, elementary instruction began in some schools possibly before the 1900s. After elementary agriculture education began to grow, twenty-one states began to require it by 1915. The required curriculum was evenly split between urban and rural schools. The states that required agricultural education at the elementary level were all midwestern states or southern states; both of which are rich in agriculture. High schools Agricultural education at the high school level focuses on three main categories: classroom instruction, supervised agricultural experience (SAE), and active involvement in the National FFA Organization (Future Farmers of America). Classroom instruction of an agricultural class teaches the students the basic concepts of the particular course through hands on learning and experience. Students will be taught the information in the curriculum in order for them to understand and develop skills in the application and problem solving issues that would occur in an agricultural setting. The Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) portion of the agricultural curriculum is when a student must use the knowledge they have gained in the classroom instruction and use it in real life situations. Several topic choices are available for the student to choose between, whether it is on a farm setting, exploratory setting, entrepreneurship, agribusiness, or research projects. The student will choose a task from one of these topic areas and conduct a research experiment throughout the course of the agricultural class. The teacher is involved in the process and will help guide the student along the way. SAE programs give students the opportunity to take the information learned in the classroom setting and use it on an agricultural topic that interests them. This portion of an agricultural education will give students an idea of how it is working out in the real world and solving problems that will arise in the work field. The FFA is a national organization that all agricultural classes at the high school level are involved in. The agricultural teacher is the leader of that particular schools FFA chapter, and will guide students’ activities and programs held throughout the year. FFA is an educational program designed to teach students leadership skills in both agricultural settings and everyday life, encourages personal growth in students, boosts self-confidence, builds character, encourage healthy lifestyles, and give students opportunities to be a part of the agricultural economy. FFA chapters will volunteer in communities, conduct banquets for FFA members and their families, raise awareness of agriculture, compete in FFA competitions, and attend national FFA conventions. In some states, the agriculture teacher leads a local Young Farmers Association in monthly meetings. The group may comprise local farmers, citizens, and anyone interested in learning about agriculture and new farming methods. The Young Farmers Association is designed to aid the adoption of agricultural technologies, and it gives agriculture teachers the opportunity to meet local citizens and reach out to the community. Colleges and universities Land-grant universities awarded more than three-quarters of all agricultural degrees in 1988. These state schools receive federal aid under legislation that followed the Morrill Act of 1862, which granted public lands to support agricultural or mechanical education. Land-grant universities have three chief functions: teaching, research, and outreach, or extension. Teaching A bachelor's degree in agricultural education generally leads to employment teaching agriculture up to the high school level or in the agricultural sector. Students are required to complete agriculture classes as well as education classes in order to become qualified to teach. A master's degree is required in order to teach at the college level. The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), the largest national education association dedicated to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for careers, provides resources for agricultural education. An agricultural education degree also gives the qualifications to do extension work for universities and agricultural companies and organizations. The following universities provide pathways to complete certification requirements of their home states in secondary agricultural education: Alcorn State University Angelo State University - Texas Auburn University Clemson University Cornell University Colorado State University, Degree Requirements Illinois State University, Degree Requirements Louisiana State University Delaware Valley University Michigan State University, Middle Tennessee State University Montana State University North Carolina State University North Dakota State University Oregon State University The Pennsylvania State University, Degree Requirements South Dakota State University, Degree Requirements The University of Idaho Sam Houston State University - Texas Sul Ross State University - Texas Texas A & M - Kingsville Texas A & M - Commerce Texas A&M University Texas State University Texas Tech University Tarleton State University -Texas University of Arkansas University of Georgia University of Missouri, Degree Requirements Utah State University Washington State University West Virginia University West Texas A & M - Texas Colleges of agriculture additionally prepare students for careers in all aspects of the food and agricultural system. Some career choices include food science, veterinary science, farming, ranching, teaching, marketing, agricultural communication, management, and social services. Colleges and universities awarded about 21,000 bachelor's degrees in agriculture per year in 1988, and about 6,000 master's or doctor's degrees. Research Each land-grant university has an agricultural experiment station equipped with laboratories and experimental farms. There, agricultural scientists work to develop better farming methods, solve the special problems of local farmers, and provide new technology. Research published in scholarly journals about agricultural safety is available from the NIOSH-supported National Agricultural Safety Database. The American Dairy Science Association provides research and education scholarships focused on the dairy farm and processing industries. Extension service The Cooperative Extension System is a partnership of the federal, state, and county governments. This service distributes information gathered by the land-grant universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to farmers, families, and young people. County extension agents, located in most countries (1988), train and support about 3 million (1988) volunteer leaders. Agents and volunteers carry out extension programs through meetings, workshops, newsletters, radio, television, and visits. Related organizations Professional organizations in the United States related to agricultural education include the American Association for Agricultural Education (AAAE), the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE), and The National Council for Agricultural Education (The council). 4H Club is considered a youth development program that teaches children about sciences, leadership, research, etc. 4H club has over 6 million members nationwide and is the largest youth development organization in the United States. 4H members use hands on learning to reach goals and help in communities. Members of 4-H carry out group and individual projects dealing with conservation, food and agriculture, health and safety, and other subjects. The 4-H program in the United States is part of the Cooperative Extension service. Somewhat similarly, the FFA is a national organization that teaches students leadership skills and is designed to help members become more well rounded citizens in the agricultural field. The FFA is an integral part of the program of agricultural education in many high schools as a result of Public Law 740 in 1950 (Currently revised as Public Law 105-225 of the 105th Congress of the United States), with 649,355 FFA members (2016–2017). Local chapters participate in Career Development Events (individually and as a team), each student has a Supervised Agricultural Experience program (SAE), and participates in many conferences and conventions to develop leadership, citizenship, patriotism and excellence in agriculture. The National FFA Organization is structured from the local chapter up, including local districts, areas, regions, state associations, and the national level. The FFA Mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education. Outside the US The history of agricultural education predates US activities and initially developed in Scottish, Italian and German colleges. The land grant approach of the USA owes much to the Scottish system in particular. Changes in higher agricultural education around the world today are highlighting implicit approaches that have hampered development and exceptional advances that have fed the world. the process has been described in one text (below) which takes a global perspective. Agricultural education in other countries resembles that in the United States. Canada has its own 4-H program. Agriculture Canada distributes information on new farming methods and maintains experimental farms, research stations, and research institutions throughout the country. BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation operates in the province of British Columbia. In Australia, each state has several agricultural research stations and an extension service. Great Britain has a program of youth clubs called Young Farmer's Clubs that resemble 4-H. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations works to train people throughout the world in modern farming methods. The United States gives technical assistance to farmers in developing nations through its Agency for International Development (AID). The Green School Alliance (GSA) founded in 2007 has been working globally to expand its network of peer-to-peer Green Schools which focus on teaching sustainability and environmental education. It is a non-profit organization with free and voluntary membership. It has accrued 8,087 member schools from 48 states and 91 countries. Australia As of February 2015 Agriculture in Australia employs over 235,300 people in the agriculture, fishing and forestry and fishing industry. This industry alone equates to 12% share of the GDP earning close to $155 billion a year. The farmers own a combined 135,997 farms covering approximately 61% of the land mass. Given these figures the agricultural programs in place in school and universities in very important to the future of the county. Several high schools operate across the country specifying in agriculture education. Predominantly these high schools are set in the rural areas with access to land. On the majority of cases the students often travel 1000 km to attend schools, taking up residence at the schools as boarders for the school term. One of the biggest in Australia is Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School in central New South Wales. The Agriculture in Education programme launched by the Australian government in 2015 helps teachers better understand the products and processes associated with food and fibre production and gives students an opportunity to understand the importance of agriculture in the Australian economy. Topics covered by the materials include: designing and making a financial plan for a market garden, free range chicken farming, food security, and sustainable production practices in food and fibre. The agricultural environment has changed enormously over the past 15 years, with greater emphasis on product quality issues, vertical integration from production to consumer, diversity in demand options, and environmental namely drought, welfare and ethical issues. Western Australia In Western Australia, The Western Australian College of Agriculture is the primary provider of high schools in the state providing excellent educational opportunities at six campuses located near Cunderdin, Denmark, Esperance, Harvey, Morawa and Narrogin. Each Campus has modern facilities on commercial sized farms and offers Year 10, 11 and 12 programs for male and female students. The students study a range of School Curriculum and Standards Authority subjects leading to Secondary Graduation and the Western Australian Certificate of Education and also complete vocational qualifications from Industry Training Packages. The major focus is on the study of agriculture but the program may also include horticulture, viticulture, equine, aquaculture, forestry, building construction, metals and engineering and automotive. Each Campus offers some specialist programs that can lead to tertiary study and apprenticeships and careers in a range of agriculture related vocations. Tertiary studies located in Perth are available at Curtin University, Murdoch University and Muresk Institute offering degrees in Agriculture including Agricultural Business Management and Agricultural Science. Western Australian is in a precarious position and faces several challenges, fact that agriculture in Australia is affected by an ongoing shortage of labour and of skills. Labour supply is being adversely affected by an ageing workforce, retirements by baby boomers, seasonal nature of the lower skilled workforce and an inability to attract sufficient young people to work in the industry. Agricultural educators Otto Frederick Hunziker, Purdue University John Wrightson, Downton Agricultural College Raymond A. Pearson, Cornell University HAS University of Applied Sciences Kasetsart University King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang Wageningen University See also Agricultural engineering Agricultural extension Agricultural science Farmworld Holistic Management International Land economy List of agricultural universities and colleges Texas FFA Association References External links Holistic Management International Washington State University's Online Organic Agriculture Certificate Program AET Africa | Portal for Agricultural Education and Training in Africa - Provides information on agricultural education in Africa PROTA - Provides information on the approximately 7,000 useful plants of Tropical Africa and to provide wide access to the information through Webdatabases, Books, CD-Rom's and Special Products. Association of Career and Technical Education Agricultural Division Found Family Farm Learn by taking a tour at a small family farm! AgrowKnowledge - The National Center for Agriscience and Technology education Illinois Agricultural Education - Curriculum, Careers, and other resources for Ag Teachers in Illinois. National FFA Organization (Future Farmers of America) Transforming Agricultural Education for a Changing World. - 2009 report from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Teach Agricultural Education Wiki - Learn more about teaching agricultural education grades 6–12 Sustainable Agriculture Resources and Programs for K-12 Youth. from the United States Department of Agriculture, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. Educational and Training Opportunities in Sustainable Agriculture. 17th ed. 2006. A worldwide directory of academic and organizational programs from the Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, National Agricultural Library. "Should a Liberal Education Include an Agricultural Education?"—an article from the Chronicle of Higher Education. National Association of Agricultural Educators The professional organization for agricultural educators in the United States Hay Harvesting in the 1940s instructional films, Center for Digital Initiatives, University of Vermont Library

Individual

An individual is one that exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of living as an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) as a person unique from other people and possessing one's own needs or goals, rights and responsibilities. The concept of an individual features in many fields, including biology, law, and philosophy. Every individual contributes significantly to the growth of a civilization. Society is a multifaceted concept that is shaped and influenced by a wide range of different things, including human behaviors, attitudes, and ideas. The culture, morals, and beliefs of others as well as the general direction and trajectory of the society can all be influenced and shaped by an individual's activities. Etymology From the 15th century and earlier (and also today within the fields of statistics and metaphysics) individual meant "indivisible", typically describing any numerically singular thing, but sometimes meaning "a person". From the 17th century on, an individual has indicated separateness, as in individualism. Biology In biology, the question of the individual is related to the definition of an organism, which is an important question in biology and the philosophy of biology, despite there having been little work devoted explicitly to this question. An individual organism is not the only kind of individual that is considered as a "unit of selection". Genes, genomes, or groups may function as individual units. Asexual reproduction occurs in some colonial organisms so that the individuals are genetically identical. Such a colony is called a genet, and an individual in such a population is referred to as a ramet. The colony, rather than the individual, functions as a unit of selection. In other colonial organisms, individuals may be closely related to one another but may differ as a result of sexual reproduction. Law Although individuality and individualism are commonly considered to mature with age/time and experience/wealth, a sane adult human being is usually considered by the state as an "individual person" in law, even if the person denies individual culpability ("I followed instructions"). An individual person is accountable for their actions/decisions/instructions, subject to prosecution in both national and international law, from the time that they have reached the age of majority, often though not always more or less coinciding with the granting of voting rights, responsibility for paying tax, military duties, and the individual right to bear arms (protected only under certain constitutions). Philosophy Buddhism In Buddhism, the concept of the individual lies in anatman, or "no-self." According to anatman, the individual is really a series of interconnected processes that, working together, give the appearance of being a single, separated whole. In this way, anatman, together with anicca, resembles a kind of bundle theory. Instead of an atomic, indivisible self distinct from reality, the individual in Buddhism is understood as an interrelated part of an ever-changing, impermanent universe (see Interdependence, Nondualism, Reciprocity). Empiricism Empiricists such as Ibn Tufail in early 12th century Islamic Spain and John Locke in late 17th century England viewed the individual as a tabula rasa ("blank slate"), shaped from birth by experience and education. This ties into the idea of the liberty and rights of the individual, society as a social contract between rational individuals, and the beginnings of individualism as a doctrine. Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel regarded history as the gradual evolution of the Mind as it tests its own concepts against the external world. Each time the mind applies its concepts to the world, the concept is revealed to be only partly true, within a certain context; thus the mind continually revises these incomplete concepts so as to reflect a fuller reality (commonly known as the process of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis). The individual comes to rise above their own particular viewpoint, and grasps that they are a part of a greater whole insofar as they are bound to family, a social context, and/or a political order. Existentialism With the rise of existentialism, Søren Kierkegaard rejected Hegel's notion of the individual as subordinated to the forces of history. Instead, he elevated the individual's subjectivity and capacity to choose their own fate. Later Existentialists built upon this notion. Friedrich Nietzsche, for example, examines the individual's need to define his/her own self and circumstances in his concept of the will to power and the heroic ideal of the Übermensch. The individual is also central to Sartre's philosophy, which emphasizes individual authenticity, responsibility, and free will. In both Sartre and Nietzsche (and in Nikolai Berdyaev), the individual is called upon to create their own values, rather than rely on external, socially imposed codes of morality. Objectivism Ayn Rand's Objectivism regards every human as an independent, sovereign entity that possesses an inalienable right to their own life, a right derived from their nature as a rational being. Individualism and Objectivism hold that a civilized society, or any form of association, cooperation or peaceful coexistence among humans, can be achieved only on the basis of the recognition of individual rights — and that a group, as such, has no rights other than the individual rights of its members. The principle of individual rights is the only moral base of all groups or associations. Since only an individual man or woman can possess rights, the expression "individual rights" is a redundancy (which one has to use for purposes of clarification in today's intellectual chaos), but the expression "collective rights" is a contradiction in terms. Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual). See also References Further reading Gracie, Jorge J. E. (1988) Individuality: An Essay on the Foundations of Metaphysics. State University of New York Press. Klein, Anne Carolyn (1995) Meeting the Great Bliss Queen: Buddhists, Feminists, and the Art of the Self. . Self Individualism Personhood Concepts in social philosophy Metaphysical properties

Technogaianism

Technogaianism (a portmanteau word combining "techno-" for technology and "gaian" for Gaia philosophy) is a bright green environmentalist stance of active support for the research, development and use of emerging and future technologies to help restore Earth's environment. Technogaianists argue that developing safe, clean, alternative technology should be an important goal of environmentalists and environmentalism. Philosophy This point of view is different from the default position of radical environmentalists and a common opinion that all technology necessarily degrades the environment, and that environmental restoration can therefore occur only with reduced reliance on technology. Technogaianists argue that technology gets cleaner and more efficient with time. They would also point to such things as hydrogen fuel cells to demonstrate that developments do not have to come at the environment's expense. More directly, they argue that such things as nanotechnology and biotechnology can directly reverse environmental degradation. Molecular nanotechnology, for example, could convert garbage in landfills into useful materials and products, while biotechnology could lead to novel microbes that devour hazardous waste. While many environmentalists still contend that most technology is detrimental to the environment, technogaianists point out that it has been in humanity's best interests to exploit the environment mercilessly until fairly recently. This sort of behavior follows accurately to current understandings of evolutionary systems, in that when new factors (such as foreign species or mutant subspecies) are introduced into an ecosystem, they tend to maximize their own resource consumption until either, a) they reach an equilibrium beyond which they cannot continue unmitigated growth, or b) they become extinct. In these models, it is completely impossible for such a factor to totally destroy its host environment, though they may precipitate major ecological transformation before their ultimate eradication. Technogaianists believe humanity has currently reached just such a threshold, and that the only way for human civilization to continue advancing is to accept the tenets of technogaianism and limit future exploitive exhaustion of natural resources and minimize further unsustainable development or face the widespread, ongoing mass extinction of species. The destructive effects of modern civilization can be mitigated by technological solutions, such as using nuclear power. Furthermore, technogaianists argue that only science and technology can help humanity be aware of, and possibly develop counter-measures for, risks to civilization, humans and planet Earth such as a possible impact event. Sociologist James Hughes mentions Walter Truett Anderson, author of To Govern Evolution: Further Adventures of the Political Animal, as an example of a technogaian political philosopher; argues that technogaianism applied to environmental management is found in the reconciliation ecology writings such as Michael Rosenzweig's Win-Win Ecology: How The Earth's Species Can Survive In The Midst of Human Enterprise; and considers Bruce Sterling's Viridian design movement to be an exemplary technogaian initiative. The theories of English writer Fraser Clark may be broadly categorized as technogaian. Clark advocated "balancing the hippie right brain with the techno left brain". The idea of combining technology and ecology was extrapolated at length by a South African eco-anarchist project in the 1990s. The Kagenna Magazine project aimed to combine technology, art, and ecology in an emerging movement that could restore the balance between humans and nature. George Dvorsky suggests the sentiment of technogaianism is to heal the Earth, use sustainable technology, and create ecologically diverse environments. Dvorsky argues that defensive counter measures could be designed to counter the harmful effects of asteroid impacts, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Dvorksky also suggest that genetic engineering could be used to reduce the environmental impact humans have on the earth. Methods Environmental monitoring Technology facilities the sampling, testing, and monitoring of various environments and ecosystems. NASA uses space-based observations to conduct research on solar activity, sea level rise, the temperature of the atmosphere and the oceans, the state of the ozone layer, air pollution, and changes in sea ice and land ice. Geoengineering Climate engineering is a technogaian method that uses two categories of technologies- carbon dioxide removal and solar radiation management. Carbon dioxide removal addresses a cause of climate change by removing one of the greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Solar radiation management attempts to offset the effects of greenhouse gases by causing the Earth to absorb less solar radiation. Earthquake engineering is a technogaian method concerned with protecting society and the natural and man-made environment from earthquakes by limiting the seismic risk to acceptable levels. Another example of a technogaian practice is an artificial closed ecological system used to test if and how people could live and work in a closed biosphere, while carrying out scientific experiments. It is in some cases used to explore the possible use of closed biospheres in space colonization, and also allows the study and manipulation of a biosphere without harming Earth's. The most advanced technogaian proposal is the "terraforming" of a planet, moon, or other body by deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, or ecology to be similar to those of Earth in order to make it habitable by humans. Genetic engineering S. Matthew Liao, professor of philosophy and bioethics at New York University, claims that the human impact on the environment could be reduced by genetically engineering humans to have, a smaller stature, an intolerance to eating meat, and an increased ability to see in the dark, thereby using less lighting. Liao argues that human engineering is less risky than geoengineering. Genetically modified foods have reduced the amount of herbicide and insecticide needed for cultivation. The development of glyphosate-resistant (Roundup Ready) plants has changed the herbicide use profile away from more environmentally persistent herbicides with higher toxicity, such as atrazine, metribuzin and alachlor, and reduced the volume and danger of herbicide runoff. An environmental benefit of Bt-cotton and maize is reduced use of chemical insecticides. A PG Economics study concluded that global pesticide use was reduced by 286,000 tons in 2006, decreasing the environmental impact of herbicides and pesticides by 15%. A survey of small Indian farms between 2002 and 2008 concluded that Bt cotton adoption had led to higher yields and lower pesticide use. Another study concluded insecticide use on cotton and corn during the years 1996 to 2005 fell by of active ingredient, which is roughly equal to the annual amount applied in the EU. A Bt cotton study in six northern Chinese provinces from 1990 to 2010 concluded that it halved the use of pesticides and doubled the level of ladybirds, lacewings and spiders and extended environmental benefits to neighbouring crops of maize, peanuts and soybeans. Examples of implementation Related environmental ethical schools and movements See also Appropriate technology Eco-innovation Ecological modernization Ecomodernism Ecotechnology Environmental ethics Green development Green nanotechnology List of environmental issues Open-source appropriate technology Solarpunk Ten Technologies to Fix Energy and Climate References External links Green Progress Viridian Design Movement WorldChanging Bright green environmentalism Green politics Environmentalism Transhumanism

Climate change adaptation

Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to the effects of climate change. These can be both current or expected impacts. Adaptation aims to moderate or avoid harm for people, and is usually done alongside climate change mitigation. It also aims to exploit opportunities. Humans may also intervene to help adjust for natural systems. There are many adaptation strategies or options. For instance, building hospitals that can withstand natural disasters, roads that don't get washed away in the face of rains and floods. They can help manage impacts and risks to people and nature. The four types of adaptation actions are infrastructural, institutional, behavioural and nature-based options. Some examples of these are building seawalls or inland flood defenses, providing new insurance schemes, changing crop planting times or varieties, and installing green roofs or green spaces. Adaptation can be reactive (responding to climate impacts as they happen) or proactive (taking steps in anticipation of future climate change). The need for adaptation varies from place to place. Different regions must adapt differently because they each face particular sets of climate risks. For instance, coastal regions might prioritize sea-level rise defenses and mangrove restoration. Arid areas could focus on water scarcity solutions, land restoration and heat management. The needs for adaptation will also depend on how much the climate changes or is expected to change, which is different from place to place. Adaptation is particularly important in developing countries because they are most vulnerable to climate change. Adaptation needs are high for food, water and other sectors important for economic output, jobs and incomes. One of the challenges is to prioritize the needs of communities, including the poorest, to help ensure they are not disproportionately affected by climate change. Adaptation planning is important to help countries manage climate risks. Plans, policies or strategies are in place in more than 70% of countries. Agreements like the Paris Agreement encourage countries to develop adaptation plans. Other levels of government like cities and provinces also use adaptation planning. So do economic sectors. Donor countries can give money to developing countries to help develop national adaptation plans. This is important to help them implement more adaptation. Monitoring and evaluation activities are key parts of adaptation efforts. They ensure strategies work well and allow for necessary changes along the way. The adaptation carried out so far is not enough to manage risks at current levels of climate change. And adaptation must also anticipate future risks of climate change. The costs of climate change adaptation are likely to cost billions of dollars a year for the coming decades. In many cases, the cost will be less than the damage that it avoids. Definition The IPCC defines climate change adaptation in this way: "In human systems, as the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects in order to moderate harm or take advantage of beneficial opportunities." "In natural systems, adaptation is the process of adjustment to actual climate and its effects; human intervention may facilitate this." Adaptation actions can be incremental and transformative. Incremental actions are actions that aim to maintain the essence and integrity of a system. Transformative actions are actions that change the fundamental attributes of a system in response to climate change and its impacts. Understanding the need Research on climate change adaptation has been ongoing since the 1990s. The number and variety of subtopics has greatly increased since then. Adaptation has become an established policy area in the 2010s and since the Paris Agreement, and an important topic for policy research. Climate change impacts research Scientific research into climate change adaptation generally starts with analyses of the likely effects of climate change on people, ecosystems, and the environment. These impacts cover its effects on lives, livelihoods, health and well-being, ecosystems and species, economic, social and cultural assets, and infrastructure. Impacts may include changed agricultural yields, increased floods, and droughts or coral reef bleaching. Analysis of such impacts is an important step in understanding current and future adaptation needs and options. As of 2022, the level of warming is above levels before the industrial revolution. It is on track to increase to by the end of the century. This is causing a variety of secondary effects. Many negative effects of climate change involve changes in extremes or the way conditions vary rather than changes in average conditions. For example, the average sea level in a port might not be as important as the height of water during a storm surge. That is because a storm surge can cause flooding. The average rainfall in an area might not be as important as how frequent and severe droughts and extreme precipitation events become. Disaster risks, response and preparedness Climate change contributes to disaster risk. So experts sometimes see climate change adaptation as one of many processes within disaster risk reduction. In turn, disaster risk reduction is part of the broader consideration of sustainable development. Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction have similar goals (to reduce potential impacts of hazards and increase the resilience of people at risk). They use similar concepts and are informed by similar sources and studies. Disasters are often triggered by natural hazards. A natural event such as a fire or flood is not of itself a disaster: it's only when it affects people or is caused by them that is counts as a disaster. It is argued that natural disasters are always linked to human action or inaction or rooted in anthropogenic processes. Disasters, economic loss, and the underlying vulnerabilities that drive risk are increasing. Global risks like climate change are having major impacts everywhere. Scientists forecast climate change will increase the frequency and severity of extreme weather events and disasters. So adaptation may include measures to increase preparedness and relevant disaster response capacities. Aims For humans, adaptation aims to moderate or avoid harm, and to exploit opportunities. For natural systems, humans may intervene to help adjustment. Policy aims The Paris Agreement of 2015 requires countries to keep global temperature rise this century to less than 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C. Even if greenhouse gas emissions are stopped relatively soon, global warming and its effects will last many years. This is due to the inertia of the climate system. So both carbon neutrality ("net zero") and adaptation are necessary. The Global Goal on Adaptation was also established under the Paris Agreement. The specific targets and indicators for the Global Goal are in development as of 2023. It will support the long-term adaptation goals of the governments that are parties to the agreement. It also aims to fund support for the most vulnerable countries’ adaptation needs in the context of the 1.5/2 °C goal. It has three core components. These are reducing vulnerability to climate change, enhancing adaptive capacity, and strengthening resilience. Reduce risk factors: vulnerability and exposure Adaptation can help decrease climate risk by addressing three interacting risk factors. These are hazards, vulnerability, and exposure. It is not possible to directly reduce hazards. This is because hazards are affected by current and future changes in climate. Instead, adaptation addresses the risks of climate impacts that arise from the way climate-related hazards interact with the exposure and vulnerability of human and ecological systems. Exposure refers to the presence of people, livelihoods, ecosystems and other assets in places that could suffer negative effects. It is possible to reduce exposure by retreating from areas with high climate risks, such as floodplains. Improving systems for early warnings and evacuations are other ways to reduce exposure. The IPCC defines climate change vulnerability as "the propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected" by climate change. It can apply to humans but also to natural systems. Human and ecosystem vulnerability are interdependent. According to the IPCC, climate change vulnerability encompasses a variety of concepts and elements, including sensitivity or susceptibility to harm and lack of capacity to cope and adapt. Sensitivity to climate change could be reduced by for example increasing the storage capacity of a reservoir, or planting crops that are more resistant to climate variability. It is also possible to reduce vulnerability in towns and cities with green garden spaces. These can reduce heat stress and food insecurity for low-income neighbourhoods. Ecosystem-based adaptation is one way to reduce vulnerability to climate hazards. For instance, mangroves can dampen storm energy. So they can help prevent flooding. In this way, protection of the mangrove ecosystem can be a form of adaptation. Insurance and livelihood diversification increase resilience and decrease vulnerability. Other ways to decrease vulnerability include strengthening social protection and building infrastructure more resistant to hazards. Increase adaptive capacity Adaptive capacity in the context of climate change covers human, natural, or managed systems. It looks at how they respond to both climate variability and extremes. It covers the ability of a system to adjust to climate change to moderate potential damages, to take advantage of opportunities, or to cope with consequences. Adaptive capacity is the ability to reduce the likelihood of negative impacts of climate-related hazards. It does this through the ability to design and implement effective adaptation strategies, or to react to evolving hazards and stresses. Societies that can respond to change quickly and successfully have a high adaptive capacity. Conversely, high adaptive capacity does not necessarily lead to successful adaptation action. It does not necessarily succeed in goals of equity and enhancing well-being. In general, adaptation capacity differs between high and low-income countries. By some indices such as ND-GAIN, high-income countries tend to have higher adaptive capacity. However, there is strong variation within countries. The determinants of adaptive capacity include: Economic resources: Wealthier nations are better able to bear the costs of adaptation to climate change than poorer ones. Technology: Lack of technology can impede adaptation. Information and skills: Information and trained personnel are necessary to assess and implement successful adaptation options. Social infrastructure Institutions: Nations with well-developed social institutions are likely to have greater adaptive capacity than those with less effective institutions. These are typically developing nations and economies in transition. Equity: Some believe that adaptive capacity is greater where there are government institutions and arrangements in place that allow equitable access to resources. Strengthening resilience The IPCC considers climate resilience to be “the capacity of social, economic and ecosystems to cope with a hazardous event or trend or disturbance”. It includes the abilities to reorganise and learn. This definition is similar to that of climate change adaptation. However, resilience involves a more systematic approach to absorbing change. It involves using those changes to become more efficient. The idea is that people can intervene to reorganise the system when disturbance creates an opportunity to do so. Implemented adaptation most often builds upon resilience as a way of bouncing back to recover after a disturbance. Experts consider it to be incremental rather than transformational. On the other hand, climate resilience-focused projects can be activities to promote and support transformational adaptation. This is because transformational adaptation is connected with implementation at scale and ideally at the system-level. Strengthening resilience is therefore important for maintaining a capacity for transformation. Transformations, and the processes of transition, cover the major systems and sectors at scale. These are energy, land and ecosystems, urban and infrastructure, and industrial and societal. Transformations may fail if they do not integrate social justice, consider power differences and political inclusion, and if they do not deliver improvements in incomes and wellbeing for everyone. Climate resilient development is a closely related area of work and research topic that has recently emerged. It describes situations in which adaptation, mitigation and development solutions are pursued together. It is able to benefit from synergies from among the actions and reduce trade-offs. Co-benefits with mitigation Strategies to limit climate change are complementary to efforts to adapt to it. Limiting warming, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and removing them from the atmosphere, is also known as climate change mitigation. There are some synergies or co-benefits between adaptation and mitigation. Synergies include the benefits of public transport for both mitigation and adaptation. Public transport has lower greenhouse gas emissions per kilometer travelled than cars. A good public transport network also increases resilience in case of disasters. This is because evacuation and emergency access becomes easier. Reduced air pollution from public transport improves health. This in turn may lead to improved economic resilience, as healthy workers perform better. Options by type of action There are many adaptation responses. We sometimes call them adaptation measures, strategies or solutions. They help manage impacts and risks to people and nature. Current adaptation focuses on near-term climate risks. It also focuses on particular sectors, such as water and agriculture, and on regions, such as Africa and Asia. It is important to close gaps between adaptation that is carried out and the needs relative to today's climate in order to reduce risks to a tolerable level. However, future adaptation must also anticipate future climate change risks. Some options may become less effective or entirely unfeasible as global warming increases. Adaptation responses fall into four categories that all directly aim to reduce risks and exploit opportunities: Infrastructural and technological adaptation (including engineering, built environment, and high-tech solutions); Institutional adaptation (economic organizations, laws and regulation, government policies and programmes); Behavioural and cultural (individual and household strategies as well as social and community approaches); Nature-based solutions (including ecosystem-based adaptation options). We can also group options is in three categories: 1. Structural and physical adaptation (including engineering and built environment, technological, ecosystem-based, services); 2. Social adaptation (educational, informational, behavioural); 3. Institutional adaptation (economic organizations, laws and regulation, government policies and programmes). Other ways to distinguish types of adaptation are anticipatory versus reactive, autonomous versus planned and incremental versus transformational. Incremental adaptation actions aim to maintain the essence and integrity of a system. Transformative actions change the fundamental attributes of a system in response to climate change and its impacts. Autonomous adaptation is adaptation responds to experienced climate and its effects. It does not involve explicit planning and does not specifically focus on addressing climate change. Planned adaptation can be reactive or anticipatory. Anticipatory adaptation is undertaken before impacts are apparent. Relying on autonomous adaptation to climate change can result in substantial costs. It is possible to avoid many of these costs with planned adaptation. Infrastructural and technological options Built environment Built environment options include installing or upgrading infrastructure to protect against flooding, sea level rise, heatwaves and extreme heat. They also include infrastructure to respond to changed rainfall patterns in agriculture. This could be infrastructure for irrigation. These are explained further in the section below "by type of climate change impact". Early warning systems Climate services Institutional options Institutional responses include zoning regulations, new building codes, new insurance schemes, and coordination mechanisms. Policies are important tools to integrate issues of climate change adaptation. At the national level, adaptation strategies appear in National Adaptation Plans (NAPS) and National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA). They also occur in national climate change policies and strategies. These are at different levels of development in different countries and in cities. This is discussed further in the section below on "implementation". Cities, states, and provinces often have considerable responsibility in land use planning, public health, and disaster management. Institutional adaptation actions occur more frequently in cities than in other sectors. Some have begun to adapt to threats intensified by climate change, such as flooding, bushfires, heatwaves, and rising sea levels. Building codes Managing the codes or regulations that buildings must conform to is important for keeping people healthy and comfortable during extremes of hot and cold and protecting them from floods. There are many ways to do this. They include increasing the insulation values, adding solar shading, increasing natural ventilation or passive cooling, codes for green roofs to reduce urban heat island effects or requiring waterfront properties to have higher foundations. Land use zoning controls are central to investment in urban development. They can reduce risks to areas threatened by floods and landslides. Insurance Insurance spreads the financial impact of flooding and other extreme weather events. There is an increasing availability of such options. For example, index-based insurance is a new product which triggers payment when weather indices such as precipitation or temperature cross a threshold. It aims to help customers such as farmers deal with production risks. Access to reinsurance may make cities more resilient. Where there are failures in the private insurance market, the public sector can subsidize premiums. One study identified key equity issues for policy considerations: Transferring risk to the public purse does not reduce overall risk; Governments can spread the cost of losses across time rather than space; Governments can force home-owners in low-risk areas to cross-subsidize the insurance premiums of those in high-risk areas; Cross-subsidization is increasingly difficult for private sector insurers operating in a competitive market; Governments can tax people to pay for tomorrow's disaster. Government-subsidized insurance, such as the U.S. National Flood Insurance Program, comes under criticism for providing a perverse incentive to develop properties in hazardous areas. This increases overall risk. Insurance can also undermine other efforts such as property level protection and resilience to increase adaptation. Appropriate land-use policies can counter this behavioural effect. These policies limit new construction where there are current or future climate risks. They also encourage the adoption of resilient building codes to mitigate potential damages. Coordination mechanisms Coordination helps achieve goals shared by a range of people or organizations. Examples are information-sharing or joint implementation of adaptation options. Coordination helps use resources effectively. It avoids duplication, promotes consistency across government, and makes it easier for all people and organizations involved to understand the work. In the food production sector, adaptation projects financed through the UNFCCC often include coordination between national governments and administrations at the state, provincial or city level. There are fewer examples of coordination between community-level and national government. Behavioural and cultural options Individuals and households play a central role in adaptation. There are many examples particularly in the global south. Behavioural adaptation is a change in the strategies, practices and actions that help to reduce risk. These can include protecting homes from flooding, protecting crops from drought, and adopting different income-earning activities. Behavioural change is the most common form of adaptation. Change in diets and food waste Food waste spoilage increases with exposure to higher temperatures and humidity. It also increases with extreme events such as flooding and contamination. This can happen at different points in the food supply chain. Thus it can be a risk to food security and nutrition. Adaptation measures can review the production, processing and other handling practices of suppliers. Examples include further sorting to separate damaged products, drying the product for better storage or improved packaging. Other behaviour change options for retailers and consumers include accepting fruit and vegetables that appear less than perfect, redistributing food surpluses, and lowering prices on nearly expired food. Dietary change options in regions with excess consumption of calories include replacing meat and dairy foods with a higher share of plant-based foods. This has both mitigation and adaptation benefits. Plant-based options have much lower energy and water requirements. Adaptation options can investigate the dietary patterns that are better suited to the regional, socioeconomic and cultural context. Social-cultural norms strongly affect preferences for foods. Policies such as subsidies, taxes, and marketing can also support dietary choices that help adaptation. Change in livelihood strategies Agriculture offers many opportunities for adaptation. These include changing planting times, or changing to crops and livestock that are better adapted to climate conditions and presence of pests. Other examples are breeding more resilient crops and selecting genetically modified crops. All these aim to improve food security and nutrition. Migration and managed retreat Migration counts as behavioural climate adaptation for some, although others refer to it as a climate response rather: The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report states: "Some responses, such as migration, relocation and resettlement may or may not be considered to be adaptation". Many factors influence migration decisions. It is difficult to say how much climate change influences migration. The environment is one of many factors. Economic, demographic or political factors are often important in migration decisions. Climate change is an indirect or less important cause. Seasonal migration or mobility includes traditional strategies such as pastoralism or seeking seasonal employment in urban centres. These are normally voluntary and economically motivated. Weather fluctuations and extremes can influence migration. Weather variability is an important contributor to declines in agricultural incomes and employment. Climate change has made these impacts more likely. As a result, migration has increased, particularly rural to urban movement. Measures to increase adaptive capacity, such as social protection and promoting women's empowerment, can help people with little power in migration decisions. Sometimes people are unwilling or unable to migrate. In such cases it may be necessary for the government to intervene to keep people safe. This is also referred to as managed retreat. Nature-based options Nature-based solutions (NBS) work with nature and ecosystems to provide benefits to both societies and overall biodiversity. In the context of climate change, they provide adaptation and mitigation options that benefit and support wild species and habitats. In doing this they often contribute to other sustainable development goals. Nature-based solutions is an overarching term that includes actions known as ecosystem-based adaptation. However NBS is not restricted to climate change, and often also refers to climate change mitigation. So it is a less specific term. Both approaches require benefits to people and nature to be delivered simultaneously. Supporting ecosystems and biodiversity Ecosystems adapt to global warming depending on their resilience to climate change. Humans can help adaptation in ecosystems in order to strengthen biodiversity. One example is to increase links between ecosystems so that species can migrate on their own to more favourable climate conditions. Another is to assist this migration through human transport of plants or animals. Another example is to use scientific research and development to help coral reefs survive climate change. Protection and restoration of natural and semi-natural areas also helps build resilience, making it easier for ecosystems to adapt. Supporting people and societies Many actions that promote adaptation in ecosystems also help humans adapt via ecosystem-based adaptation and nature-based solutions. For instance, restoration of natural fire regimes makes catastrophic fires less likely and reduces the human exposure to this hazard. Giving rivers more space allows natural systems to store more water. This makes floods in inhabited areas less likely. The provision of green spaces and tree planting creates shade for livestock. There is a trade-off between agricultural production and the restoration of ecosystems in some areas. Options by type of impact Some adaptation options tackle specific climate hazards like floods or drought. Other options emerge when there are risks from different hazards as well as other factors that contribute to them such as with migration. Flooding Flooding can occur in cities or towns as urban flooding. It can also take place by the sea as coastal flooding. Sea level rise can make coastal flooding worse. In some areas there are also risks of glacial lake outburst floods. There are many adaptation options for flooding: Installing better flood defences such as flood barriers, sea walls and increased pumping capacity Installing devices to prevent seawater from backflowing into storm drains Rainwater storage to deal with increased run-off from rainfall. This includes reducing paved areas or changing to water-permeable pavements, adding water-buffering vegetation, adding underground storage tanks, and subsidizing household rain barrels Raising pumps at wastewater treatment plants Buying out homeowners in flood-prone areas Raising street level to prevent flooding Using and protecting mangroves Glacial lakes in danger of outburst flooding can have their moraines replaced with concrete dams to provide protection. This may also provide hydroelectric power More frequent drenching rains may make it necessary to increase the capacity of stormwater systems. This separates stormwater from blackwater, so that overflows in peak periods do not contaminate rivers. One example is the SMART Tunnel in Kuala Lumpur. New York City produced a comprehensive report for its Rebuilding and Resiliency initiative after Hurricane Sandy. It includes making buildings less prone to flooding. It also aims to make specific problems encountered during and after the storm less likely to recur. These include weeks-long fuel shortages even in unaffected areas due to legal and transportation problems, flooded health care facilities, insurance premium increases, damage to electricity and steam generation and distribution networks, and flooding of subway and roadway tunnels. Sea level rise Heat waves A 2020 study projects that regions inhabited by one third of the human population could become as hot as the hottest parts of the Sahara within 50 years. This will happen without a change in patterns of population growth and without migration, unless there is a sharp reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to limit warming to 1.5 °C. The most affected regions have little adaptive capacity as of 2020. Cities are particularly affected by heat waves due to the urban heat island effect. Climate change does not cause urban heat islands. But it leads to more frequent and more intense heat waves which in turn amplify the urban heat island effect in cities. Compact, dense urban development may increase the urban heat island effect. This results in higher temperatures and increased exposure. Tree cover and green space can reduce heat in cities. They act as sources of shade and promote evaporative cooling. Other options include green roofs, passive daytime radiative cooling applications, and the use of lighter-coloured surfaces and less absorptive building materials in urban areas. These reflect more sunlight and absorb less heat. It may be necessary to change city trees to more heat-tolerant varieties. Methods for adapting to increased heat include: The use and development of air conditioning and cooling systems. Adding air conditioning can make schools and workplaces cooler. But it results in additional greenhouse gas emissions unless it uses renewable energy. Solar-energy passive cooling systems for houses and/or refrigeration. Changed rainfall patterns in agriculture Climate change is altering global rainfall patterns. This affects agriculture. Rainfed agriculture accounts for 80% of global agriculture. Many of the 852 million poor people in the world live in parts of Asia and Africa that depend on rainfall to cultivate food crops. Climate change will modify rainfall, evaporation, runoff, and soil moisture storage. Extended drought can cause the failure of small and marginal farms. This results in increased economic, political and social disruption. Water availability strongly influences all kinds of agriculture. Changes in total seasonal precipitation or its pattern of variability are both important. Moisture stress during flowering, pollination, and grain-filling harms most crops. It is particularly harmful to corn, soybeans, and wheat. Increased evaporation from the soil and accelerated transpiration in the plants themselves will cause moisture stress. There are many adaptation options. One is to develop crop varieties with greater drought tolerance and another is to build local rainwater storage. Using small planting basins to harvest water in Zimbabwe has boosted maize yields. This happens whether rainfall is abundant or scarce. And in Niger they have led to three or fourfold increases in millet yields. Climate change can threaten food security and water security. It is possible to adapt food systems to improve food security and prevent negative impacts from climate change in the future. More spending on irrigation Demand for water for irrigation is likely to rise in a warmer climate. This will increase competition between agriculture and urban and industrial users. Agriculture is already the largest consumer of water in semi-arid regions. Falling water tables and the resulting increase in energy to pump water will make irrigation more expensive. This is particularly the case when drier conditions will require more water per acre. Other strategies can make the most efficient use of water resources. The International Water Management Institute has suggested five strategies that could help Asia feed its growing population in light of climate change. These are modernizing existing irrigation schemes to suit modern methods of farming; supporting farmers' efforts to find their own water supplies by tapping into groundwater in a sustainable way; looking beyond conventional Participatory Irrigation Management schemes by working with the private sector; expanding capacity and knowledge; and investing outside the irrigation sector. Drought and desertification Reforestation is one way to stop desertification fueled by climate change and non-sustainable land use. One of the most important projects is the Great Green Wall that aims to stop the southward expansion of the Sahara desert. By 2018 only 15% of it had been carried out. But there are already many positive effects. These include the restoration of over 12 million acres (5 million hectares) of degraded land in Nigeria; the planting of roughly 30 million acres of drought-resistant trees across Senegal; and the restoration of 37 million acres of land in Ethiopia. Tree maintenance led to the refilling of groundwater wells with drinking water, additional food supplies for rural towns, and new sources of work and income for villagers. Options by sector This section looks at the main sectors and systems affected by climate change. Experts have assessed the risks and adaptation options for them. Ecosystems and their services The main risks to ecosystems from climate change are biodiversity loss, ecosystem structure change, increased tree mortality, increased wildfire, and ecosystem carbon losses. These risks are linked. Loss of species can increase the risks to ecosystem health. Wildfire is an increasing risk for people as well as to ecosystems in many parts of the world. Wildfires and increased pest infestations due to climate change caused much of the recent tree mortality in North America. Risks to seas and coastal areas include coral bleaching linked with ocean warming. This can change the composition of ecosystems. Coral bleaching and mortality also increase the risks of flooding on nearby shorelines and islands. Ocean acidification attributed to climate change drives change in coral reefs and other ecosystems such as rocky shores and kelp forests. Ecosystems can respond to climatic and other environmental pressures in different ways. Individual organisms can respond through growth, movement and other developmental processes. Species and populations can relocate or genetically adapt. Human interventions can make ecosystems more resilient and help species adapt. Examples are protecting larger areas of semi-natural habitat and creating links between parts of the landscape to help species move. Ecosystem-based adaptation actions provide benefits for both ecosystems and humans. They include restoring coastal and river systems to reduce flood risk and improve water quality, creating more green areas in cities to reduce temperatures, and reinstating natural fire regimes to reduce risk of severe wildfires. There are many ways to reduce the risk of disease outbreaks. They include building surveillance systems of pathogens affecting humans, wildlife and farm animals. Assisted migration of plants or animals Assisted migration is the act of moving plants or animals to a different habitat. The destination habitat may or may not have once previously held the species. The only requirement is the destination habitat must provide the bioclimatic requirements to support the species. Assisted migration aims to remove the species from a threatening environment. It aims to give them a chance to survive and reproduce in an environment that does not pose an existential threat to the species. Assisted migration is a potential solution to changes in environments due to climate change that are faster than natural selection can adapt to. It has the potential to allow species that have poor natural dispersal abilities to avoid extinction. However it has also sparked debate over the possibility of the introduction of invasive species and diseases into previously healthy ecosystems. Despite these debates, scientists and land managers have already begun the process of assisted migration for certain species. There have been several studies of the climate adaptive potential of butterflies. Adaptive forestry practices Within the United States, federal agencies have developed two overlapping frameworks for guiding their own actions with regard to forest resources, as well as offering guidance for managers of other forest lands within the nation. The first framework is known as RRT (Resistance, Resilience, Transition), and it was developed by U.S. Forest Service research scientists. The National Park Service developed its RAD framework (Resist, Accept, Direct), with assistance from scientists within the U.S. Geological Survey. Both frameworks attribute their origins to a 2007 paper titled "Climate Change and Forests of the Future: Managing in the Face of Uncertainty". The Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC) project is a collaborative effort to establish a series of experimental silvicultural trials across a network of different forest ecosystem types throughout the United States and Canada. It includes staff from both Canadian and U.S. forestry agencies, state forestry agencies, academic institutions, and forestry interest groups. Health Climate change-related risks to health include direct risks from extreme weather such as cold waves, storms, or prolonged high temperatures. There are also indirect risks such as mental health impacts of undernutrition or displacement caused by extreme weather. Similarly there are mental health risks from loss of access to green spaces, reduced air quality, or from anxiety about climate change. There are further risks from changes in conditions for transmission of infectious diseases. Malaria and dengue are particularly climate-sensitive. There are several approaches to adapt to new or increased infectious disease risks. These include vector control through improved housing and better sanitation conditions through WASH services. It could also include insecticide-treated bed nets and indoor spraying. For food-borne diseases it includes food processing and storage. Adaptation options for heat include expanding access to air conditioning and establishing heat action plans that include early warning systems for heatwaves. Other options are passive cooling systems to include shading and ventilation. These could be part of improved building and urban design and planning, green infrastructure or public cooling centres. Adaptation options to respond to mental health impacts include increasing funding and access to mental healthcare, incorporating mental health into climate resilience and disaster risk planning, and improving post-disaster support. Mental health also benefits from broader activities such as design of healthy natural spaces, education and cultural activities. It is also closely related to food security and nutrition. Cities Rising temperatures and heatwaves are key risks for cities. With warmer temperatures the urban heat island effect is likely to get worse. Population growth and land use change will influence human health and productivity risks in cities. Urban flooding is another key risk. This is especially the case in coastal settlements where flood risks are exacerbated by sea-level rise and storm surges. A further set of risks arises from reduced water availability. When supply cannot meet demand from expanding settlements, urban residents become exposed to water insecurity and climate impacts. This is especially so during periods of lower rainfall. These key risks differ greatly between cities, and between different groups of people in the same city. Adaptation options for cities include flood control measures within and outside properties and urban drainage projects. Other examples are nature-based solutions such as bioswales or other vegetated infrastructure and restoration and/or protection of mangroves along coastlines. Vegetation corridors, greenspace, wetlands and other green infrastructure can also reduce heat risks. Building designs such as installing air conditioning, ‘cool roofs’ with high-reflectance materials or solar chimneys can also help. Several institutional adaptations are particularly important for cities, for example legislation of building codes, zoning and land use measures. Many cities have integrated city-wide adaptation strategies or plans that bring together social and economic activities, civil authorities and infrastructure services. Such actions are more effective if they are implemented in partnership with local communities, national governments, research institutions, and the private and third sector. Water Climate change is affecting the overall and seasonal availability of water across regions. Climate change is projected to increase the variability of rain. There will be impacts on water quality as well as quantity. Floods can wash pollutants into water bodies and damage water infrastructure. In many places, particularly in the tropics and sub-tropics, there are longer dry spells and droughts, sometimes over consecutive years. These have contributed to drier soil conditions, lower groundwater tables and reduced or changed flows of rivers. There are risks to ecosystems, and across many water-using sectors of the economy. Agriculture is likely to be affected by changes in water availability, putting food security at risk. Irrigation has often contributed to groundwater depletion and changes in the water cycle. It can sometimes make a drought worse. Some of the most popular adaptations in agriculture include choosing less water-intensive crops or drought and flood-resistant varieties. They include shifting the timing of sowing and harvesting according to the start of the rainy season. There are other technological options available for saving water. Water is used for hydroelectric generation, for cooling of power plants, and in other industries such as mining. Adapting hydroelectric plant designs and control systems to operate with less water or diversifying in energy generation with other renewables are effective options. Livelihoods and communities Climate change affects livelihoods and living conditions in significant ways. These include access to natural resources and ecosystems, land and other assets. Access to basic infrastructure services such as water and sanitation, electricity, roads, telecommunications is another aspect of vulnerability of communities and livelihoods to climate change. The biggest livelihood-related risks stem from losses of agricultural yields, impacts on human health and food security, destruction of homes, and loss of income. There are also risks to fish and livestock that livelihoods depend on. Some communities and livelihoods also face risks of irreversible losses and challenges to development, as well as more complex disaster risks. The consequences of climate change are the most severe for the poorest populations. These are disproportionately more exposed to hazards such as temperature extremes and droughts. They usually have fewer resources and assets and less access to funding, support and political influence. There are other forms of disadvantage due to discrimination, gender inequalities and through lack of access to resources This includes people with disabilities or minority groups. Across livelihoods sectors for households and communities the most common adaptation responses are engineered and technological options. These include traditional infrastructure to protect a specific land use, ecosystem approaches such as watershed restoration or climate-smart agriculture technologies. Adaptation requires public and private investment in various natural assets. It also requires institutions that prioritize the needs of communities, including the poorest. International impacts and cascading risk International climate risks are climate risks that cross national borders. Sometimes the impacts of climate change in one country or region can have further consequences for people in other countries. Risks can spread from one country to a neighbouring country, or from one country to distant regions. Risks can also cascade and have knock-on effects elsewhere, across multiple borders and sectors. For example, an impact of the floods in Thailand in 2011 was disruption to manufacturing supply chains affecting the automotive sector and electronics industry in Japan, Europe and the USA. Options for adapting are less developed. They include developing resilient infrastructure in the originating country, increasing storage facilities to allow more buffer in the recipient country, or diversifying and re-routing trade. Costs and finance Economic costs The economic costs of adaptation to climate change will depend on how much the climate changes. Higher levels of warming lead to considerably higher costs. Globally, adaptation is likely to cost tens or hundreds of billions of dollars annually for the next several decades. The IPCC's most recent summary states that adaptation will cost $15 to 411 billion per year for climate change impacts to 2030. Most estimates are well above $100 billion." Because these costs are much higher than the finance available, there is an adaptation gap. This is especially pressing in developing countries. This gap is wideningand forms a major barrier to adaptation. This widening has become apparent because the overwhelming majority of global tracked climate finance goes to mitigation. Only a small proportion goes on adaptation. More regional estimates are also available. For example, the Asian Development Bank has a series of studies on the Economics of Climate Change in the Asia-Pacific region. These studies provide cost analysis of both adaptation and mitigation measures. The WEAP (Water Evaluation And Planning system) assists water resources researchers and planners in assessing impacts of and adaptations to climate change. The United Nations Development Programme's Climate Change Adaptation Portal includes studies on climate change adaptation in Africa, Europe and Central Asia, and Asia and the Pacific. Cost benefit analysis As of 2007 there was still a lack of comprehensive, global cost and benefit estimates for adaptation. Since then, an extensive research literature has emerged. Studies generally focus on adaptation in developing countries or within a sector. For many adaptation options in specific contexts, the investment will be lower than the avoided damages. But global estimates have considerable uncertainty. International finance The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change incorporates a financial mechanism to developing country parties to support them with adaptation. This is in Article 11 of the convention. Until 2009, three funds existed under the UNFCCC financial mechanism. The Global Environmental Facility administers the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) and the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF). The Adaptation Fund resulted from negotiations during COP15 and COP16 in 2009 and 2010. It has its own Secretariat. Initially, when the Kyoto Protocol was in operation, the Adaptation Fund was financed by a 2% levy on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). At the 2009 Copenhagen Summit, nations committed to the goal of sending $100 billion per year to developing countries for climate change mitigation and adaptation by 2020. The Green Climate Fund was created in 2010 as one of the channels for mobilizing this climate finance. The 2015 Paris conference, COP21, clarified that the $100 billion per year should involve a balanced split between mitigation and adaptation. , the promised $100 billion per year had not been fully delivered. Most developing country finance was still targeted towards mitigation. Adaptation received only 21% of the public finance provided in 2020. Global adaptation financing from multilateral development banks exceeded €19 billion in 2021. This implies a rising trend in the financing of adaptation. Multilateral banks made a commitment to increase adaptation financing in a joint declaration on climate change at COP27. This particularly targets low-income nations, small island developing states, and underprivileged people. The European Investment Bank has said that it will raise the share it contributes to 75% for projects focusing on climate adaptation. The bank usually contributes up to 50% to a project it participates in. Also in 2022, nations agreed on a proposal to establish a loss and damage fund to support communities in averting, minimizing, and addressing damages and risks where adaptation is not enough or comes too late. The Adaptation Gap Report November 2023, published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), reveals an adaptation finance gap of $194 billion to $366 billion annually. The adaptation needs in developing countries are estimated to range from $215 billion to $387 billion per year, which is 10-18 times the current international public finance flows for adaptation. The report also notes a 15% decline in international public climate finance to developing countries, down to $21.3 billion in 2021. The urgency to increase adaptation finance is highlighted, with an average annual increase of at least 16% required from 2022 to 2025 to align with COP 26 commitments. Additionality A key feature of international adaptation finance is the concept of additionality. This reflects the linkages between adaptation finance and other levels of development aid. Many developed countries already provide international aid assistance to developing countries. This addresses challenges such as poverty, malnutrition, food insecurity, availability of drinking water, indebtedness, illiteracy, unemployment, local resource conflicts, and lower technological development. Climate change threatens to exacerbate or stall progress on fixing some of these problems, and creates new ones. Additionality refers to the extra costs of adaptation to avoid existing aid being redirected. The four main definitions of additionality are: Climate finance classified as aid, but additional to the Millennium Development Goals; Increase on previous year's Official Development Assistance (ODA) spent on climate change mitigation; Rising ODA levels that include climate change finance but where it is limited to a specified percentage; and Increase in climate finance not connected to ODA. A criticism of additionality is that it encourages business as usual. This is because it does not account for the future risks of climate change. Some advocates have proposed integrating climate change adaptation into poverty reduction programs. From 2010 to 2020, Denmark increased its global warming adaptation aid by one third, from 0.09% of GDP to 0.12% of GDP. But this did not involve additional funds. Instead, the aid was taken from other foreign assistance funds. Politiken wrote: "Climate assistance is taken from the poorest." Challenges Differing time scales Adaptation can occur in anticipation of change or be a response to those changes. For example, artificial snow-making in the European Alps responds to current climate trends. The construction of the Confederation Bridge in Canada at a higher elevation takes into account the effect of future sea-level rise on ship clearance under the bridge. Effective adaptive policy can be difficult to implement because policymakers are rewarded more for enacting short-term change, rather than long-term planning. Since the impacts of climate change are generally not seen in the short term, policymakers have less incentive to act. Furthermore, climate change is occurring on a global scale. This requires a global framework for adapting to and combating climate change. The vast majority of climate change adaptation and mitigation policies are being implemented on a more local scale. This is because different regions must adapt differently. National and global policies are often more challenging to enact. Maladaptation The IPCC explains maladaptation as follows: "actions that may lead to increased risk of adverse climate-related outcomes, including via increased greenhouse gas emissions, increased or shifted vulnerability to climate change, more inequitable outcomes, or diminished welfare, now or in the future. Most often, maladaptation is an unintended consequence." Much adaptation takes place in relation to short-term climate variability. But this may cause maladaptation to longer-term climate trends. The expansion of irrigation in Egypt into the Western Sinai desert after a period of higher river flows is maladaptation given the longer-term projections of drying in the region. Adaptations at one scale can have impacts at another by reducing the adaptive capacity of other people or organizations. This is often the case when broad assessments of the costs and benefits of adaptation are examined at smaller scales. An adaptation may benefit some people, but have a negative effect on others. Development interventions to increase adaptive capacity have tended not to result in increased power or agency for local people. Agency is a central factor in all other aspects of adaptive capacity and so planners need to pay more attention to this factor. In general, "community-driven bottom-up adaptation" approaches have lower risks for maladaption than top-down technical fixes if they do not follow a holistic approach. The installation of seawalls, for example, can create problems with waterlogged fields and loss of soil fertility. Limits to adaptation People have always adapted to climate change. Some community coping strategies already exist. Examples include changing sowing times or adopting new water-saving techniques. Traditional knowledge and coping strategies must be maintained and strengthened. If not there is a risk of weakening adaptive capacity as local knowledge of the environment is lost. Strengthening these local techniques and building upon them also makes the adoption of adaptation strategies more likely. This is because it creates more community ownership and involvement in the process. In many cases this will not be enough to adapt to new conditions. These may be outside the range of those previously experienced, and new techniques will be necessary. The incremental adaptations become insufficient as the vulnerabilities and risks of climate change increase. This creates a need for transformational adaptations which are much larger and costlier. Current development efforts increasingly focus on community-based climate change adaptation. They seek to enhance local knowledge, participation and ownership of adaptation strategies. The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report in 2022 put considerable emphasis on adaptation limits. It makes a distinction between soft and hard adaptation limits. The report stated that some human and natural systems already reached "soft adaptation limits" including human systems in Australia, Small Islands, America, Africa and Europe and some natural systems reach even the "hard adaptation limits" like part of corals, wetland, rainforests, ecosystems in polar and mountain regions. If the temperature rise will reach additional ecosystems and human systems will reach hard adaptation limits, including regions depending on glaciers and snow water and small islands. At temperature rise, soft limits will be reached by many staple crops in many areas while at hard limits will be reached by parts of Europe. Incentivizing private investment in adaptation Climate change adaptation is a much more complex investment area than mitigation. This is mainly because of the lack of a well-defined income stream or business case with an attractive return on investment on projects. There are several specific challenges for private investment: Adaptation is often needed in non-market sectors or is focused on public goods that benefit many. So there is a shortage of projects that are attractive to the private sector; There is a mismatch between the timing of investments needed in the short term and the benefits that may occur in the medium or long term. Future returns are less attractive to investors than short-term returns; There is a lack of information about investment opportunities. This especially concerns uncertainties associated with future impacts and benefits. These are key considerations when returns may accrue over longer timeframes; There are gaps in human resources and capacities to design adaptation projects and understand financial implications of legal, economic and regulatory frameworks. However, there is considerable innovation in this area. This is increasing the potential for private sector finance to play a larger role in closing the adaptation finance gap. Economists state that climate adaptation initiatives should be an urgent priority for business investment. Trade-offs with mitigation Trade-offs between adaptation and mitigation may occur when climate-relevant actions point in different directions. For instance, compact urban development may lead to reduced greenhouse gas emissions from transport and building. On the other hand, it may increase the urban heat island effect, leading to higher temperatures and increasing exposure, making adaptation more challenging. Planning and monitoring of implementation Climate adaptation planning aims to manage the level of risks of negative impacts. Adaptation planning is similar to risk management. It is a continuing process of assessment, action, learning and adjustment, rather than a single set of decisions. In this way planning and implementing adaptation are both closely connected. Adaptation planning is an activity. But it is also associated with a type of adaptation. Planned adaptation is sometimes distinguished from autonomous adaptation. Another important concept in adaptation planning is mainstreaming. Mainstreaming means integrating climate change into established strategies, policies or plans. This can be more efficient than developing separate climate adaptation activities and is more likely to succeed. It can also be more sustainable. It involves changing the mindsets and practices of policymakers to bring in new issues and have them widely accepted. A key entry point for this type of integration is national development planning. It needs to take into account new and existing national policies, sectoral policies and budgets. Similarly, mainstreaming adaptation in cities should consider existing city plans, such as land use planning. There approach also has shortcomings. One criticism is that it has reduced the visibility of stand-alone adaptation programmes. Adaptation planning usually draws on assessments of risks and vulnerability to climate change. It evaluates the relative benefits and costs of different measures to reduce these risks. Following planning, the next stage is implementation. Guidance has been developed that outline these general stages of an adaptation process, such as the EU Adaptation Support Tool. Preparing the ground for adaptation Assessing climate change risks and vulnerabilities Identifying adaptation options Assessing adaptation options Implementing adaptation Monitoring and evaluating adaptation As of 2022, adaptation efforts have focused more on adaptation planning than on implementation. All regions and sectors have made progress. However, the gaps between current needs and current implementation continues to grow. Monitoring and evaluation of adaptation is crucial to ensure that adaptation action is proceeding as planned. It also provide lessons to improve them and understand which additional actions are necessary. Development and use of monitoring and evaluation systems is increasing at national and local levels. As of 2020, around a quarter of countries had a monitoring and evaluation framework in place. By country and city National governments typically have the key role in setting policies, planning, coordinating and distributing finance for climate adaptation. They are also accountable to the international community through international agreements. Many countries document their adaptation plans in their NDCs submitted under the Paris Agreement and/or national adaptation plans. Developing countries can receive support with international funding to help them develop their national adaptation plans. As of 2020, 72% of countries had a high level adaptation instrument – such as a plan, policy or strategy. Relatively few had progressed to the tangible implementation of projects: at least not to significantly reduce the climate risk their populations are exposed to. Countries have also made progress in developing plans for subnational government authorities. These include county/provincial level, sectors and city plans. In 2020, around 21% of countries had sub-national plans and 58% had sectoral plans. As of 2022, there is better integration of adaptation priorities into other national plans and planning systems. Planning is also more inclusive. This means that climate laws and policies increasingly reference different groups such as persons with disabilities, children, young people and future generations. Many cities have integrated city-wide adaptation strategies or plans that bring together their social and economic activities, civil authorities and infrastructure services.   A survey of 812 global cities found that 93% reported they are at risk from climate change, 43% did not have an adaptation plan in 2021, and 41% of cities had not carried out a climate risk and vulnerability assessment. Global goals Sustainable Development Goal 13 aims to strengthen countries' resilience and adaptive capacities to climate-related issues. This adjustment includes many areas such as infrastructure, agriculture and education. The Paris Agreement includes several provisions for adaptation. It seeks to promote the idea of global responsibility, improve communication via the adaptation component of the Nationally Determined Contributions, and includes an agreement that developed countries should provide some financial support and technology transfer to promote adaptation in more vulnerable countries. The United Nations estimates Africa would need yearly funding of $1.3 trillion to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in the region, considering population growth. The International Monetary Fund also estimates that $50 billion may be needed only to cover the expenses of climate adaptation. History When climate change first became prominent on the international political agenda in the early 1990s, talk of adaptation was considered an unwelcome distraction from the need to reach agreement on effective measures for mitigation – which has mainly meant reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases. A few voices had spoken out in favour of adaptation even in the late 20th and early 21st century. In 2009 and 2010, adaptation began to receive more attention during international climate negotiations. This was after limited progress at the Copenhagen Summit had made it clear that achieving international consensus for emission reductions would be more challenging than had been hoped. In 2009, the rich nations of the world committed to providing a total of $100 billion per year to help developing nations fund their climate adaptation projects. This commitment was underscored at the 2010 Cancún Summit, and again at the 2015 Paris Conference. The promise was not fulfilled, but the amount of funding provided by the rich nations for adaptations did increase over the 2010 – 2020 period. Climate change adaptation has tended to be more of a focus for local authorities, while national and international politics has tended to focus on mitigation. There have been exceptions – in countries that feel especially exposed to the effects of climate change, sometimes the focus has been more on adaptation even at national level. See also Adaptation in Africa Green bond Climate change adaptation strategies on the German coast Climate finance Climate justice Climate Vulnerability Monitor References External links The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II assesses the scientific literature on adaptation: Working Group II — IPCC The weADAPT platform encourages the sharing of experiences from adaptation projects to accelerate learning and climate action. Adaptation Animal ecology Plant ecology Climate change policy National security Climate change

Capital in the Anthropocene

Capital in the Anthropocene is a 2020 non-fiction book by Japanese academic Kohei Saito. Drawing from writings on ecology and natural science by Karl Marx, the book presents a Marxist argument for degrowth as a means of mitigating climate change. Capital in the Anthropocene was an unexpected commercial success in Japan, selling over half a million copies. Background Kohei Saito is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Tokyo. He writes on ecology and political economy from a Marxist perspective, attributing the financial crisis of 2007–2008, the climate crisis, and the Fukushima nuclear disaster as influencing his orientation towards a Marxist interpretation of politics. These events prompted him to consider why "in such an affluent society, there are so many people living in poverty, without access to medical care, and unable to make ends meet," and that despite living in an outwardly convenient and prosperous society, "many people feel that there are no good prospects for the future". Capital in the Anthropocene draws from Marx's unpublished notebooks on ecological research written late in his life, particularly his writing on natural science and the metabolic rift. In these writings, Marx argued that capitalism had created an "irreparable rift in the interdependent process of social metabolism" and examined self-governing agricultural communes that existed in pre-capitalist societies. From this foundation, Saito mounts an argument for degrowth based on Marx's conclusions. Synopsis Saito argues that while sustainable growth has become a central organizing principle in global responses to climate change, the expectation of perpetual growth has only exacerbated the climate crisis. He is particularly critical of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), describing them as "the new opium of the masses" in regards to what he believes is the impossibility for the goals to be achieved under a capitalist system. Instead, Saito advocates for degrowth, which he conceives as the slowing of economic activity through the democratic reform of labor and production. In practical terms, Saito's conception of degrowth involves the end of mass production and mass consumption, decarbonization through shorter working hours, and the prioritization of essential labor such as caregiving. The author argues that capitalism creates artificial scarcity by pursuing profit based on commodity value rather than the usefulness of what is produced, citing the privatization of the commons for purposes of capital accumulation as an example. Saito argues that by returning the commons to a system of social ownership, it is possible to restore abundance and focus on economic activities that are essential for human life. Publication history Capital in the Anthropocene was published by Shueisha on September 17, 2020. In 2021, a Korean translation was published under the title 지속 불가능 자본주의 ( 'Unsustainable Capitalism'). Marx in the Anthropocene: Towards the Idea of Degrowth Communism, an English-language book that builds on the material published in Capital in the Anthropocene, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2023. An English translation was published under the title Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto by Astra House in 2024. Reception Capital in the Anthropocene was awarded the 2021 New Book Award by Chuokoron-Shinsha, and was selected as one of the "Best Asian Books of the Year" at the Asia Book Awards in 2021. The book was an unexpected mainstream commercial success in Japan, selling over a quarter million copies by May 2021 and over a half million copies by September 2022. Saito attributes the book's success to its popularity among young people and its coincidental release during the COVID-19 pandemic, stating the widening of the wealth gap that occurred as a result of the COVID-19 recession increased the visibility of social and economic inequality while revealing "how destructive a capitalist society based on excessive production and consumption can be." The success of Capital in the Anthropocene has been credited with provoking a renewed interest in Marxist thought in Japan, with bookstores reporting an increase in sales in books about Marxism and Saito appearing on NHK's television series 100 Pun de Meicho to present a four-part introduction to Marx's Capital. References Further reading 2020 non-fiction books Degrowth Books about Marxism Marxist books Shueisha books Japanese non-fiction books

Sustainable Development Goal 5

Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5 or Global Goal 5) concerns gender equality and is fifth of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by United Nations in 2015. Through the pledge to "Leave No One Behind", countries have committed to fast-track progress for those furthest behind first. SDG 5 aims to grant women and girls equal rights and opportunities to live free of violence and discrimination, including in the workplace. SDG 5 has nine targets and 14 indicators. Six of the targets are outcome targets: ending all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere ending violence and exploitation of women and girls eliminating harmful practices such as child early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation increasing value of unpaid care and promoting shared domestic responsibilities ensuring full participation of women in leadership and decision-making ensuring access to universal reproductive rights and health. The three means of implementation targets are: fostering equal rights to economic resources, property ownership, and financial services for women promoting empowerment of women through technology adopting and strengthening policies for gender equality, and supporting legislation to enforce it. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 also posed a challenge in achieving gender equality. The impact of COVID-19 on women has been significant. Some examples include compounded economic impacts, increased unpaid care work (such as during school closures), an increase in domestic violence and other factors. Background The Sustainable Development Goals are a collection of 17 global goals set by the United Nations. The broad goals are thematically linked, yet each has its own specific targets to achieve. The SDGs cover a broad range of social and economic development issues, including poverty, hunger, health, education, climate change, gender equality, water supply, sanitation, energy, urbanization, environment and social justice. Targets, indicators and progress The targets and indicators for SDG 5 are extensive and provide equal opportunity for females (women and girls). Targets cover a broad crosscutting gender issues including ending all forms of discrimination against all females everywhere (Target 5.1), violence and exploitation of females (Target 5.2), eliminate practices such as female genital mutilation and forced marriages (Target 5.3), increase value of unpaid care and promote shared domestic responsibilities (Target 5.4), ensure full participation of women in leadership and decision-making (Target 5.5), ensuring access to universal reproductive rights and health (Target 5.6), fostering equal rights to economic resources, property ownership and financial services for women (Target 5.a), promoting empowerment of women through technology (Target 5.b) and adopting, strengthening policies and enforcing legislation for gender equality (Target 5.c). Indicators represent the metrics by which the world aims to track whether these targets are achieved. Target 5.1: End discrimination against women and girls The first target of SDG 5 is Target 5.1: "End all forms of discrimination against all females everywhere." This target has one indicator. Indicator 5.1.1: Whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex. This means the indicator works towards the legal frameworks which can be applied to promote and enforce non-discrimination on the basis of sex across various measures including hiring, equal pay, marital rape and property rights, among others. Discrimination against women (or sexism) can be measured with a range of indicators such as early marriage, gender-based violence and women's property rights. Child marriage has declined over the past decades . Girls from poorer families are more likely to be affected by child marriage than those from wealthier families. The custodian agencies for Indicator 5.1.1 are UN Women and World Bank. Target 5.2: End all violence against and exploitation of women and girls The full title of Target 5.2 is: "Eliminate all forms of violence against all females in the public and private spheres including trafficking, sexual and other types of exploitation." This target has two indicators: Indicator 5.2.1: Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age. Indicator 5.2.2: Proportion of women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to sexual violence by persons other than an intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by age and place of occurrence. Target 5.3: Eliminate forced marriages and genital mutilation The full title of Target 5.3 is: "Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM)". Evidence shows that there is no health benefit in the case of female genital mutilation Eliminating harmful practices women are able to live their live full potential lives without any harm. There are two indicators: Indicator 5.3.1: Proportion of women aged 20–24 years who were married or in a union before age 15 and before age 18 Indicator 5.3.2: Proportion of girls and women aged 15–49 years who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) or cutting According to a progress report in 2020: "At least 200 million girls and women have been subjected to female genital mutilation, according to recent data from the 31 countries where the practice is concentrated. The harmful practice is becoming less common, but progress is not fast enough to meet the global target of its elimination by 2030". Target 5.4: Value unpaid care and promote shared domestic responsibilities The full title of Target 5.4: "Recognise and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate" This target has one Indicator: Indicator 5.4.1 is the "Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location". Unpaid care and domestic work includes cooking and cleaning, fetching water and firewood or taking care of children and the elderly. Data from 2020 showed that "women already spend three times as many hours as men on unpaid care work at home". Target 5.5: Ensure full participation in leadership and decision-making The full title of Target 5.5 is: "Ensure women's full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life." Indicators are: Indicator 5.5.1: Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local government Indicator 5.5.2: Proportion of women in managerial positions As of 2020, "representation by women in single or lower houses of national parliament reached 25 per cent, up slightly from 22 per cent in 2015". Target 5.6: Universal access to reproductive rights and health The full title of Target 5.6 is: "Ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Program-me of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences." Indicators are: Indicator 5.6.1: Proportion of women aged 15–49 years who make their own informed decisions regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use and reproductive health care Indicator 5.6.2: Number of countries with laws and regulations that guarantee full and equal access to women and men aged 15 years and older to sexual and reproductive health care, information and education Less women 15 to 49 years of age were able to "make their own decisions regarding sexual and reproductive health and rights" in Central and Western Africa compared to countries in Europe, South- Eastern Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. Target 5.a: Equal rights to economic resources, property ownership and financial services The full title of Target 5.a is: "Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws." The two indicators are: Indicator 5.a.1: Proportion of total agricultural population with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land, by sex; and (b) share of women among owners or rights-bearers of agricultural land, by type of tenure Indicator 5.a.2: Proportion of countries where the legal framework (including customary law) guarantees women's equal rights to land ownership and/or control Target 5.b: Promote empowerment of women through technology The full title of Target 5.b is: "Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women." This target has one indicator: Indicator 5.b.1 is the "Proportion of individuals who own a mobile telephone, by sex". A UN progress report from 2020 stated that: "Empowering women with mobile telephones has been shown to accelerate social and economic development. There are wide gender gaps in internet access and use. Men are 21% more likely to have internet access than women, rising to 52% in the world's least developed countries. The majority of those offline are women in developing countries, reinforcing gender inequalities. Between 2013 and 2019, the gender gap in online use rose from 11% to 17%. In least-developed countries over the same period, the gap rose from 30% to 43%. Target 5.c: Adopt and strengthen policies and enforceable legislation for gender equality The full title of Target 5.c is: "Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels." This target has one indicator: Indicator 5.c.1 is the "Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women's empowerment". Custodian agencies Custodian agencies are responsible for monitoring and reporting of indicators: Indicator 5.1.1: United Nations Women (UN Women), World Bank (WB), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Indicator 5.2.1 and 5.2.2: United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), UN Women, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Indicator 5.3.1 and 5.3.2: United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Indicator 5.4.2.: UNSD, United Nations Women (UN Women) Indicator 5.5.1: IPU, United Nations Women (UN Women) Indicator 5.5.2: International Labor Organization (ILO) Indicator 5.6.1: and 5.6.2 is: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Indicator 5.a.1 and 5.a.2: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Indicator 5.a.2: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Indicator 5.1: International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Indicator 5.c.2: UN Women, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Monitoring progress An annual report is prepared by the Secretary-General of the United Nations evaluating the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. This is a high-level progress reports for all the SDGs. Challenges Impact of COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 also posed a challenge in achieving gender equality. The impact of COVID-19 on women has been significant. Some examples include compounded economic impacts, increased unpaid care work (such as during school closures), an increase in domestic violence and other factors. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected women as they are more vulnerable and have reduced access to treatment. Evidence shows there has been an increase in violence against women during the pandemic. Links with other SDGs Even though SDG 5 is a stand-alone goal, other SDGs can only be achieved if SDG 5 is achieved, i.e. the needs of women receive the same attention as the needs of men. The link between SDG 5 and the other SDGs has been extensively analysed by UN Women's report on gender equality in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. Organizations Several global organizations have vowed to achieve progress towards SDG 5 in various ways. For example: UN Women works for the empowerment of women. Equality Now advocates for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and girls. Vital Voices works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women's political participation, and human rights. UNDP works to promote women's participation and leadership in all forms of decision-making. UNICEF builds partnerships across the global community to accelerate gender equality. WHO is working for a world in which no one misses out on health services because of their gender – or for any other reason. References External links UN Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform – SDG 5 “Global Goals” Campaign - SDG 5 SDG-Track.org - SDG 5 UN SDG 5 in the US Sustainable Development Goals United Nations documents 2015 establishments in New York City Projects established in 2015 Women's empowerment

Hydrology

Hydrology is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydrologist. Hydrologists are scientists studying earth or environmental science, civil or environmental engineering, and physical geography. Using various analytical methods and scientific techniques, they collect and analyze data to help solve water related problems such as environmental preservation, natural disasters, and water management. Hydrology subdivides into surface water hydrology, groundwater hydrology (hydrogeology), and marine hydrology. Domains of hydrology include hydrometeorology, surface hydrology, hydrogeology, drainage-basin management, and water quality. Oceanography and meteorology are not included because water is only one of many important aspects within those fields. Hydrological research can inform environmental engineering, policy, and planning. Branches Chemical hydrology is the study of the chemical characteristics of water. Ecohydrology is the study of interactions between organisms and the hydrologic cycle. Hydrogeology is the study of the presence and movement of groundwater. Hydrogeochemistry is the study of how terrestrial water dissolves minerals weathering and this effect on water chemistry. Hydroinformatics is the adaptation of information technology to hydrology and water resources applications. Hydrometeorology is the study of the transfer of water and energy between land and water body surfaces and the lower atmosphere. Isotope hydrology is the study of the isotopic signatures of water. Surface hydrology is the study of hydrologic processes that operate at or near Earth's surface. Drainage basin management covers water storage, in the form of reservoirs, and floods protection. Water quality includes the chemistry of water in rivers and lakes, both of pollutants and natural solutes. Applications Calculation of rainfall. Calculation of Evapotranspiration Calculating surface runoff and precipitation. Determining the water balance of a region. Determining the agricultural water balance. Designing riparian-zone restoration projects. Mitigating and predicting flood, landslide and Drought risk. Real-time flood forecasting, flood warning, Flood Frequency Analysis Designing irrigation schemes and managing agricultural productivity. Part of the hazard module in catastrophe modeling. Providing drinking water. Designing dams for water supply or hydroelectric power generation. Designing bridges. Designing sewers and urban drainage systems. Analyzing the impacts of antecedent moisture on sanitary sewer systems. Predicting geomorphologic changes, such as erosion or sedimentation. Assessing the impacts of natural and anthropogenic environmental change on water resources. Assessing contaminant transport risk and establishing environmental policy guidelines. Estimating the water resource potential of river basins. Water resources management. Water resources engineering - application of hydrological and hydraulic principles to the planning, development, and management of water resources for beneficial human use. It involves assessing water availability, quality, and demand; designing and operating water infrastructure; and implementing strategies for sustainable water management. History Hydrology has been subject to investigation and engineering for millennia. Ancient Egyptians were one of the first to employ hydrology in their engineering and agriculture, inventing a form of water management known as basin irrigation. Mesopotamian towns were protected from flooding with high earthen walls. Aqueducts were built by the Greeks and Romans, while history shows that the Chinese built irrigation and flood control works. The ancient Sinhalese used hydrology to build complex irrigation works in Sri Lanka, also known for the invention of the Valve Pit which allowed construction of large reservoirs, anicuts and canals which still function. Marcus Vitruvius, in the first century BC, described a philosophical theory of the hydrologic cycle, in which precipitation falling in the mountains infiltrated the Earth's surface and led to streams and springs in the lowlands. With the adoption of a more scientific approach, Leonardo da Vinci and Bernard Palissy independently reached an accurate representation of the hydrologic cycle. It was not until the 17th century that hydrologic variables began to be quantified. Pioneers of the modern science of hydrology include Pierre Perrault, Edme Mariotte and Edmund Halley. By measuring rainfall, runoff, and drainage area, Perrault showed that rainfall was sufficient to account for the flow of the Seine. Mariotte combined velocity and river cross-section measurements to obtain a discharge value, again in the Seine. Halley showed that the evaporation from the Mediterranean Sea was sufficient to account for the outflow of rivers flowing into the sea. Advances in the 18th century included the Bernoulli piezometer and Bernoulli's equation, by Daniel Bernoulli, and the Pitot tube, by Henri Pitot. The 19th century saw development in groundwater hydrology, including Darcy's law, the Dupuit-Thiem well formula, and Hagen-Poiseuille's capillary flow equation. Rational analyses began to replace empiricism in the 20th century, while governmental agencies began their own hydrological research programs. Of particular importance were Leroy Sherman's unit hydrograph, the infiltration theory of Robert E. Horton, and C.V. Theis' aquifer test/equation describing well hydraulics. Since the 1950s, hydrology has been approached with a more theoretical basis than in the past, facilitated by advances in the physical understanding of hydrological processes and by the advent of computers and especially geographic information systems (GIS). (See also GIS and hydrology) Themes The central theme of hydrology is that water circulates throughout the Earth through different pathways and at different rates. The most vivid image of this is in the evaporation of water from the ocean, which forms clouds. These clouds drift over the land and produce rain. The rainwater flows into lakes, rivers, or aquifers. The water in lakes, rivers, and aquifers then either evaporates back to the atmosphere or eventually flows back to the ocean, completing a cycle. Water changes its state of being several times throughout this cycle. The areas of research within hydrology concern the movement of water between its various states, or within a given state, or simply quantifying the amounts in these states in a given region. Parts of hydrology concern developing methods for directly measuring these flows or amounts of water, while others concern modeling these processes either for scientific knowledge or for making a prediction in practical applications. Groundwater Ground water is water beneath Earth's surface, often pumped for drinking water. Groundwater hydrology (hydrogeology) considers quantifying groundwater flow and solute transport. Problems in describing the saturated zone include the characterization of aquifers in terms of flow direction, groundwater pressure and, by inference, groundwater depth (see: aquifer test). Measurements here can be made using a piezometer. Aquifers are also described in terms of hydraulic conductivity, storativity and transmissivity. There are a number of geophysical methods for characterizing aquifers. There are also problems in characterizing the vadose zone (unsaturated zone). Infiltration Infiltration is the process by which water enters the soil. Some of the water is absorbed, and the rest percolates down to the water table. The infiltration capacity, the maximum rate at which the soil can absorb water, depends on several factors. The layer that is already saturated provides a resistance that is proportional to its thickness, while that plus the depth of water above the soil provides the driving force (hydraulic head). Dry soil can allow rapid infiltration by capillary action; this force diminishes as the soil becomes wet. Compaction reduces the porosity and the pore sizes. Surface cover increases capacity by retarding runoff, reducing compaction and other processes. Higher temperatures reduce viscosity, increasing infiltration. Soil moisture Soil moisture can be measured in various ways; by capacitance probe, time domain reflectometer or tensiometer. Other methods include solute sampling and geophysical methods. Surface water flow Hydrology considers quantifying surface water flow and solute transport, although the treatment of flows in large rivers is sometimes considered as a distinct topic of hydraulics or hydrodynamics. Surface water flow can include flow both in recognizable river channels and otherwise. Methods for measuring flow once the water has reached a river include the stream gauge (see: discharge), and tracer techniques. Other topics include chemical transport as part of surface water, sediment transport and erosion. One of the important areas of hydrology is the interchange between rivers and aquifers. Groundwater/surface water interactions in streams and aquifers can be complex and the direction of net water flux (into surface water or into the aquifer) may vary spatially along a stream channel and over time at any particular location, depending on the relationship between stream stage and groundwater levels. Precipitation and evaporation In some considerations, hydrology is thought of as starting at the land-atmosphere boundary and so it is important to have adequate knowledge of both precipitation and evaporation. Precipitation can be measured in various ways: disdrometer for precipitation characteristics at a fine time scale; radar for cloud properties, rain rate estimation, hail and snow detection; rain gauge for routine accurate measurements of rain and snowfall; satellite for rainy area identification, rain rate estimation, land-cover/land-use, and soil moisture, snow cover or snow water equivalent for example. Evaporation is an important part of the water cycle. It is partly affected by humidity, which can be measured by a sling psychrometer. It is also affected by the presence of snow, hail, and ice and can relate to dew, mist and fog. Hydrology considers evaporation of various forms: from water surfaces; as transpiration from plant surfaces in natural and agronomic ecosystems. Direct measurement of evaporation can be obtained using Simon's evaporation pan. Detailed studies of evaporation involve boundary layer considerations as well as momentum, heat flux, and energy budgets. Remote sensing Remote sensing of hydrologic processes can provide information on locations where in situ sensors may be unavailable or sparse. It also enables observations over large spatial extents. Many of the variables constituting the terrestrial water balance, for example surface water storage, soil moisture, precipitation, evapotranspiration, and snow and ice, are measurable using remote sensing at various spatial-temporal resolutions and accuracies. Sources of remote sensing include land-based sensors, airborne sensors and satellite sensors which can capture microwave, thermal and near-infrared data or use lidar, for example. Water quality In hydrology, studies of water quality concern organic and inorganic compounds, and both dissolved and sediment material. In addition, water quality is affected by the interaction of dissolved oxygen with organic material and various chemical transformations that may take place. Measurements of water quality may involve either in-situ methods, in which analyses take place on-site, often automatically, and laboratory-based analyses and may include microbiological analysis. Integrating measurement and modelling Budget analyses Parameter estimation Scaling in time and space Data assimilation Quality control of data – see for example Double mass analysis Prediction Observations of hydrologic processes are used to make predictions of the future behavior of hydrologic systems (water flow, water quality). One of the major current concerns in hydrologic research is "Prediction in Ungauged Basins" (PUB), i.e. in basins where no or only very few data exist. Statistical hydrology The aims of Statistical hydrology is to provide appropriate statistical methods for analyzing and modeling various parts of the hydrological cycle. By analyzing the statistical properties of hydrologic records, such as rainfall or river flow, hydrologists can estimate future hydrologic phenomena. When making assessments of how often relatively rare events will occur, analyses are made in terms of the return period of such events. Other quantities of interest include the average flow in a river, in a year or by season. These estimates are important for engineers and economists so that proper risk analysis can be performed to influence investment decisions in future infrastructure and to determine the yield reliability characteristics of water supply systems. Statistical information is utilized to formulate operating rules for large dams forming part of systems which include agricultural, industrial and residential demands. Modeling Hydrological models are simplified, conceptual representations of a part of the hydrologic cycle. They are primarily used for hydrological prediction and for understanding hydrological processes, within the general field of scientific modeling. Two major types of hydrological models can be distinguished: Models based on data. These models are black box systems, using mathematical and statistical concepts to link a certain input (for instance rainfall) to the model output (for instance runoff). Commonly used techniques are regression, transfer functions, and system identification. The simplest of these models may be linear models, but it is common to deploy non-linear components to represent some general aspects of a catchment's response without going deeply into the real physical processes involved. An example of such an aspect is the well-known behavior that a catchment will respond much more quickly and strongly when it is already wet than when it is dry. Models based on process descriptions. These models try to represent the physical processes observed in the real world. Typically, such models contain representations of surface runoff, subsurface flow, evapotranspiration, and channel flow, but they can be far more complicated. Within this category, models can be divided into conceptual and deterministic. Conceptual models link simplified representations of the hydrological processes in an area, whereas deterministic models seek to resolve as much of the physics of a system as possible. These models can be subdivided into single-event models and continuous simulation models. Recent research in hydrological modeling tries to have a more global approach to the understanding of the behavior of hydrologic systems to make better predictions and to face the major challenges in water resources management. Transport Water movement is a significant means by which other materials, such as soil, gravel, boulders or pollutants, are transported from place to place. Initial input to receiving waters may arise from a point source discharge or a line source or area source, such as surface runoff. Since the 1960s rather complex mathematical models have been developed, facilitated by the availability of high-speed computers. The most common pollutant classes analyzed are nutrients, pesticides, total dissolved solids and sediment. Organizations Intergovernmental organizations International Hydrological Programme (IHP) International research bodies International Water Management Institute (IWMI) UN-IHE Delft Institute for Water Education National research bodies Centre for Ecology and Hydrology – UK Centre for Water Science, Cranfield University, UK eawag – aquatic research, ETH Zürich, Switzerland Institute of Hydrology, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Germany United States Geological Survey – Water Resources of the United States NOAA's National Weather Service – Office of Hydrologic Development, US US Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Engineering Center, US Hydrologic Research Center, US NOAA Economics and Social Sciences, United States University of Oklahoma Center for Natural Hazards and Disasters Research, US National Hydrology Research Centre, Canada National Institute of Hydrology, India National and international societies American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) Geological Society of America (GSA) – Hydrogeology Division American Geophysical Union (AGU) – Hydrology Section National Ground Water Association (NGWA) American Water Resources Association Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) Statistics in Hydrology Working Group (subgroup of IAHS) German Hydrological Society (DHG: Deutsche Hydrologische Gesellschaft) Italian Hydrological Society (SII-IHS) – Società Idrologica Italiana Nordic Association for Hydrology British Hydrological Society Russian Geographical Society (Moscow Center) – Hydrology Commission International Association for Environmental Hydrology International Association of Hydrogeologists Society of Hydrologists and Meteorologists – Nepal Basin- and catchment-wide overviews Connected Waters Initiative, University of New South Wales – Investigating and raising awareness of groundwater and water resource issues in Australia Murray Darling Basin Initiative, Department of Environment and Heritage, Australia Research journals International Journal of Hydrology Science and Technology Hydrological Processes, (electronic) 0885-6087 (paper), John Wiley & Sons Hydrology Research, , IWA Publishing (formerly Nordic Hydrology) Journal of Hydroinformatics, , IWA Publishing Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, , ASCE Publication Journal of Hydrology Water Research Water Resources Research Hydrological Sciences Journal - Journal of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) (Print), (Online) Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Journal of Hydrometeorology See also Aqueous solution Climatology Environmental engineering science Geological Engineering Green Kenue – a software tool for hydrologic modellers Hydraulics HydroCAD – hydrology and hydraulics modeling software Hydrography Hydrology (agriculture) International Hydrological Programme Nash–Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient Outline of hydrology Potamal Socio-hydrology Soil science Water distribution on Earth WEAP (Water Evaluation And Planning) software to model catchment hydrology from climate and land use data Catchment hydrology Other water-related fields Oceanography is the more general study of water in the oceans and estuaries. Meteorology is the more general study of the atmosphere and of weather, including precipitation as snow and rainfall. Limnology is the study of lakes, rivers and wetlands ecosystems. It covers the biological, chemical, physical, geological, and other attributes of all inland waters (running and standing waters, both fresh and saline, natural or man-made). Water resources are sources of water that are useful or potentially useful. Hydrology studies the availability of those resources, but usually not their uses. References Further reading Eslamian, S., 2014, (ed.) Handbook of Engineering Hydrology, Vol. 1: Fundamentals and Applications, Francis and Taylor, CRC Group, 636 Pages, USA. Eslamian, S., 2014, (ed.) Handbook of Engineering Hydrology, Vol. 2: Modeling, Climate Change and Variability, Francis and Taylor, CRC Group, 646 Pages, USA. Eslamian, S, 2014, (ed.) Handbook of Engineering Hydrology, Vol. 3: Environmental Hydrology and Water Management, Francis and Taylor, CRC Group, 606 Pages, USA. External links Hydrology.nl – Portal to international hydrology and water resources Decision tree to choose an uncertainty method for hydrological and hydraulic modelling (archived 1 June 2013) Experimental Hydrology Wiki Hydraulic engineering Environmental engineering Environmental science Physical geography

Effects of climate change

Effects of climate change are well documented and growing for Earth's natural environment and human societies. Changes to the climate system include an overall warming trend, changes to precipitation patterns, and more extreme weather. As the climate changes it impacts the natural environment with effects such as more intense forest fires, thawing permafrost, and desertification. These changes impact ecosystems and societies, and can become irreversible once tipping points are crossed. Climate activists are engaged in a range of activities around the world that seek to ameliorate these issues or prevent them from happening. The effects of climate change vary in timing and location. Up until now the Arctic has warmed faster than most other regions due to climate change feedbacks. Surface air temperatures over land have also increased at about twice the rate they do over the ocean, causing intense heat waves. These temperatures would stabilize if greenhouse gas emissions were brought under control. Ice sheets and oceans absorb the vast majority of excess heat in the atmosphere, delaying effects there but causing them to accelerate and then continue after surface temperatures stabilize. Sea level rise is a particular long term concern as a result. The effects of ocean warming also include marine heatwaves, ocean stratification, deoxygenation, and changes to ocean currents. The ocean is also acidifying as it absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The ecosystems most immediately threatened by climate change are in the mountains, coral reefs, and the Arctic. Excess heat is causing environmental changes in those locations that exceed the ability of animals to adapt. Species are escaping heat by migrating towards the poles and to higher ground when they can. Sea level rise threatens coastal wetlands with flooding. Decreases in soil moisture in certain locations can cause desertification and damage ecosystems like the Amazon Rainforest. At of warming, around 10% of species on land would become critically endangered. Humans are vulnerable to climate change in many ways. Sources of food and fresh water can be threatened by environmental changes. Human health can be impacted by weather extremes or by ripple effects like the spread of infectious diseases. Economic impacts include changes to agriculture, fisheries, and forestry. Higher temperatures will increasingly prevent outdoor labor in tropical latitudes due to heat stress. Island nations and coastal cities may be inundated by rising sea levels. Some groups of people may be particularly at risk from climate change, such as the poor, children, and indigenous peoples. Industrialised countries, which have emitted the vast majority of CO2, have more resources to adapt to global warming than developing nations do. Cumulative effects and extreme weather events can lead to displacement and migration. Changes in temperature Global warming affects all parts of Earth's climate system. Global surface temperatures have risen by . Scientists say they will rise further in the future. The changes in climate are not uniform across the Earth. In particular, most land areas have warmed faster than most ocean areas. The Arctic is warming faster than most other regions. Night-time temperatures have increased faster than daytime temperatures. The impact on nature and people depends on how much more the Earth warms. Scientists use several methods to predict the effects of human-caused climate change. One is to investigate past natural changes in climate. To assess changes in Earth's past climate scientists have studied tree rings, ice cores, corals, and ocean and lake sediments. These show that recent temperatures have surpassed anything in the last 2,000 years. By the end of the 21st century, temperatures may increase to a level last seen in the mid-Pliocene. This was around 3 million years ago. At that time, mean global temperatures were about warmer than pre-industrial temperatures. The global mean sea level was up to higher than it is today. The modern observed rise in temperature and concentrations has been rapid. Even abrupt geophysical events in Earth's history do not approach current rates. How much the world warms depends on human greenhouse gas emissions and on how sensitive the climate is to greenhouse gases. The more carbon dioxide is emitted in the 21st century the hotter the world will be by 2100. For a doubling of greenhouse gas concentrations, the global mean temperature would rise by about . If emissions of stopped abruptly and there was no use of negative emission technologies, the Earth's climate would not start moving back to its pre-industrial state. Temperatures would stay at the same high level for several centuries. After about a thousand years, 20% to 30% of human-emitted would remain in the atmosphere. The ocean and land would not have taken them. This would commit the climate to a warmer state long after emissions have stopped. With current mitigation policies the temperature will be about 2.7 °C (2.0–3.6 °C) above pre-industrial levels by 2100. It would rise by if governments achieved all their unconditional pledges and targets. If all the countries that have set or are considering net-zero targets achieve them, the temperature will rise by around . There is a big gap between national plans and commitments and the actions that governments have taken around the world. Weather The lower and middle atmosphere, where nearly all weather occurs, are heating due to the greenhouse effect. Evaporation and atmospheric moisture content increase as temperatures rise. Water vapour is a greenhouse gas, so this process is a self-reinforcing feedback. The excess water vapour also gets caught up in storms. This makes them more intense, larger, and potentially longer-lasting. This in turn causes rain and snow events to become stronger and leads to increased risk of flooding. Extra drying worsens natural dry spells and droughts. This increases risk of heat waves and wildfires. Scientists have identified human activities as the cause of recent climate trends. They are now able to estimate the impact of climate change on extreme weather events using a process called extreme event attribution. For instance such research can look at historical data for a region and conclude that a specific heat wave was more intense due to climate change. In addition , the time shifts of the season onsets, changes in the length of the season durations have been reported in many regions of the world. As a result of this, the timing of the extreme weather events such as heavy precipitaions and heat waves is changing in parallel with season shifting. Heat waves and temperature extremes Heatwaves over land have become more frequent and more intense in almost all world regions since the 1950s, due to climate change. Heat waves are more likely to occur simultaneously with droughts. Marine heatwaves are twice as likely as they were in 1980. Climate change will lead to more very hot days and fewer very cold days. There are fewer cold waves. Experts can often attribute the intensity of individual heat waves to global warming. Some extreme events would have been nearly impossible without human influence on the climate system. A heatwave that would occur once every ten years before global warming started now occurs 2.8 times as often. Under further warming, heatwaves are set to become more frequent. An event that would occur every ten years would occur every other year if global warming reaches . Heat stress is related to temperature. It also increases if humidity is higher. The wet-bulb temperature measures both temperature and humidity. Humans cannot adapt to a wet-bulb temperature above . This heat stress can kill people. If global warming is kept below , it will probably be possible to avoid this deadly heat and humidity in most of the tropics. But there may still be negative health impacts. There is some evidence climate change is leading to a weakening of the polar vortex. This would make the jet stream more wavy. This would lead to outbursts of very cold winter weather across parts of Eurasia and North America and incursions of very warm air into the Arctic. Rain Warming increases global average precipitation. Precipitation is when water vapour condenses out of clouds, such as rain and snow. Higher temperatures increase evaporation and surface drying. As the air warms it can hold more water. For every degree Celsius it can hold 7% more water vapour. Scientists have observed changes in the amount, intensity, frequency, and type of precipitation. Overall, climate change is causing longer hot dry spells, broken by more intense rainfall. Climate change has increased contrasts in rainfall amounts between wet and dry seasons. Wet seasons are getting wetter and dry seasons are getting drier. In the northern high latitudes, warming has also caused an increase in the amount of snow and rain. In the Southern Hemisphere, the rain associated with the storm tracks has shifted south. Changes in monsoons vary a lot. More monsoon systems are becoming wetter than drier. In Asia summer monsoons are getting wetter. The West African monsoon is getting wetter over the central Sahel, and drier in the far western Sahel. Extreme storms Storms become wetter under climate change. These include tropical cyclones and extratropical cyclones. Both the maximum and mean rainfall rates increase. This more extreme rainfall is also true for thunderstorms in some regions. Furthermore, tropical cyclones and storm tracks are moving towards the poles. This means some regions will see large changes in maximum wind speeds. Scientists expect there will be fewer tropical cyclones. But they expect their strength to increase. There has probably been an increase in the number of tropical cyclones that intensify rapidly. Meteorological and seismological data indicate a widespread increase in wind-driven global ocean wave energy in recent decades that has been attributed to an increase in storm intensity over the oceans due to climate change. Atmospheric turbulence dangerous for aviation (hard to predict or that cannot be avoided by flying higher) probably increases due to climate change. Land Floods Due to an increase in heavy rainfall events, floods are likely to become more severe when they do occur. The interactions between rainfall and flooding are complex. There are some regions in which flooding is expected to become rarer. This depends on several factors. These include changes in rain and snowmelt, but also soil moisture. Climate change leaves soils drier in some areas, so they may absorb rainfall more quickly. This leads to less flooding. Dry soils can also become harder. In this case heavy rainfall runs off into rivers and lakes. This increases risks of flooding. Droughts Climate change affects many factors associated with droughts. These include how much rain falls and how fast the rain evaporates again. Warming over land increases the severity and frequency of droughts around much of the world. In some tropical and subtropical regions of the world, there will probably be less rain due to global warming. This will make them more prone to drought. Droughts are set to worsen in many regions of the world. These include Central America, the Amazon and south-western South America. They also include West and Southern Africa. The Mediterranean and south-western Australia are also some of these regions. Higher temperatures increase evaporation. This dries the soil and increases plant stress. Agriculture suffers as a result. This means even regions where overall rainfall is expected to remain relatively stable will experience these impacts. These regions include central and northern Europe. Without climate change mitigation, around one third of land areas are likely to experience moderate or more severe drought by 2100. Due to global warming droughts are more frequent and intense than in the past. Several impacts make their impacts worse. These are increased water demand, population growth and urban expansion in many areas. Land restoration can help reduce the impact of droughts. One example of this is agroforestry. Wildfires Climate change promotes the type of weather that makes wildfires more likely. In some areas, an increase of wildfires has been attributed directly to climate change. Evidence from Earth's past also shows more fire in warmer periods. Climate change increases evapotranspiration. This can cause vegetation and soils to dry out. When a fire starts in an area with very dry vegetation, it can spread rapidly. Higher temperatures can also lengthen the fire season. This is the time of year in which severe wildfires are most likely, particularly in regions where snow is disappearing. Weather conditions are raising the risks of wildfires. But the total area burnt by wildfires has decreased. This is mostly because savanna has been converted to cropland, so there are fewer trees to burn. Prescribed burning is an indigenous practice in the US and Australia. It can reduce wildfire burning. The carbon released from wildfires adds to carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere and therefore contributes to the greenhouse effect. Climate models do not yet fully reflect this climate change feedback. Oceans Sea level rise Ice and snow The cryosphere, the area of the Earth covered by snow or ice, is extremely sensitive to changes in global climate. There has been an extensive loss of snow on land since 1981. Some of the largest declines have been observed in the spring. During the 21st century, snow cover is projected to continue its retreat in almost all regions. Glaciers decline Since the beginning of the twentieth century, there has been a widespread retreat of glaciers. Those glaciers that are not associated with the polar ice sheets lost around 8% of their mass between 1971 and 2019. In the Andes in South America and in the Himalayas in Asia, the retreat of glaciers could impact water supply. The melting of those glaciers could also cause landslides or glacial lake outburst floods. Ice sheets decline The melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets will continue to contribute to sea level rise over long time-scales. The Greenland ice sheet loss is mainly driven by melt from the top. Antarctic ice loss is driven by warm ocean water melting the outlet glaciers. Future melt of the West Antarctic ice sheet is potentially abrupt under a high emission scenario, as a consequence of a partial collapse. Part of the ice sheet is grounded on bedrock below sea level. This makes it possibly vulnerable to the self-enhancing process of marine ice sheet instability. Marine ice cliff instability could also contribute to a partial collapse. But there is limited evidence for its importance. A partial collapse of the ice sheet would lead to rapid sea level rise and a local decrease in ocean salinity. It would be irreversible for decades and possibly even millennia. The complete loss of the West Antarctic ice sheet would cause over of sea level rise. In contrast to the West Antarctic ice sheet, melt of the Greenland ice sheet is projected to take place more gradually over millennia. Sustained warming between (low confidence) and (medium confidence) would lead to a complete loss of the ice sheet. This would contribute to sea levels globally. The ice loss could become irreversible due to a further self-enhancing feedback. This is called the elevation-surface mass balance feedback. When ice melts on top of the ice sheet, the elevation drops. Air temperature is higher at lower altitudes, so this promotes further melting. Sea ice decline Sea ice reflects 50% to 70% of the incoming solar radiation back into space. Only 6% of incoming solar energy is reflected by the ocean. As the climate warms, the area covered by snow or sea ice decreases. After sea ice melts, more energy is absorbed by the ocean, so it warms up. This ice-albedo feedback is a self-reinforcing feedback of climate change. Large-scale measurements of sea ice have only been possible since satellites came into use. Sea ice in the Arctic has declined in recent decades in area and volume due to climate change. It has been melting more in summer than it refreezes in winter. The decline of sea ice in the Arctic has been accelerating during the early twenty-first century. It has a rate of decline of 4.7% per decade. It has declined over 50% since the first satellite records. Ice-free summers are expected to be rare at degrees of warming. They are set to occur at least once every decade with a warming level of . The Arctic will likely become ice-free at the end of some summers before 2050. Sea ice extent in Antarctica varies a lot year by year. This makes it difficult to determine a trend, and record highs and record lows have been observed between 2013 and 2023. The general trend since 1979, the start of the satellite measurements, has been roughly flat. Between 2015 and 2023, there has been a decline in sea ice, but due to the high variability, this does not correspond to a significant trend. Permafrost thawing Globally, permafrost warmed by about between 2007 and 2016. The extent of permafrost has been falling for decades. More decline is expected in the future. Permafrost thaw makes the ground weaker and unstable. The thaw can seriously damage human infrastructure in permafrost areas such as railways, settlements and pipelines. Thawing soil can also release methane and from decomposing microbes. This can generate a strong feedback loop to global warming. Some scientists believe that carbon storage in permafrost globally is approximately 1600 gigatons. This is twice the atmospheric pool. Wildlife and nature Recent warming has had a big effect on natural biological systems. Species worldwide are moving poleward to colder areas. On land, species may move to higher elevations. Marine species find colder water at greater depths. Climate change had the third biggest impact on nature out of various factors in the five decades up to 2020. Only change in land use and sea use and direct exploitation of organisms had a bigger impact. The impacts of climate change on nature are likely to become bigger in the next few decades. The stresses caused by climate change, combine with other stresses on ecological systems such as land conversion, land degradation, harvesting, and pollution. They threaten substantial damage to unique ecosystems. They can even result in their complete loss and the extinction of species. This can disrupt key interactions between species within ecosystems. This is because species from one location do not leave the warming habitat at the same rate. The result is rapid changes in the way the ecosystem functions. Impacts include changes in regional rainfall patterns. Another is earlier leafing of trees and plants over many regions. Movements of species to higher latitudes and altitudes, changes in bird migrations, and shifting of the oceans' plankton and fish from cold- to warm-adapted communities are other impacts. These changes of land and ocean ecosystems have direct effects on human well-being. For instance, ocean ecosystems help with coastal protection and provide food. Freshwater and land ecosystems can provide water for human consumption. Furthermore, these ecosystems can store carbon. This helps to stabilize the climate system. Ecosystems on land Climate change is a major driver of biodiversity loss in different land types. These include cool conifer forests, savannas, mediterranean-climate systems, tropical forests, and the Arctic tundra. In other ecosystems, land-use change may be a stronger driver of biodiversity loss, at least in the near term. Beyond 2050, climate change may be the major cause of biodiversity loss globally. Climate change interacts with other pressures. These include habitat modification, pollution and invasive species. Through this interaction, climate change increases the risk of extinction for many terrestrial and freshwater species. At of warming (around 2023) some ecosystems are threatened by mass die-offs of trees and from heatwaves. At of warming, around 10% of species on land would become critically endangered. This differs by group. For instance insects and salamanders are more vulnerable. Rainfall on the Amazon rainforest is recycled when it evaporates back into the atmosphere instead of running off away from the rainforest. This water is essential for sustaining the rainforest. Due to deforestation the rainforest is losing this ability. This effect is even worse because climate change brings more frequent droughts to the area. The higher frequency of droughts in the first two decades of the 21st century and other data signal that a tipping point from rainforest to savanna might be close. A 2019 study concluded that this ecosystem could begin a 50-year-long collapse to a savanna around 2021. After that it would become increasingly and disproportionally more difficult to prevent or reverse this shift. Marine ecosystems Marine heatwaves are happening more often. They have widespread impacts on life in the oceans. These include mass dying events and coral bleaching. Harmful algae blooms have increased. This is in response to warming waters, loss of oxygen and eutrophication. Melting sea ice destroys habitat, including for algae that grows on its underside. Ocean acidification can harm marine organisms in various ways. Shell-forming organisms like oysters are particularly vulnerable. Some phytoplankton and seagrass species may benefit. However, some of these are toxic to fish phytoplankton species. Their spread poses risks to fisheries and aquaculture. Fighting pollution can reduce the impact of acidification. Warm-water coral reefs are very sensitive to global warming and ocean acidification. Coral reefs provide a habitat for thousands of species. They provide ecosystem services such as coastal protection and food. But 70–90% of today's warm-water coral reefs will disappear even if warming is kept to . Coral reefs are framework organisms. They build physical structures that form habitats for other sea creatures. Other framework organisms are also at risk from climate change. Mangroves and seagrass are considered to be at moderate risk from lower levels of global warming. Tipping points and irreversible impacts The climate system exhibits "threshold behavior" or tipping points when parts of the natural environment enter into a new state. Examples are the runaway loss of ice sheets or the dieback of forests. Tipping behavior is found in all parts of the climate system. These include ecosystems, ice sheets, and the circulation of the ocean and atmosphere. Tipping points are studied using data from Earth's distant past and by physical modeling. There is already moderate risk of global tipping points at above pre-industrial temperatures. That becomes a high risk at . It is possible that some tipping points are close or have already been crossed. Examples are the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, the Amazon rainforest, and warm-water coral reefs. Tipping points are perhaps the most dangerous aspect of future climate change, potentially leading to irreversible impacts on society. A collapse of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation would likely halve rainfall in India and lead to severe drops in temperature in Northern Europe. Many tipping points are interlinked such that triggering one may lead to a cascade of effects. This remains a possibility even well below of warming. A 2018 study states that 45% of environmental problems, including those caused by climate change, are interconnected. This increases the risk of a domino effect. Further impacts may be irreversible, at least over the timescale of many human generations. This includes warming of the deep ocean and acidification. These are set to continue even when global temperatures stop rising. In biological systems, the extinction of species would be an irreversible impact. In social systems, unique cultures may be lost. Climate change could make it more likely that endangered languages disappear. Health, food security and water security Humans have a climate niche. This is a certain range of temperatures in which they flourish. Outside that niche, conditions are less favourable. This leads to negative effects on health, food security and more. This niche is a mean annual temperature below 29 °C. As of May 2023, 60 million people lived outside this niche. With every additional 0.1 degree of warming, 140 million people will be pushed out of it. Health Food security Climate change will affect agriculture and food production around the world. The reasons include the effects of elevated CO2 in the atmosphere. Higher temperatures and altered precipitation and transpiration regimes are also factors. Increased frequency of extreme events and modified weed, pest, and pathogen pressure are other factors. Droughts result in crop failures and the loss of pasture for livestock. Loss and poor growth of livestock cause milk yield and meat production to decrease. The rate of soil erosion is 10–20 times higher than the rate of soil accumulation in agricultural areas that use no-till farming. In areas with tilling it is 100 times higher. Climate change worsens this type of land degradation and desertification. Climate change is projected to negatively affect all four pillars of food security. It will affect how much food is available. It will also affect how easy food is to access through prices, food quality, and how stable the food system is. Climate change is already affecting the productivity of wheat and other staples. In many areas, fishery catches are already decreasing because of global warming and changes in biochemical cycles. In combination with overfishing, warming waters decrease the amount of fish in the ocean. Per degree of warming, ocean biomass is expected to decrease by about 5%. Tropical and subtropical oceans are most affected, while there may be more fish in polar waters. Water security Water resources can be affected by climate change in various ways. The total amount of freshwater available can change, for instance due to dry spells or droughts. Heavy rainfall and flooding can have an impact on water quality. They can transport pollutants into water bodies through increased surface runoff. In coastal regions, more salt may find its way into water resources due to higher sea levels and more intense storms. Higher temperatures also directly degrade water quality. This is because warm water contains less oxygen. Changes in the water cycle threaten existing and future water infrastructure. It will be harder to plan investments for water infrastructure. This is because there are significant uncertainties about future variability of the water cycle. Between 1.5 and 2.5 billion people live in areas with regular water security issues. If global warming reaches , water insecurity would affect about twice as many people. Water resources are likely to decrease in most dry subtropical regions and mid-latitudes. But they will increase in high latitudes. However, variable streamflow means even regions with increased water resources can experience additional short-term shortages. In the arid regions of India, China, the US and Africa dry spells and drought are already affecting water availability. Human settlements Climate change is particularly likely to affect the Arctic, Africa, small islands, Asian megadeltas and the Middle East regions. Low-latitude, less-developed regions are most at risk of experiencing negative climate change impacts. The ten countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are among the most vulnerable in the world to the negative effects of climate change. ASEAN's climate mitigation efforts are not in proportion to the climate change threats the region faces. Impacts from heat Regions inhabited by a third of the human population could become as hot as the hottest parts of the Sahara within 50 years. This would happen if greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow rapdily without a change in patterns of population growth and without migration. The projected average temperature of above for these regions would be outside the "human temperature niche". This is a range for climate that is biologically suitable for humans. It is based on historical data of mean annual temperatures. The most affected regions have little adaptive capacity. Increased extreme heat exposure from climate change and the urban heat island effect threatens urban settlements. This is made worse by the loss of shade from urban trees that cannot withstand the heat stress. In 2019, the Crowther Lab from ETH Zurich paired the climatic conditions of 520 major cities worldwide with the predicted climatic conditions of cities in 2050. It found that 22% of the major cities would have climatic conditions that do not exist in any city today. For instance, 2050 London would have a climate similar to 2019 Melbourne in Australia. Athens and Madrid would be like Fez in Morocco. Nairobi in Kenya would be like Maputo in Mozambique. The Indian city Pune would be like Bamako in Mali and Bamako would be like Niamey in Niger. Brasilia would be like Goiania, both in Brazil. Low-lying coastal regions Low-lying cities and other settlements near the sea face multiple simultaneous risks from climate change. They face flooding risks from sea level rise. In addition they may face impacts from more severe storms, ocean acidification, and salt intrusion into the groundwater. Changes like continued development in exposed areas increase the risks that these regions face. Population density on the coasts is high. Estimates of the number of people at risk of coastal flooding from climate-driven sea level rise vary. Estimates range from 190 million to 300 million. It could even be 640 million in a worst-case scenario related to the instability of the Antarctic ice sheet. People are most affected in the densely-populated low-lying megadeltas of Asia and Africa. Small island developing states are especially vulnerable. They are likely to experience more intense storm surges, salt water intrusion and coastal destruction. Low-lying small islands in the Pacific, Indian, and Caribbean regions even risk permanent inundation. This would displace their population. On the islands of Fiji, Tonga and western Samoa, migrants from outer islands inhabit low and unsafe areas along the coasts. The entire populations of small atoll nations such as Kiribati, Maldives, the Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu are at risk of being displaced. This could raise issues of statelessness. Several factors increase their vulnerability. These are small size, isolation from other land, low financial resources, and lack of protective infrastructure. Impacts on societies Climate change has many impacts on society. It affects health, the availability of drinking water and food, inequality and economic growth. The effects of climate change are often interlinked. They can exacerbate each other as well as existing vulnerabilities. Some areas may become too hot for humans to live in. Climate-related changes or disasters may lead people in some areas to move to other parts of the country or to other countries. Some scientists describe the effects of climate change, with continuing increases in greenhouse gas emissions, as a "climate emergency" or "climate crisis". Some researchers and activists describe them as an existential threat to civilization. Some define these threats under climate security. The consequences of climate change, and the failure to address it, can distract people from tackling its root causes. This leads to what some researchers have termed a "climate doom loop". Displacement and migration Displacement is when people move within a country. Migration is when they move to another country. Some people use the terms interchangeably. Climate change affects displacement in several ways. More frequent and severe weather-related disasters may increase involuntary displacement. These destroy homes and habitats. Climate impacts such as desertification and rising sea levels gradually erode livelihoods. They force communities to abandon traditional homelands. Other forms of migration are adaptive and voluntary. They are based on individual or household decisions. On the other hand, some households may fall into poverty or get poorer due to climate change. This limits their ability to move to less affected areas. Migration due to climate and weather is usually within countries. But it is long-distance. Slow-onset disasters such as droughts and heat are more likely to cause long-term migration than weather disasters like floods. Migration due to desertification and reduced soil fertility is typically from rural areas in developing countries to towns and cities. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, extreme weather events displaced approximately 30 million people in 2020. Violence and wars displaced approximately 10 million in the same year. There may have been a contribution of climate change to these conflicts. In 2018, the World Bank estimated that climate change will cause internal migration of between 31 and 143 million people by 2050. This would be as they escape crop failures, water scarcity, and sea level rise. The study covered only Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. Conflict Climate change is unlikely to cause international wars in the foreseeable future. However, climate change can increase the risk for intrastate conflicts, such as civil wars, communal violence, or protests. The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report concludes: "Climate hazards have affected armed conflict within countries (medium confidence), but the influence of climate is small compared to socio-economic, political, and cultural factors (high confidence)." Climate change can increase conflict risks by causing tensions about scarce resources like food, water and land, by weakening state institutions, by reducing the opportunity costs for impoverished individuals to join armed groups, and by causing tensions related to (climate-induced) migration. Efforts to mitigate or adapt to climate change can also cause conflicts, for instance due to higher food and energy prices or when people are forcibly re-located from vulnerable areas. Research has shown that climate change is not the most important conflict driver, and that it can only affect conflict risks under certain circumstances. Relevant context factors include agricultural dependence, a history of political instability, poverty, and the political exclusion of ethnic groups. Climate change has thus been described as a "threat multiplier". Yet, an impact of climate change on specific conflicts like the Syrian civil war or the armed conflict in Darfur remains hard to prove. Social impacts on vulnerable groups Climate change does not affect people within communities in the same way. It can have a bigger impact on vulnerable groups such as women, the elderly, religious minorities and refugees than on others. People living with disability. Climate impacts on disabled people have been identified by activists and advocacy groups as well as through the UNHCR adopting a resolution on climate change and the rights of people with disabilities. People living in poverty: Climate change disproportionally affects poor people in low-income communities and developing countries around the world. Those in poverty have a higher chance of experiencing the ill-effects of climate change, due to their increased exposure and vulnerability. A 2020 World Bank paper estimated that between 32 million to 132 million additional people will be pushed into extreme poverty by 2030 due to climate change. Women: Climate change increases gender inequality. It reduces women's ability to be financially independent, and has an overall negative impact on the social and political rights of women. This is especially the case in economies that are heavily based on agriculture. Indigenous peoples: Indigenous communities tend to rely more on the environment for food and other necessities. This makes them more vulnerable to disturbances in ecosystems. Indigenous communities across the globe generally have bigger economic disadvantages than non-indigenous communities. This is due to the oppression they have experienced. These disadvantages include less access to education and jobs and higher rates of poverty. All this makes them more vulnerable to climate change. Children: The Lancet review on health and climate change lists children among the worst-affected by global warming. Children are 14–44 percent more likely to die from environmental factors. Possibility of societal collapse Climate change has long been described as a severe risk to humans. Climate change as an existential threat has emerged as a key theme in the climate movement. People from small island nations also use this theme. There has not been extensive research in this topic. Existential risks are threats that could cause the extinction of humanity or destroy the potential of intelligent life on Earth. Key risks of climate change do not fit that definition. However, some key climate risks do have an impact people's ability to survive. For instance, areas may become too hot to survive, or sea level rise may make it impossible to live at a specific location. Economic impacts Economic forecasts of the impact of global warming vary considerably. The impacts are worse if there is insufficient adaptation. Economic modelling may underrate the impact of catastrophic climatic changes. When estimating losses, economists choose a discount rate. This determines how much one prefers to have goods or cash now compared to at a future date. Using a high discount rate may understate economic losses. This is because losses for future generations weigh less heavily. Economic impacts are bigger the more the temperature rises. Scientists have compared impacts with warming of 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) and a level of 3.66 °C (6.59 °F). They use this higher figure to represent no efforts to stop emissions. They found that total damages at 1.5 °C were 90% less than at 3.66 °C. One study found that global GDP at the end of the century would be 3.5% less if warming is limited to . This study excludes the potential effect of tipping points. Another study found that excluding tipping points underestimates the global economic impact by a factor of two to eight. Another study found that a temperature rise of by 2050 would reduce global GDP by 2.5%–7.5%. By 2100 in this scenario the temperature would rise by . This could reduce global GDP by 30% in the worst case. Global losses reveal rapidly rising costs due to extreme weather events since the 1970s. Socio-economic factors have contributed to the observed trend of global losses. These factors include population growth and increased wealth. Regional climatic factors also play a role. These include changes in precipitation and flooding events. It is difficult to quantify the relative impact of socio-economic factors and climate change on the observed trend. The trend does suggest social systems are increasing vulnerable to climate change. Economic inequality Climate change has contributed to global economic inequality. Wealthy countries in colder regions have felt little overall economic impact from climate change or may have benefited. Poor hotter countries probably grew less than if there had been no global warming. Highly affected sectors Climate change has a bigger impact on economic sectors directly affected by weather than on other sectors. It heavily affects agriculture, fisheries and forestry. It also affects the tourism and energy sectors. Agriculture and forestry have suffered economic losses due to droughts and extreme heat. If global warming goes over 1.5 °C, there may be limits to how much tourism and outdoor work can adapt. In the energy sector, thermal power plants depend on water to cool them. Climate change can increase the likelihood of drought and fresh water shortages. Higher operating temperatures make them less efficient. This reduces their output. Hydropower is affected by changes in the water cycle such as river flows. Diminished river flows can cause power shortages in areas that depend on hydroelectric power. Brazil relies on hydroelectricity. So it is particularly vulnerable. Rising temperatures, lower water flow, and changes in rainfall could reduce total energy production by 7% annually by the end of the century. Climate change affects oil and natural gas infrastructure. This is also vulnerable to the increased risk of disasters such as storms, cyclones, flooding and rising sea levels. Global warming affects the insurance and financial services sectors. Insurance is an important tool to manage risks. But it is often unavailable to poorer households. Due to climate change, premiums are going up for certain types of insurance, such as flood insurance. Poor adaptation to climate change further widens the gap between what people can afford and the costs of insurance, as risks increase. In 2019 Munich Re said climate change could make home insurance unaffordable for households at or below average incomes. It is possible that climate change has already begun to affect the shipping sector by impacting the Panama Canal. Lack of rainfall possibly linked to climate change reduced the number of ships passing through the canal per day, from 36 to 22 and by February 2024, it is expected to be 18. See also Anthropocene Climate crisis Extinction risk from climate change Global catastrophic risk History of climate change science List of areas depopulated due to climate change Politics of climate change References Sources . . Summary for Policymakers available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish. . Climate Change 2013 Working Group 1 website. . Archived (pb: ). External links IPCC Working Group I (WG I). Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change group which assesses the physical scientific aspects of the climate system and climate change. Climate from the World Meteorological Organization Climate change UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Sustainable Development Effects of climate change from the Met Office United Nations Environment Programme and the climate emergency The Climate Crisis Has a History. Timeline by Mimi Eisen and Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. Climate change and society Glob

Denudation

Denudation is the geological process in which moving water, ice, wind, and waves erode the Earth's surface, leading to a reduction in elevation and in relief of landforms and landscapes. Although the terms erosion and denudation are used interchangeably, erosion is the transport of soil and rocks from one location to another, and denudation is the sum of processes, including erosion, that result in the lowering of Earth's surface. Endogenous processes such as volcanoes, earthquakes, and tectonic uplift can expose continental crust to the exogenous processes of weathering, erosion, and mass wasting. The effects of denudation have been recorded for millennia but the mechanics behind it have been debated for the past 200 years and have only begun to be understood in the past few decades. Description Denudation incorporates the mechanical, biological, and chemical processes of erosion, weathering, and mass wasting. Denudation can involve the removal of both solid particles and dissolved material. These include sub-processes of cryofracture, insolation weathering, slaking, salt weathering, bioturbation, and anthropogenic impacts. Factors affecting denudation include: Anthropogenic (human) activity, including agriculture, damming, mining, and deforestation; Biosphere, via animals, plants, and microorganisms contributing to chemical and physical weathering; Climate, most directly through chemical weathering from rain, but also because climate dictates what kind of weathering occurs; Lithology or the type of rock; Surface topography and changes to surface topography, such as mass wasting and erosion; and Tectonic activity, such as deformation, the changing of rocks due to stress mainly from tectonic forces, and orogeny, the process that forms mountains. Historical theories The effects of denudation have been written about since antiquity, although the terms "denudation" and "erosion" have been used interchangeably throughout most of history. In the Age of Enlightenment, scholars began trying to understand how denudation and erosion occurred without mythical or biblical explanations. Throughout the 18th century, scientists theorized valleys are formed by streams running through them, not from floods or other cataclysms. In 1785, Scottish physician James Hutton proposed an Earth history based on observable processes over an unlimited amount of time, which marked a shift from assumptions based on faith to reasoning based on logic and observation. In 1802, John Playfair, a friend of Hutton, published a paper clarifying Hutton's ideas, explaining the basic process of water wearing down the Earth's surface, and describing erosion and chemical weathering. Between 1830 and 1833, Charles Lyell published three volumes of Principles of Geology, which describes the shaping of the surface of Earth by ongoing processes, and which endorsed and established gradual denudation in the wider scientific community. As denudation came into the wider conscience, questions of how denudation occurs and what the result is began arising. Hutton and Playfair suggested over a period of time, a landscape would eventually be worn down to erosional planes at or near sea level, which gave the theory the name "planation". Charles Lyell proposed marine planation, oceans, and ancient shallow seas were the primary driving force behind denudation. While surprising given the centuries of observation of fluvial and pluvial erosion, this is more understandable given early geomorphology was largely developed in Britain, where the effects of coastal erosion are more evident and play a larger role in geomorphic processes. There was more evidence against marine planation than there was for it. By the 1860s, marine planation had largely fallen from favor, a move led by Andrew Ramsay, a former proponent of marine planation who recognized rain and rivers play a more important role in denudation. In North America during the mid-19th century, advancements in identifying fluvial, pluvial, and glacial erosion were made. The work being done in the Appalachians and American West that formed the basis for William Morris Davis to hypothesize peneplanation, despite the fact while peneplanation was compatible in the Appalachians, it did not work as well in the more active American West. Peneplanation was a cycle in which young landscapes are produced by uplift and denuded down to sea level, which is the base level. The process would be restarted when the old landscape was uplifted again or when the base level was lowered, producing a new, young landscape. Publication of the Davisian cycle of erosion caused many geologists to begin looking for evidence of planation around the world. Unsatisfied with Davis's cycle due to evidence from the Western United States, Grove Karl Gilbert suggested backwearing of slopes would shape landscapes into pediplains, and W.J. McGee named these landscapes pediments. This later gave the concept the name pediplanation when L.C. King applied it on a global scale. The dominance of the Davisian cycle gave rise to several theories to explain planation, such as eolation and glacial planation, although only etchplanation survived time and scrutiny because it was based on observations and measurements done in different climates around the world and it also explained irregularities in landscapes. The majority of these concepts failed, partly because Joseph Jukes, a popular geologist and professor, separated denudation and uplift in an 1862 publication that had a lasting impact on geomorphology. These concepts also failed because the cycles, Davis's in particular, were generalizations and based on broad observations of the landscape rather than detailed measurements; many of the concepts were developed based on local or specific processes, not regional processes, and they assumed long periods of continental stability. Some scientists opposed the Davisian cycle; one was Grove Karl Gilbert, who, based on measurements over time, realized denudation is nonlinear; he started developing theories based on fluid dynamics and equilibrium concepts. Another was Walther Penck, who devised a more complex theory that denudation and uplift occurred at the same time, and that landscape formation is based on the ratio between denudation and uplift rates. His theory proposed geomorphology is based on endogenous and exogenous processes. Penck's theory, while ultimately being ignored, returned to denudation and uplift occurring simultaneously and relying on continental mobility, even though Penck rejected continental drift. The Davisian and Penckian models were heavily debated for a few decades until Penck's was ignored and support for Davis's waned after his death as more critiques were made. One critic was John Leighly, who stated geologists did not know how landforms were developed, so Davis's theory was built upon a shaky foundation. From 1945 to 1965, a change in geomorphology research saw a shift from mostly deductive work to detailed experimental designs that used improved technologies and techniques, although this led to research over details of established theories, rather than researching new theories. Through the 1950s and 1960s, as improvements were made in ocean geology and geophysics, it became clearer Wegener's theory on continental drift was correct and that there is constant movement of parts (the plates) of Earth's surface. Improvements were also made in geomorphology to quantify slope forms and drainage networks, and to find relationships between the form and process, and the magnitude and frequency of geomorphic processes. The final blow to peneplanation came in 1964 when a team led by Luna Leopold published Fluvial Processes in Geomorphology, which links landforms with measurable precipitation-infiltration runoff processes and concluded no peneplains exist over large areas in modern times, and any historical peneplains would have to be proven to exist, rather than inferred from modern geology. They also stated pediments could form across all rock types and regions, although through different processes. Through these findings and improvements in geophysics, the study of denudation shifted from planation to studying which relationships affect denudation–including uplift, isostasy, lithology, and vegetation–and measuring denudation rates around the world. Measurement Denudation is measured in the wearing down of Earth's surface in inches or centimeters per 1000 years. This rate is intended as an estimate and often assumes uniform erosion, among other things, to simplify calculations. Assumptions made are often only valid for the landscapes being studied. Measurements of denudation over large areas are performed by averaging the rates of subdivisions. Often, no adjustments are made for human impact, which causes the measurements to be inflated. Calculations have suggested soil loss of up to caused by human activity will change previously calculated denudation rates by less than 30%. Denudation rates are usually much lower than the rates of uplift and average orogeny rates can be eight times the maximum average denudation. The only areas at which there could be equal rates of denudation and uplift are active plate margins with an extended period of continuous deformation. Denudation is measured in catchment-scale measurements and can use other erosion measurements, which are generally split into dating and survey methods. Techniques for measuring erosion and denudation include stream load measurement, cosmogenic exposure and burial dating, erosion tracking, topographic measurements, surveying the deposition in reservoirs, landslide mapping, chemical fingerprinting, thermochronology, and analysis of sedimentary records in deposition areas. The most common way of measuring denudation is from stream load measurements taken at gauging stations. The suspended load, bed load, and dissolved load are included in measurements. The weight of the load is converted to volumetric units and the load volume is divided by the area of the watershed above the gauging station. An issue with this method of measurement is the high annual variation in fluvial erosion, which can be up to a factor of five between successive years. An important equation for denudation is the stream power law: , where E is erosion rate, K is the erodibility constant, A is drainage area, S is channel gradient, and m and n are functions that are usually given beforehand or assumed based on the location. Most denudation measurements are based on stream load measurements and analysis of the sediment or the water chemistry. A more recent technique is cosmogenic isotope analysis, which is used in conjunction with stream load measurements and sediment analysis. This technique measures chemical weathering intensity by calculating chemical alteration in molecular proportions. Preliminary research into using cosmogenic isotopes to measure weathering was done by studying the weathering of feldspar and volcanic glass, which contain most of the material found in the Earth's upper crust. The most common isotopes used are 26Al and 10Be; however, 10Be is used more often in these analyses. 10Be is used due to its abundance and, while it is not stable, its half-life of 1.39 million years is relatively stable compared to the thousand or million-year scale in which denudation is measured. 26Al is used because of the low presence of Al in quartz, making it easy to separate, and because there is no risk of contamination of atmospheric 10Be. This technique was developed because previous denudation-rate studies assumed steady rates of erosion even though such uniformity is difficult to verify in the field and may be invalid for many landscapes; its use to help measure denudation and geologically date events was important. On average, the concentration of undisturbed cosmogenic isotopes in sediment leaving a particular basin is inversely related to the rate at which that basin is eroding. In a rapidly-eroding basin, most rock will be exposed to only a small number of cosmic rays before erosion and transport out of the basin; as a result, isotope concentration will be low. In a slowly-eroding basin, integrated cosmic ray exposure is much greater and isotope concentration will be much higher. Measuring isotopic reservoirs in most areas is difficult with this technique so uniform erosion is assumed. There is also variation in year-to-year measurements, which can be as high as a factor of three. Problems in measuring denudation include both the technology used and the environment. Landslides can interfere with denudation measurements in mountainous regions, especially the Himalayas. The two main problems with dating methods are uncertainties in the measurements, both with equipment used and with assumptions made during measurement; and the relationship between the measured ages and histories of the markers. This relates to the problem of making assumptions based on the measurements being made and the area being measured. Environmental factors such as temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, elevation, wind, the speed of light at higher elevations if using lasers or time of flight measurements, instrument drift, chemical erosion, and for cosmogenic isotopes, climate and snow or glacier coverage. When studying denudation, the Stadler effect, which states measurements over short time periods show higher accumulation rates and than measurements over longer time periods, should be considered. In a study by James Gilully, the presented data suggested the denudation rate has stayed roughly the same throughout the Cenozoic era based on geological evidence; however, given estimates of denudation rates at the time of Gilully's study and the United States' elevation, it would take 11-12 million years to erode North America; well before the 66 million years of the Cenozoic. The research on denudation is primarily done in river basins and in mountainous regions like the Himalayas because these are very geologically active regions, which allows for research between uplift and denudation. There is also research on the effects of denudation on karst because only about 30% of chemical weathering from water occurs on the surface. Denudation has a large impact on karst and landscape evolution because the most-rapid changes to landscapes occur when there are changes to subterranean structures. Other research includes effects on denudation rates; this research is mostly studying how climate and vegetation impact denudation. Research is also being done to find the relationship between denudation and isostasy; the more denudation occurs, the lighter the crust becomes in an area, which allows for uplift. The work is primarily trying to determine a ratio between denudation and uplift so better estimates can be made on changes in the landscape. In 2016 and 2019, research that attempted to apply denudation rates to improve the stream power law so it can be used more effectively was conducted. Examples Denudation exposes deep subvolcanic structures on the present surface of the area where volcanic activity once occurred. Subvolcanic structures such as volcanic plugs and dikes are exposed by denudation. Other examples include: Earthquakes causing landslides; Haloclasty, the build-up of salt in cracks in rocks leading to erosion and weathering; Ice accumulating in the cracks of rocks; and Microorganisms contributing to weathering through cellular respiration. References Geomorphology Geological processes

Life

Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from matter that does not. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, organisation, metabolism, growth, adaptation, response to stimuli, and reproduction. All life over time eventually reaches a state of death, and none is immortal. Many philosophical definitions of living systems have been proposed, such as self-organizing systems. Viruses in particular make definition difficult as they replicate only in host cells. Life exists all over the Earth in air, water, and soil, with many ecosystems forming the biosphere. Some of these are harsh environments occupied only by extremophiles. Life has been studied since ancient times, with theories such as Empedocles's materialism asserting that it was composed of four eternal elements, and Aristotle's hylomorphism asserting that living things have souls and embody both form and matter. Life originated at least 3.5 billion years ago, resulting in a universal common ancestor. This evolved into all the species that exist now, by way of many extinct species, some of which have left traces as fossils. Attempts to classify living things, too, began with Aristotle. Modern classification began with Carl Linnaeus's system of binomial nomenclature in the 1740s. Living things are composed of biochemical molecules, formed mainly from a few core chemical elements. All living things contain two types of large molecule, proteins and nucleic acids, the latter usually both DNA and RNA: these carry the information needed by each species, including the instructions to make each type of protein. The proteins, in turn, serve as the machinery which carries out the many chemical processes of life. The cell is the structural and functional unit of life. Smaller organisms, including prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea), consist of small single cells. Larger organisms, mainly eukaryotes, can consist of single cells or may be multicellular with more complex structure. Life is only known to exist on Earth but extraterrestrial life is thought probable. Artificial life is being simulated and explored by scientists and engineers. Definitions Challenge The definition of life has long been a challenge for scientists and philosophers. This is partially because life is a process, not a substance. This is complicated by a lack of knowledge of the characteristics of living entities, if any, that may have developed outside Earth. Philosophical definitions of life have also been put forward, with similar difficulties on how to distinguish living things from the non-living. Legal definitions of life have been debated, though these generally focus on the decision to declare a human dead, and the legal ramifications of this decision. At least 123 definitions of life have been compiled. Descriptive Since there is no consensus for a definition of life, most current definitions in biology are descriptive. Life is considered a characteristic of something that preserves, furthers or reinforces its existence in the given environment. This implies all or most of the following traits: Homeostasis: regulation of the internal environment to maintain a constant state; for example, sweating to reduce temperature. Organisation: being structurally composed of one or more cells – the basic units of life. Metabolism: transformation of energy, used to convert chemicals into cellular components (anabolism) and to decompose organic matter (catabolism). Living things require energy for homeostasis and other activities. Growth: maintenance of a higher rate of anabolism than catabolism. A growing organism increases in size and structure. Adaptation: the evolutionary process whereby an organism becomes better able to live in its habitat. Response to stimuli: such as the contraction of a unicellular organism away from external chemicals, the complex reactions involving all the senses of multicellular organisms, or the motion of the leaves of a plant turning toward the sun (phototropism), and chemotaxis. Reproduction: the ability to produce new individual organisms, either asexually from a single parent organism or sexually from two parent organisms. Physics From a physics perspective, an organism is a thermodynamic system with an organised molecular structure that can reproduce itself and evolve as survival dictates. Thermodynamically, life has been described as an open system which makes use of gradients in its surroundings to create imperfect copies of itself. Another way of putting this is to define life as "a self-sustained chemical system capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution", a definition adopted by a NASA committee attempting to define life for the purposes of exobiology, based on a suggestion by Carl Sagan. This definition, however, has been widely criticised because according to it, a single sexually reproducing individual is not alive as it is incapable of evolving on its own. Living systems Others take a living systems theory viewpoint that does not necessarily depend on molecular chemistry. One systemic definition of life is that living things are self-organizing and autopoietic (self-producing). Variations of this include Stuart Kauffman's definition as an autonomous agent or a multi-agent system capable of reproducing itself, and of completing at least one thermodynamic work cycle. This definition is extended by the evolution of novel functions over time. Death Death is the termination of all vital functions or life processes in an organism or cell. One of the challenges in defining death is in distinguishing it from life. Death would seem to refer to either the moment life ends, or when the state that follows life begins. However, determining when death has occurred is difficult, as cessation of life functions is often not simultaneous across organ systems. Such determination, therefore, requires drawing conceptual lines between life and death. This is problematic because there is little consensus over how to define life. The nature of death has for millennia been a central concern of the world's religious traditions and of philosophical inquiry. Many religions maintain faith in either a kind of afterlife or reincarnation for the soul, or resurrection of the body at a later date. Viruses Whether or not viruses should be considered as alive is controversial. They are most often considered as just gene coding replicators rather than forms of life. They have been described as "organisms at the edge of life" because they possess genes, evolve by natural selection, and replicate by making multiple copies of themselves through self-assembly. However, viruses do not metabolise and they require a host cell to make new products. Virus self-assembly within host cells has implications for the study of the origin of life, as it may support the hypothesis that life could have started as self-assembling organic molecules. History of study Materialism Some of the earliest theories of life were materialist, holding that all that exists is matter, and that life is merely a complex form or arrangement of matter. Empedocles (430 BC) argued that everything in the universe is made up of a combination of four eternal "elements" or "roots of all": earth, water, air, and fire. All change is explained by the arrangement and rearrangement of these four elements. The various forms of life are caused by an appropriate mixture of elements. Democritus (460 BC) was an atomist; he thought that the essential characteristic of life was having a soul (psyche), and that the soul, like everything else, was composed of fiery atoms. He elaborated on fire because of the apparent connection between life and heat, and because fire moves. Plato, in contrast, held that the world was organised by permanent forms, reflected imperfectly in matter; forms provided direction or intelligence, explaining the regularities observed in the world. The mechanistic materialism that originated in ancient Greece was revived and revised by the French philosopher René Descartes (1596–1650), who held that animals and humans were assemblages of parts that together functioned as a machine. This idea was developed further by Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709–1750) in his book L'Homme Machine. In the 19th century the advances in cell theory in biological science encouraged this view. The evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin (1859) is a mechanistic explanation for the origin of species by means of natural selection. At the beginning of the 20th century Stéphane Leduc (1853–1939) promoted the idea that biological processes could be understood in terms of physics and chemistry, and that their growth resembled that of inorganic crystals immersed in solutions of sodium silicate. His ideas, set out in his book La biologie synthétique, were widely dismissed during his lifetime, but has incurred a resurgence of interest in the work of Russell, Barge and colleagues. Hylomorphism Hylomorphism is a theory first expressed by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (322 BC). The application of hylomorphism to biology was important to Aristotle, and biology is extensively covered in his extant writings. In this view, everything in the material universe has both matter and form, and the form of a living thing is its soul (Greek psyche, Latin anima). There are three kinds of souls: the vegetative soul of plants, which causes them to grow and decay and nourish themselves, but does not cause motion and sensation; the animal soul, which causes animals to move and feel; and the rational soul, which is the source of consciousness and reasoning, which (Aristotle believed) is found only in man. Each higher soul has all of the attributes of the lower ones. Aristotle believed that while matter can exist without form, form cannot exist without matter, and that therefore the soul cannot exist without the body. This account is consistent with teleological explanations of life, which account for phenomena in terms of purpose or goal-directedness. Thus, the whiteness of the polar bear's coat is explained by its purpose of camouflage. The direction of causality (from the future to the past) is in contradiction with the scientific evidence for natural selection, which explains the consequence in terms of a prior cause. Biological features are explained not by looking at future optimal results, but by looking at the past evolutionary history of a species, which led to the natural selection of the features in question. Spontaneous generation Spontaneous generation was the belief that living organisms can form without descent from similar organisms. Typically, the idea was that certain forms such as fleas could arise from inanimate matter such as dust or the supposed seasonal generation of mice and insects from mud or garbage. The theory of spontaneous generation was proposed by Aristotle, who compiled and expanded the work of prior natural philosophers and the various ancient explanations of the appearance of organisms; it was considered the best explanation for two millennia. It was decisively dispelled by the experiments of Louis Pasteur in 1859, who expanded upon the investigations of predecessors such as Francesco Redi. Disproof of the traditional ideas of spontaneous generation is no longer controversial among biologists. Vitalism Vitalism is the belief that there is a non-material life-principle. This originated with Georg Ernst Stahl (17th century), and remained popular until the middle of the 19th century. It appealed to philosophers such as Henri Bergson, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Wilhelm Dilthey, anatomists like Xavier Bichat, and chemists like Justus von Liebig. Vitalism included the idea that there was a fundamental difference between organic and inorganic material, and the belief that organic material can only be derived from living things. This was disproved in 1828, when Friedrich Wöhler prepared urea from inorganic materials. This Wöhler synthesis is considered the starting point of modern organic chemistry. It is of historical significance because for the first time an organic compound was produced in inorganic reactions. During the 1850s Hermann von Helmholtz, anticipated by Julius Robert von Mayer, demonstrated that no energy is lost in muscle movement, suggesting that there were no "vital forces" necessary to move a muscle. These results led to the abandonment of scientific interest in vitalistic theories, especially after Eduard Buchner's demonstration that alcoholic fermentation could occur in cell-free extracts of yeast. Nonetheless, belief still exists in pseudoscientific theories such as homoeopathy, which interprets diseases and sickness as caused by disturbances in a hypothetical vital force or life force. Development Origin of life The age of Earth is about 4.54 billion years. Life on Earth has existed for at least 3.5 billion years, with the oldest physical traces of life dating back 3.7 billion years. Estimates from molecular clocks, as summarised in the TimeTree public database, place the origin of life around 4.0 billion years ago. Hypotheses on the origin of life attempt to explain the formation of a universal common ancestor from simple organic molecules via pre-cellular life to protocells and metabolism. In 2016, a set of 355 genes from the last universal common ancestor was tentatively identified. The biosphere is postulated to have developed, from the origin of life onwards, at least some 3.5 billion years ago. The earliest evidence for life on Earth includes biogenic graphite found in 3.7 billion-year-old metasedimentary rocks from Western Greenland and microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone from Western Australia. More recently, in 2015, "remains of biotic life" were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. In 2017, putative fossilised microorganisms (or microfossils) were announced to have been discovered in hydrothermal vent precipitates in the Nuvvuagittuq Belt of Quebec, Canada that were as old as 4.28 billion years, the oldest record of life on Earth, suggesting "an almost instantaneous emergence of life" after ocean formation 4.4 billion years ago, and not long after the formation of the Earth 4.54 billion years ago. Evolution Evolution is the change in heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It results in the appearance of new species and often the disappearance of old ones. Evolution occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection (including sexual selection) and genetic drift act on genetic variation, resulting in certain characteristics increasing or decreasing in frequency within a population over successive generations. The process of evolution has given rise to biodiversity at every level of biological organisation. Fossils Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in layers (strata) of sedimentary rock is known as the fossil record. A preserved specimen is called a fossil if it is older than the arbitrary date of 10,000 years ago. Hence, fossils range in age from the youngest at the start of the Holocene Epoch to the oldest from the Archaean Eon, up to 3.4 billion years old. Extinction Extinction is the process by which a species dies out. The moment of extinction is the death of the last individual of that species. Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively after a period of apparent absence. Species become extinct when they are no longer able to survive in changing habitat or against superior competition. Over 99% of all the species that have ever lived are now extinct. Mass extinctions may have accelerated evolution by providing opportunities for new groups of organisms to diversify. Environmental conditions The diversity of life on Earth is a result of the dynamic interplay between genetic opportunity, metabolic capability, environmental challenges, and symbiosis. For most of its existence, Earth's habitable environment has been dominated by microorganisms and subjected to their metabolism and evolution. As a consequence of these microbial activities, the physical-chemical environment on Earth has been changing on a geologic time scale, thereby affecting the path of evolution of subsequent life. For example, the release of molecular oxygen by cyanobacteria as a by-product of photosynthesis induced global changes in the Earth's environment. Because oxygen was toxic to most life on Earth at the time, this posed novel evolutionary challenges, and ultimately resulted in the formation of Earth's major animal and plant species. This interplay between organisms and their environment is an inherent feature of living systems. Biosphere The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be termed as the zone of life on Earth, a closed system (apart from solar and cosmic radiation and heat from the interior of the Earth), and largely self-regulating. Organisms exist in every part of the biosphere, including soil, hot springs, inside rocks at least deep underground, the deepest parts of the ocean, and at least high in the atmosphere. For example, spores of Aspergillus niger have been detected in the mesosphere at an altitude of 48 to 77 km. Under test conditions, life forms have been observed to survive in the vacuum of space. Life forms thrive in the deep Mariana Trench, and inside rocks up to below the sea floor under of ocean off the coast of the northwestern United States, and beneath the seabed off Japan. In 2014, life forms were found living below the ice of Antarctica. Expeditions of the International Ocean Discovery Program found unicellular life in 120 °C sediment 1.2 km below seafloor in the Nankai Trough subduction zone. According to one researcher, "You can find microbes everywhere—they're extremely adaptable to conditions, and survive wherever they are." Range of tolerance The inert components of an ecosystem are the physical and chemical factors necessary for life—energy (sunlight or chemical energy), water, heat, atmosphere, gravity, nutrients, and ultraviolet solar radiation protection. In most ecosystems, the conditions vary during the day and from one season to the next. To live in most ecosystems, then, organisms must be able to survive a range of conditions, called the "range of tolerance". Outside that are the "zones of physiological stress", where the survival and reproduction are possible but not optimal. Beyond these zones are the "zones of intolerance", where survival and reproduction of that organism is unlikely or impossible. Organisms that have a wide range of tolerance are more widely distributed than organisms with a narrow range of tolerance. Extremophiles To survive, some microorganisms have evolved to withstand freezing, complete desiccation, starvation, high levels of radiation exposure, and other physical or chemical challenges. These extremophile microorganisms may survive exposure to such conditions for long periods. They excel at exploiting uncommon sources of energy. Characterization of the structure and metabolic diversity of microbial communities in such extreme environments is ongoing. Classification Antiquity The first classification of organisms was made by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC), who grouped living things as either plants or animals, based mainly on their ability to move. He distinguished animals with blood from animals without blood, which can be compared with the concepts of vertebrates and invertebrates respectively, and divided the blooded animals into five groups: viviparous quadrupeds (mammals), oviparous quadrupeds (reptiles and amphibians), birds, fishes and whales. The bloodless animals were divided into five groups: cephalopods, crustaceans, insects (which included the spiders, scorpions, and centipedes), shelled animals (such as most molluscs and echinoderms), and "zoophytes" (animals that resemble plants). This theory remained dominant for more than a thousand years. Linnaean In the late 1740s, Carl Linnaeus introduced his system of binomial nomenclature for the classification of species. Linnaeus attempted to improve the composition and reduce the length of the previously used many-worded names by abolishing unnecessary rhetoric, introducing new descriptive terms and precisely defining their meaning. The fungi were originally treated as plants. For a short period Linnaeus had classified them in the taxon Vermes in Animalia, but later placed them back in Plantae. Herbert Copeland classified the Fungi in his Protoctista, including them with single-celled organisms and thus partially avoiding the problem but acknowledging their special status. The problem was eventually solved by Whittaker, when he gave them their own kingdom in his five-kingdom system. Evolutionary history shows that the fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants. As advances in microscopy enabled detailed study of cells and microorganisms, new groups of life were revealed, and the fields of cell biology and microbiology were created. These new organisms were originally described separately in protozoa as animals and protophyta/thallophyta as plants, but were united by Ernst Haeckel in the kingdom Protista; later, the prokaryotes were split off in the kingdom Monera, which would eventually be divided into two separate groups, the Bacteria and the Archaea. This led to the six-kingdom system and eventually to the current three-domain system, which is based on evolutionary relationships. However, the classification of eukaryotes, especially of protists, is still controversial. As microbiology developed, viruses, which are non-cellular, were discovered. Whether these are considered alive has been a matter of debate; viruses lack characteristics of life such as cell membranes, metabolism and the ability to grow or respond to their environments. Viruses have been classed into "species" based on their genetics, but many aspects of such a classification remain controversial. The original Linnaean system has been modified many times, for example as follows: The attempt to organise the Eukaryotes into a small number of kingdoms has been challenged. The Protozoa do not form a clade or natural grouping, and nor do the Chromista (Chromalveolata). Metagenomic The ability to sequence large numbers of complete genomes has allowed biologists to take a metagenomic view of the phylogeny of the whole tree of life. This has led to the realisation that the majority of living things are bacteria, and that all have a common origin. Composition Chemical elements All life forms require certain core chemical elements for their biochemical functioning. These include carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur—the elemental macronutrients for all organisms. Together these make up nucleic acids, proteins and lipids, the bulk of living matter. Five of these six elements comprise the chemical components of DNA, the exception being sulfur. The latter is a component of the amino acids cysteine and methionine. The most abundant of these elements in organisms is carbon, which has the desirable attribute of forming multiple, stable covalent bonds. This allows carbon-based (organic) molecules to form the immense variety of chemical arrangements described in organic chemistry. Alternative hypothetical types of biochemistry have been proposed that eliminate one or more of these elements, swap out an element for one not on the list, or change required chiralities or other chemical properties. DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA is a molecule that carries most of the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning and reproduction of all known living organisms and many viruses. DNA and RNA are nucleic acids; alongside proteins and complex carbohydrates, they are one of the three major types of macromolecule that are essential for all known forms of life. Most DNA molecules consist of two biopolymer strands coiled around each other to form a double helix. The two DNA strands are known as polynucleotides since they are composed of simpler units called nucleotides. Each nucleotide is composed of a nitrogen-containing nucleobase—either cytosine (C), guanine (G), adenine (A), or thymine (T)—as well as a sugar called deoxyribose and a phosphate group. The nucleotides are joined to one another in a chain by covalent bonds between the sugar of one nucleotide and the phosphate of the next, resulting in an alternating sugar-phosphate backbone. According to base pairing rules (A with T, and C with G), hydrogen bonds bind the nitrogenous bases of the two separate polynucleotide strands to make double-stranded DNA. This has the key property that each strand contains all the information needed to recreate the other strand, enabling the information to be preserved during reproduction and cell division. Within cells, DNA is organised into long structures called chromosomes. During cell division these chromosomes are duplicated in the process of DNA replication, providing each cell its own complete set of chromosomes. Eukaryotes store most of their DNA inside the cell nucleus. Cells Cells are the basic unit of structure in every living thing, and all cells arise from pre-existing cells by division. Cell theory was formulated by Henri Dutrochet, Theodor Schwann, Rudolf Virchow and others during the early nineteenth century, and subsequently became widely accepted. The activity of an organism depends on the total activity of its cells, with energy flow occurring within and between them. Cells contain hereditary information that is carried forward as a genetic code during cell division. There are two primary types of cells, reflecting their evolutionary origins. Prokaryote cells lack a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles, although they have circular DNA and ribosomes. Bacteria and Archaea are two domains of prokaryotes. The other primary type is the eukaryote cell, which has a distinct nucleus bound by a nuclear membrane and membrane-bound organelles, including mitochondria, chloroplasts, lysosomes, rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum, and vacuoles. In addition, their DNA is organised into chromosomes. All species of large complex organisms are eukaryotes, including animals, plants and fungi, though with a wide diversity of protist microorganisms. The conventional model is that eukaryotes evolved from prokaryotes, with the main organelles of the eukaryotes forming through endosymbiosis between bacteria and the progenitor eukaryotic cell. The molecular mechanisms of cell biology are based on proteins. Most of these are synthesised by the ribosomes through an enzyme-catalyzed process called protein biosynthesis. A sequence of amino acids is assembled and joined based upon gene expression of the cell's nucleic acid. In eukaryotic cells, these proteins may then be transported and processed through the Golgi apparatus in preparation for dispatch to their destination. Cells reproduce through a process of cell division in which the parent cell divides into two or more daughter cells. For prokaryotes, cell division occurs through a process of fission in which the DNA is replicated, then the two copies are attached to parts of the cell membrane. In eukaryotes, a more complex process of mitosis is followed. However, the result is the same; the resulting cell copies are identical to each other and to the original cell (except for mutations), and both are capable of further division following an interphase period. Multicellular structure Multicellular organisms may have first evolved through the formation of colonies of identical cells. These cells can form group organisms through cell adhesion. The individual members of a colony are capable of surviving on their own, whereas the members of a true multi-cellular organism have developed specialisations, making them dependent on the remainder of the organism for survival. Such organisms are formed clonally or from a single germ cell that is capable of forming the various specialised cells that form the adult organism. This specialisation allows multicellular organisms to exploit resources more efficiently than single cells. About 800 million years ago, a minor genetic change in a single molecule, the enzyme GK-PID, may have allowed organisms to go from a single cell organism to one of many cells. Cells have evolved methods to perceive and respond to their microenvironment, thereby enhancing their adaptability. Cell signalling coordinates cellular activities, and hence governs the basic functions of multicellular organisms. Signaling between cells can occur through direct cell contact using juxtacrine signalling, or indirectly through the exchange of agents as in the endocrine system. In more complex organisms, coordination of activities can occur through a dedicated nervous system. In the universe Though life is confirmed only on Earth, many think that extraterrestrial life is not only plausible, but probable or inevitable, possibly resulting in a biophysical cosmology instead of a mere physical cosmology. Other planets and moons in the Solar System and other planetary systems are being examined for evidence of having once supported simple life, and projects such as SETI are trying to detect radio transmissions from possible alien civilisations. Other locations within the Solar System that may host microbial life include the subsurface of Mars, the upper atmosphere of Venus, and subsurface oceans on some of the moons of the giant planets. Investigation of the tenacity and versatility of life on Earth, as well as an understanding of the molecular systems that some organisms utilise to survive such extremes, is important for the search for extraterrestrial life. For example, lichen could survive for a month in a simulated Martian environment. Beyond the Solar System, the region around another main-sequence star that could support Earth-like life on an Earth-like planet is known as the habitable zone. The inner and outer radii of this zone vary with the luminosity of the star, as does the time interval during which the zone survives. Stars more massive than the Sun have a larger habitable zone, but remain on the Sun-like "main sequence" of stellar evolution for a shorter time interval. Small red dwarfs have the opposite problem, with a smaller habitable zone that is subject to higher levels of magnetic activity and the effects of tidal locking from close orbits. Hence, stars in the intermediate mass range such as the Sun may have a greater likelihood for Earth-like life to develop. The location of the star within a galaxy may also affect the likelihood of life forming. Stars in regions with a greater abundance of heavier elements that can form planets, in combination with a low rate of potentially habitat-damaging supernova events, are predicted to have a higher probability of hosting planets with complex life. The variables of the Drake equation are used to discuss the conditions in planetary systems where civilisation is most likely to exist, within wide bounds of uncertainty. A "Confidence of Life Detection" scale (CoLD) for reporting evidence of life beyond Earth has been proposed. Artificial Artificial life is the simulation of any aspect of life, as through computers, robotics, or biochemistry. Synthetic biology is a new area of biotechnology that combines science and biological engineering. The common goal is the design and construction of new biological functions and systems not found in nature. Synthetic biology includes the broad redefinition and expansion of biotechnology, with the ultimate goals of being able to design and build engineered biological systems that process information, manipulate chemicals, fabricate materials and structures, produce energy, provide food, and maintain and enhance human health and the environment. See also Biology, the study of life Biosignature Carbon-based life Central dogma of molecular biology History of life Lists of organisms by population Viable system theory Notes References External links Vitae (BioLib) Wikispecies – a free directory of life Biota (Taxonomicon) (archived 15 July 2014) Entry on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy What Is Life? – by Jaime Green, The Atlantic (archived 5 December 2023) Main topic articles

Development studies

Development studies is an interdisciplinary branch of social science. Development studies is offered as a specialized master's degree in a number of reputed universities around the world. It has grown in popularity as a subject of study since the early 1990s, and has been most widely taught and researched in developing countries and countries with a colonial history, such as the UK, where the discipline originated. Students of development studies often choose careers in international organisations such as the United Nations, World Bank, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), media and journalism houses, private sector development consultancy firms, corporate social responsibility (CSR) bodies and research centers. Professional bodies Throughout the world, a number of professional bodies for development studies have been founded: Europe: European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) Latin America: Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO) Asia: Asian Political and International Studies Association (APISA) Africa: Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) Arabic world: Arab Institutes and Centers for Economic and Social Development Research (AICARDES) The common umbrella organisation of these association is the Inter-regional Coordinating Committee of Development Associations (ICCDA). In the UK and Ireland, the Development Studies Association is a major source of information for research on and studying in development studies. Its mission is to connect and promote those working on development research. Disciplines of development studies Development issues include: Adult education Area studies Anthropology Community development Demography Development aid Development communication Development theory Diaspora studies Ecology Economic development Economic History Environmental studies Geography Gender studies Governance History of economic thought Human rights Human security Indigenous rights Industrial relations Industrialization International business International development International relations Journalism Media Studies Migration studies Partnership Peace and conflict studies Pedagogy Philosophy Political philosophy Population studies Postcolonialism Psychology Public administration Public health Rural development Queer studies Sociology Social policy Social development Social work Sustainable development Urban studies Women's studies History The emergence of development studies as an academic discipline in the second half of the twentieth century is in large part due to increasing concern about economic prospects for the third world after decolonisation. In the immediate post-war period, development economics, a branch of economics, arose out of previous studies in colonial economics. By the 1960s, an increasing number of development economists felt that economics alone could not fully address issues such as political effectiveness and educational provision. Development studies arose as a result of this, initially aiming to integrate ideas of politics and economics. Since then, it has become an increasingly inter- and multi-disciplinary subject, encompassing a variety of social scientific fields. In recent years the use of political economy analysis- the application of the analytical techniques of economics- to try and assess and explain political and social factors that either enhance or limit development has become increasingly widespread as a way of explaining the success or failure of reform processes. The era of modern development is commonly deemed to have commenced with the inauguration speech of Harry S. Truman in 1949. In Point Four of his speech, with reference to Latin America and other poor nations, he said: More than half the people of the world are living in conditions approaching misery. Their food is inadequate. They are victims of disease. Their economic life is primitive and stagnant. Their poverty is a handicap and a threat both to them and to more prosperous areas. For the first time in history, humanity possesses the knowledge and the skill to relieve the suffering of these people. But development studies has since also taken an interest in lessons of past development experiences of Western countries. More recently, the emergence of human security – a new, people-oriented approach to understanding and addressing global security threats – has led to a growing recognition of a relationship between security and development. Human security argues that inequalities and insecurity in one state or region have consequences for global security and that it is thus in the interest of all states to address underlying development issues. This relationship with studies of human security is but one example of the interdisciplinary nature of development studies. Global Research cooperation between researchers from countries in the Global North and the Global South, so called North-south research partnerships, allow development studies to consider more diverse perspectives on development studies and other strongly value driven issues. Thus, it can contribute new findings to the field of research. See also Global South Development Magazine City development index Colonization Community development Development (disambiguation) Development Cooperation Issues Development Cooperation Stories Development Cooperation Testimonials Economic development Human rights Human security Industrialization International development North-South research partnerships Postdevelopment theory Right to development Social development Social work Sustainable development World-systems theory References Further reading Breuer, Martin. "Development" (2015). University Bielefeld: Center for InterAmerican Studies. Pradella, Lucia and Marois, Thomas, eds. (2015) Polarizing Development: Alternatives to Neoliberalism and the Crisis. Pluto Press. Sachs, Wolfgang, ed. (1992) The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power. Zed Books. External links Global South Development Magazine Development Studies Internet Resources Studying Development – International Development Studies course directory

Macrobiotic diet

A macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics) is an unconventional restrictive diet based on ideas about types of food drawn from Zen Buddhism. The diet tries to balance the supposed yin and yang elements of food and cookware. Major principles of macrobiotic diets are to reduce animal products, eat locally grown foods that are in season, and consume meals in moderation. There is no high-quality clinical evidence that a macrobiotic diet is helpful for people with cancer or other diseases, and it may be harmful. Neither the American Cancer Society nor Cancer Research UK recommends adopting the diet. Conceptual basis The macrobiotic diet is associated with Zen Buddhism and is based on the idea of balancing yin and yang. The diet proposes ten plans which are followed to reach a supposedly ideal yin:yang ratio of 5:1. The diet was popularized by George Ohsawa in the 1930s and subsequently elaborated on by his disciple Michio Kushi. Medical historian Barbara Clow writes that, in common with many other types of quackery, macrobiotics takes a view of illness and of therapy which conflicts with mainstream medicine. Macrobiotics emphasizes locally grown whole grain cereals, pulses (legumes), vegetables, edible seaweed, fermented soy products, and fruit combined into meals according to the ancient Chinese principle of balance known as yin and yang. Whole grains and whole-grain products such as brown rice and buckwheat pasta (soba), a variety of cooked and raw vegetables, beans and bean products, mild natural seasonings, fish, nuts and seeds, mild (non-stimulating) beverages such as bancha twig tea, and fruit are recommended. Some macrobiotic proponents stress that yin and yang are relative qualities that can only be determined in a comparison. All food is considered to have both properties, with one dominating. Foods with yang qualities are considered compact, dense, heavy, and hot, whereas those with yin qualities are considered expansive, light, cold, and diffuse. However, these terms are relative; "yangness" or "yinness" is only discussed in relation to other foods. Brown rice and other whole grains such as barley, millet, oats, quinoa, spelt, rye, and teff are considered by macrobiotics to be the foods in which yin and yang are closest to being in balance. Therefore, lists of macrobiotic foods that determine a food as yin or yang generally compare them to whole grains. Nightshade vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and eggplant; also, spinach, beets, and avocados, are not recommended or are used sparingly in macrobiotic cooking, as they are considered extremely yin. Some macrobiotic practitioners also discourage the use of nightshades because of the alkaloid solanine which is thought to affect calcium balance. Some proponents of a macrobiotic diet believe that nightshade vegetables can cause inflammation and osteoporosis. Practices Food Some general guidelines for the Japanese-style macrobiotic diet are the following (it is also said that a macrobiotic diet varies greatly, depending on geographical and life circumstances): Well-chewed whole cereal grains, especially brown rice: 40–60% Vegetables: 25–30% Beans and legumes: 5–10% Miso soup: 5% Sea vegetables: 5% Traditionally or naturally processed foods: 5–10% Fish and seafood, seeds and nuts, seed and nut butters, seasonings, sweeteners, fruits, and beverages may be enjoyed occasionally, two to three times per week. Other naturally-raised animal products may be included if needed during dietary transition or according to individual needs. Kitchenware Cooking utensils should be made from certain materials such as wood or glass, while some materials including plastic, copper, and non-stick coatings are to be avoided. Electric ovens should not be used. Japanese popularity and influence The macrobiotic way of eating was developed and popularized by the Japanese. During the Edo period in Japan peasants had a diet based on staples of rice and soybeans. According to some macrobiotic advocates, a majority of the world population in the past ate a diet based primarily on grains, vegetables, and other plants. Health education in Japan reacted to poor nutrition after WW II by restoring macrobiotic principles and adoption of shokuiku awareness. Because the macrobiotic diet was developed in Japan, Japanese foods that are thought to be beneficial for health are incorporated by most modern macrobiotic eaters. Cancer The American Cancer Society recommends "low-fat, high-fiber diets that consist mainly of plant products"; however, they urge people with cancer not to rely on a dietary program as an exclusive or primary means of treatment. Cancer Research UK states, "some people think living a macrobiotic lifestyle may help them to fight their cancer and lead to a cure. But there is no scientific evidence to prove this." Nutritionist Fredrick J. Stare has commented that "there is no scientific evidence that macrobiotic diets can be helpful for cancer or any other disease." Nutrition The macrobiotic diet has been considered an unconventional or fad diet, although its enduring popularity may render the fad classification moot. Fish provides vitamin B12. Although few plant-derived foods naturally contain B12, many commercial food products are fortified during processing with added B12 and other nutrients. Vitamin A, as its precursor beta-carotene, is available from plants such as carrots and spinach. Adequate protein is available from grains, nuts, seeds, beans, and bean products. Sources of Omega-3 fatty acids are discussed in the relevant article, and include soy products, walnuts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, and fatty fish. Riboflavin along with most other B vitamins are abundant in whole grains. Iron in the form of non-heme iron in beans, sea vegetables and leafy greens is sufficient for good health; detailed information is in the USDA database. Safety Regulation Macrobiotic practitioners are not regulated, and need not have any qualification or training in the United Kingdom. Complications One of the earlier versions of the macrobiotic diet that involved eating only brown rice and water has been linked to severe nutritional deficiencies and even death. Strict macrobiotic diets that include no animal products may result in nutritional deficiencies unless they are carefully planned. The danger may be worse for people with cancer, who may have to contend with unwanted weight loss and often have increased nutritional and caloric requirements. Relying on this type of treatment alone and avoiding or delaying conventional medical care for cancer may have serious health consequences. Children Children may also be particularly prone to nutritional deficiencies resulting from a macrobiotic diet. A macrobiotic diet does not contain the nutrients needed by growing children. Pregnancy Macrobiotic diets have not been tested in women who are pregnant or breast-feeding, and the most extreme versions may not include enough of certain nutrients for normal fetal growth. See also Ch'i Chinese food therapy List of diets List of unproven and disproven cancer treatments Sanpaku Shiatsu Traditional Chinese medicine References Pseudoscience Fad diets Alternative medicine Semi-vegetarianism

Sustainable Development Goal 14

Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Goal 14 or SDG 14) is about "Life below water" and is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015. The official wording is to "Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development". The Goal has ten targets to be achieved by 2030. Progress towards each target is being measured with one indicator each. The first seven targets are outcome targets: Reduce marine pollution; protect and restore ecosystems; reduce ocean acidification; sustainable fishing; conserve coastal and marine areas; end subsidies contributing to overfishing; increase the economic benefits from sustainable use of marine resources. The last three targets are means of implementation targets: To increase scientific knowledge, research and technology for ocean health; support small scale fishers; implement and enforce international sea law. One indicator (14.1.1b) under Goal 14 specifically relates to reducing impacts from marine plastic pollution. According to the 2020 report on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, "current efforts to protect key marine environments and small-scale fishers and invest in ocean science are not yet meeting the urgent need to protect this vast, fragile resource". Background Life below water is Goal 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals, set to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, sea and marine resources for sustainable development. Currently the state of our oceans are declining due to climate change factors and human behaviour. The deterioration of coastal waters is increasing due to both pollution and coastal eutrophication. Similar factors contribute to climate change, negatively affecting the oceans and marine biodiversity which is slowly declining. The threat of growing algal blooms and dead zones in the oceans are alarming; in 2018 it was stated that "without concerted efforts, coastal eutrophication is expected to increase in 20% of large marine ecosystems by 2050". A recent report states ocean acidification reporting stations have tripled worldwide since 2021, in addition to 1 in 5 fish caught from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Beach clean-ups across the coasts are shedding light on the increase in ocean plastic pollution which suffocates the seas. Marine conservation, local livelihoods and resource sustainability measures are compromised by poor decision-making in resource management. Consistent efforts are being made to improve such management. "The sustainable management of our oceans relies on the ability to influence and guide human use of the marine environment". To counter regression in achieving Goal 14, "swift and coordinated global action is imperative". Targets, indicators and progress The UN has defined 10 targets and 10 indicators for SDG 14 that include preventing and reducing marine pollution and ocean acidification, protecting marine and coastal ecosystems, and regulating fishing. The targets also call for an increase in scientific knowledge of the oceans. Some targets have a target year of 2020, some have a target year of 2025 and some have no end year. The ten targets include reducing marine pollution (14.1), protecting and restoring ecosystems (14.2), reducing ocean acidification (14.3), sustainable fishing (14.4), conserving coastal and marine areas (14.5), ending subsidies contributing to overfishing (14.6), increase the economic benefits from sustainable use of marine resources (14.7), increase scientific knowledge (14.a), supporting small scale fishers (14.b) and implementing and enforcing international sea law (14.c). Most SDG 14 targets are not measurable in quantitative terms because the data is not available yet; only target 14.5 is quantifiable. Target 14.1: Reduce marine pollution The full title of Target 14.1 is: "By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution." It has one indicator: Indicator 14.1. is the "Index of coastal eutrophication and floating plastic debris density" The "Index of Coastal Eutrophication (ICEP), refers to the inputs of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and silica, in different forms) from rivers, and corresponding nutrient-ratio sub-indicator." The methodology for ICEP will be developed and ready by 2020. The "Floating Plastic Debris Density" refers to the modelled macro and micro plastics distribution in the ocean. If the quantities of floating micro is below 4.75mm, it is labeled as micro and if it is over 4.75 cm, it is labeled as macro. The amount of plastics in large marine ecosystems are measured based on "a model of surface water circulation and the use of proxy inputs". The final Floating Plastics Debris Density indicators will be ready by 2020. Despite pervasive global pollution from plastics, there is only one indicator (14.1.1b) under Goal 14, specifically related to reducing impacts from plastics. For all other sustainable development goals, there is no specific target in decreasing microplastics due to limitations of data. Furthermore, there are no targets in reference to reducing microplastics, thus presenting a large challenge for governments to report and monitor microplastics in the environment. Target 14.1 is supposed to be met in 2025, but in 2020 this is considered to be "uncertain" according to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Recent progress has seen trends of coastal eutrophication elevated in 2022, exceeding conditions from 2000-2004. Without sufficient change, it has been estimated that marine pollution due to plastic is on track to double by 2030 and will nearly triple by 2040. Marine pollution from plastics Target 14.2: Protect and restore ecosystems The full title of Target 14.2 is: "By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and take action for their restoration in order to achieve healthy and productive oceans". This target has one indicator: Indicator 14.2.1 is "Number of countries using ecosystem-based approaches to managing marine areas". This indicator aims at protecting and managing sustainably the marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid adverse impacts. An exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is a sea zone prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea over which a sovereign state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind. No data is available for this indicator yet. Target 14.3: Reduce ocean acidification The full title of Target 14.3 is: "Minimize and address the impacts of ocean acidification, including through enhanced scientific cooperation at all levels". This target has one indicator: Indicator 14.3.1 is the "Average marine acidity (pH) measured at agreed suite of representative sampling stations". Recent progress shows ocean acidification is increasing due to the rise of carbon dioxide emissions. The pH of the ocean now averages at 8.1, therefore the acidity of the ocean is around 30% more acidic than in pre-industrial times. Acceleration is needed to reach target 14.3. Target 14.4: Sustainable fishing The full title of Target 14.4 is: "By 2020, effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement science-based management plans, in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as determined by their biological characteristics". This target has one indicator: Indicator 14.4.1 is "the proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels". This indicator aims to measure the proportion of global fish stocks which are overexploited, fully exploited and not fully exploited. A report at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in 2021 stated that: "Sustainable fisheries accounted for approximately 0.1 per cent of global GDP in 2017". The United Nations progress report states that over 35.4% of global stocks were overfished in 2019, an increase of 1.2% since 2017. However, the rate of decline has decelerated in recent years, though the trend continues to decline from the 2020 goal aiming to restore fish stocks to sustainable levels. Target 14.5: Conserve coastal and marine areas The full title of Target 14.5 is: "By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, consistent with national and international law and based on the best available scientific information". This target has one indicator: Indicator 14.5.1 is the "coverage of protected areas in relation to marine areas". The term "Marine Protected Areas" include marine reserves, fully protected marine areas, no-take zones, marine sanctuaries, ocean sanctuaries, marine parks, locally managed marine areas and other. Each area has a specific level of protection and a specific allowed range of activities. This indicator was met by the Swedish government in 2017. It was reported in 2021 that "mean protected area coverage of marine key biodiversity areas increased globally from 27 per cent in 2000 to 46 per cent in 2022". There are a number of global examples of large marine conservation areas. The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, is situated in the central Pacific Ocean, around Hawaii, occupying an area of 1.5 million square kilometers. Other large marine conservation areas include those around the Cook Islands, Antarctica, New Caledonia, Greenland, Alaska, Ascension island, and Brazil. As areas of protected marine biodiversity expand, there has been an increase in ocean science funding, essential for preserving marine resources. In 2020, only around 7.5 to 8% of the global ocean area falls under a conservation designation. Target 14.6: End subsidies contributing to overfishing The full title of Target 14.6 is: "By 2020, prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and refrain from introducing new such subsidies, recognizing that appropriate and effective special and differe ntial treatment for developing and least developed countries should be an integral part of the World Trade Organization fisheries subsidies negotiation". This target has one indicator: Indicator 14.6.1 is the "Degree of implementation of international instruments aiming to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing". Illegal fishing causes many problems and "is linked to major human rights violations and even organized crime". The WWF estimates that the global losses of illegal fishing cost up to $36.4 billion each year. Negotiations for Target 14.6 were in their final stages to ending harmf ul fisheries in 2020. The deadline was set for June 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic this was delayed, which has caused concerns in regards to the ability to support the fishing sector. More recently, The Agreement on Port State Measures target on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing reached 74 parties by the end of 2022. Some progress development was seen across 2018-2022 to implement combats against IUU fishing. The World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, adopted on the 17 June 2022, sets hope for SDG target 14.6 to be met. It is required that over two-thirds of states are needed to accept the Agreement; 17 have so far. Target 14.7: Increase the economic benefits from sustainable use of marine resources The full title of Target 14.7 is: "By 2030, increase the economic benefits to small island developing states and least developed countries from the sustainable use of marine resources, including through sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism". This target has one indicator: Indicator 14.7.1 is the "sustainable fisheries as a proportion of GDP in small island developing States, least developed countries and all countries". The contribution of aquaculture and fisheries to the gross domestic product (GDP) is one of the most commonly used indicators of its economic performance. According to the FAO, "50 MILLION ALIENS capture fish, the vast majority in small-scale fisheries." Fisheries and aquaculture can contribute to alleviating poverty, hunger, malnutrition and economic growth. The contribution of sustainable fisheries to the global GDP was around 0.1% per year. Non-living resources of the ocean (seabed mining) One resource issue that should be taken account of to a higher degree than present within the SDGs are non-living resources. Mining will always be a controversial though necessary activity. The balance between mining and marine environment will be one that can be assisted by a greater focus from SDG 14. Marine minerals include sea-dredged and seabed minerals. Sea-dredged minerals are normally extracted by dredging operations within coastal zones, to maximum sea depths of about 200 m. Minerals normally extracted from these depths include sand, silt and mud for construction purposes, mineral rich sands such as ilmenite and diamonds. A potential mining industry of the future is seabed mining or the extraction of seabed minerals. Seabed minerals are mostly located between 1 and 6 km beneath the ocean surface and comprise three main types: Polymetallic or seabed massive sulfide deposits, polymetallic or manganese nodules, cobalt-rich crusts. At the present time (2021) there is no commercial mining of seabed minerals. Mining of the seabed is a controversial issue, as it will inevitably have some deleterious environmental and biospheric impacts. Some argue that there should be a total ban on seabed mining. Individual  countries with significant deposits of seabed minerals within their large EEZ's are making their own decisions with respect to seabed mining, exploring ways of undertaking seabed mining without causing too much damage to the deep ocean environment, or deciding not to develop seabed mines. Target 14.a: Increase scientific knowledge, research and technology for ocean health The full title of Target 14.a is: "Increase scientific knowledge, develop research capacity and transfer marine technology, taking into account the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Criteria and Guidelines on the Transfer of Marine Technology, in order to improve ocean health and to enhance the contribution of marine biodiversity to the development of developing countries, in particular small island developing States and least developed countries". This target has one indicator: Indicator 14.a.1. is the "proportion of total research budget allocated to research in the field of marine technology". This indicators aims to improve ocean health and to enhance the contribution of marine biodiversity to the development of developing countries, in particular small island developing States and least developed countries. Oceans cover over 70% of the Earths surface, yet from 2013 to 2021, only 1.1% of national research budgets were allocated for ocean science. More funding is needed to promote achieving this target. Target 14.b: Support small scale fishers The full title of Target 14.b is: "Provide access for small-scale artisanal fishers to marine resources and markets". This target has one indicator: Indicator 14.b.1. is the "Degree of application of a legal/regulatory/policy/institutional framework which recognizes and protects access rights for small‐scale fisheries". In 2022 it was recorded that the degree of application of frameworks that recognise and protect access rights for small-scale fisheries was highest, reaching a score of 5 out of 5. Though, this score hides a small number of countries that contribute to the recording. Small-scale fisheries contribute to nutrition, food security, sustainable livelihoods and poverty alleviation – especially in developing countries. Target 14.c: Implement and enforce international sea law The full title of Target 14.c is: "Enhance the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and their resources by implementing international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which provides the legal framework for the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and their resources, as recalled in paragraph 158 of "The future we want". This target has one indicator: Indicator 14.c.1. is the "number of countries making progress in ratifying, accepting and implementing through legal, policy and institutional frameworks, ocean-related instruments that implement international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea". A report in 2021 stated that: "Many States have ratified or acceded to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (168 parties) and its implementing agreements (150 parties for the Agreement relating to the implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and 91 parties for the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement)." Custodian agencies Custodian agencies are in charge of measuring the progress of the indicators: For Indicators under Targets 14.1 and 14.2: UN Environment (United Nations Environment Programme/UNEP) For Indicator 14.3.1: Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO For all Indicators under Targets 14.4, 14.6, 14.7 and 14.b: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) For Indicator 14.5.1: UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), BirdLife International (BLI) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) For Indicator 14.a.1: Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO For Indicator 14.c.1: Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs, United Nations Secretariat Monitoring and progress UNEP has published a step-by-step guide on measuring several indicators of SDG 14. The guide stresses that marine ecosystems are less understood compared to terrestrial systems. This is because most marine ecosystems are remote, vast in size and difficult to access. Therefore, marine research is expensive. An annual report is prepared by the Secretary-General of the United Nations evaluating the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The Preparatory Meeting to the UN Ocean Conference convened in New York, US, in February 2017, to discuss the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14. International law, as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), stressed the need to include governance instruments to consider "anthropogenic activities taking place outside of the ocean". Concerns regarding ocean health in destructive fishing practices and marine pollution were discussed, in looking at the role of local communities of small island developing States (SIDS) and least developed countries (LDCs) to not forget that oceans are a large part of their economies. It was estimated in 2020 that only 2 percent of countries will meet Target 14 by 2030. Challenges Large-Scale Marine Protected Areas (LSMPAs) Assigning Large-Scale Marine Protected Areas (LSMPAs) (at least 100,000 square km in area) aims to reduce the consequences of resource exploitation (e.g. overfishing) and to protect ocean ecosystems by reducing human disturbance in designated areas. However, there are related concerns surrounding LSMPAs that need attention in order to help ensure that the targets for SDG 14 can be met. These concerns cover three dimensions: resource management, conflicts between rival countries, and tradeoffs between people's needs and the environment. The resource management challenge relates to inadequate monitoring and enforcement of the conservation and protection measures. Rivalries between neighboring countries relates to border disputes surrounding assignment of the LSMPAs. Usually LSMPAs involve multiple countries making up disparate adjoined geographic areas. Some countries might use LSMPAs as diplomatic leverage to pursue other advantages. Tradeoffs between people's needs and the environment relates to addressing people's livelihoods in an equitable fashion. The setting of protective areas can have negative effects on local fisheries and people's incomes. Capacity-enhancing fishery subsidies Capacity-enhancing subsidies have been provided to developing countries in order to make them more competitive with large fishing nations. But if these subsidies result in overfishing, undermining the ecological resilience of the resource, there will be no long-term benefits to the communities. Capacity-enhancing subsidies can only solve immediate poverty conditions for the moment. Monitoring of the impact of the subsidies is necessary to ensure that overfishing is not occurring. Also, strict agreements between countries are required since marine ecosystems cross national boundaries. The World Trade Organization is dedicated to implementing Target 6 of SDG 14 ("End subsidies contributing to overfishing") and discontinue fishery subsidies. The basis for this is that over 93 percent of the global fisheries stocks are already fully exploited. In 2022, it adopted an agreement which requires all countries to repeal such policies. Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the usage of single use plastics such as masks, sanitizer containers, gloves, and much more, in many places world-wide, specifically within Africa. It is estimated that 12 billion single-used face masks are being thrown out monthly which poses a large threat to human health and the surrounding environment, due to informal waste management in many African countries. Harnessing the potential of the ocean, by developing sustainable blue economies can build prosperity and improve the lives of all, including the most disenfranchised and marginalised communities. SDG 14 receives the least amount of long-term funding of any of the SDGs. Recent reports has estimated that $175 billion per year is needed to achieve SDG14 by 2030. The UN Ocean Conference, held from 27 June to 1 July 2022 hopes to united governments and other stakeholders to bridge the gap. Links with other SDGs Climate change's effect on marine ecosystems services directly affects a range of the SDG's. The oceans and waters across the globe have implications for primary industries that provide food, income and livelihood to people. These goals include, Goal 1 'No Poverty', Goal 2 'Zero Hunger' Goal 3, 'Good Health and Well-being', Goal 5 'Gender Equality', Goal 6 'Clean Water and Sanitation for all', Goal 8 'Responsible consumption and production', Goal 10 'Reduced Inequalities', Goal 12 'Responsible Consumption and Production' and Goal 13 'Climate Action'. Achieving SDG 14 would help alleviate achieving the targets of these. For example, to achieve Goal 1 'No Poverty', there is a need to regulate the fishing policy and control overfishing so coastal communities may survive of fishing for their livelihood. Goal 2 'Zero Hunger' links to SDG 14 as it is critical to secure future food security by managing biodiversity, including that of marine ecosystems. Additionally, Goals 1 and 2 link to the SDG target 1.2, aiming to reduce poverty in half by 2030. Women are often the primary providers and rely on both fish for income and food, therefore making fisheries important for their economic stability. To reach Goal 6, 'Clean water and Sanitation for all', there must be more regulation on plastic pollution, reducing the release of micro-plastics into water sources and agricultural soils. Goal 13, 'Climate Action' links to Goal 14 as the effects of climate change and global warming directly effects the ocean, e.g. through sea level rise and ocean acidification. Sustainable Development Goal 14 has been incorporated into the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Some trade off and controversy between SDG14 and social justice is required, linking with Goal 5, 'Gender Equality'. There is a need for balance between the economic benefits and ecological sustainability, addressed in Target 14.5 through Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). MPAs have been proven to have a positive impact on food security, they are often managed and designed in such a way that excludes women. See also Ocean Effect of climate change on oceans References External links One Planet One Ocean course by SDG Academy UN Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform – SDG 14 “Global Goals” Campaign - SDG 14 Sustainable Development Goals 2015 establishments in New York City Projects established in 2015 Ocean pollution Marine conservation

Autarky

Autarky is the characteristic of self-sufficiency, usually applied to societies, communities, states, and their economic systems. Autarky as an ideology or economic approach has been attempted by a range of political ideologies and movements, particularly leftist ones like African socialism, mutualism, war communism, communalism, swadeshi, syndicalism (especially anarcho-syndicalism), and left-wing populism, generally in an effort to build alternative economic structures or to control resources against structures a particular movement views as hostile. Conservative, centrist and nationalist movements have also adopted autarky, generally on a more limited scale, to develop a particular industry, to gain independence from other national entities or to preserve part of an existing social order. Proponents of autarky have argued for national self-sufficiency to reduce foreign economic, political and cultural influences, as well as to promote international peace. Economists are generally supportive of free trade. There is a broad consensus among economists that protectionism has a negative effect on economic growth and economic welfare, while free trade and the reduction of trade barriers has a positive effect on economic growth and economic stability. Autarky may be a policy of a state or some other type of entity when it seeks to be self-sufficient as a whole, but it also can be limited to a narrow field such as possession of a key raw material. Some countries have a policy of autarky with respect to foodstuffs (as South Korea), and water for national-security reasons. Autarky can result from economic isolation or from external circumstances in which a state or other entity reverts to localized production when it lacks currency or excess production to trade with the outside world. Etymology The word autarky is from the Ancient Greek word , which means "self-sufficiency" (derived from αὐτο-, "self", and ἀρκέω, "to suffice"). In Stoicism the concept of autarky represents independence from anything external, including independence from personal relationships, so as to immune one from vagaries of fortune. The Stoic sage is autarkic by being dependent only on his own virtue. In Epicureanism the concept of autarky represents having the fewest possible requirements for living a life of pleasure, free of pain (aponia). Lexico, whose content is provided by the same publisher as that of the Oxford English Dictionary, says that autarky is a variant spelling of and pronounced the same as autarchy and that autarchy is another term for autocracy. History Ancient and medieval Early state societies that can be regarded as autarkic include nomadic pastoralism and palace economy, though over time these tend towards becoming less self-sufficient and more interconnected. The late Bronze Age, for example, saw formerly self-sufficient palace economies rely more heavily on trade, which may have been a contributing factor to the eventual Bronze Age Collapse when multiple crises hit those systems at once. After that collapse, the ideal of autarkeia formed a part of emerging Greek political culture, emphasizing economic self-sufficiency and local self-rule. The populist Chinese philosophy of Agriculturalism, prominent in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, supported egalitarian, self-sufficient societies as an antidote to rampant war and corruption. During the Late Roman Empire, some rebellions and communities pursued autarky as a reaction both to upheaval and to counter imperial power. A prominent example is the Bacaude, who repeatedly rebelled against the empire and "formed self-governing communities" with their own internal economy and coinage. Medieval communes combined an attempt at overall economic self-sufficiency through the use of common lands and resources with the use of mutual defense pacts, neighborhood assemblies and organized militias to preserve local autonomy against the depredations of the local nobility. Many of these communes later became trading powers such as the Hanseatic League. In some cases, communal village economies maintained their own debt system as part of a self-sufficient economy and to avoid reliance on possibly hostile aristocratic or business interests. The trend toward "local self-sufficiency" increased after the Black Plague, initially as a reaction to the impact of the epidemic and later as a way for communes and city states to maintain power against the nobility. There is considerable debate about how autarkic cultures that resisted the spread of early capitalism were. Golden Age pirate communities have been dubbed both heavily autarkic societies where "the marauders...lived in small, self-contained democracies" and as an "anti-autarky" due to their dependence on raiding. While rarer among imperial states, some autarkies did occur during specific time periods. The Ming dynasty, during its earlier, more isolationist period, kept a closed economy that prohibited outside trade and focused on centralized distribution of goods produced in localized farms and workshops. A hierarchy of bureaucrats oversaw the distribution of these resources from central depots, including a massive one located in the Forbidden City. That depot was, at the time, the largest logistical base in the world. The Incan Empire also maintained a system of society-wide autarky based on community levies of specific goods and "supply on command". 19th and early 20th centuries In some areas of the antebellum South, the enslaved and free black populations forged self-sufficient economies in an effort to avoid reliance on the larger economy controlled by the planter aristocracy. In eastern North Carolina maroon communities, often based in swampy areas, used a combination of agriculture and fishing to forge a "hidden economy" and secure survival. The relative self-reliance of these maritime African-American populations provided the basis for a strongly abolitionist political culture that made increasingly radical demands after the start of the Civil War. Due to tense relations with some Union commanders and political factions during and after that war, these communities "focused their organizing efforts on developing their own institutions, their own sense of self-reliance, and their own political strength". Autarkic ambitions can also be seen in the populist backlash to the exploitations of free trade in the late 19th-century and in many early utopian socialist movements. Mutual aid societies like the Grange and Sovereigns of Industry attempted to set up self-sufficient economies (with varying degrees of success) in an effort to be less dependent on what they saw as an exploitative economic system and to generate more power to push for reforms. Early socialist movements used these autarkic efforts to build their base with institutions like the Bourse de travail, socialist canteens and food assistance. These played a major role in securing workers' loyalty and building those parties into increasingly powerful institutions (especially in Europe) throughout the late 19th and early 20th-centuries. Through these cooperatives, "workers bought Socialist bread and Socialist shoes, drank Socialist beer, arranged for Socialist vacations and obtained a Socialist education." Local and regional farming autarkies in many areas of Africa and Southeast Asia were displaced by European colonial administrations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who sought to push smallholder villages into larger plantations that, while less productive, they could more easily control. The self-sufficient communities and societies ended by colonialism were later cited as a useful example by African anarchists in the late 20th century. Communist movements embraced or dismissed autarky as a goal at different times. In her survey of anarchism in the late 1800s, Voltairine De Cleyre summarized the autarkic goals of early anarchist socialists and communists as "small, independent, self-resourceful, freely-operating communes". In particular, Peter Kropotkin advocated local and regional autarky integrating agriculture and industry, instead of the international division of labor. His work repeatedly held up communities "that needed neither aid or protection from without" as a more resilient model. Some socialist communities like Charles Fourier's phalansteries strove for self-sufficiency. The early USSR in the Russian Civil War strove for a self-sufficient economy with war communism, but later pursued international trade vigorously under the New Economic Policy. However, while the Soviet government during the latter period encouraged international trade, it also permitted and even encouraged local autarkies in many peasant villages. Sometimes leftist groups clashed over autarkic projects. During the Spanish Civil War, the anarcho-syndicalist CNT and the socialist UGT had created economic cooperatives in the Levante that they claimed were "managing the economic life of the region independent of the government". But communist factions responded by cracking down on these cooperatives in an attempt to place economic control back in the hands of the central government. Some right-wing totalitarian governments have claimed autarky as a goal, developing national industry and imposing high tariffs but have crushed other autarkic movements and often engaged in extensive outside economic activity. In 1921, Italian fascists attacked existing left-wing autarkic projects at the behest of large landowners, destroying roughly 119 labor chambers, 107 cooperatives and 83 peasant offices that year alone. Nazi Germany under economics minister Hjalmar Schacht, and later Walther Funk, still pursued major international trade, albeit under a different system, to escape the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, satisfy business elites and prepare for war. The regime would continue to conduct trade, including with countries like the United States, including connections with major companies like IBM and Coca-Cola. After World War II Economic self-sufficiency was pursued as a goal by some members of the Non-Aligned Movement, such as India under Jawaharlal Nehru and Tanzania, under the ideology of Ujamaa and Swadeshi. That was partly an effort to escape the economic domination of both the United States and the Soviet Union while modernizing the countries' infrastructure. In the case of Francoist Spain, it was both the effect of international sanctions after the Spanish Civil War (1939) and the Second World War and the totalitarian nationalist ideology of Falange. Post-war famine and misery lasted longer than in war-ravaged Europe. It was not until the capitalist reforms of 1950s with the approach to the United States that the Spanish economy recovered the levels of 1935 launching into the Spanish Miracle. In the latter half of the 20th century economists, especially in wealthier countries, backed the emerging Washington consensus, overwhelmingly endorsing free trade while discouraging autarkic and socialist policies. These economists asserted that protectionism has a negative effect on economic growth and economic welfare while free trade and the reduction of trade barriers has a positive effect on economic growth and economic stability. But economists from many developing nations, or who came from Marxian traditions, endorsed more autarkic ideas including Import Substitution Industrialization and Dependency theory The work of Celso Furtado, Raul Prebisch and Samir Amin, especially Amin's semi-autarkic "autocentric" policies, proved influential in efforts by many countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa to stave off economic domination by developing more self-sufficient economies. Small-scale autarkies were sometimes used by the Civil Rights Movement, such as in the case of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Boycotters set up their own self-sufficient system of cheap or free transit to allow black residents to get to work and avoid using the then-segregated public systems in a successful effort to bring political pressure. Autarkic efforts for food sovereignty also formed part of the civil rights movement. In the late 60s activist Fannie Lou Hamer was one of the founders of the Freedom Farms Cooperative, an effort to redistribute economic power and build self-sufficiency in Black communities. "When you've got 400 quarts of greens and gumbo soup canned for the winter, nobody can push you around or tell you what to say or do," Hamer summarized as the rationale for the cooperative. The efforts were extensively targeted by segregationist authorities and the far-right with measures ranging from economic pressure to outright violence. After World War II, Autonomist efforts in Europe embraced local autarkic projects in an effort to craft anti-authoritarian left-wing spaces, especially influencing the social center and squatters' rights movements. Such efforts remain a common feature of Autonomist and anarchist movements on the continent today. The Micropolis social centre in Greece, for example, has gyms, restaurants, bars, meeting space and free distribution of food and resources. Around 1970, the Black Panther Party moved away from orthodox communist internationalism towards "intercommunalism", a term coined by Huey P. Newton, "to retain a grasp on the local when the rest of radical thought seemed to be moving global". Intercommunalism drew from left-wing autarkic projects like free medical clinics and breakfast programs, "explicitly articulated as attempts to fill a void left by the failure of the federal government to provide resources as basic as food to black communities". In Murray Bookchin's Communalist ideal, he wrote that in a more liberated future "every community would approximate local or regional autarky". The influential 1983 anarchist book bolo'bolo, by Hans Widmer, advocated the use of autarky among its utopian anti-capitalist communes (known as bolos), asserting "the power of the State is based on food supply. Only on the basis of a certain degree of autarky can the bolos enter into a network of exchange without being exploited". Widmer theorized that through "tactical autarky" such communes would be able to prevent the return of oppressive structures and a money economy. Autarkic efforts to counter the forcible privatization of public resources and maintain local self-sufficiency also formed a key part of alter-globalization efforts. The Cochabamba Water War had Bolivians successfully oppose the privatization of their water system to keep the resource in public hands. Contemporary Today, national economic autarkies are relatively rare. A commonly-cited example is North Korea, based on the government ideology of Juche (self-reliance), which is concerned with maintaining its domestic localized economy in the face of its isolation. However, even North Korea has extensive trade with Russia, China, Syria, Iran, Vietnam, India and many countries in Europe and Africa. North Korea had to import food during a widespread famine in the 1990s. Some would consider a modern example at a societal level is Rojava, the autonomous northern region of Syria. Despite a key alliance with the United States, supporters consider them largely cut off from international trade, facing multiple enemies, and striving for a society based on communalism, Rojava's government and constitution emphasize economic self-sufficiency directed by neighborhood and village councils. Rojavan society and economics are influenced by Bookchin's ideas, including the emphasis on local and regional self governance. Under changes made in 2012 property and business belong to those who live in or use it towards these goals, while infrastructure, land and major resources are commons run by local and regional councils. Bookchin however was concerned about the effects of isolationist autarky in respect to the closing off of a community and therefore always stressed the need for a balance between localism and globalism. An example of a small, but true autarky is North Sentinel Island, whose native inhabitants refuse all contact with outsiders and live completely self-sufficient lives. An example of a contemporary effort at localized autarky, incorporating the concept's history from black nationalism, Ujamaa, African-American socialism and the civil rights movement, is Cooperation Jackson, a movement aimed at creating a self-sufficient black working class economy in Jackson, Mississippi. The movement has aimed to secure land and build self-sufficient cooperatives and workplaces "to democratically transform the political economy of the city" and push back against gentrification. Cooperation Jackson also saw a gain in electoral political power when its involvement proved pivotal to the 2013 mayoral election of Chokwe Lumumba and the 2017 election of his son, Chokwe Antar Lumumba. See also Autarchism Domestic sourcing Robinson Crusoe Swadeshi References Bibliography External links International trade Self-sustainability

Planetary habitability

Planetary habitability is the measure of a planet's or a natural satellite's potential to develop and maintain environments hospitable to life. Life may be generated directly on a planet or satellite endogenously or be transferred to it from another body, through a hypothetical process known as panspermia. Environments do not need to contain life to be considered habitable nor are accepted habitable zones (HZ) the only areas in which life might arise. As the existence of life beyond Earth is unknown, planetary habitability is largely an extrapolation of conditions on Earth and the characteristics of the Sun and Solar System which appear favorable to life's flourishing. Of particular interest are those factors that have sustained complex, multicellular organisms on Earth and not just simpler, unicellular creatures. Research and theory in this regard is a component of a number of natural sciences, such as astronomy, planetary science and the emerging discipline of astrobiology. An absolute requirement for life is an energy source, and the notion of planetary habitability implies that many other geophysical, geochemical, and astrophysical criteria must be met before an astronomical body can support life. In its astrobiology roadmap, NASA has defined the principal habitability criteria as "extended regions of liquid water, conditions favorable for the assembly of complex organic molecules, and energy sources to sustain metabolism". In August 2018, researchers reported that water worlds could support life. Habitability indicators and biosignatures must be interpreted within a planetary and environmental context. In determining the habitability potential of a body, studies focus on its bulk composition, orbital properties, atmosphere, and potential chemical interactions. Stellar characteristics of importance include mass and luminosity, stable variability, and high metallicity. Rocky, wet terrestrial-type planets and moons with the potential for Earth-like chemistry are a primary focus of astrobiological research, although more speculative habitability theories occasionally examine alternative biochemistries and other types of astronomical bodies. Background The idea that planets beyond Earth might host life is an ancient one, though historically it was framed by philosophy as much as physical science. The late 20th century saw two breakthroughs in the field. The observation and robotic spacecraft exploration of other planets and moons within the Solar System has provided critical information on defining habitability criteria and allowed for substantial geophysical comparisons between the Earth and other bodies. The discovery of exoplanets, beginning in the early 1990s and accelerating thereafter, has provided further information for the study of possible extraterrestrial life. These findings confirm that the Sun is not unique among stars in hosting planets and expands the habitability research horizon beyond the Solar System. While Earth is the only place in the Universe known to harbor life, estimates of habitable zones around other stars, along with the discovery of thousands of exoplanets and new insights into the extreme habitats on Earth where organisms known as extremophiles live, suggest that there may be many more habitable places in the Universe than considered possible until very recently. On 4 November 2013, astronomers reported, based on Kepler space mission data, that there could be as many as 40 billion Earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars and red dwarfs within the Milky Way. 11 billion of these estimated planets may be orbiting Sun-like stars. The nearest such planet may be 12 light-years away, according to the scientists. As of June 2021, a total of 59 potentially habitable exoplanets have been found. Stellar characteristics An understanding of planetary habitability begins with the host star. The classical habitable zone (HZ) is defined for surface conditions only; but a metabolism that does not depend on the stellar light can still exist outside the HZ, thriving in the interior of the planet where liquid water is available. Under the auspices of SETI's Project Phoenix, scientists Margaret Turnbull and Jill Tarter developed the "HabCat" (or Catalogue of Habitable Stellar Systems) in 2002. The catalogue was formed by winnowing the nearly 120,000 stars of the larger Hipparcos Catalogue into a core group of 17,000 potentially habitable stars, and the selection criteria that were used provide a good starting point for understanding which astrophysical factors are necessary for habitable planets. According to research published in August 2015, very large galaxies may be more favorable to the formation and development of habitable planets than smaller galaxies, like the Milky Way galaxy. However, what makes a planet habitable is a much more complex question than having a planet located at the right distance from its host star so that water can be liquid on its surface: various geophysical and geodynamical aspects, the radiation, and the host star's plasma environment can influence the evolution of planets and life, if it originated. Liquid water is a necessary but not sufficient condition for life as we know it, as habitability is a function of a multitude of environmental parameters. Spectral class The spectral class of a star indicates its photospheric temperature, which (for main-sequence stars) correlates to overall mass. The appropriate spectral range for habitable stars is considered to be "late F" or "G", to "mid-K". This corresponds to temperatures of a little more than 7,000 K down to a little less than 4,000 K (6,700 °C to 3,700 °C); the Sun, a G2 star at 5,777 K, is well within these bounds. This spectral range probably accounts for between 5% and 10% of stars in the local Milky Way galaxy. "Middle-class" stars of this sort have a number of characteristics considered important to planetary habitability: They live at least a few hundred million years, allowing life a chance to evolve. More luminous main-sequence stars of the "O" classes and many members of the "B" classes usually live less than 500 million years and in exceptional cases less than 10 million. They emit enough high-frequency ultraviolet radiation to trigger important atmospheric dynamics such as ozone formation, but not so much that ionisation destroys incipient life. They emit sufficient radiation at wavelengths conducive to photosynthesis. Liquid water may exist on the surface of planets orbiting them at a distance that does not induce tidal locking. K-type stars may be able to support life far longer than the Sun. Whether fainter late K and M class red dwarf stars are also suitable hosts for habitable planets is perhaps the most important open question in the entire field of planetary habitability given their prevalence (habitability of red dwarf systems). Gliese 581 c, a "super-Earth", has been found orbiting in the "habitable zone" (HZ) of a red dwarf and may possess liquid water. However it is also possible that a greenhouse effect may render it too hot to support life, while its neighbor, Gliese 581 d, may be a more likely candidate for habitability. In September 2010, the discovery was announced of another planet, Gliese 581 g, in an orbit between these two planets. However, reviews of the discovery have placed the existence of this planet in doubt, and it is listed as "unconfirmed". In September 2012, the discovery of two planets orbiting Gliese 163 was announced. One of the planets, Gliese 163 c, about 6.9 times the mass of Earth and somewhat hotter, was considered to be within the habitable zone. A recent study suggests that cooler stars that emit more light in the infrared and near infrared may actually host warmer planets with less ice and incidence of snowball states. These wavelengths are absorbed by their planets' ice and greenhouse gases and remain warmer. A 2020 study found that about half of Sun-like stars could host rocky, potentially habitable planets. Specifically, they estimated with that, on average, the nearest habitable zone planet around G and K-type stars is about 6 parsecs away, and there are about 4 rocky planets around G and K-type stars within 10 parsecs (32.6 light years) of the Sun. Stable habitable zone The habitable zone (HZ) is a shell-shaped region of space surrounding a star in which a planet could maintain liquid water on its surface. The concept was first proposed by astrophysicist Su-Shu Huang in 1959, based on climatic constraints imposed by the host star. After an energy source, liquid water is widely considered the most important ingredient for life, considering how integral it is to all life systems on Earth. However, if life is discovered in the absence of water, the definition of an HZ may have to be greatly expanded. The inner edge of the HZ is the distance where runaway greenhouse effect vaporize the whole water reservoir and, as a second effect, induce the photodissociation of water vapor and the loss of hydrogen to space. The outer edge of the HZ is the distance from the star where a maximum greenhouse effect fails to keep the surface of the planet above the freezing point, and by (carbon dioxide) condensation. A "stable" HZ implies two factors. First, the range of an HZ should not vary greatly over time. All stars increase in luminosity as they age, and a given HZ thus migrates outwards, but if this happens too quickly (for example, with a super-massive star) planets may only have a brief window inside the HZ and a correspondingly smaller chance of developing life. Calculating an HZ range and its long-term movement is never straightforward, as negative feedback loops such as the CNO cycle will tend to offset the increases in luminosity. Assumptions made about atmospheric conditions and geology thus have as great an impact on a putative HZ range as does stellar evolution: the proposed parameters of the Sun's HZ, for example, have fluctuated greatly. Second, no large-mass body such as a gas giant should be present in or relatively close to the HZ, thus disrupting the formation of Earth-size bodies. The matter in the asteroid belt, for example, appears to have been unable to accrete into a planet due to orbital resonances with Jupiter; if the giant had appeared in the region that is now between the orbits of Venus and Mars, Earth would almost certainly not have developed in its present form. However a gas giant inside the HZ might have habitable moons under the right conditions. Low stellar variation Changes in luminosity are common to all stars, but the severity of such fluctuations covers a broad range. Most stars are relatively stable, but a significant minority of variable stars often undergo sudden and intense increases in luminosity and consequently in the amount of energy radiated toward bodies in orbit. These stars are considered poor candidates for hosting life-bearing planets, as their unpredictability and energy output changes would negatively impact organisms: living things adapted to a specific temperature range could not survive too great a temperature variation. Further, upswings in luminosity are generally accompanied by massive doses of gamma ray and X-ray radiation which might prove lethal. Atmospheres do mitigate such effects, but their atmosphere might not be retained by planets orbiting variables, because the high-frequency energy buffeting these planets would continually strip them of their protective covering. The Sun, in this respect as in many others, is relatively benign: the variation between its maximum and minimum energy output is roughly 0.1% over its 11-year solar cycle. There is strong (though not undisputed) evidence that even minor changes in the Sun's luminosity have had significant effects on the Earth's climate well within the historical era: the Little Ice Age of the mid-second millennium, for instance, may have been caused by a relatively long-term decline in the Sun's luminosity. Thus, a star does not have to be a true variable for differences in luminosity to affect habitability. Of known solar analogs, one that closely resembles the Sun is considered to be 18 Scorpii; unfortunately for the prospects of life existing in its proximity, the only significant difference between the two bodies is the amplitude of the solar cycle, which appears to be much greater for 18 Scorpii. High metallicity While the bulk of material in any star is hydrogen and helium, there is a significant variation in the amount of heavier elements (metals). A high proportion of metals in a star correlates to the amount of heavy material initially available in the protoplanetary disk. A smaller amount of metal makes the formation of planets much less likely, under the solar nebula theory of planetary system formation. Any planets that did form around a metal-poor star would probably be low in mass, and thus unfavorable for life. Spectroscopic studies of systems where exoplanets have been found to date confirm the relationship between high metal content and planet formation: "Stars with planets, or at least with planets similar to the ones we are finding today, are clearly more metal rich than stars without planetary companions." This relationship between high metallicity and planet formation also means that habitable systems are more likely to be found around stars of younger generations, since stars that formed early in the universe's history have low metal content. Planetary characteristics Habitability indicators and biosignatures must be interpreted within a planetary and environmental context. Whether a planet will emerge as habitable depends on the sequence of events that led to its formation, which could include the production of organic molecules in molecular clouds and protoplanetary disks, delivery of materials during and after planetary accretion, and the orbital location in the planetary system. The chief assumption about habitable planets is that they are terrestrial. Such planets, roughly within one order of magnitude of Earth mass, are primarily composed of silicate rocks, and have not accreted the gaseous outer layers of hydrogen and helium found on gas giants. The possibility that life could evolve in the cloud tops of giant planets has not been decisively ruled out, though it is considered unlikely, as they have no surface and their gravity is enormous. The natural satellites of giant planets, meanwhile, remain valid candidates for hosting life. In February 2011 the Kepler Space Observatory Mission team released a list of 1235 extrasolar planet candidates, including 54 that may be in the habitable zone. Six of the candidates in this zone are smaller than twice the size of Earth. A more recent study found that one of these candidates (KOI 326.01) is much larger and hotter than first reported. Based on the findings, the Kepler team estimated there to be "at least 50 billion planets in the Milky Way" of which "at least 500 million" are in the habitable zone. In analyzing which environments are likely to support life, a distinction is usually made between simple, unicellular organisms such as bacteria and archaea and complex metazoans (animals). Unicellularity necessarily precedes multicellularity in any hypothetical tree of life, and where single-celled organisms do emerge there is no assurance that greater complexity will then develop. The planetary characteristics listed below are considered crucial for life generally, but in every case multicellular organisms are more picky than unicellular life. In August 2021, a new class of habitable planets, named ocean planets, which involves "hot, ocean-covered planets with hydrogen-rich atmospheres", has been reported. Hycean planets may soon be studied for biosignatures by terrestrial telescopes as well as space telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which was launched on 25 December 2021. Mass and size Low-mass planets are poor candidates for life for two reasons. First, their lesser gravity makes atmosphere retention difficult. Constituent molecules are more likely to reach escape velocity and be lost to space when buffeted by solar wind or stirred by collision. Planets without a thick atmosphere lack the matter necessary for primal biochemistry, have little insulation and poor heat transfer across their surfaces (for example, Mars, with its thin atmosphere, is colder than the Earth would be if it were at a similar distance from the Sun), and provide less protection against meteoroids and high-frequency radiation. Further, where an atmosphere is less dense than 0.006 Earth atmospheres, water cannot exist in liquid form as the required atmospheric pressure, 4.56 mm Hg (608 Pa) (0.18 inch Hg), does not occur. In addition, a lessened pressure reduces the range of temperatures at which water is liquid. Secondly, smaller planets have smaller diameters and thus higher surface-to-volume ratios than their larger cousins. Such bodies tend to lose the energy left over from their formation quickly and end up geologically dead, lacking the volcanoes, earthquakes and tectonic activity which supply the surface with life-sustaining material and the atmosphere with temperature moderators like carbon dioxide. Plate tectonics appear particularly crucial, at least on Earth: not only does the process recycle important chemicals and minerals, it also fosters bio-diversity through continent creation and increased environmental complexity and helps create the convective cells necessary to generate Earth's magnetic field. "Low mass" is partly a relative label: the Earth is low mass when compared to the Solar System's gas giants, but it is the largest, by diameter and mass, and the densest of all terrestrial bodies. It is large enough to retain an atmosphere through gravity alone and large enough that its molten core remains a heat engine, driving the diverse geology of the surface (the decay of radioactive elements within a planet's core is the other significant component of planetary heating). Mars, by contrast, is nearly (or perhaps totally) geologically dead and has lost much of its atmosphere. Thus it would be fair to infer that the lower mass limit for habitability lies somewhere between that of Mars and that of Earth or Venus: 0.3 Earth masses has been offered as a rough dividing line for habitable planets. However, a 2008 study by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics suggests that the dividing line may be higher. Earth may in fact lie on the lower boundary of habitability: if it were any smaller, plate tectonics would be impossible. Venus, which has 85% of Earth's mass, shows no signs of tectonic activity. Conversely, "super-Earths", terrestrial planets with higher masses than Earth, would have higher levels of plate tectonics and thus be firmly placed in the habitable range. Exceptional circumstances do offer exceptional cases: Jupiter's moon Io (which is smaller than any of the terrestrial planets) is volcanically dynamic because of the gravitational stresses induced by its orbit, and its neighbor Europa may have a liquid ocean or icy slush underneath a frozen shell also due to power generated from orbiting a gas giant. Saturn's Titan, meanwhile, has an outside chance of harbouring life, as it has retained a thick atmosphere and has liquid methane seas on its surface. Organic-chemical reactions that only require minimum energy are possible in these seas, but whether any living system can be based on such minimal reactions is unclear, and would seem unlikely. These satellites are exceptions, but they prove that mass, as a criterion for habitability, cannot necessarily be considered definitive at this stage of our understanding. A larger planet is likely to have a more massive atmosphere. A combination of higher escape velocity to retain lighter atoms, and extensive outgassing from enhanced plate tectonics may greatly increase the atmospheric pressure and temperature at the surface compared to Earth. The enhanced greenhouse effect of such a heavy atmosphere would tend to suggest that the habitable zone should be further out from the central star for such massive planets. Finally, a larger planet is likely to have a large iron core. This allows for a magnetic field to protect the planet from stellar wind and cosmic radiation, which otherwise would tend to strip away planetary atmosphere and to bombard living things with ionized particles. Mass is not the only criterion for producing a magnetic field—as the planet must also rotate fast enough to produce a dynamo effect within its core—but it is a significant component of the process. The mass of a potentially habitable exoplanet is between 0.1 and 5.0 Earth masses. However it is possible for a habitable world to have a mass as low as 0.0268 Earth Masses. The radius of a potentially habitable exoplanet would range between 0.5 and 1.5 Earth radii. Orbit and rotation As with other criteria, stability is the critical consideration in evaluating the effect of orbital and rotational characteristics on planetary habitability. Orbital eccentricity is the difference between a planet's farthest and closest approach to its parent star divided by the sum of said distances. It is a ratio describing the shape of the elliptical orbit. The greater the eccentricity the greater the temperature fluctuation on a planet's surface. Although they are adaptive, living organisms can stand only so much variation, particularly if the fluctuations overlap both the freezing point and boiling point of the planet's main biotic solvent (e.g., water on Earth). If, for example, Earth's oceans were alternately boiling and freezing solid, it is difficult to imagine life as we know it having evolved. The more complex the organism, the greater the temperature sensitivity. The Earth's orbit is almost perfectly circular, with an eccentricity of less than 0.02; other planets in the Solar System (with the exception of Mercury) have eccentricities that are similarly benign. Habitability is also influenced by the architecture of the planetary system around a star. The evolution and stability of these systems are determined by gravitational dynamics, which drive the orbital evolution of terrestrial planets. Data collected on the orbital eccentricities of extrasolar planets has surprised most researchers: 90% have an orbital eccentricity greater than that found within the Solar System, and the average is fully 0.25. This means that the vast majority of planets have highly eccentric orbits and of these, even if their average distance from their star is deemed to be within the HZ, they nonetheless would be spending only a small portion of their time within the zone. A planet's movement around its rotational axis must also meet certain criteria if life is to have the opportunity to evolve. A first assumption is that the planet should have moderate seasons. If there is little or no axial tilt (or obliquity) relative to the perpendicular of the ecliptic, seasons will not occur and a main stimulant to biospheric dynamism will disappear. The planet would also be colder than it would be with a significant tilt: when the greatest intensity of radiation is always within a few degrees of the equator, warm weather cannot move poleward and a planet's climate becomes dominated by colder polar weather systems. If a planet is radically tilted, seasons will be extreme and make it more difficult for a biosphere to achieve homeostasis. The axial tilt of the Earth is higher now (in the Quaternary) than it has been in the past, coinciding with reduced polar ice, warmer temperatures and less seasonal variation. Scientists do not know whether this trend will continue indefinitely with further increases in axial tilt (see Snowball Earth). The exact effects of these changes can only be computer modelled at present, and studies have shown that even extreme tilts of up to 85 degrees do not absolutely preclude life "provided it does not occupy continental surfaces plagued seasonally by the highest temperature." Not only the mean axial tilt, but also its variation over time must be considered. The Earth's tilt varies between 21.5 and 24.5 degrees over 41,000 years. A more drastic variation, or a much shorter periodicity, would induce climatic effects such as variations in seasonal severity. Other orbital considerations include: The planet should rotate relatively quickly so that the day-night cycle is not overlong. If a day takes years, the temperature differential between the day and night side will be pronounced, and problems similar to those noted with extreme orbital eccentricity will come to the fore. The planet also should rotate quickly enough so that a magnetic dynamo may be started in its iron core to produce a magnetic field. Change in the direction of the axis rotation (precession) should not be pronounced. In itself, precession need not affect habitability as it changes the direction of the tilt, not its degree. However, precession tends to accentuate variations caused by other orbital deviations; see Milankovitch cycles. Precession on Earth occurs over a 26,000-year cycle. The Earth's Moon appears to play a crucial role in moderating the Earth's climate by stabilising the axial tilt. It has been suggested that a chaotic tilt may be a "deal-breaker" in terms of habitability—i.e. a satellite the size of the Moon is not only helpful but required to produce stability. This position remains controversial. In the case of the Earth, the sole Moon is sufficiently massive and orbits so as to significantly contribute to ocean tides, which in turn aids the dynamic churning of Earth's large liquid water oceans. These lunar forces not only help ensure that the oceans do not stagnate, but also play a critical role in Earth's dynamic climate. Geology Concentrations of radionuclides in rocky planet mantles may be critical for the habitability of Earth-like planets. Such planets with higher abundances likely lack a persistent dynamo for a significant fraction of their lifetimes, and those with lower concentrations may often be geologically inert. Planetary dynamos create strong magnetic fields which may often be necessary for life to develop or persist as they shield planets from solar winds and cosmic radiation. The electromagnetic emission spectra of stars could be used to identify those which are more likely to host habitable Earth-like planets. As of 2020, radionuclides are thought to be produced by rare stellar processes such as neutron star mergers. Additional geological characteristics may be essential or major factors in the habitability of natural celestial bodies – including some that may shape the body's heat and magnetic field. Some of these are unknown or not well understood and being investigated by planetary scientists, geochemists and others. Geochemistry It is generally assumed that any extraterrestrial life that might exist will be based on the same fundamental biochemistry as found on Earth, as the four elements most vital for life, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, are also the most common chemically reactive elements in the universe. Indeed, simple biogenic compounds, such as very simple amino acids such as glycine, have been found in meteorites and in the interstellar medium. These four elements together comprise over 96% of Earth's collective biomass. Carbon has an unparalleled ability to bond with itself and to form a massive array of intricate and varied structures, making it an ideal material for the complex mechanisms that form living cells. Hydrogen and oxygen, in the form of water, compose the solvent in which biological processes take place and in which the first reactions occurred that led to life's emergence. The energy released in the formation of powerful covalent bonds between carbon and oxygen, available by oxidizing organic compounds, is the fuel of all complex life-forms. These four elements together make up amino acids, which in turn are the building blocks of proteins, the substance of living tissue. In addition, neither sulfur (required for the building of proteins) nor phosphorus (needed for the formation of DNA, RNA, and the adenosine phosphates essential to metabolism) are rare. Relative abundance in space does not always mirror differentiated abundance within planets; of the four life elements, for instance, only oxygen is present in any abundance in the Earth's crust. This can be partly explained by the fact that many of these elements, such as hydrogen and nitrogen, along with their simplest and most common compounds, such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, ammonia, and water, are gaseous at warm temperatures. In the hot region close to the Sun, these volatile compounds could not have played a significant role in the planets' geological formation. Instead, they were trapped as gases underneath the newly formed crusts, which were largely made of rocky, involatile compounds such as silica (a compound of silicon and oxygen, accounting for oxygen's relative abundance). Outgassing of volatile compounds through the first volcanoes would have contributed to the formation of the planets' atmospheres. The Miller–Urey experiment showed that, with the application of energy, simple inorganic compounds exposed to a primordial atmosphere can react to synthesize amino acids. Even so, volcanic outgassing could not have accounted for the amount of water in Earth's oceans. The vast majority of the water—and arguably carbon—necessary for life must have come from the outer Solar System, away from the Sun's heat, where it could remain solid. Comets impacting with the Earth in the Solar System's early years would have deposited vast amounts of water, along with the other volatile compounds life requires, onto the early Earth, providing a kick-start to the origin of life. Thus, while there is reason to suspect that the four "life elements" ought to be readily available elsewhere, a habitable system probably also requires a supply of long-term orbiting bodies to seed inner planets. Without comets there is a possibility that life as we know it would not exist on Earth. Microenvironments and extremophiles One important qualification to habitability criteria is that only a tiny portion of a planet is required to support life, a so-called Goldilocks Edge or Great Prebiotic Spot. Astrobiologists often concern themselves with "micro-environments", noting that "we lack a fundamental understanding of how evolutionary forces, such as mutation, selection, and genetic drift, operate in micro-organisms that act on and respond to changing micro-environments." Extremophiles are Earth organisms that live in niche environments under severe conditions generally considered inimical to life. Usually (although not always) unicellular, extremophiles include acutely alkaliphilic and acidophilic organisms and others that can survive water temperatures above 100 °C in hydrothermal vents. The discovery of life in extreme conditions has complicated definitions of habitability, but also generated much excitement amongst researchers in greatly broadening the known range of conditions under which life can persist. For example, a planet that might otherwise be unable to support an atmosphere given the solar conditions in its vicinity, might be able to do so within a deep shadowed rift or volcanic cave. Similarly, craterous terrain might offer a refuge for primitive life. The Lawn Hill crater has been studied as an astrobiological analog, with researchers suggesting rapid sediment infill created a protected microenvironment for microbial organisms; similar conditions may have occurred over the geological history of Mars. Earth environments that cannot support life are still instructive to astrobiologists in defining the limits of what organisms can endure. The heart of the Atacama desert, generally considered the driest place on Earth, appears unable to support life, and it has been subject to study by NASA and ESA for that reason: it provides a Mars analog and the moisture gradients along its edges are ideal for studying the boundary between sterility and habitability. The Atacama was the subject of study in 2003 that partly replicated experiments from the Viking landings on Mars in the 1970s; no DNA could be recovered from two soil samples, and incubation experiments were also negative for biosignatures. Ecological factors The two current ecological approaches for predicting the potential habitability use 19 or 20 environmental factors, with emphasis on water availability, temperature, presence of nutrients, an energy source, and protection from solar ultraviolet and galactic cosmic radiation. Classification terminology The Habitable Exoplanets Catalog uses estimated surface temperature range to classify exoplanets: hypopsychroplanets - very cold (<−50 °C) psychroplanets - cold (<−50 to 0 °C) mesoplanets - medium temperature (0–50 °C; not to be confused with the other definition of mesoplanets) thermoplanets - hot (50-100 °C) hyperthermoplanets - (> 100 °C) Mesoplanets would be ideal for complex life, whereas hypopsychroplanets and hyperthermoplanets might only support extremophilic life. The HEC uses the following terms to classify exoplanets in terms of mass, from least to greatest: asteroidan, mercurian, subterran, terran, superterran, neptunian, and jovian. Alternative star systems In determining the feasibility of extraterrestrial life, astronomers had long focused their attention on stars like the Sun. However, since planetary systems that resemble the Solar System are proving to be rare, they have begun to explore the possibility that life might form in systems very unlike the Sun's. It is believed that F, G, K and M-type stars could host habitable exoplanets. About half of the stars similar in temperature to the Sun could have a rocky planet able to support liquid water on its surface, according to research using data from NASA's Kepler Space Telescope. Binary systems Typical estimates often suggest that 50% or more of all stellar systems are binary systems. This may be partly sample bias, as massive and bright stars tend to be in binaries and these are most easily observed and catalogued; a more precise analysis has suggested that the more common fainter stars are usually singular, and that up to two thirds of all stellar systems are therefore solitary. The separation between stars in a binary may range from less than one astronomical unit (AU, the average Earth–Sun distance) to several hundred. In latter instances, the gravitational effects will be negligible on a planet orbiting an otherwise suitable star and habitability potential will not be disrupted unless the orbit is highly eccentric (see Nemesis, for example). However, where the separation is significantly less, a stable orbit may be impossible. If a planet's distance to its primary exceeds about one fifth of the closest approach of the other star, orbital stability is not guaranteed. Whether planets might form in binaries at all had long been unclear, given that gravitational forces might interfere with planet formation. Theoretical work by Alan Boss at the Carnegie Institution has shown that gas giants can form around stars in binary systems much as they do around solitary stars. One study of Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to the Sun, suggested that binaries need not be discounted in the search for habitable planets. Centauri A and B have an 11 AU distance at closest approach (23 AU mean), and both should have stable habitable zones. A study of long-term orbital stability for simulated planets within the system shows that planets within approximately three AU of either star may remain rather stable (i.e. the semi-major axis deviating by less than 5% during 32 000 binary periods). The continuous habitable zone (CHZ for 4.5 billion years) for Centauri A is conservatively estimated at 1.2 to 1.3 AU and Centauri B at 0.73 to 0.74—well within the stable region in both cases. Red dwarf systems M-type stars also considered possible hosts of habitable exoplanets, even those with flares such as Proxima b. Determining the habitability of red dwarf stars could help determine how common life in the universe might be, as red dwarfs make up between 70 and 90% of all the stars in the galaxy. However, it is important to bear in mind that flare stars could greatly reduce the habitability of exoplanets by eroding their atmosphere. Size Astronomers for many years ruled out red dwarfs as potential abodes for life. Their small size (from 0.08 to 0.45 solar masses) means that their nuclear reactions proceed exceptionally slowly, and they emit very little light (from 3% of that produced by the Sun to as little as 0.01%). Any planet in orbit around a red dwarf would have to huddle very close to its parent star to attain Earth-like surface temperatures; from 0.3 AU (just inside the orbit of Mercury) for a star like Lacaille 8760, to as little as 0.032 AU for a star like Proxima Centauri (such a world would have a year lasting just 6.3 days). At those distances, the star's gravity would cause tidal locking. One side of the planet would eternally face the star, while the other would always face away from it. The only ways in which potential life could avoid either an inferno or a deep freeze would be if the planet had an atmosphere thick enough to transfer the star's heat from the day side to the night side, or if there was a gas giant in the habitable zone, with a habitable moon, which would be locked to the planet instead of the star, allowing a more even distribution of radiation over the moon. It was long assumed that such a thick atmosphere would prevent sunlight from reaching the surface in the first place, preventing photosynthesis. This pessimism has been tempered by research. Studies by Robert Haberle and Manoj Joshi of NASA's Ames Research Center in California have shown that a planet's atmosphere (assuming it included greenhouse gases CO2 and H2O) need only be , for the star's heat to be effectively carried to the night side. This is well within the levels required for photosynthesis, though water would still remain frozen on the dark side in some of their models. Martin Heath of Greenwich Community College, has shown that seawater, too, could be effectively circulated without freezing solid if the ocean basins were deep enough to allow free flow beneath the night side's ice cap. Further research—including a consideration of the amount of photosynthetically active radiation—suggested that tidally locked planets in red dwarf systems might at least be habitable for higher plants. Other factors limiting habitability Size is not the only factor in making red dwarfs potentially unsuitable for life, however. On a red dwarf planet, photosynthesis on the night side would be impossible, since it would never see the sun. On the day side, because the sun does not rise or set, areas in the shadows of mountains would remain so forever. Photosynthesis as we understand it would be complicated by the fact that a red dwarf produces most of its radiation in the infrared, and on the Earth the process depends on visible light. There are potential positives to this scenario. Numerous terrestrial ecosystems rely on chemosynthesis rather than photosynthesis, for instance, which would be possible in a red dwarf system. A static primary star position removes the need for plants to steer leaves toward the sun, deal with changing shade/sun patterns, or change from photosynthesis to stored energy during night. Because of the lack of a day-night cycle, including the weak light of morning and evening, far more energy would be available at a given radiation level. Red dwarfs are far more variable and violent than their more stable, larger cousins. Often they are covered in starspots that can dim their emitted light by up to 40% for months at a time, while at other times they emit gigantic flares that can double their brightness in a matter of minutes. Such variation would be very damaging for life, as it would not only destroy any complex organic molecules that could possibly form biological precursors, but also because it would blow off sizeable portions of the planet's atmosphere. For a planet around a red dwarf star to support life, it would require a rapidly rotating magnetic field to protect it from the flares. A tidally locked planet rotates only very slowly, and so cannot produce a geodynamo at its core. The violent flaring period of a red dwarf's life cycle is estimated to only last roughly the first 1.2 billion years of its existence. If a planet forms far away from a red dwarf so as to avoid tidal locking, and then migrates into the star's habitable zone after this turbulent initial period, it is possible that life may have a chance to develop. However, observations of the 7 to 12-billion year old Barnard's Star showcase that even old red dwarfs can have significant flare activity. Barnard's Star was long assumed to have little activity, but in 1998 astronomers observed an intense stellar flare, showing that it is a flare star. Longevity and ubiquity Red dwarfs have one advantage over other stars as abodes for life: far greater longevity. It took 4.5 billion years before humanity appeared on Earth, and life as we know it will see suitable conditions for 1 to 2.3 more. Red dwarfs, by contrast, could live for trillions of years because their nuclear reactions are far slower than those of larger stars, meaning that life would have longer to evolve and survive. While the likelihood of finding a planet in the habitable zone around any specific red dwarf is slight, the total amount of habitable zone around all red dwarfs combined is equal to the total amount around Sun-like stars given their ubiquity. Furthermore, this total amount of habitable zone will last longer, because red dwarf stars live for hundreds of billions of years or even longer on the main sequence. However, combined with the above disadvantages, it is more likely that red dwarf stars would remain habitable longer to microbes, while the shorter-lived yellow dwarf stars, like the Sun, would remain habitable longer to animals. Massive stars Recent research suggests that very large stars, greater than ~100 solar masses, could have planetary systems consisting of hundreds of Mercury-sized planets within the habitable zone. Such systems could also contain brown dwarfs and low-mass stars (~0.1–0.3 solar masses). However the very short lifespans of stars of more than a few solar masses would scarcely allow time for a planet to cool, let alone the time needed for a stable biosphere to develop. Massive stars are thus eliminated as possible abodes for life. However, a massive-star system could be a progenitor of life in another way – the supernova explosion of the massive star in the central part of the system. This supernova will disperse heavier elements throughout its vicinity, created during the phase when the massive star has moved off of the main sequence, and the systems of the potential low-mass stars (which are still on the main sequence) within the former massive-star system may be enriched with the relatively large supply of the heavy elements so close to a supernova explosion. However, this states nothing about what types of planets would form as a result of the supernova material, or what their habitability potential would be. Neutron stars Post-main sequence stars Four classes of habitable planets based on water In a review of the factors which are important for the evolution of habitable Earth-sized planets, Lammer et al. proposed a classification of four water-dependent habitat types: Class I habitats are planetary bodies on which stellar and geophysical conditions allow liquid water to be available at the surface, along with sunlight, so that complex multicellular organisms may originate. Class II habitats include bodies which initially enjoy Earth-like conditions, but do not keep their ability to sustain liquid water on their surface due to stellar or geophysical conditions. Mars, and possibly Venus are examples of this class where complex life forms may not develop. Class III habitats are planetary bodies where liquid water oceans exist below the surface, where they can interact directly with a silicate-rich core. Such a situation can be expected on water-rich planets located too far from their star to allow surface liquid water, but on which subsurface water is in liquid form because of the geothermal heat. Two examples of such an environment are Europa and Enceladus. In such worlds, not only is light not available as an energy source, but the organic material brought by meteorites (thought to have been necessary to start life in some scenarios) may not easily reach the liquid water. If a planet can only harbor life below its surface, the biosphere would not likely modify the whole planetary environment in an observable way, thus, detecting its presence on an exoplanet would be extremely difficult. Class IV habitats have liquid water layers between two ice layers, or liquids above ice. If the water layer is thick enough, water at its base will be in solid phase (ice polymorphs) because of the high pressure. Ganymede and Callisto are likely examples of this class. Their oceans are thought to be enclosed between thick ice layers. In such conditions, the emergence of even simple life forms may be very difficult because the necessary ingredients for life will likely be completely diluted. The galactic neighborhood Along with the characteristics of planets and their star systems, the wider galactic environment may also impact habitability. Scientists considered the possibility that particular areas of galaxies (galactic habitable zones) are better suited to life than others; the Solar System, in the Orion Arm, on the Milky Way galaxy's edge is considered to be in a life-favorable spot: It is not in a globular cluster where immense star densities are inimical to life, given excessive radiation and gravitational disturbance. Globular clusters are also primarily composed of older, probably metal-poor, stars. Furthermore, in globular clusters, the great ages of the stars would mean a large amount of stellar evolution by the host or other nearby stars, which due to their proximity may cause extreme harm to life on any planets, provided that they can form. It is not near an active gamma ray source. It is not near the galactic center where once again star densities increase the likelihood of ionizing radiation (e.g., from magnetars and supernovae). The supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies may also prove a danger to any nearby bodies. The circular orbit of the Sun around the galactic center keeps it out of the way of the galaxy's spiral arms where intense radiation and gravitation may again lead to disruption. Thus, relative isolation is ultimately what a life-bearing system needs. If the Sun were crowded amongst other systems, the chance of being fatally close to dangerous radiation sources would increase significantly. Further, close neighbors might disrupt the stability of various orbiting bodies such as Oort cloud and Kuiper belt objects, which can bring catastrophe if knocked into the inner Solar System. While stellar crowding proves disadvantageous to habitability, so too does extreme isolation. A star as metal-rich as the Sun would probably not have formed in the very outermost regions of the Milky Way given a decline in the relative abundance of metals and a general lack of star formation. Thus, a "suburban" location, such as the Solar System enjoys, is preferable to a Galaxy's center or farthest reaches. Other considerations Alternative biochemistries While most investigations of extraterrestrial life start with the assumption that advanced life-forms must have similar requirements for life as on Earth, the hypothesis of other types of biochemistry suggests the possibility of lifeforms evolving around a different metabolic mechanism. In Evolving the Alien, biologist Jack Cohen and mathematician Ian Stewart argue astrobiology, based on the Rare Earth hypothesis, is restrictive and unimaginative. They suggest that Earth-like planets may be very rare, but non-carbon-based complex life could possibly emerge in other environments. The most frequently mentioned alternative to carbon is silicon-based life, while ammonia and hydrocarbons are sometimes suggested as alternative solvents to water. The astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch and other scientists have proposed a Planet Habitability Index whose criteria include "potential for holding a liquid solvent" that is not necessarily restricted to water. More speculative ideas have focused on bodies altogether different from Earth-like planets. Astronomer Frank Drake, a well-known proponent of the search for extraterrestrial life, imagined life on a neutron star: submicroscopic "nuclear molecules" combining to form creatures with a life cycle millions of times quicker than Earth life. Called "imaginative and tongue-in-cheek", the idea gave rise to science fiction depictions. Carl Sagan, another optimist with regards to extraterrestrial life, considered the possibility of organisms that are always airborne within the high atmosphere of Jupiter in a 1976 paper. Cohen and Stewart also envisioned life in both a solar environment and in the atmosphere of a gas giant. "Good Jupiters" "Good Jupiters" are gas giants, like the Solar System's Jupiter, that orbit their stars in circular orbits far enough away from the habitable zone not to disturb it but close enough to "protect" terrestrial planets in closer orbit in two critical ways. First, they help to stabilize the orbits, and thereby the climates of the inner planets. Second, they keep the inner stellar system relatively free of comets and asteroids that could cause devastating impacts. Jupiter orbits the Sun at about five times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. This is the rough distance we should expect to find good Jupiters elsewhere. Jupiter's "caretaker" role was dramatically illustrated in 1994 when Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 impacted the giant. However, the evidence is not quite so clear. Research has shown that Jupiter's role in determining the rate at which objects hit Earth is significantly more complicated than once thought. The role of Jupiter in the early history of the Solar System is somewhat better established, and the source of significantly less debate. Early in the Solar System's history, Jupiter is accepted as having played an important role in the hydration of our planet: it increased the eccentricity of asteroid belt orbits and enabled many to cross Earth's orbit and supply the planet with important volatiles such as water and carbon dioxide. Before Earth reached half its present mass, icy bodies from the Jupiter–Saturn region and small bodies from the primordial asteroid belt supplied water to the Earth due to the gravitational scattering of Jupiter and, to a lesser extent, Saturn. Thus, while the gas giants are now helpful protectors, they were once suppliers of critical habitability material. In contrast, Jupiter-sized bodies that orbit too close to the habitable zone but not in it (as in 47 Ursae Majoris), or have a highly elliptical orbit that crosses the habitable zone (like 16 Cygni B) make it very difficult for an independent Earth-like planet to exist in the system. See the discussion of a stable habitable zone above. However, during the process of migrating into a habitable zone, a Jupiter-size planet may capture a terrestrial planet as a moon. Even if such a planet is initially loosely bound and following a strongly inclined orbit, gravitational interactions with the star can stabilize the new moon into a close, circular orbit that is coplanar with the planet's orbit around the star. Life's impact on habitability A supplement to the factors that support life's emergence is the notion that life itself, once formed, becomes a habitability factor in its own right. An important Earth example was the production of molecular oxygen gas by ancient cyanobacteria, and eventually photosynthesizing plants, leading to a radical change in the composition of Earth's atmosphere. This environmental change is called the Great Oxidation Event. This oxygen proved fundamental to the respiration of later animal species. The Gaia hypothesis, a scientific model of the geo-biosphere pioneered by James Lovelock in 1975, argues that life as a whole fosters and maintains suitable conditions for itself by helping to create a planetary environment suitable for its continuity. Similarly, David Grinspoon has suggested a "living worlds hypothesis" in which our understanding of what constitutes habitability cannot be separated from life already extant on a planet. Planets that are geologically and meteorologically alive are much more likely to be biologically alive as well and "a planet and its life will co-evolve." This is the basis of Earth system science. The role of chance In 2020, a computer simulation of the evolution of planetary climates over 3 billion years suggested that feedbacks are a necessary but not a sufficient condition for preventing planets from ever becoming too hot or cold for life, and that chance also plays a crucial role. Related considerations include yet unknown factors influencing the thermal habitability of planets such as "feedback mechanism (or mechanisms) that prevents the climate ever wandering to fatal temperatures". See also Habitable Planets for Man Notes References Bibliography Further reading Cohen, Jack and Ian Stewart. Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life, Ebury Press, 2002. (2021-01-26) Kepler-22b, the Oceanic Exoplanet - "Finding a New Earth", NASA. Fogg, Martyn J., ed. "Terraforming" (entire special issue) Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, April 1991 Fogg, Martyn J. Terraforming: Engineering Planetary Environments, SAE International, 1995. Gonzalez, Guillermo and Richards, Jay W. The Privileged Planet, Regnery, 2004. Grinspoon, David. Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life, HarperCollins, 2004. Lovelock, James. Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth. Schmidt, Stanley and Robert Zubrin, eds. Islands in the Sky, Wiley, 1996. Webb, Stephen If The Universe Is Teeming With Aliens ... Where Is Everybody? Fifty Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life New York: January 2002 Springer-Verlag External links Planetary Sciences and Habitability Group, Spanish Research Council The Habitable Zone Gallery Planetary Habitability Laboratory (PHL/UPR Arecibo) The Habitable Exoplanets Catalog (PHL/UPR Arecibo) David Darling encyclopedia General interest astrobiology Sol Station Astrobiology Space colonization Exoplanetology Prebiotic chemistry de:Habitable Zone

Globalization

Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term globalization first appeared in the early 20th century (supplanting an earlier French term mondialisation), developed its current meaning sometime in the second half of the 20th century, and came into popular use in the 1990s to describe the unprecedented international connectivity of the post–Cold War world. Its origins can be traced back to 18th and 19th centuries due to advances in transportation and communications technology. This increase in global interactions has caused a growth in international trade and the exchange of ideas, beliefs, and culture. Globalization is primarily an economic process of interaction and integration that is associated with social and cultural aspects. However, disputes and international diplomacy are also large parts of the history of globalization, and of modern globalization. Economically, globalization involves goods, services, data, technology, and the economic resources of capital. The expansion of global markets liberalizes the economic activities of the exchange of goods and funds. Removal of cross-border trade barriers has made the formation of global markets more feasible. Advances in transportation, like the steam locomotive, steamship, jet engine, and container ships, and developments in telecommunication infrastructure such as the telegraph, the Internet, mobile phones, and smartphones, have been major factors in globalization and have generated further interdependence of economic and cultural activities around the globe. Though many scholars place the origins of globalization in modern times, others trace its history to long before the European Age of Discovery and voyages to the New World, and some even to the third millennium BCE. Large-scale globalization began in the 1820s, and in the late 19th century and early 20th century drove a rapid expansion in the connectivity of the world's economies and cultures. The term global city was subsequently popularized by sociologist Saskia Sassen in her work The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo (1991). In 2000, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) identified four basic aspects of globalization: trade and transactions, capital and investment movements, migration and movement of people, and the dissemination of knowledge. Globalizing processes affect and are affected by business and work organization, economics, sociocultural resources, and the natural environment. Academic literature commonly divides globalization into three major areas: economic globalization, cultural globalization, and political globalization. Proponents of globalization point to economic growth and broader societal development as benefits, while opponents claim globalizing processes are detrimental to social well-being due to ethnocentrism, environmental consequences, and other potential drawbacks. Between 1990 and 2010, globalisation progressed rapidly, driven by the information and communication technology revolution that lowered communication costs, along with trade liberalisation and the shift of manufacturing operations to emerging economies (particularly China). Etymology and usage The word globalization was used in the English language as early as the 1930s, but only in the context of education, and the term failed to gain traction. Over the next few decades, the term was occasionally used by other scholars and media, but it was not clearly defined. One of the first usages of the term in the meaning resembling the later, common usage was by French economist François Perroux in his essays from the early 1960s (in his French works he used the term "mondialisation" (literarly worldization in French), also translated as mundialization). Theodore Levitt is often credited with popularizing the term and bringing it into the mainstream business audience in the later in the middle of 1980s. Though often treated as synonyms, in French, globalization is seen as a stage following mondialisation, a stage that implies the dissolution of national identities and the abolishment of borders inside the world network of economic exchanges. Since its inception, the concept of globalization has inspired competing definitions and interpretations. Its antecedents date back to the great movements of trade and empire across Asia and the Indian Ocean from the 15th century onward. In 1848, Karl Marx noticed the increasing level of national inter-dependence brought on by capitalism, and predicted the universal character of the modern world society. He states: Sociologists Martin Albrow and Elizabeth King define globalization as "all those processes by which the people of the world are incorporated into a single world society." In The Consequences of Modernity, Anthony Giddens writes: "Globalization can thus be defined as the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa." In 1992, Roland Robertson, professor of sociology at the University of Aberdeen and an early writer in the field, described globalization as "the compression of the world and the intensification of the consciousness of the world as a whole." In Global Transformations, David Held and his co-writers state: Held and his co-writers' definition of globalization in that same book as "transformation in the spatial organization of social relations and transactions—assessed in terms of their extensity, intensity, velocity and impact—generating transcontinental or inter-regional flows" was called "probably the most widely-cited definition" in the 2014 DHL Global Connectiveness Index. Swedish journalist Thomas Larsson, in his book The Race to the Top: The Real Story of Globalization, states that globalization: Paul James defines globalization with a more direct and historically contextualized emphasis: Globalization is the extension of social relations across world-space, defining that world-space in terms of the historically variable ways that it has been practiced and socially understood through changing world-time. Manfred Steger, professor of global studies and research leader in the Global Cities Institute at RMIT University, identifies four main empirical dimensions of globalization: economic, political, cultural, and ecological. A fifth dimension—the ideological—cutting across the other four. The ideological dimension, according to Steger, is filled with a range of norms, claims, beliefs, and narratives about the phenomenon itself. James and Steger stated that the concept of globalization "emerged from the intersection of four interrelated sets of 'communities of practice' (Wenger, 1998): academics, journalists, publishers/editors, and librarians." They note the term was used "in education to describe the global life of the mind"; in international relations to describe the extension of the European Common Market, and in journalism to describe how the "American Negro and his problem are taking on a global significance". They have also argued that four forms of globalization can be distinguished that complement and cut across the solely empirical dimensions. According to James, the oldest dominant form of globalization is embodied globalization, the movement of people. A second form is agency-extended globalization, the circulation of agents of different institutions, organizations, and polities, including imperial agents. Object-extended globalization, a third form, is the movement of commodities and other objects of exchange. He calls the transmission of ideas, images, knowledge, and information across world-space disembodied globalization, maintaining that it is currently the dominant form of globalization. James holds that this series of distinctions allows for an understanding of how, today, the most embodied forms of globalization such as the movement of refugees and migrants are increasingly restricted, while the most disembodied forms such as the circulation of financial instruments and codes are the most deregulated. The journalist Thomas L. Friedman popularized the term "flat world", arguing that globalized trade, outsourcing, supply-chaining, and political forces had permanently changed the world, for better and worse. He asserted that the pace of globalization was quickening and that its impact on business organization and practice would continue to grow. Economist Takis Fotopoulos defined "economic globalization" as the opening and deregulation of commodity, capital, and labor markets that led toward present neoliberal globalization. He used "political globalization" to refer to the emergence of a transnational élite and a phasing out of the nation-state. Meanwhile, he used "cultural globalization" to reference the worldwide homogenization of culture. Other of his usages included "ideological globalization", "technological globalization", and "social globalization". Lechner and Boli (2012) define globalization as more people across large distances becoming connected in more and different ways. "Globophobia" is used to refer to the fear of globalization, though it can also mean the fear of balloons. History There are both distal and proximate causes which can be traced in the historical factors affecting globalization. Large-scale globalization began in the 19th century. Archaic Archaic globalization conventionally refers to a phase in the history of globalization including globalizing events and developments from the time of the earliest civilizations until roughly the 1600s. This term is used to describe the relationships between communities and states and how they were created by the geographical spread of ideas and social norms at both local and regional levels. In this schema, three main prerequisites are posited for globalization to occur. The first is the idea of Eastern Origins, which shows how Western states have adapted and implemented learned principles from the East. Without the spread of traditional ideas from the East, Western globalization would not have emerged the way it did. The interactions of states were not on a global scale and most often were confined to Asia, North Africa, the Middle East, and certain parts of Europe. With early globalization, it was difficult for states to interact with others that were not close. Eventually, technological advances allowed states to learn of others' existence and thus another phase of globalization can occur. The third has to do with inter-dependency, stability, and regularity. If a state is not dependent on another, then there is no way for either state to be mutually affected by the other. This is one of the driving forces behind global connections and trade; without either, globalization would not have emerged the way it did and states would still be dependent on their own production and resources to work. This is one of the arguments surrounding the idea of early globalization. It is argued that archaic globalization did not function in a similar manner to modern globalization because states were not as interdependent on others as they are today. Also posited is a "multi-polar" nature to archaic globalization, which involved the active participation of non-Europeans. Because it predated the Great Divergence in the nineteenth century, where Western Europe pulled ahead of the rest of the world in terms of industrial production and economic output, archaic globalization was a phenomenon that was driven not only by Europe but also by other economically developed Old World centers such as Gujarat, Bengal, coastal China, and Japan. The German historical economist and sociologist Andre Gunder Frank argues that a form of globalization began with the rise of trade links between Sumer and the Indus Valley civilization in the third millennium BCE. This archaic globalization existed during the Hellenistic Age, when commercialized urban centers enveloped the axis of Greek culture that reached from India to Spain, including Alexandria and the other Alexandrine cities. Early on, the geographic position of Greece and the necessity of importing wheat forced the Greeks to engage in maritime trade. Trade in ancient Greece was largely unrestricted: the state controlled only the supply of grain. Trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of civilizations from China, the Indian subcontinent, Persia, Europe, and Arabia, opening long-distance political and economic interactions between them. Though silk was certainly the major trade item from China, common goods such as salt and sugar were traded as well; and religions, syncretic philosophies, and various technologies, as well as diseases, also traveled along the Silk Routes. In addition to economic trade, the Silk Road served as a means of carrying out cultural trade among the civilizations along its network. The movement of people, such as refugees, artists, craftsmen, missionaries, robbers, and envoys, resulted in the exchange of religions, art, languages, and new technologies. Early modern "Early modern" or "proto-globalization" covers a period of the history of globalization roughly spanning the years between 1600 and 1800. The concept of "proto-globalization" was first introduced by historians A. G. Hopkins and Christopher Bayly. The term describes the phase of increasing trade links and cultural exchange that characterized the period immediately preceding the advent of high "modern globalization" in the late 19th century. This phase of globalization was characterized by the rise of maritime European empires, in the 15th and 17th centuries, first the Portuguese Empire (1415) followed by the Spanish Empire (1492), and later the Dutch and British Empires. In the 17th century, world trade developed further when chartered companies like the British East India Company (founded in 1600) and the Dutch East India Company (founded in 1602, often described as the first multinational corporation in which stock was offered) were established. An alternative view from historians Dennis Flynn and Arturo Giraldez, postulated that: globalization began with the first circumnavigation of the globe under the Magellan-Elcano expedition which preluded the rise of global silver trade. Early modern globalization is distinguished from modern globalization on the basis of expansionism, the method of managing global trade, and the level of information exchange. The period is marked by the shift of hegemony to Western Europe, the rise of larger-scale conflicts between powerful nations such as the Thirty Years' War, and demand for commodities, most particularly slaves. The triangular trade made it possible for Europe to take advantage of resources within the Western Hemisphere. The transfer of animal stocks, plant crops, and epidemic diseases associated with Alfred W. Crosby's concept of the Columbian exchange also played a central role in this process. European, Middle Eastern, Indian, Southeast Asian, and Chinese merchants were all involved in early modern trade and communications, particularly in the Indian Ocean region. Modern According to economic historians Kevin H. O'Rourke, Leandro Prados de la Escosura, and Guillaume Daudin, several factors promoted globalization in the period 1815–1870: The conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars brought in an era of relative peace in Europe. Innovations in transportation technology reduced trade costs substantially. New industrial military technologies increased the power of European states and the United States, and allowed these powers to forcibly open up markets across the world and extend their empires. A gradual move towards greater liberalization in European countries. During the 19th century, globalization approached its form as a direct result of the Industrial Revolution. Industrialization allowed standardized production of household items using economies of scale while rapid population growth created sustained demand for commodities. In the 19th century, steamships reduced the cost of international transportation significantly and railroads made inland transportation cheaper. The transportation revolution occurred some time between 1820 and 1850. More nations embraced international trade. Globalization in this period was decisively shaped by nineteenth-century imperialism such as in Africa and Asia. The invention of shipping containers in 1956 helped advance the globalization of commerce. After World War II, work by politicians led to the agreements of the Bretton Woods Conference, in which major governments laid down the framework for international monetary policy, commerce, and finance, and the founding of several international institutions intended to facilitate economic growth by lowering trade barriers. Initially, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) led to a series of agreements to remove trade restrictions. GATT's successor was the World Trade Organization (WTO), which provided a framework for negotiating and formalizing trade agreements and a dispute resolution process. Exports nearly doubled from 8.5% of total gross world product in 1970 to 16.2% in 2001. The approach of using global agreements to advance trade stumbled with the failure of the Doha Development Round of trade negotiation. Many countries then shifted to bilateral or smaller multilateral agreements, such as the 2011 United States–Korea Free Trade Agreement. Since the 1970s, aviation has become increasingly affordable to middle classes in developed countries. Open skies policies and low-cost carriers have helped to bring competition to the market. In the 1990s, the growth of low-cost communication networks cut the cost of communicating between countries. More work can be performed using a computer without regard to location. This included accounting, software development, and engineering design. Student exchange programs became popular after World War II, and are intended to increase the participants' understanding and tolerance of other cultures, as well as improving their language skills and broadening their social horizons. Between 1963 and 2006 the number of students studying in a foreign country increased 9 times. Since the 1980s, modern globalization has spread rapidly through the expansion of capitalism and neoliberal ideologies. The implementation of neoliberal policies has allowed for the privatization of public industry, deregulation of laws or policies that interfered with the free flow of the market, as well as cut-backs to governmental social services. These neoliberal policies were introduced to many developing countries in the form of structural adjustment programs (SAPs) that were implemented by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These programs required that the country receiving monetary aid would open its markets to capitalism, privatize public industry, allow free trade, cut social services like healthcare and education and allow the free movement of giant multinational corporations. These programs allowed the World Bank and the IMF to become global financial market regulators that would promote neoliberalism and the creation of free markets for multinational corporations on a global scale. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the connectedness of the world's economies and cultures grew very quickly. This slowed down from the 1910s onward due to the World Wars and the Cold War, but picked up again in the 1980s and 1990s. The revolutions of 1989 and subsequent liberalization in many parts of the world resulted in a significant expansion of global interconnectedness. The migration and movement of people can also be highlighted as a prominent feature of the globalization process. In the period between 1965 and 1990, the proportion of the labor force migrating approximately doubled. Most migration occurred between the developing countries and least developed countries (LDCs). As economic integration intensified workers moved to areas with higher wages and most of the developing world oriented toward the international market economy. The collapse of the Soviet Union not only ended the Cold War's division of the world – it also left the United States its sole policeman and an unfettered advocate of free market. It also resulted in the growing prominence of attention focused on the movement of diseases, the proliferation of popular culture and consumer values, the growing prominence of international institutions like the UN, and concerted international action on such issues as the environment and human rights. Other developments as dramatic were the Internet's becoming influential in connecting people across the world; , more than 2.4 billion people—over a third of the world's human population—have used the services of the Internet. Growth of globalization has never been smooth. One influential event was the late 2000s recession, which was associated with lower growth (in areas such as cross-border phone calls and Skype usage) or even temporarily negative growth (in areas such as trade) of global interconnectedness. The China–United States trade war, starting in 2018, negatively affected trade between the two largest national economies. The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic included a massive decline in tourism and international business travel as many countries temporarily closed borders. The 2021–2022 global supply chain crisis resulted from temporary shutdowns of manufacturing and transportation facilities, and labor shortages. Supply problems incentivized some switches to domestic production. The economic impact of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine included a blockade of Ukrainian ports and international sanctions on Russia, resulting in some de-coupling of the Russian economy with global trade, especially with the European Union and other Western countries. Modern consensus for the last 15 years regards globalization as having run its course and gone into decline. A common argument for this is that trade has dropped since its peak in 2008, and never recovered since the Great Recession. New opposing views from some economists have argued such trends are a result of price drops and in actuality, trade volume is increasing, especially with agricultural products, natural resources and refined petroleum. Economic globalization Economic globalization is the increasing economic interdependence of national economies across the world through a rapid increase in cross-border movement of goods, services, technology, and capital. Whereas the globalization of business is centered around the diminution of international trade regulations as well as tariffs, taxes, and other impediments that suppresses global trade, economic globalization is the process of increasing economic integration between countries, leading to the emergence of a global marketplace or a single world market. Depending on the paradigm, economic globalization can be viewed as either a positive or a negative phenomenon. Economic globalization comprises: globalization of production; which refers to the obtainment of goods and services from a particular source from locations around the globe to benefit from difference in cost and quality. Likewise, it also comprises globalization of markets; which is defined as the union of different and separate markets into a massive global marketplace. Economic globalization also includes competition, technology, and corporations and industries. Current globalization trends can be largely accounted for by developed economies integrating with less developed economies by means of foreign direct investment, the reduction of trade barriers as well as other economic reforms, and, in many cases, immigration. International standards have made trade in goods and services more efficient. An example of such standard is the intermodal container. Containerization dramatically reduced the costs of transportation, supported the post-war boom in international trade, and was a major element in globalization. International standards are set by the International Organization for Standardization, which is composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. A multinational corporation, or worldwide enterprise, is an organization that owns or controls the production of goods or services in one or more countries other than their home country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation, a transnational corporation, or a stateless corporation. A free-trade area is the region encompassing a trade bloc whose member countries have signed a free-trade agreement (FTA). Such agreements involve cooperation between at least two countries to reduce trade barriers import quotas and tariffs and to increase trade of goods and services with each other. If people are also free to move between the countries, in addition to a free-trade agreement, it would also be considered an open border. Arguably, the most significant free-trade area in the world is the European Union, a politico-economic union of member states that are primarily located in Europe. The EU has developed European Single Market through a standardized system of laws that apply in all member states. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital within the internal market, Trade facilitation looks at how procedures and controls governing the movement of goods across national borders can be improved to reduce associated cost burdens and maximize efficiency while safeguarding legitimate regulatory objectives. Global trade in services is also significant. For example, in India, business process outsourcing has been described as the "primary engine of the country's development over the next few decades, contributing broadly to GDP growth, employment growth, and poverty alleviation". William I. Robinson's theoretical approach to globalization is a critique of Wallerstein's World Systems Theory. He believes that the global capital experienced today is due to a new and distinct form of globalization which began in the 1980s. Robinson argues not only are economic activities expanded across national boundaries but also there is a transnational fragmentation of these activities. One important aspect of Robinson's globalization theory is that production of goods are increasingly global. This means that one pair of shoes can be produced by six countries, each contributing to a part of the production process. Cultural globalization Cultural globalization refers to the transmission of ideas, meanings, and values around the world in such a way as to extend and intensify social relations. This process is marked by the common consumption of cultures that have been diffused by the Internet, popular culture media, and international travel. This has added to processes of commodity exchange and colonization which have a longer history of carrying cultural meaning around the globe. The circulation of cultures enables individuals to partake in extended social relations that cross national and regional borders. The creation and expansion of such social relations is not merely observed on a material level. Cultural globalization involves the formation of shared norms and knowledge with which people associate their individual and collective cultural identities. It brings increasing interconnectedness among different populations and cultures. Cross-cultural communication is a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures. Intercultural communication is a related field of study. Cultural diffusion is the spread of cultural items—such as ideas, styles, religions, technologies, languages etc. Cultural globalization has increased cross-cultural contacts, but may be accompanied by a decrease in the uniqueness of once-isolated communities. For example, sushi is available in Germany as well as Japan, but Euro-Disney outdraws the city of Paris, potentially reducing demand for "authentic" French pastry. Globalization's contribution to the alienation of individuals from their traditions may be modest compared to the impact of modernity itself, as alleged by existentialists such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Globalization has expanded recreational opportunities by spreading pop culture, particularly via the Internet and satellite television. The cultural diffusion can create a homogenizing force, where globalization is seen as synonymous with homogenizing force via connectedness of markets, cultures, politics and the desire for modernizations through imperial countries sphere of influence. Religions were among the earliest cultural elements to globalize, being spread by force, migration, evangelists, imperialists, and traders. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and more recently sects such as Mormonism are among those religions which have taken root and influenced endemic cultures in places far from their origins. Globalization has strongly influenced sports. For example, the modern Olympic Games has athletes from more than 200 nations participating in a variety of competitions. The FIFA World Cup is the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games; a ninth of the entire population of the planet watched the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final. The term globalization implies transformation. Cultural practices including traditional music can be lost or turned into a fusion of traditions. Globalization can trigger a state of emergency for the preservation of musical heritage. Archivists may attempt to collect, record, or transcribe repertoires before melodies are assimilated or modified, while local musicians may struggle for authenticity and to preserve local musical traditions. Globalization can lead performers to discard traditional instruments. Fusion genres can become interesting fields of analysis. Music has an important role in economic and cultural development during globalization. Music genres such as jazz and reggae began locally and later became international phenomena. Globalization gave support to the world music phenomenon by allowing music from developing countries to reach broader audiences. Though the term "World Music" was originally intended for ethnic-specific music, globalization is now expanding its scope such that the term often includes hybrid subgenres such as "world fusion", "global fusion", "ethnic fusion", and worldbeat. Bourdieu claimed that the perception of consumption can be seen as self-identification and the formation of identity. Musically, this translates into each individual having their own musical identity based on likes and tastes. These likes and tastes are greatly influenced by culture, as this is the most basic cause for a person's wants and behavior. The concept of one's own culture is now in a period of change due to globalization. Also, globalization has increased the interdependency of political, personal, cultural, and economic factors. A 2005 UNESCO report showed that cultural exchange is becoming more frequent from Eastern Asia, but that Western countries are still the main exporters of cultural goods. In 2002, China was the third largest exporter of cultural goods, after the UK and US. Between 1994 and 2002, both North America's and the European Union's shares of cultural exports declined while Asia's cultural exports grew to surpass North America. Related factors are the fact that Asia's population and area are several times that of North America. Americanization is related to a period of high political American clout and of significant growth of America's shops, markets and objects being brought into other countries. Some critics of globalization argue that it harms the diversity of cultures. As a dominating country's culture is introduced into a receiving country through globalization, it can become a threat to the diversity of local culture. Some argue that globalization may ultimately lead to Westernization or Americanization of culture, where the dominating cultural concepts of economically and politically powerful Western countries spread and cause harm to local cultures. Globalization is a diverse phenomenon that relates to a multilateral political world and to the increase of cultural objects and markets between countries. The Indian experience particularly reveals the plurality of the impact of cultural globalization. Transculturalism is defined as "seeing oneself in the other". Transcultural is in turn described as "extending through all human cultures" or "involving, encompassing, or combining elements of more than one culture". Children brought up in transcultural backgrounds are sometimes called third-culture kids. Political globalization Political globalization refers to the growth of the worldwide political system, both in size and complexity. That system includes national governments, their governmental and intergovernmental organizations as well as government-independent elements of global civil society such as international non-governmental organizations and social movement organizations. One of the key aspects of the political globalization is the declining importance of the nation-state and the rise of other actors on the political scene. William R. Thompson has defined it as "the expansion of a global political system, and its institutions, in which inter-regional transactions (including, but certainly not limited to trade) are managed". Political globalization is one of the three main dimensions of globalization commonly found in academic literature, with the two other being economic globalization and cultural globalization. Intergovernmentalism is a term in political science with two meanings. The first refers to a theory of regional integration originally proposed by Stanley Hoffmann; the second treats states and the national government as the primary factors for integration. Multi-level governance is an approach in political science and public administration theory that originated from studies on European integration. Multi-level governance gives expression to the idea that there are many interacting authority structures at work in the emergent global political economy. It illuminates the intimate entanglement between the domestic and international levels of authority. Some people are citizens of multiple nation-states. Multiple citizenship, also called dual citizenship or multiple nationality or dual nationality, is a person's citizenship status, in which a person is concurrently regarded as a citizen of more than one state under the laws of those states. Increasingly, non-governmental organizations influence public policy across national boundaries, including humanitarian aid and developmental efforts. Philanthropic organizations with global missions are also coming to the forefront of humanitarian efforts; charities such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Accion International, the Acumen Fund (now Acumen) and the Echoing Green have combined the business model with philanthropy, giving rise to business organizations such as the Global Philanthropy Group and new associations of philanthropists such as the Global Philanthropy Forum. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation projects include a current multibillion-dollar commitment to funding immunizations in some of the world's more impoverished but rapidly growing countries. The Hudson Institute estimates total private philanthropic flows to developing countries at US$59 billion in 2010. As a response to globalization, some countries have embraced isolationist policies. For example, the North Korean government makes it very difficult for foreigners to enter the country and strictly monitors their activities when they do. Aid workers are subject to considerable scrutiny and excluded from places and regions the government does not wish them to enter. Citizens cannot freely leave the country. Globalization and gender Globalization has been a gendered process where giant multinational corporations have outsourced jobs to low-wage, low skilled, quota free economies like the ready made garment industry in Bangladesh where poor women make up the majority of labor force. Despite a large proportion of women workers in the garment industry, women are still heavily underemployed compared to men. Most women that are employed in the garment industry come from the countryside of Bangladesh triggering migration of women in search of garment work. It is still unclear as to whether or not access to paid work for women where it did not exist before has empowered them. The answers varied depending on whether it is the employers perspective or the workers and how they view their choices. Women workers did not see the garment industry as economically sustainable for them in the long run due to long hours standing and poor working conditions. Although women workers did show significant autonomy over their personal lives including their ability to negotiate with family, more choice in marriage, and being valued as a wage earner in the family. This did not translate into workers being able to collectively organize themselves in order to negotiate a better deal for themselves at work. Another example of outsourcing in manufacturing includes the maquiladora industry in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico where poor women make up the majority of the labor force. Women in the maquiladora industry have produced high levels of turnover not staying long enough to be trained compared to men. A gendered two tiered system within the maquiladora industry has been created that focuses on training and worker loyalty. Women are seen as being untrainable, placed in un-skilled, low wage jobs, while men are seen as more trainable with less turnover rates, and placed in more high skilled technical jobs. The idea of training has become a tool used against women to blame them for their high turnover rates which also benefit the industry keeping women as temporary workers. Other dimensions Scholars also occasionally discuss other, less common dimensions of globalization, such as environmental globalization (the internationally coordinated practices and regulations, often in the form of international treaties, regarding environmental protection) or military globalization (growth in global extent and scope of security relationships). Those dimensions, however, receive much less attention the three described above, as academic literature commonly subdivides globalization into three major areas: economic globalization, cultural globalization and political globalization. Movement of people An essential aspect of globalization is movement of people, and state-boundary limits on that movement have changed across history. The movement of tourists and business people opened up over the last century. As transportation technology improved, travel time and costs decreased dramatically between the 18th and early 20th century. For example, travel across the Atlantic Ocean used to take up to 5 weeks in the 18th century, but around the time of the 20th century it took a mere 8 days. Today, modern aviation has made long-distance transportation quick and affordable. Tourism is travel for pleasure. The developments in technology and transportation infrastructure, such as jumbo jets, low-cost airlines, and more accessible airports have made many types of tourism more affordable. At any given moment half a million people are in the air. International tourist arrivals surpassed the milestone of 1 billion tourists globally for the first time in 2012. A visa is a conditional authorization granted by a country to a foreigner, allowing them to enter and temporarily remain within, or to leave that country. Some countries – such as those in the Schengen Area – have agreements with other countries allowing each other's citizens to travel between them without visas (for example, Switzerland is part of a Schengen Agreement allowing easy travel for people from countries within the European Union). The World Tourism Organization announced that the number of tourists who require a visa before traveling was at its lowest level ever in 2015. Immigration is the international movement of people into a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle or reside there, especially as permanent residents or naturalized citizens, or to take-up employment as a migrant worker or temporarily as a foreign worker. According to the International Labour Organization, there were an estimated 232 million international migrants in the world (defined as persons outside their country of origin for 12 months or more) and approximately half of them were estimated to be economically active (i.e. being employed or seeking employment). International movement of labor is often seen as important to economic development. For example, freedom of movement for workers in the European Union means that people can move freely between member states to live, work, study or retire in another country. Globalization is associated with a dramatic rise in international education. The development of global cross-cultural competence in the workforce through ad-hoc training has deserved increasing attention in recent times. More and more students are seeking higher education in foreign countries and many international students now consider overseas study a stepping-stone to permanent residency within a country. The contributions that foreign students make to host nation economies, both culturally and financially has encouraged major players to implement further initiatives to facilitate the arrival and integration of overseas students, including substantial amendments to immigration and visa policies and procedures. A transnational marriage is a marriage between two people from different countries. A variety of special issues arise in marriages between people from different countries, including those related to citizenship and culture, which add complexity and challenges to these kinds of relationships. In an age of increasing globalization, where a growing number of people have ties to networks of people and places across the globe, rather than to a current geographic location, people are increasingly marrying across national boundaries. Transnational marriage is a by-product of the movement and migration of people. Movement of information Before electronic communications, long-distance communications relied on mail. Speed of global communications was limited by the maximum speed of courier services (especially horses and ships) until the mid-19th century. The electric telegraph was the first method of instant long-distance communication. For example, before the first transatlantic cable, communications between Europe and the Americas took weeks because ships had to carry mail across the ocean. The first transatlantic cable reduced communication time considerably, allowing a message and a response in the same day. Lasting transatlantic telegraph connections were achieved in the 1865–1866. The first wireless telegraphy transmitters were developed in 1895. The Internet has been instrumental in connecting people across geographical boundaries. For example, Facebook is a social networking service which has more than 1.65 billion monthly active users . Globalization can be spread by Global journalism which provides massive information and relies on the internet to interact, "makes it into an everyday routine to investigate how people and their actions, practices, problems, life conditions, etc. in different parts of the world are interrelated. possible to assume that global threats such as climate change precipitate the further establishment of global journalism." Globalization and disease In the current era of globalization, the world is more interdependent than at any other time. Efficient and inexpensive transportation has left few places inaccessible, and increased global trade has brought more and more people into contact with animal diseases that have subsequently jumped species barriers (see zoonosis). Coronavirus disease 2019, abbreviated COVID-19, first appeared in Wuhan, China in November 2019. More than 180 countries have reported cases since then. , the U.S. has the most confirmed active cases in the world. More than 3.4 million people from the worst-affected countries entered the U.S. in the first three months since the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has caused a detrimental impact on the global economy, particularly for SME's and Microbusinesses with unlimited liability/self-employed, leaving them vulnerable to financial difficulties, increasing the market share for oligopolistic markets as well as increasing the barriers of entry. Measurement One index of globalization is the KOF Index of Globalization, which measures three important dimensions of globalization: economic, social, and political. Another is the A.T. Kearney / Foreign Policy Magazine Globalization Index. Measurements of economic globalization typically focus on variables such as trade, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Gross Domestic Product (GDP), portfolio investment, and income. However, newer indices attempt to measure globalization in more general terms, including variables related to political, social, cultural, and even environmental aspects of globalization. The DHL Global Connectedness Index studies four main types of cross-border flow: trade (in both goods and services), information, people (including tourists, students, and migrants), and capital. It shows that the depth of global integration fell by about one-tenth after 2008, but by 2013 had recovered well above its pre-crash peak. The report also found a shift of economic activity to emerging economies. Support and criticism Reactions to processes contributing to globalization have varied widely with a history as long as extraterritorial contact and trade. Philosophical differences regarding the costs and benefits of such processes give rise to a broad-range of ideologies and social movements. Proponents of economic growth, expansion, and development, in general, view globalizing processes as desirable or necessary to the well-being of human society. Antagonists view one or more globalizing processes as detrimental to social well-being on a global or local scale; this includes those who focus on social or natural sustainability of long-term and continuous economic expansion, the social structural inequality caused by these processes, and the colonial, imperialistic, or hegemonic ethnocentrism, cultural assimilation and cultural appropriation that underlie such processes. Globalization tends to bring people into contact with foreign people and cultures. Xenophobia is the fear of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange. Xenophobia can manifest itself in many ways involving the relations and perceptions of an ingroup towards an outgroup, including a fear of losing identity, suspicion of its activities, aggression, and desire to eliminate its presence to secure a presumed purity. Critiques of globalization generally stem from discussions surrounding the impact of such processes on the planet as well as the human costs. They challenge directly traditional metrics, such as GDP, and look to other measures, such as the Gini coefficient or the Happy Planet Index, and point to a "multitude of interconnected fatal consequences–social disintegration, a breakdown of democracy, more rapid and extensive deterioration of the environment, the spread of new diseases, increasing poverty and alienation" which they claim are the unintended consequences of globalization. Others point out that, while the forces of globalization have led to the spread of western-style democracy, this has been accompanied by an increase in inter-ethnic tension and violence as free market economic policies combine with democratic processes of universal suffrage as well as an escalation in militarization to impose democratic principles and as a means to conflict resolution. On 9 August 2019, Pope Francis denounced isolationism and hinted that the Catholic Church will embrace globalization at the October 2019 Amazonia Synod, stating "the whole is greater than the parts. Globalization and unity should not be conceived as a sphere, but as a polyhedron: each people retains its identity in unity with others" Public opinion As a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, globalization is considered by some as a form of capitalist expansion which entails the integration of local and national economies into a global, unregulated market economy. A 2005 study by Peer Fis and Paul Hirsch found a large increase in articles negative towards globalization in the years prior. In 1998, negative articles outpaced positive articles by two to one. The number of newspaper articles showing negative framing rose from about 10% of the total in 1991 to 55% of the total in 1999. This increase occurred during a period when the total number of articles concerning globalization nearly doubled. A number of international polls have shown that residents of Africa and Asia tend to view globalization more favorably than residents of Europe or North America. In Africa, a Gallup poll found that 70% of the population views globalization favorably. The BBC found that 50% of people believed that economic globalization was proceeding too rapidly, while 35% believed it was proceeding too slowly. In 2004, Philip Gordon stated that "a clear majority of Europeans believe that globalization can enrich their lives, while believing the European Union can help them take advantage of globalization's benefits while shielding them from its negative effects". The main opposition consisted of socialists, environmental groups, and nationalists. Residents of the EU did not appear to feel threatened by globalization in 2004. The EU job market was more stable and workers were less likely to accept wage/benefit cuts. Social spending was much higher than in the US. In a Danish poll in 2007, 76% responded that globalization is a good thing. Fiss, et al., surveyed US opinion in 1993. Their survey showed that, in 1993, more than 40% of respondents were unfamiliar with the concept of globalization. When the survey was repeated in 1998, 89% of the respondents had a polarized view of globalization as being either good or bad. At the same time, discourse on globalization, which began in the financial community before shifting to a heated debate between proponents and disenchanted students and workers. Polarization increased dramatically after the establishment of the WTO in 1995; this event and subsequent protests led to a large-scale anti-globalization movement. Initially, college educated workers were likely to support globalization. Less educated workers, who were more likely to compete with immigrants and workers in developing countries, tended to be opponents. The situation changed after the Great Recession. According to a 1997 poll 58% of college graduates said globalization had been good for the US. By 2008 only 33% thought it was good. Respondents with high school education also became more opposed. According to Takenaka Heizo and Chida Ryokichi, there was a perception in Japan that the economy was "Small and Frail". However, Japan was resource-poor and used exports to pay for its raw materials. Anxiety over their position caused terms such as internationalization and globalization to enter everyday language. However, Japanese tradition was to be as self-sufficient as possible, particularly in agriculture. Many in developing countries see globalization as a positive force that lifts them out of poverty. Those opposing globalization typically combine environmental concerns with nationalism. Opponents consider governments as agents of neo-colonialism that are subservient to multinational corporations. Much of this criticism comes from the middle class; the Brookings Institution suggested this was because the middle class perceived upwardly mobile low-income groups as threatening to their economic security. Economics The literature analyzing the economics of free trade is extremely rich with extensive work having been done on the theoretical and empirical effects. Though it creates winners and losers, the broad consensus among economists is that free trade is a large and unambiguous net gain for society. In a 2006 survey of 83 American economists, "87.5% agree that the U.S. should eliminate remaining tariffs and other barriers to trade" and "90.1% disagree with the suggestion that the U.S. should restrict employers from outsourcing work to foreign countries." Quoting Harvard economics professor N. Gregory Mankiw, "Few propositions command as much consensus among professional economists as that open world trade increases economic growth and raises living standards." In a survey of leading economists, none disagreed with the notion that "freer trade improves productive efficiency and offers consumers better choices, and in the long run these gains are much larger than any effects on employment." Most economists would agree that although increasing returns to scale might mean that certain industry could settle in a geographical area without any strong economic reason derived from comparative advantage, this is not a reason to argue against free trade because the absolute level of output enjoyed by both "winner" and "loser" will increase with the "winner" gaining more than the "loser" but both gaining more than before in an absolute level. In the book The End of Poverty, Jeffrey Sachs discusses how many factors can affect a country's ability to enter the world market, including government corruption; legal and social disparities based on gender, ethnicity, or caste; diseases such as AIDS and malaria; lack of infrastructure (including transportation, communications, health, and trade); unstable political landscapes; protectionism; and geographic barriers. Jagdish Bhagwati, a former adviser to the U.N. on globalization, holds that, although there are obvious problems with overly rapid development, globalization is a very positive force that lifts countries out of poverty by causing a virtuous economic cycle associated with faster economic growth. However, economic growth does not necessarily mean a reduction in poverty; in fact, the two can coexist. Economic growth is conventionally measured using indicators such as GDP and GNI that do not accurately reflect the growing disparities in wealth. Additionally, Oxfam International argues that poor people are often excluded from globalization-induced opportunities "by a lack of productive assets, weak infrastructure, poor education and ill-health;" effectively leaving these marginalized groups in a poverty trap. Economist Paul Krugman is another staunch supporter of globalization and free trade with a record of disagreeing with many critics of globalization. He argues that many of them lack a basic understanding of comparative advantage and its importance in today's world. The flow of migrants to advanced economies has been claimed to provide a means through which global wages converge. An IMF study noted a potential for skills to be transferred back to developing countries as wages in those a countries rise. Lastly, the dissemination of knowledge has been an integral aspect of globalization. Technological innovations (or technological transfer) are conjectured to benefit most developing and least developing countries (LDCs), as for example in the adoption of mobile phones. There has been a rapid economic growth in Asia after embracing market orientation-based economic policies that encourage private property rights, free enterprise and competition. In particular, in East Asian developing countries, GDP per head rose at 5.9% a year from 1975 to 2001 (according to 2003 Human Development Report of UNDP). Like this, the British economic journalist Martin Wolf says that incomes of poor developing countries, with more than half the world's population, grew substantially faster than those of the world's richest countries that remained relatively stable in its growth, leading to reduced international inequality and the incidence of poverty. Certain demographic changes in the developing world after active economic liberalization and international integration resulted in rising general welfare and, hence, reduced inequality. According to Wolf, in the developing world as a whole, life expectancy rose by four months each year after 1970 and infant mortality rate declined from 107 per thousand in 1970 to 58 in 2000 due to improvements in standards of living and health conditions. Also, adult literacy in developing countries rose from 53% in 1970 to 74% in 1998 and much lower illiteracy rate among the young guarantees that rates will continue to fall as time passes. Furthermore, the reduction in fertility rate in the developing world as a whole from 4.1 births per woman in 1980 to 2.8 in 2000 indicates improved education level of women on fertility, and control of fewer children with more parental attention and investment. Consequently, more prosperous and educated parents with fewer children have chosen to withdraw their children from the labor force to give them opportunities to be educated at school improving the issue of child labor. Thus, despite seemingly unequal distribution of income within these developing countries, their economic growth and development have brought about improved standards of living and welfare for the population as a whole. Per capita gross domestic product (GDP) growth among post-1980 globalizing countries accelerated from 1.4 percent a year in the 1960s and 2.9 percent a year in the 1970s to 3.5 percent in the 1980s and 5.0 percent in the 1990s. This acceleration in growth seems even more remarkable given that the rich countries saw steady declines in growth from a high of 4.7 percent in the 1960s to 2.2 percent in the 1990s. Also, the non-globalizing developing countries seem to fare worse than the globalizers, with the former's annual growth rates falling from highs of 3.3 percent during the 1970s to only 1.4 percent during the 1990s. This rapid growth among the globalizers is not simply due to the strong performances of China and India in the 1980s and 1990s—18 out of the 24 globalizers experienced increases in growth, many of them quite substantial. The globalization of the late 20th and early 21st centuries has led to the resurfacing of the idea that the growth of economic interdependence promotes peace. This idea had been very powerful during the globalization of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was a central doctrine of classical liberals of that era, such as the young John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946). Some opponents of globalization see the phenomenon as a promotion of corporate interests. They also claim that the increasing autonomy and strength of corporate entities shapes the political policy of countries. They advocate global institutions and policies that they believe better address the moral claims of poor and working classes as well as environmental concerns. Economic arguments by fair trade theorists claim that unrestricted free trade benefits those with more financial leverage (i.e. the rich) at the expense of the poor. Globalization allows corporations to outsource manufacturing and service jobs from high-cost locations, creating economic opportunities with the most competitive wages and worker benefits. Critics of globalization say that it disadvantages poorer countries. While it is true that free trade encourages globalization among countries, some countries try to protect their domestic suppliers. The main export of poorer countries is usually agricultural productions. Larger countries often subsidize their farmers (e.g., the EU's Common Agricultural Policy), which lowers the market price for foreign crops. Global democracy Democratic globalization is a movement towards an institutional system of global democracy that would give world citizens a say in political organizations. This would, in their view, bypass nation-states, corporate oligopolies, ideological non-governmental organizations (NGO), political cults and mafias. One of its most prolific proponents is the British political thinker David Held. Advocates of democratic globalization argue that economic expansion and development should be the first phase of democratic globalization, which is to be followed by a phase of building global political institutions. Francesco Stipo, Director of the United States Association of the Club of Rome, advocates unifying nations under a world government, suggesting that it "should reflect the political and economic balances of world nations. A world confederation would not supersede the authority of the State governments but rather complement it, as both the States and the world authority would have power within their sphere of competence". Former Canadian Senator Douglas Roche, O.C., viewed globalization as inevitable and advocated creating institutions such as a directly elected United Nations Parliamentary Assembly to exercise oversight over unelected international bodies. Global civics Global civics suggests that civics can be understood, in a global sense, as a social contract between global citizens in the age of interdependence and interaction. The disseminators of the concept define it as the notion that we have certain rights and responsibilities towards each other by the mere fact of being human on Earth. World citizen has a variety of similar meanings, often referring to a person who disapproves of traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship. An early incarnation of this sentiment can be found in Socrates, whom Plutarch quoted as saying: "I am not an Athenian, or a Greek, but a citizen of the world." In an increasingly interdependent world, world citizens need a compass to frame their mindsets and create a shared consciousness and sense of global responsibility in world issues such as environmental problems and nuclear proliferation. Baha'i-inspired author Meyjes, while favoring the single world community and emergent global consciousness, warns of globalization as a cloak for an expeditious economic, social, and cultural Anglo-dominance that is insufficiently inclusive to inform the emergence of an optimal world civilization. He proposes a process of "universalization" as an alternative. Cosmopolitanism is the proposal that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality. A person who adheres to the idea of cosmopolitanism in any of its forms is called a cosmopolitan or cosmopolite. A cosmopolitan community might be based on an inclusive morality, a shared economic relationship, or a political structure that encompasses different nations. The cosmopolitan community is one in which individuals from different places (e.g. nation-states) form relationships based on mutual respect. For instance, Kwame Anthony Appiah suggests the possibility of a cosmopolitan community in which individuals from varying locations (physical, economic, etc.) enter relationships of mutual respect despite their differing beliefs (religious, political, etc.). Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan popularized the term Global Village beginning in 1962. His view suggested that globalization would lead to a world where people from all countries will become more integrated and aware of common interests and shared humanity. International cooperation Military cooperation – Past examples of international cooperation exist. One example is the security cooperation between the United States and the former Soviet Union after the end of the Cold War, which astonished international society. Arms control and disarmament agreements, including the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (see START I, START II, START III, and New START) and the establishment of NATO's Partnership for Peace, the Russia NATO Council, and the G8 Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, constitute concrete initiatives of arms control and de-nuclearization. The US–Russian cooperation was further strengthened by anti-terrorism agreements enacted in the wake of 9/11. Environmental cooperation – One of the biggest successes of environmental cooperation has been the agreement to reduce chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) emissions, as specified in the Montreal Protocol, in order to stop ozone depletion. The most recent debate around nuclear energy and the non-alternative coal-burning power plants constitutes one more consensus on what not to do. Thirdly, significant achievements in IC can be observed through development studies. Economic cooperation – One of the biggest challenges in 2019 with globalization is that many believe the progress made in the past decades are now back tracking. The back tracking of globalization has coined the term "Slobalization." Slobalization is a new, slower pattern of globalization. Anti-globalization movement Anti-globalization, or counter-globalization, consists of a number of criticisms of globalization but, in general, is critical of the globalization of corporate capitalism. The movement is also commonly referred to as the alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist movement, anti-corporate globalization movement, or movement against neoliberal globalization. Opponents of globalization argue that power and respect in terms of international trade between the developed and underdeveloped countries of the world are unequally distributed. The diverse subgroups that make up this movement include some of the following: trade unionists, environmentalists, anarchists, land rights and indigenous rights activists, organizations promoting human rights and sustainable development, opponents of privatization, and anti-sweatshop campaigners. In The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy, Christopher Lasch analyzed the widening gap between the top and bottom of the social composition in the United States. For him, our epoch is determined by a social phenomenon: the revolt of the elites, in reference to The Revolt of the Masses (1929) by the Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset. According to Lasch, the new elites, i.e. those who are in the top 20% in terms of income, through globalization which allows total mobility of capital, no longer live in the same world as their fellow-citizens. In this, they oppose the old bourgeoisie of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which was constrained by its spatial stability to a minimum of rooting and civic obligations. Globalization, according to the sociologist, has turned elites into tourists in their own countries. The denationalization of business enterprise tends to produce a class who see themselves as "world citizens, but without accepting ... any of the obligations that citizenship in a polity normally implies". Their ties to an international culture of work, leisure, information – make many of them deeply indifferent to the prospect of national decline. Instead of financing public services and the public treasury, new elites are investing their money in improving their voluntary ghettos: private schools in their residential neighborhoods, private police, garbage collection systems. They have "withdrawn from common life". Composed of those who control the international flows of capital and information, who preside over philanthropic foundations and institutions of higher education, manage the instruments of cultural production and thus fix the terms of public debate. So, the political debate is limited mainly to the dominant classes and political ideologies lose all contact with the concerns of the ordinary citizen. The result of this is that no one has a likely solution to these problems and that there are furious ideological battles on related issues. However, they remain protected from the problems affecting the working classes: the decline of industrial activity, the resulting loss of employment, the decline of the middle class, increasing the number of the poor, the rising crime rate, growing drug trafficking, the urban crisis. D.A. Snow et al. contend that the anti-globalization movement is an example of a new social movement, which uses tactics that are unique and use different resources than previously used before in other social movements. One of the most infamous tactics of the movement is the Battle of Seattle in 1999, where there were protests against the World Trade Organization's Third Ministerial Meeting. All over the world, the movement has held protests outside meetings of institutions such as the WTO, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, and the Group of Eight (G8). Within the Seattle demonstrations the protesters that participated used both creative and violent tactics to gain the attention towards the issue of globalization. Opposition to capital market integration Capital markets have to do with raising and investing money in various human enterprises. Increasing integration of these financial markets between countries leads to the emergence of a global capital marketplace or a single world market. In the long run, increased movement of capital between countries tends to favor owners of capital more than any other group; in the short run, owners and workers in specific sectors in capital-exporting countries bear much of the burden of adjusting to increased movement of capital. Those opposed to capital market integration on the basis of human rights issues are especially disturbed by the various abuses which they think are perpetuated by global and international institutions that, they say, promote neoliberalism without regard to ethical standards. Common targets include the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) and free trade treaties like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). In light of the economic gap between rich and poor countries, movement adherents claim free trade without measures in place to protect the under-capitalized will contribute only to the strengthening the power of industrialized nations (often termed the "North" in opposition to the developing world's "South"). Anti-corporatism and anti-consumerism Corporatist ideology, which privileges the rights of corporations (artificial or juridical persons) over those of natural persons, is an underlying factor in the recent rapid expansion of global commerce. In recent years, there have been an increasing number of books (Naomi Klein's 2000 No Logo, for example) and films (e.g. The Corporation & Surplus) popularizing an anti-corporate ideology to the public. A related contemporary ideology, consumerism, which encourages the personal acquisition of goods and services, also drives globalization. Anti-consumerism is a social movement against equating personal happiness with consumption and the purchase of material possessions. Concern over the treatment of consumers by large corporations has spawned substantial activism, and the incorporation of consumer education into school curricula. Social activists hold materialism is connected to global retail merchandizing and supplier convergence, war, greed, anomie, crime, environmental degradation, and general social malaise and discontent. One variation on this topic is activism by postconsumers, with the strategic emphasis on moving beyond addictive consumerism. Global justice and inequality Global justice The global justice movement is the loose collection of individuals and groups—often referred to as a "movement of movements"—who advocate fair trade rules and perceive current institutions of global economic integration as problems. The movement is often labeled an anti-globalization movement by the mainstream media. Those involved, however, frequently deny that they are anti-globalization, insisting that they support the globalization of communication and people and oppose only the global expansion of corporate power. The movement is based in the idea of social justice, desiring the creation of a society or institution based on the principles of equality and solidarity, the values of human rights, and the dignity of every human being. Social inequality within and between nations, including a growing global digital divide, is a focal point of the movement. Many nongovernmental organizations have now arisen to fight these inequalities that many in Latin America, Africa and Asia face. A few very popular and well known non-governmental organizations (NGOs) include: War Child, Red Cross, Free The Children and CARE International. They often create partnerships where they work towards improving the lives of those who live in developing countries by building schools, fixing infrastructure, cleaning water supplies, purchasing equipment and supplies for hospitals, and other aid efforts. Social inequality The economies of the world have developed unevenly, historically, such that entire geographical regions were left mired in poverty and disease while others began to reduce poverty and disease on a wholesale basis. From around 1980 through at least 2011, the GDP gap, while still wide, appeared to be closing and, in some more rapidly developing countries, life expectancies began to rise. If we look at the Gini coefficient for world income, since the late 1980s, the gap between some regions has markedly narrowed—between Asia and the advanced economies of the West, for example—but huge gaps remain globally. Overall equality across humanity, considered as individuals, has improved very little. Within the decade between 2003 and 2013, income inequality grew even in traditionally egalitarian countries like Germany, Sweden and Denmark. With a few exceptions—France, Japan, Spain—the top 10 percent of earners in most advanced economies raced ahead, while the bottom 10 percent fell further behind. By 2013, 85 multibillionaires had amassed wealth equivalent to all the wealth owned by the poorest half (3.5 billion) of the world's total population of 7 billion. Critics of globalization argue that globalization results in weak labor unions: the surplus in cheap labor coupled with an ever-growing number of companies in transition weakened labor unions in high-cost areas. Unions become less effective and workers their enthusiasm for unions when membership begins to decline. They also cite an increase in the exploitation of child labor: countries with weak protections for children are vulnerable to infestation by rogue companies and criminal gangs who exploit them. Examples include quarrying, salvage, and farm work as well as trafficking, bondage, forced labor, prostitution and pornography. Women often participate in the workforce in precarious work, including export-oriented employment. Evidence suggests that while globalization has expanded women's access to employment, the long-term goal of transforming gender inequalities remains unmet and appears unattainable without regulation of capital and a reorientation and expansion of the state's role in funding public goods and providing a social safety net. Furthermore, the intersectionality of gender, race, class, can be overlooked by scholars and commentators when assessing the impact of globalization. In 2016, a study published by the IMF posited that neoliberalism, the ideological backbone of contemporary globalized capitalism, has been "oversold", with the benefits of neoliberal policies being "fairly difficult to establish when looking at a broad group of countries" and the costs, most significantly higher income inequality within nations, "hurt the level and sustainability of growth." Anti-global governance Beginning in the 1930s, opposition arose to the idea of a world government, as advocated by organizations such as the World Federalist Movement (WFM). Those who oppose global governance typically do so on objections that the idea is unfeasible, inevitably oppressive, or simply unnecessary. In general, these opponents are wary of the concentration of power or wealth that such governance might represent. Such reasoning dates back to the founding of the League of Nations and, later, the United Nations. Environmentalist opposition Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment. Environmentalist concerns with globalization include issues such as global warming, global water supply and water crises, inequity in energy consumption and energy conservation, transnational air pollution and pollution of the world ocean, overpopulation, world habitat sustainability, deforestation, biodiversity loss and species extinction. One critique of globalization is that natural resources of the poor have been systematically taken over by the rich and the pollution promulgated by the rich is systematically dumped on the poor. Some argue that Northern corporations are increasingly exploiting resources of less wealthy countries for their global activities while it is the South that is disproportionately bearing the environmental burden of the globalized economy. Globalization is thus leading to a type of" environmental apartheid". Helena Norberg-Hodge, the director and founder of Local Futures/International Society for Ecology and Culture, criticizes globalization in many ways. In her book Ancient Futures, Norberg-Hodge claims that "centuries of ecological balance and social harmony are under threat from the pressures of development and globalization." She also criticizes the standardization and rationalization of globalization, as it does not always yield the expected growth outcomes. Although globalization takes similar steps in most countries, scholars such as Hodge claim that it might not be effective to certain countries and that globalization has actually moved some countries backward instead of developing them. A related area of concern is the pollution haven hypothesis, which posits that, when large industrialized nations seek to set up factories or offices abroad, they will often look for the cheapest option in terms of resources and labor that offers the land and material access they require (see Race to the bottom). This often comes at the cost of environmentally sound practices. Developing countries with cheap resources and labor tend to have less stringent environmental regulations, and conversely, nations with stricter environmental regulations become more expensive for companies as a result of the costs associated with meeting these standards. Thus, companies that choose to physically invest in foreign countries tend to (re)locate to the countries with the lowest environmental standards or weakest enforcement. The European Union–Mercosur Free Trade Agreement, which would form one of the world's largest free trade areas, has been denounced by environmental activists and indigenous rights campaigners. The fear is that the deal could lead to more deforestation of the Amazon rainforest as it expands market access to Brazilian beef. See also Civilizing mission Cosmopolitanism Deglobalization Environmental racism Eurasianism Franchising Free trade Global civics Global commons Global mobility Global regionalization Globalism Global public goods List of bilateral free-trade agreements List of globalization-related indices List of multilateral free-trade agreements Middle East and globalization Neorealism (international relations) North–South divide Outline of globalization Postdevelopment theory Technocapitalism The No-Nonsense Guide to Globalization Transnational cinema Transnational citizenship Triadization United Nations Millennium Declaration Vermeer's Hat World Englishes References Further reading Ampuja, Marko. Theorizing Globalization: A Critique of the Mediatization of Social Theory (Brill, 2012) Conner, Tom, and Ikuko Torimoto, eds. Globalization Redux: New Name, Same Game (University Press of America, 2004). Eriksen, Thomas Hylland. "Globalization." in Handbook of Political Anthropology (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018). Frey, James W. "The Global Moment: The Emergence of Globality, 1866–1867, and the Origins of Nineteenth-Century Globalization." The Historian 81.1 (2019): 9. online , focus on trade and Suez Canal Gunder Frank, Andre, and Robert A. Denemark. ReOrienting the 19th Century: Global Economy in the Continuing Asian Age (Paradigm Publishers, 2013). Hopkins, A.G., ed. Globalization in World History (Norton, 2003). Lechner, Frank J., and John Boli, eds. The Globalization Reader (4th ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012). Leibler, Anat. "The Emergence of a Global Economic Order: From Scientific Internationalism to Infrastructural Globalism." in Science, Numbers and Politics (Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2019) pp. 121–145 online. Mir, Salam. "Colonialism, Postcolonialism, Globalization, and Arab Culture." Arab Studies Quarterly 41.1 (2019): 33–58. online Olstein, Diego (2015) "Proto-globalization and Proto-glocalizations in the Middle Millennium." In Kedar, Benjamin and Wiesner-Hanks, Merry (Eds.), Cambridge World History. Volume 5: Expanding Webs of Exchange and Conquest, 500–1500 CE. Cambridge University Press, pp. 665–684 Pfister, Ulrich (2012), Globalization, EGO – European History Online, Mainz: Institute of European History, retrieved: 25 March 2021 (pdf). Pieterse, Jan Nederveen. Globalization and culture: Global mélange (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019). Rosenberg, Justin. "Globalization Theory: A Post Mortem," International Politics 42:1 (2005), 2–74. Steger, Manfred B. Globalization: A Very Short Introduction (4th ed. Oxford University Press, 2017) Van Der Bly, Martha C.E. "Globalization: A Triumph of Ambiguity," Current Sociology 53:6 (November 2005), 875–893 Wallerstein, Immanuel. "Globalization or the Age of Transition? A Long-Term View of the Trajectory of the World System," International Sociology 15:2 (June 2000), 251–267. External links Comprehensive discussion of the term at the Site Global Transformations Globalization Website (Emory University) Links, Debates, Glossary etc. BBC News Special Report – "Globalisation" "Globalization" Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Analysis of the idea and its history. OECD Globalization statistics Mapping Globalization, Princeton University List of Global Development Indexes and Rankings Theories of history Economic geography Cultural geography International trade Capitalism Interculturalism World history

Off-the-grid

Off-the-grid or off-grid is a characteristic of buildings and a lifestyle designed in an independent manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. The term "off-the-grid" traditionally refers to not being connected to the electrical grid, but can also include other utilities like water, gas, and sewer systems, and can scale from residential homes to small communities. Off-the-grid living allows for buildings and people to be self-sufficient, which is advantageous in isolated locations where normal utilities cannot reach and is attractive to those who want to reduce environmental impact and cost of living. Generally, an off-grid building must be able to supply energy and potable water for itself, as well as manage food, waste and wastewater. Energy Energy for electrical power and heating can be derived from burning hydrocarbons (e.g., diesel generators, propane heating), or generated on-site with renewable energy sources such as solar (particularly with photovoltaics), wind, or micro hydro. Additional forms of energy include biomass, commonly in the form of wood, waste, and alcohol fuels and geothermal energy, which uses differences in the underground temperature to regular indoor air environments in buildings. It is possible to simply eliminate energy shortage (e.g., via solar and wind tech such as in Old Order Amish - while used and sanctioned, not all agree) and Old Order Mennonite communities, and many Amish people still use steam engines. Electrical power Grid-connected buildings receive electricity from power plants, which mainly use natural resources such as coal and natural gas as energy to convert into electrical power. 2017's breakdown of world energy sources shows that the globe, mainly dependent on grid power, uses a majority of non-renewables, while popular renewables such as solar PV and wind power are a small portion. When off the grid, such as in Africa where 55% people of do not have access to electricity, buildings and homes must take advantage of the renewable energy sources around them, because it is the most abundant and allows for self-sufficiency. Solar photovoltaics Solar photovoltaics (PV), which use energy from the sun, are one of the most popular energy solutions for off-grid buildings. PV arrays (solar panels) allow for energy from the sun to be converted into electrical energy. PV is dependent upon solar radiation and ambient temperature. Other components needed in a PV system include charge controllers, inverters, and rapid shutdown controls. These systems give off-grid sites the ability to generate energy without grid connection. Every quarter, Bloomberg New Energy Finance evaluates manufacturers on their actual projects over the previous quarter and publish a list of Tier 1 Solar Module (panel) Manufacturers. Wind turbines Wind energy can be harnessed by wind turbines. Wind turbines components consist of blades that get pushed by wind, gearboxes, controllers, generators, brakes, and a tower. The amount of mechanical power captured from a wind turbine is a factor of the wind speed, air density, blade rotational area, and the aerodynamic power coefficient of the turbine. Micro-hydro Where water is abundant, hydropower is a promising energy solution. Large scale hydropower involves a dam and reservoir, and small scale micro-hydro can use turbines in rivers with constant levels of water. The amount of mechanical power generated is a factor of the flow of the stream, turbine size, water density, and power coefficient, similar to wind turbines. The energy from waves and tides can also provide power to coastal areas. Batteries When renewables produce energy that is not currently needed, the electrical energy is usually directed to charge a battery. This solves intermittency issues caused by the non-constant production of renewables and allows for variations in building loads. Common batteries include the lead-acid battery and lithium-ion battery. Hybrid energy systems In order to protect against intermittency issues and system failures, many off-grid communities create hybrid energy systems. These combine traditional renewables like solar PV, and wind, micro-hydro, batteries or even diesel generators. This can be cheaper and more effective than extending or maintaining grids to isolated communities. Radioisotope thermoelectric generator Historically remote applications such as lighthouses, weather stations and the likes which draw a small but continuous amount of power were powered by Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) with the needed radioisotopes either extracted from spent nuclear fuel or produced in dedicated facilities. Both the Soviet Union and the United States employed numerous such devices on earth and every deep space probe reaching beyond the orbit of Mars (and even some in the inner solar system) has had an RTG to provide power where solar panels no longer deliver sufficient electricity per unit of mass. Direct current buildings Electricity produced by photovoltaics is direct current and is stored in batteries as direct current and DC buildings would eliminate the need for conversions from AC to DC. One third of electricity in the home is used as DC for electronics, LED lights, and other appliances already. The market for DC home appliances is maturing, which is necessary to have a 100% DC powered home. The electrical panel, circuit breakers, and fuses would need to be replaced with DC compatible components if retrofitting an AC house to DC. For net metering, to sell back to the grid, an inverter would still be needed, and also to use the grid-as-a-backup, if still using a grid-tied electrical system. DC electricity doesn't transmit over power lines efficiently over long distances, but if it is generated and stored in batteries on site, it is more efficient by 10-20 percent to keep it as DC and run appliances that way without inverting. Temperature control Types of solar-energy passive off-grid cooling systems could be used for cooling houses and/or refrigeration – including some that do not require electrical components and are allowing for chemically stored on-demand energy. Such may be useful for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Communications Meshnets such as B.A.T.M.A.N. could be used to sustain or establish communications without conventional infrastructure. Moreover, off-grid communications technologies could be used for environmental, security and agricultural monitoring as well as for emergency communications and coordination – such as for work assignation. Healthcare Drones have been used for off-grid healthcare, especially in the most remote regions of the world. With communications enabled, they deliver test samples, medicine, vaccines, food, water and anti-venoms. Waste management Small-scale waste management techniques in Western Europe, often for specific or standardized waste, were reported to mostly use one of two main strategies: aerobic (with plants) and anaerobic treatment (with biogas production). Water and sanitation Water is a crucial consideration in the off-grid environment, which must be collected, used, and disposed of efficiently to make use of the environment. There are many ways to supply water for indoor domestic use, which vary based on local access and preference. Sources Local water bodies Nearby streams, ponds, rivers, and lakes are easy access points for fresh water. Oceans can also be considered with proper desalination. Wells and springs This traditional method involves digging down to where water is present and abundant underground, usually to the water table or to an aquifer, and bringing it up for use, or collecting at springs where underground water comes to the surface. Systems for bringing underground water to buildings include wind and solar driven pumps or hand pumps. Well water should be tested on a regular basis and when changes in the water's taste, odor, or appearance occur to ensure its quality. Rain catchments This system relies on the weather to provide water. Catchment systems are designed based on the water demand of the users and local rainfall characteristics. Rain water is typically funneled from the roof of a building to water tanks where the water is stored until needed. Foreign supplies Another, less self-sufficient method involves bringing large amounts of clean water to the site where it is stored. This system relies on access to clean drinking water elsewhere and transportation to the off-grid site. Devices Atmospheric water generators have a large potential for off-the-grid water generation. Treatment Wherever the water does come from, it must be safe to drink and use indoors. For various issues with water quality, different water treatment strategies are available. Filtration A physical barrier allows water to pass through and blocks impurities in the water and, if the filter is fine enough, can filter out biological contaminants. Chemical treatment In order to disinfect water, such as chlorine, chlorine dioxide, and ozone are introduced which kill microorganisms. Ultraviolet light (UV) A UV system uses bulbs that emit ultraviolet light into filtered water to kill all types of viruses, bacteria, and protozoa. Electrochemically activated solutions A less typical approach, this involves applying a current to water that has a small salt solution added to disinfect biological contaminants. Combined with filtration, this is a means to provide safe drinking water. Desalination Some groundwater may have high salinity levels and can be non-potable, which is fixed through distillation. Coastal communities may benefit by getting water from the ocean through the use of desalination plants that remove salt. Water softening The presence of certain minerals in water creates hard water which can clog pipes over time, interfere with soap and detergents, and can leave scum on glasses and dishes. Water softening systems introduce sodium and potassium ions which make the hard minerals precipitate. Usage and sanitation For off-grid buildings, efficient use of water is needed to prevent water supplies from running out. While this is ultimately habit-dependent, measures involve low-flow fixtures for faucets, shower heads, and toilets which decreases the flow rate of faucets or the volume of water per flush to reduce total water used. Water can be eliminated in toilets through the uses of a composting toilet. Automatic leak detectors and tap closures can reduce amounts of wasted water. Greywater recycling can further save on water by reusing water from faucets, showers, dishwashers, and clothes washers. This is done through storing and treating the greywater, which can then be reused as a non-potable water source. If an off-grid home is not connected to a sewer system, a wastewater system must also be included. On-site wastewater management is usually done through storage and leaching. This involves storing greywater and blackwater in a septic tank or aeration tank to be treated, which is connected to a leaching field that slowly allows the water to percolate out into the ground. While more and expensive waste water treatment options are also available, this is a common reliable means to dispose of waste water without polluting the environment. Financial Going off the grid financially could be done by using cash, cash cards, cryptocurrencies, alternative community currencies, off grid peer-to-peer lending, and bullion coins. It could be useful to protect financial assets from bank failures, bank fraud, asset freezing, electromagnetic pulse, and from creditors or debt collectors. Environmental impact and sustainability Because off-grid buildings and communities mainly rely on upon renewable energy, off-grid living is generally good for the environment with little negative impact. Hybrid energy systems also provide communities with a sustainable way to live without the dependence and cost of being connected to public infrastructure which can be unreliable in developing countries. Generally, isolated concerns of environmental impacts are the use diesel generators, which produce greenhouse gases, batteries, which use many resources to make and can be hazardous, and pollution in natural environments from solid waste and wastewater. It is prudent to note that, while the concerns below address negative environmental impacts, going off-grid as a whole is a viable option to help reduce impacts on the environment when replacing grid-connected buildings that contribute global warming and climate change. Diesel generator concerns in Canadian off-grid communities Canada has about 175 aboriginal and northern off-grid communities, defined as "a community that is neither connected to the North American electrical grid nor to the piped natural gas network; it is permanent or long-term (5 years or more), and the settlements have at least 10 permanent buildings." Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada lists the following environmental concerns for these off-grid communities: Burning large amounts of diesel produces substantial greenhouse gas emissions. This contributes to climate change which negatively affects communities. Fuel must be transported long distances by airplane, truck or barge, leading to a greater risk of fuel spills. The transportation of fuel by trucks on winter roads impacts the environment negatively through high greenhouse gas emissions from the vehicles. Fuel spills may take place while the fuel is being transported and stored, posing environmental risks. Fuel tank leaks contaminate soil and groundwater. Generators can be noisy and disruptive, especially in quiet, remote communities. Emissions from diesel generators could contribute to health problems in community members. The environmental impacts of the systems used in off-grid buildings must also be considered due to embodied energy, embodied carbon, choice and source of materials, which can contribute to world issues such as climate change, air, water, and soil pollution, resource depletion and more. Sustainable communities The concept of a sustainable off-grid community must take into consideration the basic needs of all who live in the community. To become truly self-sufficient, the community would need to provide all of its own electrical power, food, shelter and water. Using renewable energy, an on-site water source, sustainable agriculture and vertical farming techniques is paramount in taking a community off the grid. A recent concept design by Eric Wichman shows a multi-family community, which combines all of these technologies into one self-sufficient neighborhood. To grow the community you simply add neighborhoods using the same model as the first. A self-sustained community reduces its impact on the environment by controlling its waste and carbon footprint. Economic consideration In situations where grid parity has been reached, it becomes cheaper to generate one's own electricity rather than purchasing it from the grid. This depends on equipment costs, the availability of renewable energy sources, and the cost of a grid connection. For example, in certain remote areas a grid connection would be prohibitively expensive, resulting in grid parity being reached immediately. It is often done to residential buildings only occasionally occupied, such as vacation cabins, to avoid high initial costs of traditional utility connections. Other people choose to live in houses where the cost of outside utilities is prohibitive, or such a distance away as to be impractical. In his book How to live off-grid Nick Rosen lists seven reasons for going off-grid. The top two are saving money, and reducing the carbon footprint. Others include survivalists, preparing for the collapse of the oil economy and bringing life back to the countryside. Off-grid power for marginalized communities Reliable centralized electricity systems have provided supply constancy which has bolstered societies and their economies. Electricity provides opportunities for improved productivity, learning, and hygienic end-uses in the home, such as cooking without the use of polluting biomass fuel sources, yet as of 2016, 20 percent of people worldwide lived without it. Bridging the gap from the current under-provision of grid electricity to universal access has been projected to require US$17 trillion and 30 years even on a rigorous timetable. Researchers have argued that a lack of centralized energy infrastructure can result in low resilience to damage to productivity and property from changing climates and severe weather. In addition, the advantages of central power generation and distribution are receding in the face of climatic degradation due to fossil fuel powered generation, vulnerabilities to extreme weather events and electronic manipulation, and increasingly complex design and regulatory processes. Decentralized, off-grid energy systems can constitute a sustainable interim alternative to extending national grids to rural customers. Those using limited off-grid power as a stepping stool to eventual grid access can accumulate energy efficient knowledge, behavior, and products that confer added resiliency while grid networks increase in reliability and carbon neutrality. However, providing off-grid electricity to rural users without also including training and education about its use and applications can result in under-utilization. To counteract this possibility, off-grid systems should reflect the cultural structures, values, and mores of host communities. Off-grid electrical systems can power individual residences or a community linked in a shared arrangement known as a micro-grid. In addition, they may be powered by renewable energy sources or by conventional fossil fuels. In Kenya, Mpeketoni township began a community-based, diesel-powered micro-grid project (the Mpeketoni Electricity Project [MEP]) in 1994 with an outlay of approximately US$40,000, and eventually grew to serve 105 residences and 116 commercial, educational, government, and healthcare buildings. The MEP demonstrated unanticipated supply and demand effects when artisans using tools powered by MEP electricity increased their productivity enough to cause depreciation of their wares, necessitating lowering of their prices; however, higher volumes of sales eventually offset these losses. MEP electricity facilitated cold storage of agricultural products, in addition to well pumping, which allowed students who previously spent several hours per day fetching water to spend that time studying in the evening by electric light. Electricity provided by the MEP also expanded teaching hours and sanitation at local schools through electric lighting and pumped water. The MEP off-grid project had numerous direct and indirect benefits for community members, and because the MEP emphasized promotion of the uses for electricity and the community had the ability to pay nominal rates for its use, the project achieved 94 percent cost recovery in its first ten years of operation. Relation to alternatives Off-the-grid generation may sometimes inhibit efforts to develop permanent infrastructure – such as in the case of devices for water generation and permanent piped water supply networks. Furthermore, grids may often be substantially more efficient and effective or necessary – such as in the case of smart grids and super grids for sustainable energy – and hence may often only be useful on large scales for autonomous community development of alternatives, as fallback, for disaster response, for other humanitarian aid during temporary relocation, and for initial support of long-term infrastructure development. Land labs as off-grid educational environments Land labs provide an outdoor classroom environment for students to learn about off-grid technology and methods. Within a land lab, students can learn about permaculture, photovoltaics, rainwater catchment, animal husbandry, composting, market gardening, biochar systems, methane digesters, rocket mass heaters, horticulture, ecology, and countless other off-grid concepts. Public schools, charter schools, private schools and homeschools can all benefit from using a land lab environment to teach students about sustainability, independence, and ecological systems. See also Anarcho-primitivism Autonomous building Back-to-the-land movement Battery charger Camping Distributed generation Domestic energy consumption Hazards of outdoor recreation Human-wildlife conflict Inverter Microgeneration Rural electrification Rural-urban fringe Simple living Slab City, California Soft power Solar charge controller Solar Guerrilla Survival skills Survivalism Wide area synchronous grid Wildland-urban interface Zero energy building Gallery References External links Smithsonian magazine interview about living off-grid OffGridWizard a DIY Guide for Off grid Energy OffGridEnclave a collection of information, projects and community about living off-grid West Texas Weekly article on John Wells' life off the grid Into the wild: the rebels living off-grid all over Europe – in pictures. "They've opted out of cities and started all-new rural lives, building their own straw homes, teepees and bath tubs. Since 2010, photographer Antoine Bruy has travelled from the Pyrenees to Romania tracking down urban refuseniks." The Guardian House types Simple living Renewable energy Lifestyles Low-energy building Electric power

Nature-based solutions

Nature-based solutions (or nature-based systems, and abbreviated as NBS or NbS) describe the development and use of nature (biodiversity) and natural processes to address diverse socio-environmental issues. These issues include climate change mitigation and adaptation, human security issues such as water security and food security, and disaster risk reduction. The aim is that resilient ecosystems (whether natural, managed, or newly created) provide solutions for the benefit of both societies and biodiversity. The 2019 UN Climate Action Summit highlighted nature-based solutions as an effective method to combat climate change. For example, nature-based systems for climate change adaptation can include natural flood management, restoring natural coastal defences, and providing local cooling. The concept of NBS is related to the concept of ecological engineering and ecosystem-based adaptation. NBS are also related, conceptually to the practice of ecological restoration. The sustainable management approach is a key aspect of NBS development and implementation. Mangrove restoration efforts along coastlines provide an example of a nature-based solution that can achieve multiple goals. Mangroves moderate the impact of waves and wind on coastal settlements or cities, and they sequester carbon. They also provide nursery zones for marine life which is important for sustaining fisheries. Additionally, mangrove forests can help to control coastal erosion resulting from sea level rise. Green roofs, blue roofs and green walls (as part of green infrastructure) are also nature-based solutions that can be implemented in urban areas. They can reduce the effects of urban heat islands, capture stormwater, abate pollution, and act as carbon sinks. At the same time, they can enhance local biodiversity. NBS systems and solutions are forming an increasing part of national and international policies on climate change. They are included in climate change policy, infrastructure investment, and climate finance mechanisms. The European Commission has paid increasing attention to NBS since 2013. This is reflected in the majority of global NBS case studies reviewed by Debele et al (2023) being located in Europe. While there is much scope for scaling-up nature-based systems and solutions globally, they frequently encounter numerous challenges during planning and implementation. The IPCC pointed out that the term is "the subject of ongoing debate, with concerns that it may lead to the misunderstanding that NbS on its own can provide a global solution to climate change". To clarify this point further, the IPCC also stated that "nature-based systems cannot be regarded as an alternative to, or a reason to delay, deep cuts in GHG emissions". Definition The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defines NBS as "actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits". Societal challenges of relevance here include climate change, food security, disaster risk reduction, water security. In other words: "Nature-based solutions are interventions that use the natural functions of healthy ecosystems to protect the environment but also provide numerous economic and social benefits." They are used both in the context of climate change mitigation as well as adaptation. The European Commission's definition of NBS states that these solutions are "inspired and supported by nature, which are cost-effective, simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits and help build resilience. Such solutions bring more, and more diverse, nature and natural features and processes into cities, landscapes, and seascapes, through locally adapted, resource-efficient and systemic interventions". In 2020, the EC definition was updated to further emphasise that "Nature-based solutions must benefit biodiversity and support the delivery of a range of ecosystem services." The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report pointed out that the term nature-based solutions is "widely but not universally used in the scientific literature". As of 2017, the term NBS was still regarded as "poorly defined and vague". The term ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is a subset of nature-based solutions and "aims to maintain and increase the resilience and reduce the vulnerability of ecosystems and people in the face of the adverse effects of climate change". History of the term The term nature-based solutions was put forward by practitioners in the late 2000s. At that time it was used by international organisations such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the World Bank in the context of finding new solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change effects by working with natural ecosystems rather than relying purely on engineering interventions. Many indigenous peoples have recognised the natural environment as playing an important role in human well-being as part of their traditional knowledge systems, but this idea did not enter into modern scientific literature until the 1970's with the concept of ecosystem services. The IUCN referred to NBS in a position paper for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The term was also adopted by European policymakers, in particular by the European Commission, in a report stressing that NBS can offer innovative means to create jobs and growth as part of a green economy. The term started to make appearances in the mainstream media around the time of the Global Climate Action Summit in California in September 2018. Objectives and framing Nature-based solutions stress the sustainable use of nature in solving coupled environmental-social-economic challenges. NBS go beyond traditional biodiversity conservation and management principles by "re-focusing" the debate on humans and specifically integrating societal factors such as human well-being and poverty reduction, socio-economic development, and governance principles. The general objective of NBS is clear, namely the sustainable management and use of Nature for tackling societal challenges. However, different stakeholders view NBS from a variety of perspectives. For instance, the IUCN puts the need for well-managed and restored ecosystems at the heart of NBS, with the overarching goal of "Supporting the achievement of society's development goals and safeguard human well-being in ways that reflect cultural and societal values and enhance the resilience of ecosystems, their capacity for renewal and the provision of services". The European Commission underlines that NBS can transform environmental and societal challenges into innovation opportunities, by turning natural capital into a source for green growth and sustainable development. Within this viewpoint, nature-based solutions to societal challenges "bring more, and more diverse, nature and natural features and processes into cities, landscapes and seascapes, through locally adapted, resource-efficient and systemic interventions". As a result, NBS has been suggested as a means of implementing the nature-positive goal to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030, and achieve full nature recovery by 2050. Categories The IUCN proposes to consider NBS as an umbrella concept. Categories and examples of NBS approaches according to the IUCN include: Types Scientists have proposed a typology to characterise NBS along two gradients: "How much engineering of biodiversity and ecosystems is involved in NBS", and "How many ecosystem services and stakeholder groups are targeted by a given NBS". The typology highlights that NBS can involve very different actions on ecosystems (from protection, to management, or even the creation of new ecosystems) and is based on the assumption that the higher the number of services and stakeholder groups targeted, the lower the capacity to maximise the delivery of each service and simultaneously fulfil the specific needs of all stakeholder groups. As such, three types of NBS are distinguished (hybrid solutions exist along this gradient both in space and time. For instance, at a landscape scale, mixing protected and managed areas could be required to fulfill multi-functionality and sustainability goals): Type 1 – Minimal intervention in ecosystems Type 1 consists of no or minimal intervention in ecosystems, with the objectives of maintaining or improving the delivery of a range of ecosystem services both inside and outside of these conserved ecosystems. Examples include the protection of mangroves in coastal areas to limit risks associated with extreme weather conditions; and the establishment of marine protected areas to conserve biodiversity within these areas while exporting fish and other biomass into fishing grounds. This type of NBS is connected to, for example, the concept of biosphere reserves. Type 2 – Some interventions in ecosystems and landscapes Type 2 corresponds to management approaches that develop sustainable and multifunctional ecosystems and landscapes (extensively or intensively managed). These types improve the delivery of selected ecosystem services compared to what would be obtained through a more conventional intervention. Examples include innovative planning of agricultural landscapes to increase their multi-functionality; using existing agrobiodiversity to increase biodiversity, connectivity, and resilience in landscapes; and approaches for enhancing tree species and genetic diversity to increase forest resilience to extreme events. This type of NBS is strongly connected to concepts like agroforestry. Type 3 – Managing ecosystems in extensive ways Type 3 consists of managing ecosystems in very extensive ways or even creating new ecosystems (e.g., artificial ecosystems with new assemblages of organisms for green roofs and walls to mitigate city warming and clean polluted air). Type 3 is linked to concepts like green and blue infrastructures and objectives like restoration of heavily degraded or polluted areas and greening cities. Constructed wetlands are one example for a Type 3 NBS. Applications Climate change mitigation and adaptation The 2019 UN Climate Action Summit highlighted nature-based solutions as an effective method to combat climate change. For example, NBS in the context of climate action can include natural flood management, restoring natural coastal defences, providing local cooling, restoring natural fire regimes. The Paris Agreement calls on all Parties to recognise the role of natural ecosystems in providing services such as that of carbon sinks. Article 5.2 encourages Parties to adopt conservation and management as a tool for increasing carbon stocks and Article 7.1 encourages Parties to build the resilience of socioeconomic and ecological systems through economic diversification and sustainable management of natural resources. The Agreement refers to nature (ecosystems, natural resources, forests) in 13 distinct places. An in-depth analysis of all Nationally Determined Contributions submitted to UNFCCC, revealed that around 130 NDCs or 65% of signatories commit to nature-based solutions in their climate pledges. This suggests a broad consensus for the role of nature in helping to meet climate change goals. However, high-level commitments rarely translate into robust, measurable actions on-the-ground. A global systemic map of evidence was produced to determine and illustrate the effectiveness of NBS for climate change adaptation. After sorting through 386 case studies with computer programs, the study found that NBS were just as, if not more, effective than traditional or alternative flood management strategies. 66% of cases evaluated reported positive ecological outcomes, 24% did not identify a change in ecological conditions and less than 1% reported negative impacts. Furthermore, NBS always had better social and climate change mitigation impacts. In the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit, nature-based solutions were one of the main topics covered, and were discussed as an effective method to combat climate change. A "Nature-Based Solution Coalition" was created, including dozens of countries, led by China and New Zealand. Urban areas Since around 2017, many studies have proposed ways of planning and implementing nature-based solutions in urban areas. It is crucial that grey infrastructures continue to be used with green infrastructure. Multiple studies recognise that while NBS is very effective and improves flood resilience, it is unable to act alone and must be in coordination with grey infrastructure. Using green infrastructure alone or grey infrastructure alone are less effective than when the two are used together. When NBS is used alongside grey infrastructure the benefits transcend flood management and improve social conditions, increase carbon sequestration and prepare cities for planning for resilience. In the 1970s a popular approach in the U.S. was that of Best Management Practices (BMP) for using nature as a model for infrastructure and development while the UK had a model for flood management called "sustainable drainage systems". Another framework called "Water Sensitive Urban Design" (WSUD) came out of Australia in the 1990s while Low Impact Development (LID) came out of the U.S.  Eventually New Zealand reframed LID to create "Low Impact Urban Design and Development" (LIUDD) with a focus on using diverse stakeholders as a foundation. Then in the 2000s the western hemisphere largely adopted "Green Infrastructure" for stormwater management as well as enhancing social, economic and environmental conditions for sustainability. In a Chinese National Government program, the Sponge Cities Program, planners are using green grey infrastructure in 30 Chinese cities as a way to manage pluvial flooding and climate change risk after rapid urbanization. Water management aspects With respect to water issues, NBS can achieve the following: Use natural processes to enhance water availability (e.g., soil moisture retention, groundwater recharge), Improve water quality (e.g., natural wetlands and constructed wetlands to treat wastewater; riparian buffer strips), and Reduce risks associated with water‐related disasters and climate change (e.g., floodplain restoration, green roofs). The UN has also tried to promote a shift in perspective towards NBS: the theme for World Water Day 2018 was "Nature for Water", while UN-Water's accompanying UN World Water Development Report was titled "Nature-based Solutions for Water". For example, the Lancaster Environment Centre has implemented catchments at different scales on flood basins in conjunction with modelling software that allows observers to calculate the factor by which the floodplain expanded during two storm events. The idea is to divert higher floods flows into expandable areas of storage in the landscape. Forest restoration for multiple benefits Forest restoration can benefit both biodiversity and human livelihoods (eg. providing food, timber and medicinal products). Diverse, native tree species are also more likely to be resilient to climate change than plantation forests. Agricultural expansion has been the main driver of deforestation globally. Forest loss has been estimated at around 4.7 million ha per year in 2010–2020. Over the same period, Asia had the highest net gain of forest area followed by Oceania and Europe. Forest restoration, as part of national development strategies, can help countries achieve sustainable development goals. For example, in Rwanda, the Rwanda Natural Resources Authority, World Resources Institute and IUCN began a program in 2015 for forest landscape restoration as a national priority. NBS approaches used were ecological restoration and ecosystem-based mitigation and the program was meant to address the following societal issues: food security, water security, disaster risk reduction. The Great Green Wall, a joint campaign among African countries to combat desertification launched in 2007. Implementation Guidance for effective implementation A number of studies and reports have proposed principles and frameworks to guide effective and appropriate implementation. One primary principle, for example, is that NBS seek to embrace, rather than replace, nature conservation norms. NBS can be implemented alone or in an integrated manner along with other solutions to societal challenges (e.g. technological and engineering solutions) and are applied at the landscape scale. Researchers have pointed out that "instead of framing NBS as an alternative to engineered approaches, we should focus on finding synergies among different solutions". The concept of NBS is gaining acceptance outside the conservation community (e.g. urban planning) and is now on its way to be mainstreamed into policies and programmes (climate change policy, law, infrastructure investment, and financing mechanisms), although NBS still face many implementation barriers and challenges. Multiple case studies have demonstrated that NBS can be more economically viable than traditional technological infrastructures. Implementation of NBS requires measures like adaptation of economic subsidy schemes, and the creation of opportunities for conservation finance, to name a few. Using geographic information systems (GIS) NBS are also determined by site-specific natural and cultural contexts that include traditional, local and scientific knowledge. Geographic information systems (GIS) can be used as an analysis tool to determine sites that may succeed as NBS. GIS can function in such a way that site conditions including slope gradients, water bodies, land use and soils are taken into account in analyzing for suitability. The resulting maps are often used in conjunction with historic flood maps to determine the potential of floodwater storage capacity on specific sites using 3D modeling tools. Projects supported by the European Union Since 2016, the EU has supported a multi-stakeholder dialogue platform (ThinkNature) to promote the co-design, testing, and deployment of improved and innovative NBS in an integrated way. The creation of such science-policy-business-society interfaces could promote market uptake of NBS. The project was part of the EU’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme, and ran for 3 years. In 2017, as part of the Presidency of the Estonian Republic of the Council of the European Union, a conference called "Nature-based Solutions: From Innovation to Common-use" was organised by the Ministry of the Environment of Estonia and the University of Tallinn. This conference aimed to strengthen synergies among various recent initiatives and programs related to NBS, focusing on policy and governance of NBS, research, and innovation. Concerns The Indigenous Environmental Network has stated that "Nature-based solutions (NBS) is a greenwashing tool that does not address the root causes of climate change." and "The legacy of colonial power continues through nature-based solutions." For example, NBS activities can involve converting non-forest land into forest plantations (for climate change mitigation) but this carries risks of climate injustice through taking land away from smallholders and pastoralists. However, the IPCC pointed out that the term is "the subject of ongoing debate, with concerns that it may lead to the misunderstanding that NbS on its own can provide a global solution to climate change". To clarify this point further, the IPCC also stated that "nature-based systems cannot be regarded as an alternative to, or a reason to delay, deep cuts in GHG emissions". The majority of case studies and examples of NBS are from the Global North, resulting in a lack of data for many medium- and low-income nations. Consequently, many ecosystems and climates are excluded from existing studies as well as cost analyses in these locations. Further research needs to be conducted in the Global South to determine the efficacy of NBS on climate, social and ecological standards. Related concepts NBS is closely related to concepts like ecosystem approaches and ecological engineering. This includes concepts such as ecosystem-based adaptation and green infrastructure. For instance, ecosystem-based approaches are increasingly promoted for climate change adaptation and mitigation by organisations like the United Nations Environment Programme and non-governmental organisations such as The Nature Conservancy. These organisations refer to "policies and measures that take into account the role of ecosystem services in reducing the vulnerability of society to climate change, in a multi-sectoral and multi-scale approach". See also References External links Nature-based solutions in the context of climate change: Nature-based Solutions Initiative - interdisciplinary programme of research, education and policy advice based in the Departments of Biology and Geography at the University of Oxford An Introduction to Nature-based Solutions (by weADAPT) Shortfilm by Greta Thunberg and George Monbiot: Nature Now 2020 Q&A: Can ‘nature-based solutions’ help address climate change? by CarbonBrief. 2021. Nature-based solutions in other contexts: Sustainable cities: Nature-based solutions in urban design (The Nature Conservancy): https://vimeo.com/155849692 Video: Think Nature: A guide to using nature-based solutions (IUCN) Nature Ecosystems Social issues Biodiversity Ecology Climate change adaptation

Electrification

Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refers to the build-out of the electricity generation and electric power distribution systems. In the context of sustainable energy, electrification refers to the build-out of super grids with energy storage to accommodate the energy transition to renewable energy and the switch of end-uses to electricity. The electrification of particular sectors of the economy, particularly out of context, is called by modified terms such as factory electrification, household electrification, rural electrification and railway electrification. In the context of sustainable energy, terms such as transport electrification (referring to electric vehicles) or heating electrification (referring to heat pumps) are used. It may also apply to changing industrial processes such as smelting, melting, separating or refining from coal or coke heating, or to chemical processes to some type of electric process such as electric arc furnace, electric induction or resistance heating, or electrolysis or electrolytic separating. Benefits of electrification Electrification was called "the greatest engineering achievement of the 20th Century" by the National Academy of Engineering, and it continues in both rich and poor countries. Benefits of electric lighting Electric lighting is highly desirable. The light is much brighter than oil or gas lamps, and there is no soot. Although early electricity was very expensive compared to today, it was far cheaper and more convenient than oil or gas lighting. Electric lighting was so much safer than oil or gas that some companies were able to pay for the electricity with the insurance savings. Pre-electric power In 1851, Charles Babbage stated:One of the inventions most important to a class of highly skilled workers (engineers) would be a small motive power - ranging perhaps from the force of from half a man to that of two horses, which might commence as well as cease its action at a moment's notice, require no expense of time for its management and be of modest cost both in original cost and in daily expense. To be efficient steam engines needed to be several hundred horsepower. Steam engines and boilers also required operators and maintenance. For these reasons the smallest commercial steam engines were about 2 horsepower. This was above the need for many small shops. Also, a small steam engine and boiler cost about $7,000 while an old blind horse that could develop 1/2 horsepower cost $20 or less. Machinery to use horses for power cost $300 or less. Many power requirements were less than that of a horse. Shop machines, such as woodworking lathes, were often powered with a one- or two-man crank. Household sewing machines were powered with a foot treadle; however, factory sewing machines were steam-powered from a line shaft. Dogs were sometimes used on machines such as a treadmill, which could be adapted to churn butter. In the late 19th century specially designed power buildings leased space to small shops. These building supplied power to the tenants from a steam engine through line shafts. Electric motors were several times more efficient than small steam engines because central station generation was more efficient than small steam engines and because line shafts and belts had high friction losses. Electric motors were more efficient than human or animal power. The conversion efficiency for animal feed to work is between 4 and 5% compared to over 30% for electricity generated using coal. Economic impact of electrification Electrification and economic growth are highly correlated. In economics, the efficiency of electrical generation has been shown to correlate with technological progress. In the U.S. from 1870 to 1880 each man-hour was provided with .55 hp. In 1950 each man-hour was provided with 5 hp, or a 2.8% annual increase, declining to 1.5% from 1930 to 1950. The period of electrification of factories and households from 1900 to 1940, was one of high productivity and economic growth. Most studies of electrification and electric grids focused on industrial core countries in Europe and the United States. Elsewhere, wired electricity was often carried on and through the circuits of colonial rule. Some historians and sociologists considered the interplay of colonial politics and the development of electric grids: in India, Rao showed that linguistics-based regional politics—not techno-geographical considerations—led to the creation of two separate grids; in colonial Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), Chikowero showed that electrification was racially based and served the white settler community while excluding Africans; and in Mandate Palestine, Shamir claimed that British electric concessions to a Zionist-owned company deepened the economic disparities between Arabs and Jews. Current extent of electrification While electrification of cities and homes has existed since the late 19th century, about 840 million people (mostly in Africa) had no access to grid electricity in 2017, down from 1.2 billion in 2010. Vast gains in electrification were seen in the 1970s and 1980s—from 49% of the world's population in 1970 to 76% in 1990. By the early 2010s, 81–83% of the world's population had access to electricity. Electrification for sustainable energy Clean energy is mostly generated in the form of electricity, such as renewable energy or nuclear power. Switching to these energy sources requires that end uses, such as transport and heating, be electrified for the world's energy systems to be sustainable. In the U.S. and Canada the use of heat pumps (HP) is economic if powered with solar photovoltaic (PV) devices to offset propane heating in rural areas and natural gas heating in cities. A 2023 study investigated: (1) a residential natural gas-based heating system and grid electricity, (2) a residential natural gas-based heating system with PV to serve the electric load, (3) a residential HP system with grid electricity, and (4) a residential HP+PV system. It found that under typical inflation conditions, the lifecycle cost of natural gas and reversible, air-source heat pumps are nearly identical, which in part explains why heat pump sales have surpassed gas furnace sales in the U.S. for the first time during a period of high inflation. With higher rates of inflation or lower PV capital costs, PV becomes a hedge against rising prices and encourages the adoption of heat pumps by also locking in both electricity and heating cost growth. The study concludes: "The real internal rate of return for such prosumer technologies is 20x greater than a long-term certificate of deposit, which demonstrates the additional value PV and HP technologies offer prosumers over comparably secure investment vehicles while making substantive reductions in carbon emissions." This approach can be improved by integrating a thermal battery into the heat pump+solar energy heating system. Transport electrification It is easier to sustainably produce electricity than it is to sustainably produce liquid fuels. Therefore, adoption of electric vehicles is a way to make transport more sustainable. Hydrogen vehicles may be an option for larger vehicles which have not yet been widely electrified, such as long distance lorries. While electric vehicle technology is relatively mature in road transport, electric shipping and aviation are still early in their development, hence sustainable liquid fuels may have a larger role to play in these sectors. Heating electrification A large fraction of the world population cannot afford sufficient cooling for their homes. In addition to air conditioning, which requires electrification and additional power demand, passive building design and urban planning will be needed to ensure cooling needs are met in a sustainable way. Similarly, many households in the developing and developed world suffer from fuel poverty and cannot heat their houses enough. Existing heating practices are often polluting. A key sustainable solution to heating is electrification (heat pumps, or the less efficient electric heater). The IEA estimates that heat pumps currently provide only 5% of space and water heating requirements globally, but could provide over 90%. Use of ground source heat pumps not only reduces total annual energy loads associated with heating and cooling, it also flattens the electric demand curve by eliminating the extreme summer peak electric supply requirements. However, heat pumps and resistive heating alone will not be sufficient for the electrification of industrial heat. This because in several processes higher temperatures are required which cannot be achieved with these types of equipment. For example, for the production of ethylene via steam cracking temperatures as high as 900 °C are required. Hence, drastically new processes are required. Nevertheless, power-to-heat is expected to be the first step in the electrification of the chemical industry with an expected large-scale implementation by 2025. Some cities in the United States have started prohibiting gas hookups for new houses, with state laws passed and under consideration to either require electrification or prohibit local requirements. The UK government is experimenting with electrification for home heating to meet its climate goals. Ceramic and Induction heating for cooktops as well as industrial applications (for instance steam crackers) are examples of technologies that can be used to transition away from natural gas. Energy resilience Electricity is a "sticky" form of energy, in that it tends to stay in the continent or island where it is produced. It is also multi-sourced; if one source suffers a shortage, electricity can be produced from other sources, including renewable sources. As a result, in the long term it is a relatively resilient means of energy transmission. In the short term, because electricity must be supplied at the same moment it is consumed, it is somewhat unstable, compared to fuels that can be delivered and stored on-site. However, that can be mitigated by grid energy storage and distributed generation. Managing variable energy sources Solar and wind are variable renewable energy sources that supply electricity intermittently depending on the weather and the time of day. Most electrical grids were constructed for non-intermittent energy sources such as coal-fired power plants. As larger amounts of solar and wind energy are integrated into the grid, changes have to be made to the energy system to ensure that the supply of electricity is matched to demand. In 2019, these sources generated 8.5% of worldwide electricity, a share that has grown rapidly. There are various ways to make the electricity system more flexible. In many places, wind and solar production are complementary on a daily and a season scale: There is more wind during the night and in winter, when solar energy production is low. Linking distant geographical regions through long-distance transmission lines allows for further cancelling out of variability. Energy demand can be shifted in time through energy demand management and the use of smart grids, matching the times when variable energy production is highest. With storage, energy produced in excess can be released when needed. Building additional capacity for wind and solar generation can help to ensure that enough electricity is produced even during poor weather; during optimal weather energy generation may have to be curtailed. The final mismatch may be covered by using dispatchable energy sources such as hydropower, bioenergy, or natural gas. Energy storage Energy storage helps overcome barriers for intermittent renewable energy, and is therefore an important aspect of a sustainable energy system. The most commonly used storage method is pumped-storage hydroelectricity, which requires locations with large differences in height and access to water. Batteries, and specifically lithium-ion batteries, are also deployed widely. They contain cobalt, which is largely mined in Congo, a politically unstable region. More diverse geographical sourcing may ensure the stability of the supply-chain and their environmental impacts can be reduced by downcycling and recycling. Batteries typically store electricity for short periods; research is ongoing into technology with sufficient capacity to last through seasons. Pumped hydro storage and power-to-gas with capacity for multi-month usage has been implemented in some locations. As of 2018, thermal energy storage is typically not as convenient as burning fossil fuels. High upfront costs form a barrier for implementation. Seasonal thermal energy storage requires large capacity; it has been implemented in some high-latitude regions for household heat. History of electrification The earliest commercial uses of electricity were electroplating and the telegraph. Development of magnetos, dynamos and generators In the years 1831–1832, Michael Faraday discovered the operating principle of electromagnetic generators. The principle, later called Faraday's law, is based on an electromotive force generated in an electrical conductor that is subjected to a varying magnetic flux as, for example, a wire moving through a magnetic field. Faraday built the first electromagnetic generator, called the Faraday disk, a type of homopolar generator, using a copper disc rotating between the poles of a horseshoe magnet. Faraday's first electromagnetic generator produced a small DC voltage. Around 1832, Hippolyte Pixii improved the magneto by using a wire wound horseshoe, with the extra coils of conductor generating more current, but it was AC. André-Marie Ampère suggested a means of converting current from Pixii's magneto to DC using a rocking switch. Later segmented commutators were used to produce direct current. Around 1838-40, William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone developed a telegraph. In 1840 Wheatstone was using a magneto that he developed to power the telegraph. Wheatstone and Cooke made an important improvement in electrical generation by using a battery-powered electromagnet in place of a permanent magnet, which they patented in 1845. The self-excited magnetic field dynamo did away with the battery to power electromagnets. This type of dynamo was made by several people in 1866. The first practical generator, the Gramme machine, was made by Z.T. Gramme, who sold many of these machines in the 1870s. British engineer R.E.B. Crompton improved the generator to allow better air cooling and made other mechanical improvements. Compound winding, which gave more stable voltage with load, improved the operating characteristics of generators. The improvements in electrical generation technology in the 19th century increased its efficiency and reliability greatly. The first magnetos only converted a few percent of mechanical energy to electricity. By the end of the 19th century the highest efficiencies were over 90%. Electric lighting Arc lighting Sir Humphry Davy invented the carbon arc lamp in 1802 upon discovering that electricity could produce a light arc with carbon electrodes. However, it was not used to any great extent until a practical means of generating electricity was developed. Carbon arc lamps were started by making contact between two carbon electrodes, which were then separated to within a narrow gap. Because the carbon burned away, the gap had to be constantly readjusted. Several mechanisms were developed to regulate the arc. A common approach was to feed a carbon electrode by gravity and maintain the gap with a pair of electromagnets, one of which retracted the upper carbon after the arc was started and the second controlled a brake on the gravity feed. Arc lamps of the time had very intense light output – in the range of 4,000 candlepower (candelas) – and released a lot of heat, and they were a fire hazard, all of which made them inappropriate for lighting homes. In the 1850s, many of these problems were solved by the arc lamp invented by William Petrie and William Staite. The lamp used a magneto-electric generator and had a self-regulating mechanism to control the gap between the two carbon rods. Their light was used to light up the National Gallery in London and was a great novelty at the time. These arc lamps and designs similar to it, powered by large magnetos, were first installed on English lighthouses in the mid 1850s, but the technology suffered power limitations. The first successful arc lamp (the Yablochkov candle) was developed by Russian engineer Pavel Yablochkov using the Gramme generator. Its advantage lay in the fact that it did not require the use of a mechanical regulator like its predecessors. It was first exhibited at the Paris Exposition of 1878 and was heavily promoted by Gramme. The arc light was installed along the half mile length of Avenue de l'Opéra, Place du Theatre Francais and around the Place de l'Opéra in 1878. R. E. B. Crompton developed a more sophisticated design in 1878 which gave a much brighter and steadier light than the Yablochkov candle. In 1878, he formed Crompton & Co. and began to manufacture, sell and install the Crompton lamp. His concern was one of the first electrical engineering firms in the world. Incandescent light bulbs Various forms of incandescent light bulbs had numerous inventors; however, the most successful early bulbs were those that used a carbon filament sealed in a high vacuum. These were invented by Joseph Swan in 1878 in Britain and by Thomas Edison in 1879 in the US. Edison’s lamp was more successful than Swan’s because Edison used a thinner filament, giving it higher resistance and thus conducting much less current. Edison began commercial production of carbon filament bulbs in 1880. Swan's light began commercial production in 1881. Swan's house, in Low Fell, Gateshead, was the world's first to have working light bulbs installed. The Lit & Phil Library in Newcastle, was the first public room lit by electric light, and the Savoy Theatre was the first public building in the world lit entirely by electricity. Central power stations and isolated systems The first central station providing public power is believed to be one at Godalming, Surrey, UK, in autumn 1881. The system was proposed after the town failed to reach an agreement on the rate charged by the gas company, so the town council decided to use electricity. The system lit up arc lamps on the main streets and incandescent lamps on a few side streets with hydroelectric power. By 1882 between 8 and 10 households were connected, with a total of 57 lights. The system was not a commercial success, and the town reverted to gas. The first large scale central distribution supply plant was opened at Holborn Viaduct in London in 1882. Equipped with 1000 incandescent lightbulbs that replaced the older gas lighting, the station lit up Holborn Circus including the offices of the General Post Office and the famous City Temple church. The supply was a direct current at 110 V; due to power loss in the copper wires, this amounted to 100 V for the customer. Within weeks, a parliamentary committee recommended passage of the landmark 1882 Electric Lighting Act, which allowed the licensing of persons, companies or local authorities to supply electricity for any public or private purposes. The first large scale central power station in America was Edison's Pearl Street Station in New York, which began operating in September 1882. The station had six 200 horsepower Edison dynamos, each powered by a separate steam engine. It was located in a business and commercial district and supplied 110 volt direct current to 85 customers with 400 lamps. By 1884 Pearl Street was supplying 508 customers with 10,164 lamps. By the mid-1880s, other electric companies were establishing central power stations and distributing electricity, including Crompton & Co. and the Swan Electric Light Company in the UK, Thomson-Houston Electric Company and Westinghouse in the US and Siemens in Germany. By 1890 there were 1000 central stations in operation. The 1902 census listed 3,620 central stations. By 1925 half of power was provided by central stations. Load factor and isolated systems One of the biggest problems facing the early power companies was the hourly variable demand. When lighting was practically the only use of electricity, demand was high during the first hours before the workday and the evening hours when demand peaked. As a consequence, most early electric companies did not provide daytime service, with two-thirds providing no daytime service in 1897. The ratio of the average load to the peak load of a central station is called the load factor. For electric companies to increase profitability and lower rates, it was necessary to increase the load factor. The way this was eventually accomplished was through motor load. Motors are used more during daytime and many run continuously. Electric street railways were ideal for load balancing. Many electric railways generated their own power and also sold power and operated distribution systems. The load factor adjusted upward by the turn of the 20th century—at Pearl Street the load factor increased from 19.3% in 1884 to 29.4% in 1908. By 1929, the load factor around the world was greater than 50%, mainly due to motor load. Before widespread power distribution from central stations, many factories, large hotels, apartment and office buildings had their own power generation. Often this was economically attractive because the exhaust steam could be used for building and industrial process heat, which today is known as cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP). Most self-generated power became uneconomical as power prices fell. As late as the early 20th century, isolated power systems greatly outnumbered central stations. Cogeneration is still commonly practiced in many industries that use large amounts of both steam and power, such as pulp and paper, chemicals and refining. The continued use of private electric generators is called microgeneration. Direct current electric motors The first commutator DC electric motor capable of turning machinery was invented by the British scientist William Sturgeon in 1832. The crucial advance that this represented over the motor demonstrated by Michael Faraday was the incorporation of a commutator. This allowed Sturgeon's motor to be the first capable of providing continuous rotary motion. Frank J. Sprague improved on the DC motor in 1884 by solving the problem of maintaining a constant speed with varying load and reducing sparking from the brushes. Sprague sold his motor through Edison Co. It is easy to vary speed with DC motors, which made them suited for a number of applications such as electric street railways, machine tools and certain other industrial applications where speed control was desirable. Manufacturing was transitioned from line shaft and belt drive using steam engines and water power to electric motors. Alternating current Although the first power stations supplied direct current, the distribution of alternating current soon became the most favored option. The main advantages of AC were that it could be transformed to high voltage to reduce transmission losses and that AC motors could easily run at constant speeds. Alternating current technology was rooted in Faraday's 1830–31 discovery that a changing magnetic field can induce an electric current in a circuit. The first person to conceive of a rotating magnetic field was Walter Baily who gave a workable demonstration of his battery-operated polyphase motor aided by a commutator on June 28, 1879, to the Physical Society of London. Nearly identical to Baily’s apparatus, French electrical engineer Marcel Deprez in 1880 published a paper that identified the rotating magnetic field principle and that of a two-phase AC system of currents to produce it. In 1886, English engineer Elihu Thomson built an AC motor by expanding upon the induction-repulsion principle and his wattmeter. It was in the 1880s that the technology was commercially developed for large scale electricity generation and transmission. In 1882 the British inventor and electrical engineer Sebastian de Ferranti, working for the company Siemens collaborated with the distinguished physicist Lord Kelvin to pioneer AC power technology including an early transformer. A power transformer developed by Lucien Gaulard and John Dixon Gibbs was demonstrated in London in 1881, and attracted the interest of Westinghouse. They also exhibited the invention in Turin in 1884, where it was adopted for an electric lighting system. Many of their designs were adapted to the particular laws governing electrical distribution in the UK. Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti went into this business in 1882 when he set up a shop in London designing various electrical devices. Ferranti believed in the success of alternating current power distribution early on, and was one of the few experts in this system in the UK. With the help of Lord Kelvin, Ferranti pioneered the first AC power generator and transformer in 1882. John Hopkinson, a British physicist, invented the three-wire (three-phase) system for the distribution of electrical power, for which he was granted a patent in 1882. The Italian inventor Galileo Ferraris invented a polyphase AC induction motor in 1885. The idea was that two out-of-phase, but synchronized, currents might be used to produce two magnetic fields that could be combined to produce a rotating field without any need for switching or for moving parts. Other inventors were the American engineers Charles S. Bradley and Nikola Tesla, and the German technician Friedrich August Haselwander. They were able to overcome the problem of starting up the AC motor by using a rotating magnetic field produced by a poly-phase current. Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky introduced the first three-phase induction motor in 1890, a much more capable design that became the prototype used in Europe and the U.S. By 1895 GE and Westinghouse both had AC motors on the market. With single phase current either a capacitor or coil (creating inductance) can be used on part of the circuit inside the motor to create a rotating magnetic field. Multi-speed AC motors that have separately wired poles have long been available, the most common being two speed. Speed of these motors is changed by switching sets of poles on or off, which was done with a special motor starter for larger motors, or a simple multiple speed switch for fractional horsepower motors. AC power stations The first AC power station was built by the English electrical engineer Sebastian de Ferranti. In 1887 the London Electric Supply Corporation hired Ferranti for the design of their power station at Deptford. He designed the building, the generating plant and the distribution system. It was built at the Stowage, a site to the west of the mouth of Deptford Creek once used by the East India Company. Built on an unprecedented scale and pioneering the use of high voltage (10,000 V) AC current, it generated 800 kilowatts and supplied central London. On its completion in 1891 it was the first truly modern power station, supplying high-voltage AC power that was then "stepped down" with transformers for consumer use on each street. This basic system remains in use today around the world. In the U.S., George Westinghouse, who had become interested in the power transformer developed by Gaulard and Gibbs, began to develop his AC lighting system, using a transmission system with a 20:1 step up voltage with step-down. In 1890 Westinghouse and Stanley built a system to transmit power several miles to a mine in Colorado. A decision was taken to use AC for power transmission from the Niagara Power Project to Buffalo, New York. Proposals submitted by vendors in 1890 included DC and compressed air systems. A combination DC and compressed air system remained under consideration until late in the schedule. Despite the protestations of the Niagara commissioner William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) the decision was taken to build an AC system, which had been proposed by both Westinghouse and General Electric. In October 1893 Westinghouse was awarded the contract to provide the first three 5,000 hp, 250 rpm, 25 Hz, two phase generators. The hydro power plant went online in 1895, and it was the largest one until that date. By the 1890s, single and poly-phase AC was undergoing rapid introduction. In the U.S. by 1902, 61% of generating capacity was AC, increasing to 95% in 1917. Despite the superiority of alternating current for most applications, a few existing DC systems continued to operate for several decades after AC became the standard for new systems. Steam turbines The efficiency of steam prime movers in converting the heat energy of fuel into mechanical work was a critical factor in the economic operation of steam central generating stations. Early projects used reciprocating steam engines, operating at relatively low speeds. The introduction of the steam turbine fundamentally changed the economics of central station operations. Steam turbines could be made in larger ratings than reciprocating engines, and generally had higher efficiency. The speed of steam turbines did not fluctuate cyclically during each revolution. This made parallel operation of AC generators feasible, and improved the stability of rotary converters for production of direct current for traction and industrial uses. Steam turbines ran at higher speed than reciprocating engines, not being limited by the allowable speed of a piston in a cylinder. This made them more compatible with AC generators with only two or four poles; no gearbox or belted speed increaser was needed between the engine and the generator. It was costly and ultimately impossible to provide a belt-drive between a low-speed engine and a high-speed generator in the very large ratings required for central station service. The modern steam turbine was invented in 1884 by British engineer Sir Charles Parsons, whose first model was connected to a dynamo that generated 7.5 kW (10 hp) of electricity. The invention of Parsons's steam turbine made cheap and plentiful electricity possible. Parsons turbines were widely introduced in English central stations by 1894; the first electric supply company in the world to generate electricity using turbo generators was Parsons's own electricity supply company Newcastle and District Electric Lighting Company, set up in 1894. Within Parsons's lifetime, the generating capacity of a unit was scaled up by about 10,000 times. The first U.S. turbines were two De Leval units at Edison Co. in New York in 1895. The first U.S. Parsons turbine was at Westinghouse Air Brake Co. near Pittsburgh. Steam turbines also had capital cost and operating advantages over reciprocating engines. The condensate from steam engines was contaminated with oil and could not be reused, while condensate from a turbine is clean and typically reused. Steam turbines were a fraction of the size and weight of comparably rated reciprocating steam engine. Steam turbines can operate for years with almost no wear. Reciprocating steam engines required high maintenance. Steam turbines can be manufactured with capacities far larger than any steam engines ever made, giving important economies of scale. Steam turbines could be built to operate on higher pressure and temperature steam. A fundamental principle of thermodynamics is that the higher the temperature of the steam entering an engine, the higher the efficiency. The introduction of steam turbines motivated a series of improvements in temperatures and pressures. The resulting increased conversion efficiency lowered electricity prices. The power density of boilers was increased by using forced combustion air and by using compressed air to feed pulverized coal. Also, coal handling was mechanized and automated. Electrical grid With the realization of long distance power transmission it was possible to interconnect different central stations to balance loads and improve load factors. Interconnection became increasingly desirable as electrification grew rapidly in the early years of the 20th century. Charles Merz, of the Merz & McLellan consulting partnership, built the Neptune Bank Power Station near Newcastle upon Tyne in 1901, and by 1912 had developed into the largest integrated power system in Europe. In 1905 he tried to influence Parliament to unify the variety of voltages and frequencies in the country's electricity supply industry, but it was not until World War I that Parliament began to take this idea seriously, appointing him head of a Parliamentary Committee to address the problem. In 1916 Merz pointed out that the UK could use its small size to its advantage, by creating a dense distribution grid to feed its industries efficiently. His findings led to the Williamson Report of 1918, which in turn created the Electricity Supply Bill of 1919. The bill was the first step towards an integrated electricity system in the UK. The more significant Electricity (Supply) Act of 1926, led to the setting up of the National Grid. The Central Electricity Board standardised the nation's electricity supply and established the first synchronised AC grid, running at 132 kilovolts and 50 Hertz. This started operating as a national system, the National Grid, in 1938. In the United States it became a national objective after the power crisis during the summer of 1918 in the midst of World War I to consolidate supply. In 1934 the Public Utility Holding Company Act recognized electric utilities as public goods of importance along with gas, water, and telephone companies and thereby were given outlined restrictions and regulatory oversight of their operations. Household electrification The electrification of households in Europe and North America began in the early 20th century in major cities and in areas served by electric railways and increased rapidly until about 1930 when 70% of households were electrified in the U.S. Rural areas were electrified first in Europe, and in the U.S. the Rural Electric Administration, established in 1935 brought electrification to the underserviced rural areas. In the Soviet Union, as in the United States, rural electrification progressed more slowly than in urban areas. It wasn't until the Brezhnev era that electrification became widespread in rural regions, with the Soviet rural electrification drive largely completed by the early 1970s. In China, the turmoil of the Warlord Era, the Civil War and the Japanese invasion in the early 20th century delayed electrification for decades. It was only after the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 that the country was positioned to pursue widespread electrification. During the Mao years, while electricity became commonplace in cities, rural areas were largely neglected. At the time of Mao's death in 1976, 25% of Chinese households still lacked access to electricity. Deng Xiaoping, who became China's paramount leader in 1978, initiated a rural electrification drive as part of a broader modernization effort. By the late 1990s, electricity had become ubiquitious in regional areas. The very last remote villages in China were connected to the grid in 2015. Historical cost of electricity Central station electric power generating provided power more efficiently and at lower cost than small generators. The capital and operating cost per unit of power were also cheaper with central stations. The cost of electricity fell dramatically in the first decades of the twentieth century due to the introduction of steam turbines and the improved load factor after the introduction of AC motors. As electricity prices fell, usage increased dramatically and central stations were scaled up to enormous sizes, creating significant economies of scale. For the historical cost see Ayres-Warr (2002) Fig. 7. See also GOELRO plan Mains electricity by country - Plugs, voltages and frequencies Renewable electricity Renewable energy development References Citations General and cited references External links The Truth of Lightning 01 (English)2-An`s Safe Zone  The Truth of Lightning 01 (Japanese)2-An`s Safe Zone  The Truth of Lightning 02 (English)2-An`s Safe Zone Zambesi Rapids - Rural electrification with water power. Electric power Energy development

Human behavioral ecology

Human behavioral ecology (HBE) or human evolutionary ecology applies the principles of evolutionary theory and optimization to the study of human behavioral and cultural diversity. HBE examines the adaptive design of traits, behaviors, and life histories of humans in an ecological context. One aim of modern human behavioral ecology is to determine how ecological and social factors influence and shape behavioral flexibility within and between human populations. Among other things, HBE attempts to explain variation in human behavior as adaptive solutions to the competing life-history demands of growth, development, reproduction, parental care, and mate acquisition. HBE overlaps with evolutionary psychology, human or cultural ecology, and decision theory. It is most prominent in disciplines such as anthropology and psychology where human evolution is considered relevant for a holistic understanding of human behavior. Evolutionary theory Human behavioral ecology rests upon a foundation of evolutionary theory. This includes aspects of both general evolutionary theory and established middle-level evolutionary theories, as well. Aspects of general evolutionary theory include: Natural selection, the process by which individual organisms with favorable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce. Sexual selection, the theory that competition for mates between individuals of the same sex results in differential mating and reproduction. Kin selection, the changes in gene frequency across generations that are driven at least in part by interactions between related individuals. Inclusive fitness, the sum of an individual's own reproductive success, (natural and sexual selection), plus the effects the individual's actions have on the reproductive success of that individual's kin, (kin selection). Middle-level evolutionary theories used in HBE include: The theory of parental investment, which predicts that the sex making the largest investment in lactation, nurturing and protecting offspring will be more discriminating in mating and that the sex that invests less in offspring will compete for access to the higher investing sex. Parent–offspring conflict, which predicts that because the genetic interests of parents and offspring are not identical, offspring will be selected to manipulate their parents in order to ensure higher investment, and that, conversely, parents will be selected to manipulate their offspring. The theory of reciprocal altruism, a form of altruism in which one organism provides a benefit to another in the expectation of future reciprocation. The Trivers–Willard hypothesis, which proposes that parents should invest more in the sex that gives them the greatest reproductive payoff (grandchildren) with increasing or marginal investment. r/K selection theory, which, in ecology, relates to the selection of traits in organisms that allow success in particular environments. r-selected species – in unstable or unpredictable environments – produce many offspring, any individual one of which is unlikely to survive to adulthood, while K-selected species – in stable or predictable environments – invest more heavily in fewer offspring, each of which has a better chance of surviving to adulthood. Evolutionary game theory, the application of population genetics-inspired models of change in gene frequency in populations to game theory. Evolutionarily stable strategy, which refers to a strategy, which if adopted by a population, cannot be invaded by any competing alternative strategy. Basic principles Methodology As a subdiscipline of ecology, HBE draws upon systemic and individualistic frameworks in studying human relational patterns. Breaking down complex socioecological patterns into their structural-functional relationships allows scientists to describe social behaviour from the perspective of the overall ecosystem rather than isolated agents. An example of the research methodology in practice might see a scientist examining marriage rates by taking into account local options, cultural preferences, socioeconomic status, political freedoms, and so forth. Ecological selectionism Ecological selectionism refers to the assumption that humans are highly flexible in their behaviors. Furthermore, it assumes that various ecological forces select for various behaviors that optimize humans' inclusive fitness in their given ecological context. Conditional strategies Human behavioral ecologists assume that what might be the most adaptive strategy in one environment might not be the most adaptive strategy in another environment. Conditional strategies, therefore, can be represented in the following statement: In environmental context X, engage in adaptive strategy A. In environmental context Y, engage in adaptive strategy B. Phenotypic gambit The phenotypic gambit refers to the simplifying assumption that complex traits, such as behavioural traits, can be modelled as if they were controlled by single distinct alleles, representing alternate strategies. In other words, the phenotypic gambit assumes that "selection will favour traits with high fitness ...irrespective of the particulars of inheritance." Modeling Theoretical models that human behavioral ecologists employ include, but are not limited to: Optimal foraging theory, which states that organisms focus on consuming the most energy while expending the least amount of energy. Life history theory, which postulates that many of the physiological traits and behaviors of individuals may be best understood in relation to the key maturational and reproductive characteristics that define the life course. Sex allocation theory, which predicts that parents should bias their reproductive investments toward the offspring sex generating the greatest fitness return. The polygyny threshold model, which suggests that polygyny is driven by female choice of mates who control more resources relative to other potential mates in the population. See also Behavioral ecology Biocultural evolution Dual inheritance theory Evolutionary developmental psychology Evolutionary educational psychology Foraging, Autonomous foraging Hypergamy Human reproductive ecology Mating system Psychogenomics References Further reading Borgerhoff Mulder, M. & Schacht, R. (2012). Human Behavioural Ecology. Nature Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. Hames, R. (2001). Human Behavioral Ecology. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Elsevier Science Ltd. Cronk, L. (1991). Human behavioral ecology. Annual Review of Anthropology, 20, 25-53. Smith, Eric Alden (1999). Three Styles in the Evolutionary Analysis of Human Behavior in Lee Cronk, Napoleon Chagnon and William Irons Adaptation and Human Behavior: An Anthropological Perspective, 27-48, New York: Aldine de Gruyter. Winterhalder, Bruce & Smith, Eric Alden (2000). Analysing Adaptive Strategies: Human Behavioral Ecology at Twenty-Five. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, Volume 9, Issue 2. External links The Human Behavioral Ecology Bibliography – Maintained by Kermyt G. Anderson Demography Anthropology Behavioral ecology Behavioural sciences H Sociobiology

Organic farming

Organic farming, also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming, is an agricultural system that uses fertilizers of organic origin such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting. It originated early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices. Indeed, so-called "organic pioneers" wanted to keep farming with nature, without being dependent on external inputs. Certified organic agriculture accounts for globally, with over half of that total in Australia. Biological pest control, mixed cropping, and the fostering of insect predators are encouraged. Organic standards are designed to allow the use of naturally-occurring substances while prohibiting or severely limiting synthetic substances. For instance, naturally-occurring pesticides such as garlic extract, bicarbonate of soda, or pyrethrin which is found naturally in the Chrysanthemum flower are permitted, while synthetic fertilizers and pesticides such as glyphosate are prohibited. Synthetic substances that are allowed, only in exceptional circumstances, include, for example, copper sulfate, elemental sulfur, and veterinary drugs. Genetically modified organisms, nanomaterials, human sewage sludge, plant growth regulators, hormones, and antibiotic use in livestock husbandry are prohibited. Organic farming positively impacts sustainability, self-sufficiency, autonomy and independence, health, animal welfare, food security, and food safety. Organic farming can therefore be seen as part of the solution to the impacts of climate change, as also established by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Organic agricultural methods are internationally regulated and legally enforced by transnational organizations (as European Union) and many nations, based in large part on the standards set by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), an international umbrella organization for organic farming organizations established in 1972, with regional branches such as IFOAM Organics Europe and IFOAM Asia. Organic agriculture can be defined as "an integrated farming system that strives for sustainability, the enhancement of soil fertility and biological diversity while, with rare exceptions, prohibiting synthetic pesticides, antibiotics, synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, and growth hormones".<ref>H. Martin, '’Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Introduction to Organic Farming, </ref> Organic agriculture is based on the principles of health, care for all living beings and the environment, ecology and fairness. Since 1990, the market for organic food and other products has grown rapidly, reaching $150 billion worldwide in 2022 - of which more than $64 billion in North America and EUR 53 billion in Europe . This demand has driven a similar increase in organically managed farmland that grew by 26.6% from 2021 to 2022. As of 2022, organic farming is practiced in 188 countries and approximately worldwide were farmed organically by 4.5 million farmers, representing approximately 2% of total world farmland. History Agriculture was practiced for thousands of years without the use of artificial chemicals. Artificial fertilizers were first developed during the mid-19th century. These early fertilizers were cheap, powerful, and easy to transport in bulk. Similar advances occurred in chemical pesticides in the 1940s, leading to the decade being referred to as the "pesticide era". These new agricultural techniques, while beneficial in the short-term, had serious longer-term side-effects such as soil compaction, erosion, and declines in overall soil fertility, along with health concerns about toxic chemicals entering the food supply. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, soil biology scientists began to seek ways to remedy these side effects while still maintaining higher production. In 1921 the founder and pioneer of the organic movement Albert Howard and his wife Gabrielle Howard, accomplished botanists, founded an Institute of Plant Industry to improve traditional farming methods in India. Among other things, they brought improved implements and improved animal husbandry methods from their scientific training; then by incorporating aspects of Indian traditional methods, developed protocols for the rotation of crops, erosion prevention techniques, and the systematic use of composts and manures. Stimulated by these experiences of traditional farming, when Albert Howard returned to Britain in the early 1930s he began to promulgate a system of organic agriculture. In 1924 Rudolf Steiner gave a series of eight lectures on agriculture with a focus on influences of the moon, planets, non-physical beings and elemental forces.Paull, John (2013) "Breslau (Wrocław): In the footsteps of Rudolf Steiner", Journal of Bio- Dynamics Tasmania, 110:10-15. They were held in response to a request by adherent farmers who noticed degraded soil conditions and a deterioration in the health and quality of crops and livestock resulting from the use of chemical fertilizers. The lectures were published in November 1924; the first English translation appeared in 1928 as The Agriculture Course. In July 1939, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, the author of the standard work on biodynamic agriculture (Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening), came to the UK at the invitation of Walter James, 4th Baron Northbourne as a presenter at the Betteshanger Summer School and Conference on Biodynamic Farming at Northbourne's farm in Kent. One of the chief purposes of the conference was to bring together the proponents of various approaches to organic agriculture in order that they might cooperate within a larger movement. Howard attended the conference, where he met Pfeiffer. In the following year, Northbourne published his manifesto of organic farming, Look to the Land, in which he coined the term "organic farming". The Betteshanger conference has been described as the 'missing link' between biodynamic agriculture and other forms of organic farming. In 1940 Howard published his An Agricultural Testament. In this book he adopted Northbourne's terminology of "organic farming". Howard's work spread widely, and he became known as the "father of organic farming" for his work in applying scientific knowledge and principles to various traditional and natural methods. In the United States J. I. Rodale, who was keenly interested both in Howard's ideas and in biodynamics, founded in the 1940s both a working organic farm for trials and experimentation, The Rodale Institute, and Rodale, Inc. in Emmaus, Pennsylvania to teach and advocate organic methods to the wider public. These became important influences on the spread of organic agriculture. Further work was done by Lady Eve Balfour (the Haughley Experiment) in the United Kingdom, and many others across the world. The term "eco-agriculture" was coined in 1970 by Charles Walters, founder of Acres Magazine, to describe agriculture which does not use "man-made molecules of toxic rescue chemistry", effectively another name for organic agriculture. Increasing environmental awareness in the general population in modern times has transformed the originally supply-driven organic movement to a demand-driven one. Premium prices and some government subsidies attracted farmers. In the developing world, many producers farm according to traditional methods that are comparable to organic farming, but not certified, and that may not include the latest scientific advancements in organic agriculture. In other cases, farmers in the developing world have converted to modern organic methods for economic reasons. Terminology The use of "organic" popularized by Howard and Rodale refers more narrowly to the use of organic matter derived from plant compost and animal manures to improve the humus content of soils, grounded in the work of early soil scientists who developed what was then called "humus farming". Since the early 1940s the two camps have tended to merge. Biodynamic agriculturists, on the other hand, used the term "organic" to indicate that a farm should be viewed as a living organism, in the sense of the following quotation: They based their work on Steiner's spiritually-oriented alternative agriculture which includes various esoteric concepts. Methods Organic farming methods combine scientific knowledge of ecology and some modern technology with traditional farming practices based on naturally occurring biological processes. Organic farming methods are studied in the field of agroecology. While conventional agriculture uses synthetic pesticides and water-soluble synthetically purified fertilizers, organic farmers are restricted by regulations to using natural pesticides and fertilizers. An example of a natural pesticide is pyrethrin, which is found naturally in the Chrysanthemum flower. The principal methods of organic farming include crop rotation, green manures and compost, biological pest control, and mechanical cultivation. These measures use the natural environment to enhance agricultural productivity: legumes are planted to fix nitrogen into the soil, natural insect predators are encouraged, crops are rotated to confuse pests and renew soil, and natural materials such as potassium bicarbonate and mulches are used to control disease and weeds. Genetically modified seeds and animals are excluded. While organic is fundamentally different from conventional because of the use of carbon-based fertilizers compared with highly soluble synthetic based fertilizers and biological pest control instead of synthetic pesticides, organic farming and large-scale conventional farming are not entirely mutually exclusive. Many of the methods developed for organic agriculture have been borrowed by more conventional agriculture. For example, Integrated Pest Management is a multifaceted strategy that uses various organic methods of pest control whenever possible, but in conventional farming could include synthetic pesticides only as a last resort. Examples of beneficial insects that are used in organic farming include ladybugs and lacewings, both of which feed on aphids. The use of IPM lowers the possibility of pest developing resistance to pesticides that are applied to crops. Crop diversity Organic farming encourages crop diversity by promoting polyculture (multiple crops in the same space). Planting a variety of vegetable crops supports a wider range of beneficial insects, soil microorganisms, and other factors that add up to overall farm health. Crop diversity helps the environment to thrive and protects species from going extinct.Crop diversity: A Distinctive Characteristic of an Organic Farming Method - Organic Farming; 15 April 2013 The science of Agroecology has revealed the benefits of polyculture, which is often employed in organic farming. Agroecology is a scientific discipline that uses ecological theory to study, design, manage, and evaluate agricultural systems that are productive and resource-conserving, and that are also culturally sensitive, socially just, and economically viable. Incorporating crop diversity into organic farming practices can have several benefits. For instance, it can help to increase soil fertility by promoting the growth of beneficial soil microorganisms. It can also help to reduce pest and disease pressure by creating a more diverse and resilient agroecosystem. Furthermore, crop diversity can help to improve the nutritional quality of food by providing a wider range of essential nutrients. Soil management Organic farming relies more heavily on the natural breakdown of organic matter than the average conventional farm, using techniques like green manure and composting, to replace nutrients taken from the soil by previous crops. This biological process, driven by microorganisms such as mycorrhiza and earthworms, releases nutrients available to plants throughout the growing season. Farmers use a variety of methods to improve soil fertility, including crop rotation, cover cropping, reduced tillage, and application of compost. By reducing fuel-intensive tillage, less soil organic matter is lost to the atmosphere. This has an added benefit of carbon sequestration, which reduces greenhouse gases and helps reverse climate change. Reducing tillage may also improve soil structure and reduce the potential for soil erosion. Plants need a large number of nutrients in various quantities to flourish. Supplying enough nitrogen and particularly synchronization, so that plants get enough nitrogen at the time when they need it most, is a challenge for organic farmers. Crop rotation and green manure ("cover crops") help to provide nitrogen through legumes (more precisely, the family Fabaceae), which fix nitrogen from the atmosphere through symbiosis with rhizobial bacteria. Intercropping, which is sometimes used for insect and disease control, can also increase soil nutrients, but the competition between the legume and the crop can be problematic and wider spacing between crop rows is required. Crop residues can be ploughed back into the soil, and different plants leave different amounts of nitrogen, potentially aiding synchronization. Organic farmers also use animal manure, certain processed fertilizers such as seed meal and various mineral powders such as rock phosphate and green sand, a naturally occurring form of potash that provides potassium. In some cases pH may need to be amended. Natural pH amendments include lime and sulfur, but in the U.S. some compounds such as iron sulfate, aluminum sulfate, magnesium sulfate, and soluble boron products are allowed in organic farming. Mixed farms with both livestock and crops can operate as ley farms, whereby the land gathers fertility through growing nitrogen-fixing forage grasses such as white clover or alfalfa and grows cash crops or cereals when fertility is established. Farms without livestock ("stockless") may find it more difficult to maintain soil fertility, and may rely more on external inputs such as imported manure as well as grain legumes and green manures, although grain legumes may fix limited nitrogen because they are harvested. Horticultural farms that grow fruits and vegetables in protected conditions often rely even more on external inputs. Manure is very bulky and is often not cost-effective to transport more than a short distance from the source. Manure for organic farms' may become scarce if a sizable number of farms become organically managed. Weed management Organic weed management promotes weed suppression, rather than weed elimination, by enhancing crop competition and phytotoxic effects on weeds. Organic farmers integrate cultural, biological, mechanical, physical and chemical tactics to manage weeds without synthetic herbicides. Organic standards require rotation of annual crops, meaning that a single crop cannot be grown in the same location without a different, intervening crop. Organic crop rotations frequently include weed-suppressive cover crops and crops with dissimilar life cycles to discourage weeds associated with a particular crop. Research is ongoing to develop organic methods to promote the growth of natural microorganisms that suppress the growth or germination of common weeds. Other cultural practices used to enhance crop competitiveness and reduce weed pressure include selection of competitive crop varieties, high-density planting, tight row spacing, and late planting into warm soil to encourage rapid crop germination. Mechanical and physical weed control practices used on organic farms can be broadly grouped as: Tillage - Turning the soil between crops to incorporate crop residues and soil amendments; remove existing weed growth and prepare a seedbed for planting; turning soil after seeding to kill weeds, including cultivation of row crops. Mowing and cutting - Removing top growth of weeds. Flame weeding and thermal weeding - Using heat to kill weeds. Mulching - Blocking weed emergence with organic materials, plastic films, or landscape fabric. Some naturally sourced chemicals are allowed for herbicidal use. These include certain formulations of acetic acid (concentrated vinegar), corn gluten meal, and essential oils. A few selective bioherbicides based on fungal pathogens have also been developed. At this time, however, organic herbicides and bioherbicides play a minor role in the organic weed control toolbox. Weeds can be controlled by grazing. For example, geese have been used successfully to weed a range of organic crops including cotton, strawberries, tobacco, and corn, reviving the practice of keeping cotton patch geese, common in the southern U.S. before the 1950s. Similarly, some rice farmers introduce ducks and fish to wet paddy fields to eat both weeds and insects. Controlling other organisms Organisms aside from weeds that cause problems on farms include arthropods (e.g., insects, mites), nematodes, fungi and bacteria. Practices include, but are not limited to: Examples of predatory beneficial insects include minute pirate bugs, big-eyed bugs, and to a lesser extent ladybugs (which tend to fly away), all of which eat a wide range of pests. Lacewings are also effective, but tend to fly away. Praying mantis tend to move more slowly and eat less heavily. Parasitoid wasps tend to be effective for their selected prey, but like all small insects can be less effective outdoors because the wind controls their movement. Predatory mites are effective for controlling other mites. Naturally derived insecticides allowed for use on organic farms include Bacillus thuringiensis (a bacterial toxin), pyrethrum (a chrysanthemum extract), spinosad (a bacterial metabolite), neem (a tree extract) and rotenone (a legume root extract). Fewer than 10% of organic farmers use these pesticides regularly; a 2003 survey found that only 5.3% of vegetable growers in California use rotenone while 1.7% use pyrethrum. These pesticides are not always more safe or environmentally friendly than synthetic pesticides and can cause harm. The main criterion for organic pesticides is that they are naturally derived, and some naturally derived substances have been controversial. Controversial natural pesticides include rotenone, copper, nicotine sulfate, and pyrethrumsPottorff LP. Some Pesticides Permitted in Organic Gardening. Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. Rotenone and pyrethrum are particularly controversial because they work by attacking the nervous system, like most conventional insecticides. Rotenone is extremely toxic to fish and can induce symptoms resembling Parkinson's disease in mammals. Although pyrethrum (natural pyrethrins) is more effective against insects when used with piperonyl butoxide (which retards degradation of the pyrethrins), organic standards generally do not permit use of the latter substance.OGA. 2004. OGA standard. Organic Growers of Australia. Inc. 32 pp. Naturally derived fungicides allowed for use on organic farms include the bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus pumilus; and the fungus Trichoderma harzianum. These are mainly effective for diseases affecting roots. Compost tea contains a mix of beneficial microbes, which may attack or out-compete certain plant pathogens, but variability among formulations and preparation methods may contribute to inconsistent results or even dangerous growth of toxic microbes in compost teas. Some naturally derived pesticides are not allowed for use on organic farms. These include nicotine sulfate, arsenic, and strychnine. Synthetic pesticides allowed for use on organic farms include insecticidal soaps and horticultural oils for insect management; and Bordeaux mixture, copper hydroxide and sodium bicarbonate for managing fungi. Copper sulfate and Bordeaux mixture (copper sulfate plus lime), approved for organic use in various jurisdictions, can be more environmentally problematic than some synthetic fungicides disallowed in organic farming.Leake, A. R. 1999. House of Lords Select Committee on the European Communities. Session 1998-99, 16th Report. Organic Farming and the European Union. p. 81. Cited by Similar concerns apply to copper hydroxide. Repeated application of copper sulfate or copper hydroxide as a fungicide may eventually result in copper accumulation to toxic levels in soil, and admonitions to avoid excessive accumulations of copper in soil appear in various organic standards and elsewhere. Environmental concerns for several kinds of biota arise at average rates of use of such substances for some crops. In the European Union, where replacement of copper-based fungicides in organic agriculture is a policy priority, research is seeking alternatives for organic production. Livestock Raising livestock and poultry, for meat, dairy and eggs, is another traditional farming activity that complements growing. Organic farms attempt to provide animals with natural living conditions and feed. Organic certification verifies that livestock are raised according to the USDA organic regulations throughout their lives. These regulations include the requirement that all animal feed must be certified organic. Organic livestock may be, and must be, treated with medicine when they are sick, but drugs cannot be used to promote growth, their feed must be organic, and they must be pastured. Also, horses and cattle were once a basic farm feature that provided labour, for hauling and plowing, fertility, through recycling of manure, and fuel, in the form of food for farmers and other animals. While today, small growing operations often do not include livestock, domesticated animals are a desirable part of the organic farming equation, especially for true sustainability, the ability of a farm to function as a self-renewing unit. Genetic modification A key characteristic of organic farming is the exclusion of genetically engineered plants and animals. On 19 October 1998, participants at IFOAM's 12th Scientific Conference issued the Mar del Plata Declaration, where more than 600 delegates from over 60 countries voted unanimously to exclude the use of genetically modified organisms in organic food production and agriculture. Although opposition to the use of any transgenic technologies in organic farming is strong, agricultural researchers Luis Herrera-Estrella and Ariel Alvarez-Morales continue to advocate integration of transgenic technologies into organic farming as the optimal means to sustainable agriculture, particularly in the developing world. Organic farmer Raoul Adamchak and geneticist Pamela Ronald write that many agricultural applications of biotechnology are consistent with organic principles and have significantly advanced sustainable agriculture. Although GMOs are excluded from organic farming, there is concern that the pollen from genetically modified crops is increasingly penetrating organic and heirloom seed stocks, making it difficult, if not impossible, to keep these genomes from entering the organic food supply. Differing regulations among countries limits the availability of GMOs to certain countries, as described in the article on regulation of the release of genetic modified organisms. Tools Organic farmers use a number of traditional farm tools to do farming, and may make use of agricultural machinery in similar ways to conventional farming. In the developing world, on small organic farms, tools are normally constrained to hand tools and diesel powered water pumps. Standards Standards regulate production methods and in some cases final output for organic agriculture. Standards may be voluntary or legislated. As early as the 1970s private associations certified organic producers. In the 1980s, governments began to produce organic production guidelines. In the 1990s, a trend toward legislated standards began, most notably with the 1991 EU-Eco-regulation developed for European Union, which set standards for 12 countries, and a 1993 UK program. The EU's program was followed by a Japanese program in 2001, and in 2002 the U.S. created the National Organic Program (NOP). As of 2007 over 60 countries regulate organic farming (IFOAM 2007:11). In 2005 IFOAM created the Principles of Organic Agriculture, an international guideline for certification criteria. Typically the agencies accredit certification groups rather than individual farms. Production materials used for the creation of USDA Organic certified foods require the approval of a NOP accredited certifier. EU-organic production-regulation on "organic" food labels define "organic" primarily in terms of whether "natural" or "artificial" substances were allowed as inputs in the food production process. Composting Using manure as a fertilizer risks contaminating food with animal gut bacteria, including pathogenic strains of E. coli that have caused fatal poisoning from eating organic food. To combat this risk, USDA organic standards require that manure must be sterilized through high temperature thermophilic composting. If raw animal manure is used, 120 days must pass before the crop is harvested if the final product comes into direct contact with the soil. For products that do not directly contact soil, 90 days must pass prior to harvest. In the US, the Organic Food Production Act of 1990 (OFPA) as amended, specifies that a farm can not be certified as organic if the compost being used contains any synthetic ingredients. The OFPA singles out commercially blended fertilizers [composts] disallowing the use of any fertilizer [compost] that contains prohibited materials. Economics The economics of organic farming, a subfield of agricultural economics, encompasses the entire process and effects of organic farming in terms of human society, including social costs, opportunity costs, unintended consequences, information asymmetries, and economies of scale. Labour input, carbon and methane emissions, energy use, eutrophication, acidification, soil quality, effect on biodiversity, and overall land use vary considerably between individual farms and between crops, making general comparisons between the economics of organic and conventional agriculture difficult.Clark, M., & Tilman, D. (2017). Comparative analysis of environmental impacts of agricultural production systems, agricultural input efficiency, and food choice. Environmental Research Letters, 12(6). In the European Union "organic farmers receive more subsidies under agri-environment and animal welfare subsidies than conventional growers". Geographic producer distribution The markets for organic products are strongest in North America and Europe, which as of 2001 are estimated to have $6 and $8 billion respectively of the $20 billion global market. As of 2007 Australasia has 39% of the total organic farmland, including Australia's but 97% of this land is sprawling rangeland (2007:35). US sales are 20x as much. Europe farms 23% of global organic farmland, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean with 20%. Asia has 9.5% while North America has 7.2%. Africa has 3%. Besides Australia, the countries with the most organic farmland are Argentina, China, and the United States. Much of Argentina's organic farmland is pasture, like that of Australia (2007:42). Spain, Germany, Brazil (the world's largest agricultural exporter), Uruguay, and England follow the United States in the amount of organic land (2007:26). In the European Union (EU25) 3.9% of the total utilized agricultural area was used for organic production in 2005. The countries with the highest proportion of organic land were Austria (11%) and Italy (8.4%), followed by the Czech Republic and Greece (both 7.2%). The lowest figures were shown for Malta (0.2%), Poland (0.6%) and Ireland (0.8%). In 2009, the proportion of organic land in the EU grew to 4.7%. The countries with the highest share of agricultural land were Liechtenstein (26.9%), Austria (18.5%) and Sweden (12.6%). 16% of all farmers in Austria produced organically in 2010. By the same year the proportion of organic land increased to 20%. In 2005, of land in Poland was under organic management. In 2012, were under organic production, and there were about 15,500 organic farmers; retail sales of organic products were EUR 80 million in 2011. As of 2012 organic exports were part of the government's economic development strategy. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, agricultural inputs that had previously been purchased from Eastern bloc countries were no longer available in Cuba, and many Cuban farms converted to organic methods out of necessity. Consequently, organic agriculture is a mainstream practice in Cuba, while it remains an alternative practice in most other countries.Andrea Swenson for Modern Farmer. 17 November 2014 Photo Essay: Cuban Farmers Return to the Old Ways Cuba's organic strategy includes development of genetically modified crops; specifically corn that is resistant to the palomilla moth. Growth In 2001, the global market value of certified organic products was estimated at US$20 billion. By 2002, this was US$23 billion and by 2015 more than US$43 billion. By 2014, retail sales of organic products reached US$80 billion worldwide. North America and Europe accounted for more than 90% of all organic product sales. In 2018 Australia accounted for 54% of the world's certified organic land with the country recording more than . Organic agricultural land increased almost fourfold in 15 years, from in 1999 to in 2014. Between 2013 and 2014, organic agricultural land grew by worldwide, increasing in every region except Latin America. During this time period, Europe's organic farmland increased to (+2.3%), Asia's increased to (+4.7%), Africa's increased to total (+4.5%), and North America's increased to total (+1.1%). As of 2014, the country with the most organic land was Australia, followed by Argentina, and the United States. Australia's organic land area has increased at a rate of 16.5% per annum for the past eighteen years. In 2013, the number of organic producers grew by almost 270,000, or more than 13%. By 2014, there were a reported 2.3 million organic producers in the world. Most of the total global increase took place in the Philippines, Peru, China, and Thailand. Overall, the majority of all organic producers are in India (650,000 in 2013), Uganda (190,552 in 2014), Mexico (169,703 in 2013) and the Philippines (165,974 in 2014). In 2016, organic farming produced over of bananas, over of soybean, and just under of coffee. Productivity Studies comparing yields have had mixed results. These differences among findings can often be attributed to variations between study designs including differences in the crops studied and the methodology by which results were gathered. A 2012 meta-analysis found that productivity is typically lower for organic farming than conventional farming, but that the size of the difference depends on context and in some cases may be very small. While organic yields can be lower than conventional yields, another meta-analysis published in Sustainable Agriculture Research in 2015, concluded that certain organic on-farm practices could help narrow this gap. Timely weed management and the application of manure in conjunction with legume forages/cover crops were shown to have positive results in increasing organic corn and soybean productivity. Another meta-analysis published in the journal Agricultural Systems in 2011 analyzed 362 datasets and found that organic yields were on average 80% of conventional yields. The author's found that there are relative differences in this yield gap based on crop type with crops like soybeans and rice scoring higher than the 80% average and crops like wheat and potato scoring lower. Across global regions, Asia and Central Europe were found to have relatively higher yields and Northern Europe relatively lower than the average. Long term studies A study published in 2005 compared conventional cropping, organic animal-based cropping, and organic legume-based cropping on a test farm at the Rodale Institute over 22 years. The study found that "the crop yields for corn and soybeans were similar in the organic animal, organic legume, and conventional farming systems". It also found that "significantly less fossil energy was expended to produce corn in the Rodale Institute's organic animal and organic legume systems than in the conventional production system. There was little difference in energy input between the different treatments for producing soybeans. In the organic systems, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides were generally not used". As of 2013 the Rodale study was ongoing and a thirty-year anniversary report was published by Rodale in 2012. A long-term field study comparing organic/conventional agriculture carried out over 21 years in Switzerland concluded that "Crop yields of the organic systems averaged over 21 experimental years at 80% of the conventional ones. The fertilizer input, however, was 34 – 51% lower, indicating an efficient production. The organic farming systems used 20 – 56% less energy to produce a crop unit and per land area this difference was 36 – 53%. In spite of the considerably lower pesticide input the quality of organic products was hardly discernible from conventional analytically and even came off better in food preference trials and picture creating methods." Profitability In the United States, organic farming has been shown to be 2.7 to 3.8 times more profitable for the farmer than conventional farming when prevailing price premiums are taken into account. Globally, organic farming is 22–35% more profitable for farmers than conventional methods, according to a 2015 meta-analysis of studies conducted across five continents. The profitability of organic agriculture can be attributed to a number of factors. First, organic farmers do not rely on synthetic fertilizer and pesticide inputs, which can be costly. In addition, organic foods currently enjoy a price premium over conventionally produced foods, meaning that organic farmers can often get more for their yield. The price premium for organic food is an important factor in the economic viability of organic farming. In 2013 there was a 100% price premium on organic vegetables and a 57% price premium for organic fruits. These percentages are based on wholesale fruit and vegetable prices, available through the United States Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. Price premiums exist not only for organic versus nonorganic crops, but may also vary depending on the venue where the product is sold: farmers' markets, grocery stores, or wholesale to restaurants. For many producers, direct sales at farmers' markets are most profitable because the farmer receives the entire markup, however this is also the most time and labour-intensive approach. There have been signs of organic price premiums narrowing in recent years, which lowers the economic incentive for farmers to convert to or maintain organic production methods. Data from 22 years of experiments at the Rodale Institute found that, based on the current yields and production costs associated with organic farming in the United States, a price premium of only 10% is required to achieve parity with conventional farming. A separate study found that on a global scale, price premiums of only 5-7% were needed to break even with conventional methods. Without the price premium, profitability for farmers is mixed. For markets and supermarkets organic food is profitable as well, and is generally sold at significantly higher prices than non-organic food. Energy efficiency Compared to conventional agriculture, the energy efficiency of organic farming depends upon crop type and farm size. Two studies – both comparing organically- versus conventionally-farmed apples – declare contradicting results, one saying organic farming is more energy efficient, the other saying conventionally is more efficient. It has generally been found that the labor input per unit of yield was higher for organic systems compared with conventional production. Sales and marketing Most sales are concentrated in developed nations. In 2008, 69% of Americans claimed to occasionally buy organic products, down from 73% in 2005. One theory for this change was that consumers were substituting "local" produce for "organic" produce.The Hartman Group Organic Marketplace Reports . Distributors The USDA requires that distributors, manufacturers, and processors of organic products be certified by an accredited state or private agency. In 2007, there were 3,225 certified organic handlers, up from 2,790 in 2004. Organic handlers are often small firms; 48% reported sales below $1 million annually, and 22% between $1 and $5 million per year. Smaller handlers are more likely to sell to independent natural grocery stores and natural product chains whereas large distributors more often market to natural product chains and conventional supermarkets, with a small group marketing to independent natural product stores. Some handlers work with conventional farmers to convert their land to organic with the knowledge that the farmer will have a secure sales outlet. This lowers the risk for the handler as well as the farmer. In 2004, 31% of handlers provided technical support on organic standards or production to their suppliers and 34% encouraged their suppliers to transition to organic. Smaller farms often join in cooperatives to market their goods more effectively. 93% of organic sales are through conventional and natural food supermarkets and chains, while the remaining 7% of U.S. organic food sales occur through farmers' markets, foodservices, and other marketing channels. Direct-to-consumer sales In the 2012 Census, direct-to-consumer sales equalled $1.3 billion, up from $812 million in 2002, an increase of 60 percent. The number of farms that utilize direct-to-consumer sales was 144,530 in 2012 in comparison to 116,733 in 2002. Direct-to-consumer sales include farmers' markets, community supported agriculture (CSA), on-farm stores, and roadside farm stands. Some organic farms also sell products direct to retailer, direct to restaurant and direct to institution. According to the 2008 Organic Production Survey, approximately 7% of organic farm sales were direct-to-consumers, 10% went direct to retailers, and approximately 83% went into wholesale markets. In comparison, only 0.4% of the value of convention agricultural commodities were direct-to-consumers. While not all products sold at farmer's markets are certified organic, this direct-to-consumer avenue has become increasingly popular in local food distribution and has grown substantially since 1994. In 2014, there were 8,284 farmer's markets in comparison to 3,706 in 2004 and 1,755 in 1994, most of which are found in populated areas such as the Northeast, Midwest, and West Coast. Labour and employment Organic production is more labour-intensive than conventional production. Increased labor cost is one factor that contributes to organic food being more expensive. Organic farming's increased labor requirements can be seen in a good way providing more job opportunities for people. The 2011 UNEP Green Economy Report suggests that "[a]n increase in investment in green agriculture is projected to lead to growth in employment of about 60 per cent compared with current levels" and that "green agriculture investments could create 47 million additional jobs compared with BAU2 over the next 40 years". Much of the growth in women labour participation in agriculture is outside the "male dominated field of conventional agriculture". Organic farming has a greater percentage of women working in the farms with 21% compared to farming in general with 14%. World's food security In 2007 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that organic agriculture often leads to higher prices and hence a better income for farmers, so it should be promoted. However, FAO stressed that organic farming could not feed the current human population, much less the larger future population. Both data and models showed that organic farming was far from sufficient. Therefore, chemical fertilizers were needed to avoid hunger. Others have argued that organic farming is particularly well-suited to food-insecure areas, and therefore could be "an important part of increased food security" in places like sub-Saharan Africa FAO stressed that fertilizers and other chemical inputs can increase production, particularly in Africa where fertilizers are currently used 90% less than in Asia. For example, in Malawi the yield has been boosted using seeds and fertilizers. Also NEPAD, a development organization of African governments, announced that feeding Africans and preventing malnutrition requires fertilizers and enhanced seeds. According to a 2012 study from McGill University, organic best management practices show an average yield only 13% less than conventional. In the world's poorer nations where most of the world's hungry live, and where conventional agriculture's expensive inputs are not affordable for the majority of farmers, adopting organic management actually increases yields 93% on average, and could be an important part of increased food security. Capacity building in developing countries Organic agriculture can contribute to ecological sustainability, especially in poorer countries. The application of organic principles enables employment of local resources (e.g., local seed varieties, manure, etc.) and therefore cost-effectiveness. Local and international markets for organic products show tremendous growth prospects and offer creative producers and exporters excellent opportunities to improve their income and living conditions. Organic agriculture is knowledge intensive. Globally, capacity building efforts are underway, including localized training material, to limited effect. As of 2007, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements hosted more than 170 free manuals and 75 training opportunities online. In 2008 the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) stated that "organic agriculture can be more conducive to food security in Africa than most conventional production systems, and that it is more likely to be sustainable in the long-term" and that "yields had more than doubled where organic, or near-organic practices had been used" and that soil fertility and drought resistance improved. Millennium Development Goals The value of organic agriculture (OA) in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), particularly in poverty reduction efforts in the face of climate change, is shown by its contribution to both income and non-income aspects of the MDGs. These benefits are expected to continue in the post-MDG era. A series of case studies conducted in selected areas in Asian countries by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and published as a book compilation by ADB in Manila document these contributions to both income and non-income aspects of the MDGs. These include poverty alleviation by way of higher incomes, improved farmers' health owing to less chemical exposure, integration of sustainable principles into rural development policies, improvement of access to safe water and sanitation, and expansion of global partnership for development as small farmers are integrated in value chains. A related ADBI study also sheds on the costs of OA programs and set them in the context of the costs of attaining the MDGs. The results show considerable variation across the case studies, suggesting that there is no clear structure to the costs of adopting OA. Costs depend on the efficiency of the OA adoption programs. The lowest cost programs were more than ten times less expensive than the highest cost ones. However, further analysis of the gains resulting from OA adoption reveals that the costs per person taken out of poverty was much lower than the estimates of the World Bank, based on income growth in general or based on the detailed costs of meeting some of the more quantifiable MDGs (e.g., education, health, and environment). Externalities Agriculture imposes negative externalities upon society through public land and other public resource use, biodiversity loss, erosion, pesticides, nutrient pollution, and assorted other problems. Positive externalities include self-reliance, entrepreneurship, respect for nature, and air quality. Organic methods differ from conventional methods in the impacts of their respective externalities, dependent on implementation and crop type. Overall land use is generally higher for organic methods, but organic methods generally use less energy in production. The analysis and comparison of externalities is complicated by whether the comparison is done using a per unit area measurement or per unit of production, and whether analysis is done on isolated plots or on farm units as a whole. Measurements of biodiversity are highly variable between studies, farms, and organism groups. "Birds, predatory insects, soil organisms and plants responded positively to organic farming, while non-predatory insects and pests did not. A 2005 review found that the positive effects of organic farming on abundance were prominent at the plot and field scales, but not for farms in matched landscapes." Other studies that have attempted to examine and compare conventional and organic systems of farming and have found that organic techniques reduce levels of biodiversity less than conventional systems do, and use less energy and produce less waste when calculated per unit area, although not when calculated per unit of output. "Farm comparisons show that actual (nitrate) leaching rates per hectare[/acre] are up to 57% lower on organic than on conventional fields. However, the leaching rates per unit of output were similar or slightly higher." "On a per-hectare[/-acre] scale, the CO2 emissions are 4060% lower in organic farming systems than in conventional ones, whereas on a per-unit output scale, the CO2 emissions tend to be higher in organic farming systems." It has been proposed that organic agriculture can reduce the level of some negative externalities from (conventional) agriculture. Whether the benefits are private, or public depends upon the division of property rights. Issues According to a meta analysis published in 2017, compared to conventional agriculture, biological agriculture has a higher land requirement per yield unit, a higher eutrophication potential, a higher acidification potential and a lower energy requirement, but is associated with similarly high greenhouse gas emissions. A 2003 to 2005 investigation by the Cranfield University for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the UK found that it is difficult to compare the Global warming potential, acidification and eutrophication emissions but "Organic production often results in increased burdens, from factors such as N leaching and N2O emissions", even though primary energy use was less for most organic products. N2O is always the largest global warming potential contributor except in tomatoes. However, "organic tomatoes always incur more burdens (except pesticide use)". Some emissions were lower "per area", but organic farming always required 65 to 200% more field area than non-organic farming. The numbers were highest for bread wheat (200+ % more) and potatoes (160% more).Determining the environmental burdens and resource use in the production of agricultural and horticultural commodities. - IS0205 , Williams, A.G. et al., Cranfield University, U.K., August 2006. Svensk mat- och miljöinformation. Pages 4-6, 29 and 84-85. As of 2020 it seems that organic agriculture can help in mitigating climate change but only if used in certain ways. Environmental impact and emissions Researchers at Oxford University analysed 71 peer-reviewed studies and observed that organic products are sometimes worse for the environment. Organic milk, cereals, and pork generated higher greenhouse gas emissions per product than conventional ones but organic beef and olives had lower emissions in most studies. Usually organic products required less energy, but more land. Per unit of product, organic produce generates higher nitrogen leaching, nitrous oxide emissions, ammonia emissions, eutrophication, and acidification potential than conventionally grown produce. Other differences were not significant. The researchers concluded that public debate should consider various manners of employing conventional or organic farming, and not merely debate conventional farming as opposed to organic farming. They also sought to find specific solutions to specific circumstances. A 2018 review article in the Annual Review of Resource Economics found that organic agriculture is more polluting per unit of output and that widespread upscaling of organic agriculture would cause additional loss of natural habitats. Proponents of organic farming have claimed that organic agriculture emphasizes closed nutrient cycles, biodiversity, and effective soil management providing the capacity to mitigate and even reverse the effects of climate change and that organic agriculture can decrease fossil fuel emissions. "The carbon sequestration efficiency of organic systems in temperate climates is almost double that of conventional treatment of soils, mainly owing to the use of grass clovers for feed and of cover crops in organic rotations." However, studies acknowledge organic systems require more acreage to produce the same yield as conventional farms. By converting to organic farms in developed countries where most arable land is accounted for, increased deforestation would decrease overall carbon sequestration. Nutrient leaching According to a 2012 meta-analysis of 71 studies, nitrogen leaching, nitrous oxide emissions, ammonia emissions, eutrophication potential and acidification potential were higher for organic products. Specifically, the emission per area of land is lower, but per amount of food produced is higher. This is due to the lower crop yield of organic farms. Excess nutrients in lakes, rivers, and groundwater can cause algal blooms, eutrophication, and subsequent dead zones. In addition, nitrates are harmful to aquatic organisms by themselves. Land use A 2012 Oxford meta-analysis of 71 studies found that organic farming requires 84% more land for an equivalent amount of harvest, mainly due to lack of nutrients but sometimes due to weeds, diseases or pests, lower yielding animals and land required for fertility building crops. While organic farming does not necessarily save land for wildlife habitats and forestry in all cases, the most modern breakthroughs in organic are addressing these issues with success. Professor Wolfgang Branscheid says that organic animal production is not good for the environment, because organic chicken requires twice as much land as "conventional" chicken and organic pork a quarter more. According to a calculation by Hudson Institute, organic beef requires three times as much land. On the other hand, certain organic methods of animal husbandry have been shown to restore desertified, marginal, and/or otherwise unavailable land to agricultural productivity and wildlife. Or by getting both forage and cash crop production from the same fields simultaneously, reduce net land use. SRI methods for rice production, without external inputs, have produced record yields on some farms, but not others. Pesticides In organic farming the use of synthetic pesticides and certain natural compounds that are produced using chemical synthesis are prohibited. The organic labels restrictions are not only based on the nature of the compound, but also on the method of production. A non-exhaustive list of organic approved pesticides with their median lethal doses: Boric acid is used as an insecticide (LD50: 2660 mg/kg). Copper(II) sulfate is used as a fungicide and is also used in conventional agriculture (LD50 300 mg/kg). Conventional agriculture has the option to use the less toxic Mancozeb (LD50 4,500 to 11,200 mg/kg) Lime sulfur (aka calcium polysulfide) and sulfur are considered to be allowed, synthetic materials (LD50: 820 mg/kg) Neem oil is used as an insect repellant in India; since it contains azadirachtin its use is restricted in the UK and Europe. Pyrethrin comes from chemicals extracted from flowers of the genus Pyrethrum (LD50 of 370 mg/kg). Its potent toxicity is used to control insects. Food quality and safety While there may be some differences in the amounts of nutrients and anti-nutrients when organically produced food and conventionally-produced food are compared, the variable nature of food production and handling makes it difficult to generalize results, and there is insufficient evidence to make claims that organic food is safer or healthier than conventional food.Blair, Robert. (2012). Organic Production and Food Quality: A Down to Earth Analysis. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, UK. Soil conservation Supporters claim that organically managed soil has a higher quality and higher water retention. This may help increase yields for organic farms in drought years. Organic farming can build up soil organic matter better than conventional no-till farming, which suggests long-term yield benefits from organic farming. An 18-year study of organic methods on nutrient-depleted soil concluded that conventional methods were superior for soil fertility and yield for nutrient-depleted soils in cold-temperate climates, arguing that much of the benefit from organic farming derives from imported materials that could not be regarded as self-sustaining. In Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, geomorphologist David Montgomery outlines a coming crisis from soil erosion. Agriculture relies on roughly one meter of topsoil, and that is being depleted ten times faster than it is being replaced. No-till farming, which some claim depends upon pesticides, is one way to minimize erosion. However, a 2007 study by the USDA's Agricultural Research Service has found that manure applications in tilled organic farming are better at building up the soil than no-till.Hepperly, Paul, Jeff Moyer, and Dave Wilson. "Developments in Organic No-till Agriculture." Acres USA: The Voice of Eco-agriculture September 2008: 16-19. And Roberts, Paul. "The End of Food: Investigating a Global Crisis." Interview with Acres USA. Acres USA: The Voice of Eco-Agriculture October 2008: 56-63. Gunsmoke Farms, a organic farming project in South Dakota, suffered from massive soil erosion as result of tiling after it switched to organic farming. Biodiversity The conservation of natural resources and biodiversity is a core principle of organic production. Three broad management practices (prohibition/reduced use of chemical pesticides and inorganic fertilizers; sympathetic management of non-cropped habitats; and preservation of mixed farming) that are largely intrinsic (but not exclusive) to organic farming are particularly beneficial for farmland wildlife. Using practices that attract or introduce beneficial insects, provide habitat for birds and mammals, and provide conditions that increase soil biotic diversity serve to supply vital ecological services to organic production systems. Advantages to certified organic operations that implement these types of production practices include: 1) decreased dependence on outside fertility inputs; 2) reduced pest-management costs; 3) more reliable sources of clean water; and 4) better pollination. Nearly all non-crop, naturally occurring species observed in comparative farm land practice studies show a preference for organic farming both by abundance and diversity. An average of 30% more species inhabit organic farms. Birds, butterflies, soil microbes, beetles, earthworms, spiders, vegetation, and mammals are particularly affected. Lack of herbicides and pesticides improve biodiversity fitness and population density. Many weed species attract beneficial insects that improve soil qualities and forage on weed pests. Soil-bound organisms often benefit because of increased bacteria populations due to natural fertilizer such as manure, while experiencing reduced intake of herbicides and pesticides. Increased biodiversity, especially from beneficial soil microbes and mycorrhizae have been proposed as an explanation for the high yields experienced by some organic plots, especially in light of the differences seen in a 21-year comparison of organic and control fields. Organic farming contributes to human capital by promoting biodiversity. The presence of various species in organic farms helps to reduce human input, such as fertilizers, and pesticides, which enhances sustainability. The USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published a Federal Register notice on 15 January 2016, announcing the National Organic Program (NOP) final guidance on Natural Resources and Biodiversity Conservation for Certified Organic Operations. Given the broad scope of natural resources which includes soil, water, wetland, woodland and wildlife, the guidance provides examples of practices that support the underlying conservation principles and demonstrate compliance with USDA organic regulations § 205.200. The final guidance provides organic certifiers and farms with examples of production practices that support conservation principles and comply with the USDA organic regulations, which require operations to maintain or improve natural resources. The final guidance also clarifies the role of certified operations (to submit an OSP to a certifier), certifiers (ensure that the OSP describes or lists practices that explain the operator's monitoring plan and practices to support natural resources and biodiversity conservation), and inspectors (onsite inspection) in the implementation and verification of these production practices. A wide range of organisms benefit from organic farming, but it is unclear whether organic methods confer greater benefits than conventional integrated agri-environmental programs. Organic farming is often presented as a more biodiversity-friendly practice, but the generality of the beneficial effects of organic farming is debated as the effects appear often species- and context-dependent, and current research has highlighted the need to quantify the relative effects of local- and landscape-scale management on farmland biodiversity. There are four key issues when comparing the impacts on biodiversity of organic and conventional farming: (1) It remains unclear whether a holistic whole-farm approach (i.e. organic) provides greater benefits to biodiversity than carefully targeted prescriptions applied to relatively small areas of cropped and/or non-cropped habitats within conventional agriculture (i.e. agri-environment schemes); (2) Many comparative studies encounter methodological problems, limiting their ability to draw quantitative conclusions; (3) Our knowledge of the impacts of organic farming in pastoral and upland agriculture is limited; (4) There remains a pressing need for longitudinal, system-level studies in order to address these issues and to fill in the gaps in our knowledge of the impacts of organic farming, before a full appraisal of its potential role in biodiversity conservation in agroecosystems can be made. Labour standards Organic agriculture is often considered to be more socially just and economically sustainable for farmworkers than conventional agriculture. However, there is little social science research or consensus as to whether or not organic agriculture provides better working conditions than conventional agriculture. As many consumers equate organic and sustainable agriculture with small-scale, family-owned organizations it is widely interpreted that buying organic supports better conditions for farmworkers than buying with conventional producers. Organic agriculture is generally more labour-intensive due to its dependence on manual practices for fertilization and pest removal. Although illnesses from inputs pose less of a risk, hired workers still fall victim to debilitating musculoskeletal disorders associated with agricultural work. The USDA certification requirements outline growing practices and ecological standards but do nothing to codify labour practices. Independent certification initiatives such as the Agricultural Justice Project, Domestic Fair Trade Working Group, and the Food Alliance have attempted to implement farmworker interests but because these initiatives require voluntary participation of organic farms, their standards cannot be widely enforced. Despite the benefit to farmworkers of implementing labour standards, there is little support among the organic community for these social requirements. Many actors of the organic industry believe that enforcing labour standards would be unnecessary, unacceptable, or unviable due to the constraints of the market. Regional support for organic farming The following is a selected list of support given in some regions. Europe The EU-organic production-regulation is a part of the European Union regulation that sets rules about the production of organic agricultural and livestock products and how to label them. In the EU, organic farming and organic food are more commonly known as ecological or biological. The regulation is derived from the guidelines of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), which is an association of about 800 member organizations in 119 countries. As in the rest of the world, the organic market in Europe continues to grow and more land is farmed organically each year. "More farmers cultivate organically, more land is certified organic, and more countries report organic farming activities" as per the 2016 edition of the study "The World of Organic Agriculture " according to data from the end of 2014 published by FiBL and IFOAM in 2016. Denmark Denmark has a long ongoing support for converting conventional farming into organic farming, which has been taught in academic classes in universities since 1986. The state began substitutes and has promoted a special national label for products that qualify as organic since 1989. Denmark is thus the first country in the world to substitute organic farming, promoting the concept and organizing the distribution of organic products. Today the government accept applicants for financial support during conversion years, as in Danish regulations farms must not have utilized conventional farming methods such as the usage of pesticides for several years before products can be assessed for qualification as organic. This financial support has in recent years been cut due to organic farming increasing in profitability, and some goods surpassing the profitability of conventional farming in domestic markets. In general, the financial situation of organic farmers in Denmark boomed between 2010 and 2018, while in 2018 serious nationwide long-lasting droughts stagnated the economic results of organic farmers; however, the average farmer still achieved a net positive result that year. In 2021 Denmark's (and Europe's) largest slaughterhouse, Danish Crown, publicized its expectations of stagnating sales of conventional pork domestically, however it expected increasing sales of organic pork and especially free range organic pork. Besides the conversion support, there are still base subsidies for organic farming paid per area of qualified farm land. The first Danish private development organisation, SamsØkologisk, was established in 2013, by veteran organic farmers from the existing organisation Økologisk Samsø. The development organisation has intentions to buy and invest in farmland and then lend the land to young and aspiring farmers seeking to get into farming, especially organic farming. This organisation reports 300 economical active members as of 2021, but does not publish the amount of acquired land or active lenders. However, the organic farming concept in Denmark is often not limited to organic farming as the definition is globally. Instead, the majority of organic farming is instead "ecological farming". The development of this concept has been parallel with the general organic farming movement, and is most often used interchangeable with organic farming. Thus, there is a much stronger focus on the environmental and especially the ecological impact of ecological farming than organic farming. E.g. besides the base substitute for organic farming, farmers can qualify for an extra substitute equal to 2/3 of the base for realizing a specific reduction in the usage of added nitrogen to the farmland (also by organic means). There are also parallels to the extended organic movements of regenerative agriculture, although far from all concepts in regenerative agriculture are included in the national strategy at this time, but exist as voluntary options for each farmer. For these reasons, international organic products do not fulfill the requirements of ecological farming and thus do not receive the domestic label for ecological products, rather they receive the standard European Union organic label. Ukraine The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine is the central executive body that develops the regulatory framework for the organic sector in Ukraine, maintains the state registers of certification bodies, operators and organic seeds and planting material, and provides training and professional development for organic inspectors. Thanks to the hard work on organic legislation by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine and the organic working group that includes the main players of the Ukraine's organic sector, on 10 July 2018, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (the Ukrainian Parliament) adopted the Law of Ukraine “On Basic Principles and Requirements for Organic Production, Circulation and Labelling of Organic Products” No. 2496, which was enacted on 2 August 2019. As of April 2024, organic production, circulation and labelling of organic products in Ukraine is regulated by this law as well as relevant by-laws. One more important governmental institution of the organic sector of Ukraine is the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection. It is the central executive body authorised to conduct state supervision (control) in the field of organic production, circulation and labelling of organic products in accordance with the organic legislation of Ukraine. This includes state supervision (control) over compliance with the legislation in the field of organic production, circulation and labelling of organic products: inspection of certification bodies; random inspection of operators; monitoring of organic products on the market to prevent the entry of non-organic products labelled as organic. The State Institution “Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office” (EEPO, Ukraine) contributes to the development of the Ukrainian organic exporters’ potential, promotion of the organic sector and formation of a positive image of Ukraine as a reliable supplier of organic products abroad. EEPO actively supports and organises various events for organic exporters, including national pavilions at key international trade fairs, such as BIOFACH (Nuremberg, Germany), Anuga (Cologne, Germany), SIAL (Paris, France), and Middle East Organic & Natural Products Expo (Dubai, UAE). EEPO also created the Catalogue of Ukrainian Exporters of Organic Products in partnership with Organic Standard certification body. Organic farming is Ukraine is also supported by international technical assistance projects and programmes implementation of which is funded and supported by Switzerland, Germany, and other countries. These project/programmes are the Swiss-Ukrainian program “Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sector in Ukraine” (QFTP), financed by Switzerland and implemented by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL, Switzerland) in partnership with SAFOSO AG (Switzerland); the Swiss-Ukrainian program “Organic Trade for Development in Eastern Europe” (OT4D), financed by Switzerland through the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and implemented by IFOAM – Organics International in partnership HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL, Switzerland); Project “German-Ukrainian Cooperation in Organic Agriculture” (COA). The project/programme representatives provide their expertise during development of the organic legislative framework and implementation of the legislation in the field of organic production, circulation and labelling of organic products and support various activities related to organic farming and production. China The Chinese government, especially the local government, has provided various supports for the development of organic agriculture since the 1990s. Organic farming has been recognized by local governments for its potential in promoting sustainable rural development. It is common for local governments to facilitate land access of agribusinesses by negotiating land leasing with local farmers. The government also establishes demonstration organic gardens, provides training for organic food companies to pass certifications, subsidizes organic certification fees, pest repellent lamps, organic fertilizer and so on. The government has also been playing an active role in marketing organic products through organizing organic food expos and branding supports. India In India, in 2016, the northern state of Sikkim achieved its goal of converting to 100% organic farming."Sikkim makes an organic shift". Times of India. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2012."Sikkim races on organic route" . Telegraph India. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2012. Other states of India, including Kerala, Mizoram, Goa, Rajasthan, and Meghalaya, have also declared their intentions to shift to fully organic cultivation. The South Indian state Andhra Pradesh is also promoting organic farming, especially Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) which is a form of regenerative agriculture. As of 2018, India has the largest number of organic farmers in the world and constitutes more than 30% of the organic farmers globally. India has 835,000 certified organic producers. However, the total land under organic cultivation is around 2% of overall farm lands. Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic has successfully converted a large amount of its banana crop to organic. The Dominican Republic accounts for 55% of the world's certified organic bananas. South Korea The most noticeable change in Korea's agriculture occurred throughout the 1960s and 1970s. More specifically, the "Green Revolution" program where South Korea experienced reforestations and agricultural revolution. Due to a food shortage during Park Chung Hee's presidency, the government encouraged rice varieties suited for organic farming. Farmers were able to strategize risk minimization efforts by breeding a variety of rice called Japonica with Tongil. They also used less fertilizer and made other economic adjustments to alleviate potential risk factors. In modern society, organic farming and food policies have changed, more specifically since the 1990s. As expected, the guidelines focus on basic dietary recommendations for consumption of nutrients and Korean-style diets. The main reason for this encouragement is that around 88% of countries across the world face forms of malnutrition. Then in 2009, the Special Act on Safety Management of Children's Dietary Life was passed, restricting foods low in energy and poor in nutrients. It also focused on other nutritional problems Korean students may have had as well. Thailand In Thailand, the (ISAC) was established in 1991 to promote organic farming (among other sustainable agricultural practices). The national target via the National Plan for Organic Farming is to attain, by 2021, of organically farmed land. Another target is for 40% of the produce from these farmlands to be consumed domestically. Much progress has been made: Many organic farms have sprouted, growing produce ranging from mangosteen to stinky bean. Some of the farms have also established education centres to promote and share their organic farming techniques and knowledge. In Chiang Mai Province, there are 18 organic markets. (ISAC-linked) United States The United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development (USDARD) was created in 1994 as a subsection of the USDA that implements programs to stimulate growth in rural communities. One of the programs that the USDARD created provided grants to farmers who practiced organic farming through the Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP). During the 21st century, the United States has continued to expand its reach in the organic foods market, doubling the number of organic farms in the U.S. in 2016 when compared to 2011. Employment on organic farms offers potentially large numbers of jobs for people, and this may better manage the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Moreover, sustainable forestry, fishing, and mining, and other conservation-oriented activities provide larger numbers of jobs than more fossil fuel and mechanized work. Organic Farming has grown by in the U.S. from 2000 to 2011. In 2016, California had 2,713 organic farms, which makes California the largest producer of organic goods in the U.S. 4% of food sales in the U.S. are of organic goods. Sri Lanka As was the case with most countries, Sri Lanka made the transition away from organic farming upon the arrival of the Green Revolution, whereupon it started depending more on chemical fertilizers. This became a highly popularized method when the nation started offering subsidies on the import of artificial fertilizers to increase rice paddy production, and to incentivize farmers to switch from growing traditional varieties into using high yielding varieties (HYVs). This was especially true for young farmers who saw short-term economic profit as more sustainable to their wellbeing, compared to the long term drawbacks to the environment. However, due to the various health concerns with inorganic farming including the possibility of a chronic kidney disease being associated with chemical fertilizers, many middle aged and experienced farmers displayed skepticism towards these new approaches. Some even resorted to organic farming or utilizing insecticide free fertilizers for their crops. In a study conducted by F. Horgan and E. Kudavidanage, the researchers compared crop yields of farmers in Sri Lanka who employed distinct farming techniques including organic farmers who grew traditional varieties, and insecticide-free fertilizer users and pesticide users who grew modern varieties. No significant difference was found among the yield productions and in fact, organic farmers and insecticide-free fertilizer users lamented less about insects such as planthoppers as a challenge to their production. Regardless, many farmers continued to use insecticides to avoid the predicted dangers of pests to their crops, and the cheap sale of agrochemicals provided an easy approach to augment crop growth. Additionally, while organic farming has health benefits, it's a strenuous task which requires more man power. Although that presented a great opportunity for increased employment in Sri Lanka, the economic compensation was not enough to suffice the living expenses of those employed. Thus, most farmers relied on modern methods to run their household, especially after the economic stressors brought on by COVID-19. However, while Sri Lanka was still facing the new challenges of the pandemic, in the 2019 presidential election campaign, the president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa proposed a 10-year, national transition to organic farming to declare Sri Lanka as the first nation to be known for its organic produce. On April 27, 2021, the country issued an order prohibiting the import of any inorganic pesticides or fertilizers, creating chaos among farmers. While such a change was made over concerns for the nation's ecosystems and the health of citizens where pesticide poisonings prevailed over other health related deaths, the precipitous decision was met with criticism from the agriculture industry. This included fears that the mandate would harm the yields of the country's major crops (despite claims to the contrary), that the country would not be able to produce enough organic fertilizer domestically, and organic farming being more expensive and complex than conventional agriculture. To put this into perspective, 7.4% of Sri Lanka's GDP is reliant on agriculture and 30% of citizens work in this sector. This means that about ⅓ of its population is dependent on this sector for jobs, making its maintenance highly crucial for the prosperity of the nation's social and economic status. Of special concern was rice and tea, which are a staple food and major export respectively. Despite it being a record crop in the first half of 2021, the tea crop began to decline in July of that year. Rice production fell by 20% over the first six months of the ban, and prices increased by around 50%. Contrary to its past success at self-sustainability, the country had to import US$450 million worth of rice to meet domestic demand. In late August, the government acknowledged the ban had created a critical dependency on supplies of imported organic fertilizers, but by then food prices had already increased twofold in some cases. In September 2021, the government declared an economic emergency, citing the ban's impact on food prices, as well as inflation from the devaluation of Sri Lankan currency due to the crashing tea industry, and a lack of tourism induced by COVID-19 restrictions. In November 2021, the country partially lifted the ban on inorganic farming for certain key crops such as rubber and tea, and began to offer compensation and subsidies to farmers and rice producers in an attempt to cover losses. The previous subsidies on synthetic fertilizer imports were not reintroduced. See also Agroecology Biointensive Biological pest control Certified Naturally Grown Holistic management (agriculture) List of countries by organic farmland List of organic food topics List of organic gardening and farming topics List of pest-repelling plants Natural Farming Organic farming by continent Organic lawn management Organic movement Organic food culture Permaculture References Further reading Avery, A. The Truth About Organic Foods (Volume 1, Series 1). Henderson Communications, L.L.C. 2006. Committee on the Role of Alternative Farming Methods in Modern Production Agriculture, National Research Council. 1989. Alternative Agriculture. National Academies Press. Guthman, J. Agrarian Dreams: The Parodox of Organic Farming in California, Berkeley and London: University of California Press. 2004. Lampkin, N. and S. Padel. (eds.) The Economics of Organic Farming: An International Perspective'', CAB International. 1994. Kuepper, G. and L. Gegner. Organic Crop Production Overview., ATTRA — National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service. August 2004. External links Agroecology Sustainable technologies Sustainable food system

Sustainable gardening

Sustainable gardening includes the more specific sustainable landscapes, sustainable landscape design, sustainable landscaping, sustainable landscape architecture, resulting in sustainable sites. It comprises a disparate group of horticultural interests that can share the aims and objectives associated with the international post-1980s sustainable development and sustainability programs developed to address that humans are now using natural biophysical resources faster than they can be replenished by nature. Included within this are those home gardeners, and members of the landscape and nursery industries, and municipal authorities, that integrate environmental, social, and economic factors to create a more sustainable future. Benefits of sustainable gardening also include improved access to fresh foods and biodiversity in cities. Sustainable Sites Initiative The Sustainable Sites Initiative is a commercial accreditation body in USA which certifies landscapers and sites using guidelines and performance benchmarks for sustainable land design, for which their registered trademark can be earned after a fee. It was founded in 2005. Using the United Nations Brundtland Report’s definition of sustainable development as a model, it defines sustainability as: ...design, construction, operations and maintenance practices that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs by attempting to: ...protect, restore and enhance the ability of landscapes to provide ecosystem services that benefit humans and other organisms. There is no uniform national standard for a sustainable landscaping project in the USA. Sites are rated according to their impact on ecosystem services: The following ecosystem services have been identified: Microclimate regulation Air and water purification Water supply and regulation Erosion and sediment control Hazard mitigation Pollination Habitat functions Waste decomposition and treatment Global climate regulation Human health and well-being benefits Food and renewable non-food products Cultural benefits Principles Enhancement of ecosystem services is encouraged throughout the life of any site by providing clear design, construction and management criteria. Sustainability requires that environmental, social and economic demands are integrated. Guidelines supplement existing green building guidelines and include metrics (benchmarks, audits, criteria, indexes etc.) that give some measure of sustainability (a rating system) by clarifying what is sustainable or not sustainable or, more likely, what is more or less sustainable. Impacts of a site can be assessed and measured over any spatio-temporal scale. Impacts of a site may be direct by having direct measurable impacts on biodiversity and ecology at the site itself, or indirect when impacts occur away from the site. Site principles The following are some site principles for sustainable gardening: do no harm use the precautionary principle design with nature and culture use a decision-making hierarchy of preservation, conservation, and regeneration provide regenerative systems as intergenerational equity support a living process use a system thinking approach use a collaborative and ethical approach maintain integrity in leadership and research foster environmental stewardship Measuring site sustainability One major feature distinguishing sustainable gardens, landscapes and sites from other similar enterprises is the quantification of site sustainability by establishing performance benchmarks. Because sustainability is such a broad concept the environmental impacts of sites can be categorized in numerous ways depending on the purpose for which the figures are required. The process can include minimizing negative environmental impacts and maximizing positive impacts. As currently applied the environment is usually given priority over social and economic factors which may be added in or regarded as an inevitable and integral part of the management process. A home gardener is likely to use simpler metrics than a professional landscaper. Three methods for measuring site sustainability include BREEAM developed by the BRE organization in the UK, LEED, developed in America and the Oxford 360 degree sustainability Index used in Oxford Park and developed by the Oxford Sustainable Group in Scandinavia. See also Carbon cycle re-balancing Climate-friendly gardening Context theory Foodscaping Green roof Landscape planning Manure tea Public Open Space (POS) Roof garden Sustainable architecture Sustainable design Sustainable landscaping Sustainable landscape architecture Sustainable planting Sustainable urban drainage systems Urban agriculture Urban forestry Xeriscaping References External links Information on designing a sustainable urban landscape [https://web.archive.org/web/20080622071609/http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/profseq/sustenviron.html Sustainable Environmental Design and Landscape Stewardship] Canton GA Landscaping a sustainable urban landscape Horticultural techniques Sustainable design Landscape architecture Types of garden

Carbon footprint

A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country adds to the atmosphere. Carbon footprints are usually reported in tonnes of emissions (CO2-equivalent) per unit of comparison. Such units can be for example tonnes CO2-eq per year, per kilogram of protein for consumption, per kilometer travelled, per piece of clothing and so forth. A product's carbon footprint includes the emissions for the entire life cycle. These run from the production along the supply chain to its final consumption and disposal. Similarly, an organization's carbon footprint includes the direct as well as the indirect emissions that it causes. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (for carbon accounting of organizations) calls these Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. There are several methodologies and online tools to calculate the carbon footprint. They depend on whether the focus is on a country, organization, product or individual person. For example, the carbon footprint of a product could help consumers decide which product to buy if they want to be climate aware. For climate change mitigation activities, the carbon footprint can help distinguish those economic activities with a high footprint from those with a low footprint. So the carbon footprint concept allows everyone to make comparisons between the climate impacts of individuals, products, companies and countries. It also helps people devise strategies and priorities for reducing the carbon footprint. The carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) emissions per unit of comparison is a suitable way to express a carbon footprint. This sums up all the greenhouse gas emissions. It includes all greenhouse gases, not just carbon dioxide. And it looks at emissions from economic activities, events, organizations and services. In some definitions, only the carbon dioxide emissions are taken into account. These do not include other greenhouse gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide. Various methods to calculate the carbon footprint exist, and these may differ somewhat for different entities. For organizations it is common practice to use the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. It includes three carbon emission scopes. Scope 1 refers to direct carbon emissions. Scope 2 and 3 refer to indirect carbon emissions. Scope 3 emissions are those indirect emissions that result from the activities of an organization but come from sources which they do not own or control. For countries it is common to use consumption-based emissions accounting to calculate their carbon footprint for a given year. Consumption-based accounting using input-output analysis backed by super-computing makes it possible to analyse global supply chains. Countries also prepare national GHG inventories for the UNFCCC. The GHG emissions listed in those national inventories are only from activities in the country itself. This approach is called territorial-based accounting or production-based accounting. It does not take into account production of goods and services imported on behalf of residents. Consumption-based accounting does reflect emissions from goods and services imported from other countries. Consumption-based accounting is therefore more comprehensive. This comprehensive carbon footprint reporting including Scope 3 emissions deals with gaps in current systems. Countries' GHG inventories for the UNFCCC do not include international transport. Comprehensive carbon footprint reporting looks at the final demand for emissions, to where the consumption of the goods and services takes place. Definition A formal definition of carbon footprint is as follows: "A measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions of a defined population, system or activity, considering all relevant sources, sinks and storage within the spatial and temporal boundary of the population, system or activity of interest. Calculated as carbon dioxide equivalent using the relevant 100-year global warming potential (GWP100)." Scientists report carbon footprints in terms of equivalents of tonnes of CO2 emissions (CO2-equivalent). They may report them per year, per person, per kilogram of protein, per kilometer travelled, and so on. In the definition of carbon footprint, some scientists include only CO2. But more commonly they include several of the notable greenhouse gases. They can compare various greenhouse gases by using carbon dioxide equivalents over a relevant time scale, like 100 years. Some organizations use the term greenhouse gas footprint or climate footprint to emphasize that all greenhouse gases are included, not just carbon dioxide. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol includes all of the most important greenhouse gases. "The standard covers the accounting and reporting of seven greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol – carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PCFs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3)." In comparison, the IPCC definition of carbon footprint in 2022 covers only carbon dioxide. It defines the carbon footprint as the "measure of the exclusive total amount of emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) that is directly and indirectly caused by an activity or is accumulated over the lifecycle stages of a product." The IPCC report's authors adopted the same definition that had been proposed in 2007 in the UK. That publication included only carbon dioxide in the definition of carbon footprint. It justified this with the argument that other greenhouse gases were more difficult to quantify. This is because of their differing global warming potentials. They also stated that an inclusion of all greenhouse gases would make the carbon footprint indicator less practical. But there are disadvantages to this approach. One disadvantage of not including methane is that some products or sectors that have a high methane footprint such as livestock appear less harmful for the climate than they actually are. Types of greenhouse gas emissions The greenhouse gas protocol is a set of standards for tracking greenhouse gas emissions. The standards divide emissions into three scopes (Scope 1, 2 and 3) within the value chain. Greenhouse gas emissions caused directly by the organization such as by burning fossil fuels are referred to as Scope 1. Emissions caused indirectly by an organization, such as by purchasing secondary energy sources like electricity, heat, cooling or steam are called Scope 2. Lastly, indirect emissions associated with upstream or downstream processes are called Scope 3. Direct carbon emissions (Scope 1) Direct or Scope 1 carbon emissions come from sources on the site that is producing a product or delivering a service. An example for industry would be the emissions from burning a fuel on site. On the individual level, emissions from personal vehicles or gas-burning stoves are Scope 1. Indirect carbon emissions (Scope 2) Indirect carbon emissions are emissions from sources upstream or downstream from the process being studied. They are also known as Scope 2 or Scope 3 emissions. Scope 2 emissions are the indirect emissions related to purchasing electricity, heat, or steam used on site. Examples of upstream carbon emissions include transportation of materials and fuels, any energy used outside of the production facility, and waste produced outside the production facility. Examples of downstream carbon emissions include any end-of-life process or treatments, product and waste transportation, and emissions associated with selling the product. The GHG Protocol says it is important to calculate upstream and downstream emissions. There could be some double counting. This is because upstream emissions of one person's consumption patterns could be someone else's downstream emissions Other indirect carbon emissions (Scope 3) Scope 3 emissions are all other indirect emissions derived from the activities of an organization. But they are from sources they do not own or control. The GHG Protocol's Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard allows companies to assess their entire value chain emissions impact and identify where to focus reduction activities. Scope 3 emission sources include emissions from suppliers and product users. These are also known as the value chain. Transportation of good, and other indirect emissions are also part of this scope. In 2022 about 30% of US companies reported Scope 3 emissions. The International Sustainability Standards Board is developing a recommendation to include Scope 3 emissions in all GHG reporting. Purpose and strengths The current rise in global average temperature is more rapid than previous changes. It is primarily caused by humans burning fossil fuels. The increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is also due to deforestation and agricultural and industrial practices. These include cement production. The two most notable greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide and methane. Greenhouse gas emissions, and hence humanity's carbon footprint, have been increasing during the 21st century. The Paris Agreement aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to limit the rise in global temperature to no more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The carbon footprint concept makes comparisons between the climate impacts of individuals, products, companies and countries. A carbon footprint label on products could enable consumers to choose products with a lower carbon footprint if they want to help limit climate change. For meat products, as an example, such a label could make it clear that beef has a higher carbon footprint than chicken. Understanding the size of an organization's carbon footprint makes it possible to devise a strategy to reduce it. For most businesses the vast majority of emissions do not come from activities on site, known as Scope 1, or from energy supplied to the organization, known as Scope 2, but from Scope 3 emissions, the extended upstream and downstream supply chain. Therefore, ignoring Scope 3 emissions makes it impossible to detect all emissions of importance, which limits options for mitigation. Large companies in sectors such as clothing or automobiles would need to examine more than 100,000 supply chain pathways to fully report their carbon footprints. The importance of displacement of carbon emissions has been known for some years. Scientists also call this carbon leakage. The idea of a carbon footprint addresses concerns of carbon leakage which the Paris Agreement does not cover. Carbon leakage occurs when importing countries outsource production to exporting countries. The outsourcing countries are often rich countries while the exporters are often low-income countries. Countries can make it appear that their GHG emissions are falling by moving "dirty" industries abroad, even if their emissions could be increasing when looked at from a consumption perspective. Carbon leakage and related international trade have a range of environmental impacts. These include increased air pollution, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, raw material usage, and energy depletion. Scholars have argued in favour of using both consumption-based and production-based accounting. This helps establish shared producer and consumer responsibility. Currently countries report on their annual GHG inventory to the UNFCCC based on their territorial emissions. This is known as the territorial-based or production-based approach. Including consumption-based calculations in the UNFCCC reporting requirements would help close loopholes by addressing the challenge of carbon leakage. The Paris Agreement currently does not require countries to include in their national totals GHG emissions associated with international transport. These emissions are reported separately. They are not subject to the limitation and reduction commitments of Annex 1 Parties under the Climate Convention and Kyoto Protocol. The carbon footprint methodology includes GHG emissions associated with international transport, thereby assigning emissions caused by international trade to the importing country. Underlying concepts for calculations The calculation of the carbon footprint of a product, service or sector requires expert knowledge and careful examination of what is to be included. Carbon footprints can be calculated at different scales. They can apply to whole countries, cities, neighborhoods and also sectors, companies and products. Several free online carbon footprint calculators exist to calculate personal carbon footprints. Software such as the "Scope 3 Evaluator" can help companies report emissions throughout their value chain. The software tools can help consultants and researchers to model global sustainability footprints. In each situation there are a number of questions that need to be answered. These include which activities are linked to which emissions, and which proportion should be attributed to which company. Software is essential for company management. But there is a need for new ways of enterprise resource planning to improve corporate sustainability performance. To achieve 95% carbon footprint coverage, it would be necessary to assess 12 million individual supply-chain contributions. This is based on analyzing 12 sectoral case studies. The Scope 3 calculations can be made easier using input-output analysis. This is a technique originally developed by Nobel Prize-winning economist Wassily Leontief. Consumption-based emission accounting based on input-output analysis Consumption-based emission accounting traces the impacts of demand for goods and services along the global supply chain to the end-consumer. It is also called consumption-based carbon accounting. In contrast, a production-based approach to calculating GHG emissions is not a carbon footprint analysis. This approach is also called a territorial-based approach. The production-based approach includes only impacts physically produced in the country in question. Consumption-based accounting redistributes the emissions from production-based accounting. It considers that emissions in another country are necessary for the home country's consumption bundle. Consumer-based accounting is based on input-output analysis. It is used at the highest levels for any economic research question related to environmental or social impacts. Analysis of global supply chains is possible using consumption-based accounting with input-output analysis assisted by super-computing capacity. Leontief created Input-output analysis (IO) to demonstrate the relationship between consumption and production in an economy. It incorporates the entire supply chain. It uses input-output tables from countries' national accounts. It also uses international data such as UN Comtrade and Eurostat. Input-output analysis has been extended globally to multi-regional input-output analysis (MRIO). Innovations and technology enabling the analysis of billions of supply chains made this possible. Standards set by the United Nations underpin this analysis. The analysis enables a Structural Path Analysis. This scans and ranks the top supply chain nodes and paths. It conveniently lists hotspots for urgent action. Input-output analysis has increased in popularity because of its ability to examine global value chains. Combination with life cycle analysis (LCA) Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology for assessing all environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service. It is not limited to the greenhouse gas emissions. It is also called life cycle analysis. It includes water pollution, air pollution, ecotoxicity and similar types of pollution. Some widely recognized procedures for LCA are included in the ISO 14000 series of environmental management standards. A standard called ISO 14040:2006 provides the framework for conducting an LCA study. ISO 14060 family of standards provides further sophisticated tools. These are used to quantify, monitor, report and validate or verify GHG emissions and removals. Greenhouse gas product life cycle assessments can also comply with specifications such as Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2050 and the GHG Protocol Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard. An advantage of LCA is the high level of detail that can be obtained on-site or by liaising with suppliers. However, LCA has been hampered by the artificial construction of a boundary after which no further impacts of upstream suppliers are considered. This can introduce significant truncation errors. LCA has been combined with input-output analysis. This enables on-site detailed knowledge to be incorporated. IO connects to global economic databases to incorporate the entire supply chain. Problems Shifting responsibility from corporations to individuals Critics argue that the original aim of promoting the personal carbon footprint concept was to shift responsibility away from corporations and institutions and on to personal lifestyle choices. The fossil fuel company BP ran a large advertising campaign for the personal carbon footprint in 2005 which helped popularize this concept. This strategy, employed by many major fossil fuel companies, has been criticized for trying to shift the blame for negative consequences of those industries on to individual choices. Geoffrey Supran and Naomi Oreskes of Harvard University argue that concepts such as carbon footprints "hamstring us, and they put blinders on us, to the systemic nature of the climate crisis and the importance of taking collective action to address the problem". Relationship with other environmental impacts A focus on carbon footprints can lead people to ignore or even exacerbate other related environmental issues of concern. These include biodiversity loss, ecotoxicity, and habitat destruction. It may not be easy to measure these other human impacts on the environment with a single indicator like the carbon footprint. Consumers may think that the carbon footprint is a proxy for environmental impact. In many cases this is not correct. There can be trade-offs between reducing carbon footprint and environmental protection goals. One example is the use of biofuel, a renewable energy source and can reduce the carbon footprint of energy supply but can also pose ecological challenges during its production. This is because it is often produced in monocultures with ample use of fertilizers and pesticides. Another example is offshore wind parks, which could have unintended impacts on marine ecosystems. The carbon footprint analysis solely focuses on greenhouse gas emissions, unlike a life-cycle assessment which is much broader and looks at all environmental impacts. Therefore, it is useful to stress in communication activities that the carbon footprint is just one in a family of indicators (e.g. ecological footprint, water footprint, land footprint, and material footprint), and should not be looked at in isolation. In fact, carbon footprint can be treated as one component of ecological footprint. The "Sustainable Consumption and Production Hotspot Analysis Tool" (SCP-HAT) is a tool to place carbon footprint analysis into a wider perspective. It includes a number of socio-economic and environmental indicators. It offers calculations that are either consumption-based, following the carbon footprint approach, or production-based. The database of the SCP-HAT tool is underpinned by input–output analysis. This means it includes Scope 3 emissions. The IO methodology is also governed by UN standards. It is based on input-output tables of countries' national accounts and international trade data such as UN Comtrade, and therefore it is comparable worldwide. Differing boundaries for calculations The term carbon footprint has been applied to limited calculations that do not include Scope 3 emissions or the entire supply chain. This can lead to claims of misleading customers with regards to the real carbon footprints of companies or products. Reported values Greenhouse gas emissions overview By products The Carbon Trust has worked with UK manufacturers to produce "thousands of carbon footprint assessments". As of 2014 the Carbon Trust state they have measured 28,000 certifiable product carbon footprints. Food Plant-based foods tend to have a lower carbon footprint than meat and dairy. In many cases a much smaller footprint. This holds true when comparing the footprint of foods in terms of their weight, protein content or calories. The protein output of peas and beef provides an example. Producing 100 grams of protein from peas emits just 0.4 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq). To get the same amount of protein from beef, emissions would be nearly 90 times higher, at 35 kgCO2eq. Only a small fraction of the carbon footprint of food comes from transport and packaging. Most of it comes from processes on the farm, or from land use change. This means the choice of what to eat has a larger potential to reduce carbon footprint than how far the food has traveled, or how much packaging it is wrapped in. By sector The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report found that global GHG emissions have continued to rise across all sectors. Global consumption was the main cause. The most rapid growth was in transport and industry. A key driver of global carbon emissions is affluence. The IPCC noted that the wealthiest 10% in the world contribute between about one third to one half (36%–45%) of global GHG emissions. Researcheres have previously found that affluence is the key driver of carbon emissions. It has a bigger impact than population growth. And it counters the effects of technological developments. Continued economic growth mirrors the increasing trend in material extraction and GHG emissions. “Industrial emissions have been growing faster since 2000 than emissions in any other sector, driven by increased basic materials extraction and production,” the IPCC said. Transport There can be wide variations in emissions for transport of people. This is due to various factors. They include the length of the trip, the source of electricity in the local grid and the occupancy of public transport. In the case of driving the type of vehicle and number of passengers are factors. Over short to medium distances, walking or cycling are nearly always the lowest carbon way to travel. The carbon footprint of cycling one kilometer is usually in the range of 16 to 50 grams CO2eq per km. For moderate or long distances, trains nearly always have a lower carbon footprint than other options. By organization Carbon accounting By country CO2 emissions of countries are typically measured on the basis of production. This accounting method is sometimes referred to as territorial emissions. Countries use it when they report their emissions, and set domestic and international targets such as Nationally Determined Contributions. Consumption-based emissions on the other hand are adjusted for trade. To calculate consumption-based emissions analysts have to track which goods are traded across the world. Whenever a product is imported, all CO2 emissions that were emitted in the production of that product are included. Consumption-based emissions reflect the lifestyle choices of a country's citizens. According to the World Bank, the global average carbon footprint in 2014 was about 5 tonnes of CO2 per person, measured on a production bas. is The EU average for 2007 was about 13.8 tonnes CO2e per person. For the USA, Luxembourg and Australia it was over 25 tonnes CO2e per person. In 2017, the average for the USA was about 20 metric tonnes CO2e per person. This is one of the highest per capita figures in the world. The footprints per capita of countries in Africa and India were well below average. Per capita emissions in India are low for its huge population. But overall the country is the third largest emitter of CO2 and fifth largest economy by nominal GDP in the world. Assuming a global population of around 9–10 billion by 2050, a carbon footprint of about 2–2.5 tonnes CO2e per capita is needed to stay within a 2 °C target. These carbon footprint calculations are based on a consumption-based approach using a Multi-Regional Input-Output (MRIO) database. This database accounts for all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the global supply chain and allocates them to the final consumer of the purchased commodities. Reducing the carbon footprint Climate change mitigation Efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of products, services and organizations help limit climate change. Such activities are called climate change mitigation. Reducing industry's carbon footprint Carbon offsetting can reduce a company's overall carbon footprint by providing it with a carbon credit. This compensates the company for carbon dioxide emissions by recognizing an equivalent reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Reforestation, or restocking existing forests that have previously been depleted, is an example of carbon offsetting. A carbon footprint study can identify specific and critical areas for improvement. It uses input-output analysis and scrutinizes the entire supply chain. Such an analysis could be used to eliminate the supply chains with the highest greenhouse gas emissions. History The term carbon footprint was first used in a BBC vegetarian food magazine in 1999, though the broader concept of ecological footprint, which encompasses the carbon footprint, had been used since at least 1992, as also chronicled by William Safire in the New York Times. In 2005, fossil fuel company BP hired the large advertising campaign Ogilvy to popularize the idea of a carbon footprint for individuals. The campaign instructed people to calculate their personal footprints and provided ways for people to "go on a low-carbon diet". The carbon footprint is derived from the ecological footprint, which encompasses carbon emissions. The carbon footprint follows the logic of ecological footprint accounting, which tracks the resource use embodied in consumption, whether it is a product, an individual, a city, or a country. While in the ecological footprint, carbon emissions are translated into areas needed to absorb the carbon emissions, the carbon footprint on its own is expressed in the weight of carbon emissions per time unit. William Rees wrote the first academic publication about ecological footprints in 1992. Other related concepts from the 1990s are the "ecological backpack" and material input per unit of service (MIPS). Trends and similar concepts The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) aims to bring global, rigorous oversight to carbon footprint reporting. It was formed out of the International Financial Reporting Standards. It will require companies to report on their Scope 3 emissions. The ISSB has taken on board criticisms of other initiatives in its aims for universality. It consolidates the Carbon Disclosure Standards Board, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and the Value Reporting Foundation. It complements the Global Reporting Initiative. It is influenced by the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. As of early 2023, Great Britain and Nigeria were preparing to adopt these standards. The concept of total equivalent warming impact (TEWI) is the most used index for carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2) emissions calculation in air conditioning and refrigeration sectors by including both the direct and indirect contributions since it evaluates the emissions caused by the operating lifetime of systems. The Expanded Total Equivalent Warming Impact method has been used for an accurate evaluation of refrigerators emissions. See also Carbon emission Carbon intensity Carbon neutrality Ecological footprint Embedded emissions Food miles Greenhouse gas inventory Individual action on climate change Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of energy sources Zero-carbon city References External links The GHG Protocol Environmental impact of the energy industry Greenhouse gas emissions Environmental indices Environmental terminology Articles containing video clips

Overexploitation

Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term applies to natural resources such as water aquifers, grazing pastures and forests, wild medicinal plants, fish stocks and other wildlife. In ecology, overexploitation describes one of the five main activities threatening global biodiversity. Ecologists use the term to describe populations that are harvested at an unsustainable rate, given their natural rates of mortality and capacities for reproduction. This can result in extinction at the population level and even extinction of whole species. In conservation biology, the term is usually used in the context of human economic activity that involves the taking of biological resources, or organisms, in larger numbers than their populations can withstand. The term is also used and defined somewhat differently in fisheries, hydrology and natural resource management. Overexploitation can lead to resource destruction, including extinctions. However, it is also possible for overexploitation to be sustainable, as discussed below in the section on fisheries. In the context of fishing, the term overfishing can be used instead of overexploitation, as can overgrazing in stock management, overlogging in forest management, overdrafting in aquifer management, and endangered species in species monitoring. Overexploitation is not an activity limited to humans. Introduced predators and herbivores, for example, can overexploit native flora and fauna. History The concern about overexploitation, while relatively recent in the annals of modern environmental awareness, traces back to ancient practices embedded in human history. Contrary to the notion that overexploitation is an exclusively contemporary issue, the phenomenon has been documented for millennia and is not limited to human activities alone. Historical evidence reveals that various cultures and societies have engaged in practices leading to the overuse of natural resources, sometimes with drastic consequences. One poignant example can be found in the ceremonial cloaks of Hawaiian kings, which were adorned with the feathers of the now-extinct mamo bird. Crafting a single cloak required the feathers of approximately 70,000 adult mamo birds, illustrating a staggering scale of resource extraction that ultimately contributed to its extinction. This instance underscores how cultural traditions and their associated demands can sometimes precipitate the overexploitation of a species to the brink of extinction. Similarly, the story of the dodo bird from Mauritius provides another clear example of overexploitation. The dodo, a flightless bird, exhibited a lack of fear toward predators, including humans, making it exceptionally vulnerable to hunting. The dodo's naivety and the absence of natural defenses against human hunters and introduced species led to its rapid extinction. This case offers insight into how certain species, particularly those isolated on islands, can be disproportionately affected by human activities due to their evolutionary adaptations. Hunting has long been a vital human activity for survival, providing food, clothing, and tools. However, the history of hunting also includes episodes of overexploitation, particularly in the form of overhunting. The overkill hypothesis, which addresses the Quaternary extinction events, explains the relatively rapid extinction of megafauna. This hypothesis suggests that these extinctions were closely linked to human migration and population growth. One of the most compelling pieces of evidence supporting this theory is that approximately 80% of North American large mammal species disappeared within just approximately a thousand years of humans arriving in the Western Hemisphere. This rapid disappearance indicates a significant impact of human activity on these species, underscoring the profound influence humans have had on their environment throughout history. The fastest-ever recorded extinction of megafauna occurred in New Zealand. By 1500 AD, a mere 200 years after the first human settlements, ten species of the giant moa birds were driven to extinction by the Māori. This rapid extinction underscores the significant impact humans can have on native wildlife, especially in isolated ecosystems like New Zealand. The Māori, relying on the moa as a primary food source and for resources such as feathers and bones, hunted these birds extensively. The moa's inability to fly and their size, which made them easier targets, contributed to their rapid decline. This event serves as a cautionary tale about the delicate balance between human activity and biodiversity and highlights the potential consequences of over-hunting and habitat destruction. A second wave of extinctions occurred later with European settlement. This period marked significant ecological disruption, largely due to the introduction of new species and land-use changes. European settlers brought with them animals such as rats, cats, and stoats, which preyed upon native birds and other wildlife. Additionally, deforestation for agriculture significantly altered the habitats of many endemic species. These combined factors accelerated the decline of New Zealand's unique biodiversity, leading to the extinction of several more species. The European settlement period serves as a poignant example of how human activities can drastically impact natural ecosystems. In more recent times, overexploitation has resulted in the gradual emergence of the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development, which has built on other concepts, such as sustainable yield, eco-development, and deep ecology. Overview Overexploitation does not necessarily lead to the destruction of the resource, nor is it necessarily unsustainable. However, depleting the numbers or amount of the resource can change its quality. For example, footstool palm is a wild palm tree found in Southeast Asia. Its leaves are used for thatching and food wrapping, and overharvesting has resulted in its leaf size becoming smaller. Tragedy of the commons In 1968, the journal Science published an article by Garrett Hardin entitled "The Tragedy of the Commons". It was based on a parable that William Forster Lloyd published in 1833 to explain how individuals innocently acting in their own self-interest can overexploit, and destroy, a resource that they all share. Lloyd described a simplified hypothetical situation based on medieval land tenure in Europe. Herders share common land on which they are each entitled to graze their cows. In Hardin's article, it is in each herder's individual interest to graze each new cow that the herder acquires on the common land, even if the carrying capacity of the common is exceeded, which damages the common for all the herders. The self-interested herder receives all of the benefits of having the additional cow, while all the herders share the damage to the common. However, all herders reach the same rational decision to buy additional cows and graze them on the common, which eventually destroys the common. Hardin concludes: Therein is the tragedy. Each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit—in a world that is limited. Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all. In the course of his essay, Hardin develops the theme, drawing in many examples of latter day commons, such as national parks, the atmosphere, oceans, rivers and fish stocks. The example of fish stocks had led some to call this the "tragedy of the fishers". A major theme running through the essay is the growth of human populations, with the Earth's finite resources being the general common. The tragedy of the commons has intellectual roots tracing back to Aristotle, who noted that "what is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it", as well as to Hobbes and his Leviathan. The opposite situation to a tragedy of the commons is sometimes referred to as a tragedy of the anticommons: a situation in which rational individuals, acting separately, collectively waste a given resource by underutilizing it. The tragedy of the commons can be avoided if it is appropriately regulated. Hardin's use of "commons" has frequently been misunderstood, leading Hardin to later remark that he should have titled his work "The tragedy of the unregulated commons". Sectors Fisheries In wild fisheries, overexploitation or overfishing occurs when a fish stock has been fished down "below the size that, on average, would support the long-term maximum sustainable yield of the fishery". However, overexploitation can be sustainable. When a fishery starts harvesting fish from a previously unexploited stock, the biomass of the fish stock will decrease, since harvesting means fish are being removed. For sustainability, the rate at which the fish replenish biomass through reproduction must balance the rate at which the fish are being harvested. If the harvest rate is increased, then the stock biomass will further decrease. At a certain point, the maximum harvest yield that can be sustained will be reached, and further attempts to increase the harvest rate will result in the collapse of the fishery. This point is called the maximum sustainable yield, and in practice, usually occurs when the fishery has been fished down to about 30% of the biomass it had before harvesting started. It is possible to fish the stock down further to, say, 15% of the pre-harvest biomass, and then adjust the harvest rate so the biomass remains at that level. In this case, the fishery is sustainable, but is now overexploited, because the stock has been run down to the point where the sustainable yield is less than it could be. Fish stocks are said to "collapse" if their biomass declines by more than 95 percent of their maximum historical biomass. Atlantic cod stocks were severely overexploited in the 1970s and 1980s, leading to their abrupt collapse in 1992. Even though fishing has ceased, the cod stocks have failed to recover. The absence of cod as the apex predator in many areas has led to trophic cascades. About 25% of world fisheries are now overexploited to the point where their current biomass is less than the level that maximizes their sustainable yield. These depleted fisheries can often recover if fishing pressure is reduced until the stock biomass returns to the optimal biomass. At this point, harvesting can be resumed near the maximum sustainable yield. The tragedy of the commons can be avoided within the context of fisheries if fishing effort and practices are regulated appropriately by fisheries management. One effective approach may be assigning some measure of ownership in the form of individual transferable quotas (ITQs) to fishermen. In 2008, a large scale study of fisheries that used ITQs, and ones that did not, provided strong evidence that ITQs help prevent collapses and restore fisheries that appear to be in decline. Water resources Water resources, such as lakes and aquifers, are usually renewable resources which naturally recharge (the term fossil water is sometimes used to describe aquifers which do not recharge). Overexploitation occurs if a water resource, such as the Ogallala Aquifer, is mined or extracted at a rate that exceeds the recharge rate, that is, at a rate that exceeds the practical sustained yield. Recharge usually comes from area streams, rivers and lakes. An aquifer which has been overexploited is said to be overdrafted or depleted. Forests enhance the recharge of aquifers in some locales, although generally forests are a major source of aquifer depletion. Depleted aquifers can become polluted with contaminants such as nitrates, or permanently damaged through subsidence or through saline intrusion from the ocean. This turns much of the world's underground water and lakes into finite resources with peak usage debates similar to oil. These debates usually centre around agriculture and suburban water usage but generation of electricity from nuclear energy or coal and tar sands mining is also water resource intensive. A modified Hubbert curve applies to any resource that can be harvested faster than it can be replaced. Though Hubbert's original analysis did not apply to renewable resources, their overexploitation can result in a Hubbert-like peak. This has led to the concept of peak water. Forestry Forests are overexploited when they are logged at a rate faster than reforestation takes place. Reforestation competes with other land uses such as food production, livestock grazing, and living space for further economic growth. Historically utilization of forest products, including timber and fuel wood, have played a key role in human societies, comparable to the roles of water and cultivable land. Today, developed countries continue to utilize timber for building houses, and wood pulp for paper. In developing countries almost three billion people rely on wood for heating and cooking. Short-term economic gains made by conversion of forest to agriculture, or overexploitation of wood products, typically leads to loss of long-term income and long term biological productivity. West Africa, Madagascar, Southeast Asia and many other regions have experienced lower revenue because of overexploitation and the consequent declining timber harvests. Biodiversity Overexploitation is one of the main threats to global biodiversity. Other threats include pollution, introduced and invasive species, habitat fragmentation, habitat destruction, uncontrolled hybridization, climate change, ocean acidification and the driver behind many of these, human overpopulation. One of the key health issues associated with biodiversity is drug discovery and the availability of medicinal resources. A significant proportion of drugs are natural products derived, directly or indirectly, from biological sources. Marine ecosystems are of particular interest in this regard. However, unregulated and inappropriate bioprospecting could potentially lead to overexploitation, ecosystem degradation and loss of biodiversity. Endangered and extinct species Species from all groups of fauna and flora are affected by overexploitation. This phenomenon is not bound by taxonomy; it spans across mammals, birds, fish, insects, and plants alike. Animals are hunted for their fur, tusks, or meat, while plants are harvested for medicinal purposes, timber, or ornamental uses. This unsustainable practice disrupts ecosystems, threatening biodiversity and leading to the potential extinction of vulnerable species. All living organisms require resources to survive. Overexploitation of these resources for protracted periods can deplete natural stocks to the point where they are unable to recover within a short time frame. Humans have always harvested food and other resources they need to survive. Human populations, historically, were small, and methods of collection were limited to small quantities. With an exponential increase in human population, expanding markets and increasing demand, combined with improved access and techniques for capture, are causing the exploitation of many species beyond sustainable levels. In practical terms, if continued, it reduces valuable resources to such low levels that their exploitation is no longer sustainable and can lead to the extinction of a species, in addition to having dramatic, unforeseen effects, on the ecosystem. Overexploitation often occurs rapidly as markets open, utilising previously untapped resources, or locally used species. Today, overexploitation and misuse of natural resources is an ever-present threat for species richness. This is more prevalent when looking at island ecology and the species that inhabit them, as islands can be viewed as the world in miniature. Island endemic populations are more prone to extinction from overexploitation, as they often exist at low densities with reduced reproductive rates. A good example of this are island snails, such as the Hawaiian Achatinella and the French Polynesian Partula. Achatinelline snails have 15 species listed as extinct and 24 critically endangered while 60 species of partulidae are considered extinct with 14 listed as critically endangered. The WCMC have attributed over-collecting and very low lifetime fecundity for the extreme vulnerability exhibited among these species. As another example, when the humble hedgehog was introduced to the Scottish island of Uist, the population greatly expanded and took to consuming and overexploiting shorebird eggs, with drastic consequences for their breeding success. Twelve species of avifauna are affected, with some species numbers being reduced by 39%. Where there is substantial human migration, civil unrest, or war, controls may no longer exist. With civil unrest, for example in the Congo and Rwanda, firearms have become common and the breakdown of food distribution networks in such countries leaves the resources of the natural environment vulnerable. Animals are even killed as target practice, or simply to spite the government. Populations of large primates, such as gorillas and chimpanzees, ungulates and other mammals, may be reduced by 80% or more by hunting, and certain species may be eliminated. This decline has been called the bushmeat crisis. Vertebrates Overexploitation threatens one-third of endangered vertebrates, as well as other groups. Excluding edible fish, the illegal trade in wildlife is valued at $10 billion per year. Industries responsible for this include the trade in bushmeat, the trade in Chinese medicine, and the fur trade. The Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES was set up in order to control and regulate the trade in endangered animals. It currently protects, to a varying degree, some 33,000 species of animals and plants. It is estimated that a quarter of the endangered vertebrates in the United States of America and half of the endangered mammals is attributed to overexploitation. Birds Overall, 50 bird species that have become extinct since 1500 (approximately 40% of the total) have been subject to overexploitation, including: Great Auk – the penguin-like bird of the north, was hunted for its feathers, meat, fat and oil. Carolina parakeet – The only parrot species native to the eastern United States, was hunted for crop protection and its feathers. Mammals The international trade in fur: chinchilla, vicuña, giant otter and numerous cat species Fish Aquarium hobbyists: tropical fish Various Novelty pets: snakes, parrots, primates and big cats Chinese medicine: bears, tigers, rhinos, seahorses, Asian black bear and saiga antelope Invertebrates Insect collectors: butterflies Shell collectors: Marine molluscs Plants Horticulturists: New Zealand mistletoe (Trilepidea adamsii), orchids, cacti and many other plant species Cascade effects Overexploitation of species can result in knock-on or cascade effects. This can particularly apply if, through overexploitation, a habitat loses its apex predator. Because of the loss of the top predator, a dramatic increase in their prey species can occur. In turn, the unchecked prey can then overexploit their own food resources until population numbers dwindle, possibly to the point of extinction. A classic example of cascade effects occurred with sea otters. Starting before the 17th century and not phased out until 1911, sea otters were hunted aggressively for their exceptionally warm and valuable pelts, which could fetch up to $2500 US. This caused cascade effects through the kelp forest ecosystems along the Pacific Coast of North America. One of the sea otters’ primary food sources is the sea urchin. When hunters caused sea otter populations to decline, an ecological release of sea urchin populations occurred. The sea urchins then overexploited their main food source, kelp, creating urchin barrens, areas of seabed denuded of kelp, but carpeted with urchins. No longer having food to eat, the sea urchin became locally extinct as well. Also, since kelp forest ecosystems are homes to many other species, the loss of the kelp caused other cascade effects of secondary extinctions. In 1911, when only one small group of 32 sea otters survived in a remote cove, an international treaty was signed to prevent further exploitation of the sea otters. Under heavy protection, the otters multiplied and repopulated the depleted areas, which slowly recovered. More recently, with declining numbers of fish stocks, again due to overexploitation, killer whales have experienced a food shortage and have been observed feeding on sea otters, again reducing their numbers. See also Carrying capacity Common-pool resource Conservation biology Defaunation Deforestation Ecosystem management Exploitation of natural resources Extinction Human overpopulation Inverse commons Over-consumption Overpopulation in wild animals Paradox of enrichment Planetary boundaries Social dilemma Sustainability Tyranny of small decisions References Further reading FAO (2005) Overcoming factors of unsustainability and overexploitation in fisheries Fisheries report 782, Rome. We’ve overexploited the planet, now we need to change if we’re to survive. Patrick Vallance for The Guardian. July 8, 2022. Ecology Environmental conservation Fisheries science Environmental issues

Ontology (information science)

In information science, an ontology encompasses a representation, formal naming, and definitions of the categories, properties, and relations between the concepts, data, or entities that pertain to one, many, or all domains of discourse. More simply, an ontology is a way of showing the properties of a subject area and how they are related, by defining a set of terms and relational expressions that represent the entities in that subject area. The field which studies ontologies so conceived is sometimes referred to as applied ontology. Every academic discipline or field, in creating its terminology, thereby lays the groundwork for an ontology. Each uses ontological assumptions to frame explicit theories, research and applications. Improved ontologies may improve problem solving within that domain, interoperability of data systems, and discoverability of data. Translating research papers within every field is a problem made easier when experts from different countries maintain a controlled vocabulary of jargon between each of their languages. For instance, the definition and ontology of economics is a primary concern in Marxist economics, but also in other subfields of economics. An example of economics relying on information science occurs in cases where a simulation or model is intended to enable economic decisions, such as determining what capital assets are at risk and by how much (see risk management). What ontologies in both information science and philosophy have in common is the attempt to represent entities, including both objects and events, with all their interdependent properties and relations, according to a system of categories. In both fields, there is considerable work on problems of ontology engineering (e.g., Quine and Kripke in philosophy, Sowa and Guarino in information science), and debates concerning to what extent normative ontology is possible (e.g., foundationalism and coherentism in philosophy, BFO and Cyc in artificial intelligence). Applied ontology is considered by some as a successor to prior work in philosophy. However many current efforts are more concerned with establishing controlled vocabularies of narrow domains than with philosophical first principles, or with questions such as the mode of existence of fixed essences or whether enduring objects (e.g., perdurantism and endurantism) may be ontologically more primary than processes. Artificial intelligence has retained considerable attention regarding applied ontology in subfields like natural language processing within machine translation and knowledge representation, but ontology editors are being used often in a range of fields, including biomedical informatics, industry. Such efforts often use ontology editing tools such as Protégé. Ontology in Philosophy Ontology is a branch of philosophy and intersects areas such as metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of language, as it considers how knowledge, language, and perception relate to the nature of reality. Metaphysics deals with questions like "what exists?" and "what is the nature of reality?". One of five traditional branches of philosophy, metaphysics is concerned with exploring existence through properties, entities and relations such as those between particulars and universals, intrinsic and extrinsic properties, or essence and existence. Metaphysics has been an ongoing topic of discussion since recorded history. Etymology The compound word ontology combines onto-, from the Greek ὄν, on (gen. ὄντος, ontos), i.e. "being; that which is", which is the present participle of the verb εἰμί, eimí, i.e. "to be, I am", and -λογία, -logia, i.e. "logical discourse", see classical compounds for this type of word formation. While the etymology is Greek, the oldest extant record of the word itself, the Neo-Latin form ontologia, appeared in 1606 in the work Ogdoas Scholastica by Jacob Lorhard (Lorhardus) and in 1613 in the Lexicon philosophicum by Rudolf Göckel (Goclenius). The first occurrence in English of ontology as recorded by the OED (Oxford English Dictionary, online edition, 2008) came in Archeologia Philosophica Nova or New Principles of Philosophy by Gideon Harvey. Formal Ontology Since the mid-1970s, researchers in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) have recognized that knowledge engineering is the key to building large and powerful AI systems. AI researchers argued that they could create new ontologies as computational models that enable certain kinds of automated reasoning, which was only marginally successful. In the 1980s, the AI community began to use the term ontology to refer to both a theory of a modeled world and a component of knowledge-based systems. In particular, David Powers introduced the word ontology to AI to refer to real world or robotic grounding, publishing in 1990 literature reviews emphasizing grounded ontology in association with the call for papers for a AAAI Summer Symposium Machine Learning of Natural Language and Ontology, with an expanded version published in SIGART Bulletin and included as a preface to the proceedings. Some researchers, drawing inspiration from philosophical ontologies, viewed computational ontology as a kind of applied philosophy. In 1993, the widely cited web page and paper "Toward Principles for the Design of Ontologies Used for Knowledge Sharing" by Tom Gruber used ontology as a technical term in computer science closely related to earlier idea of semantic networks and taxonomies. Gruber introduced the term as a specification of a conceptualization: An ontology is a description (like a formal specification of a program) of the concepts and relationships that can formally exist for an agent or a community of agents. This definition is consistent with the usage of ontology as set of concept definitions, but more general. And it is a different sense of the word than its use in philosophy. Attempting to distance ontologies from taxonomies and similar efforts in knowledge modeling that rely on classes and inheritance, Gruber stated (1993): Ontologies are often equated with taxonomic hierarchies of classes, class definitions, and the subsumption relation, but ontologies need not be limited to these forms. Ontologies are also not limited to conservative definitions – that is, definitions in the traditional logic sense that only introduce terminology and do not add any knowledge about the world. To specify a conceptualization, one needs to state axioms that do constrain the possible interpretations for the defined terms. As refinement of Gruber's definition Feilmayr and Wöß (2016) stated: "An ontology is a formal, explicit specification of a shared conceptualization that is characterized by high semantic expressiveness required for increased complexity." Formal Ontology Components Contemporary ontologies share many structural similarities, regardless of the language in which they are expressed. Most ontologies describe individuals (instances), classes (concepts), attributes and relations. Types Domain ontology A domain ontology (or domain-specific ontology) represents concepts which belong to a realm of the world, such as biology or politics. Each domain ontology typically models domain-specific definitions of terms. For example, the word card has many different meanings. An ontology about the domain of poker would model the "playing card" meaning of the word, while an ontology about the domain of computer hardware would model the "punched card" and "video card" meanings. Since domain ontologies are written by different people, they represent concepts in very specific and unique ways, and are often incompatible within the same project. As systems that rely on domain ontologies expand, they often need to merge domain ontologies by hand-tuning each entity or using a combination of software merging and hand-tuning. This presents a challenge to the ontology designer. Different ontologies in the same domain arise due to different languages, different intended usage of the ontologies, and different perceptions of the domain (based on cultural background, education, ideology, etc.). At present, merging ontologies that are not developed from a common upper ontology is a largely manual process and therefore time-consuming and expensive. Domain ontologies that use the same upper ontology to provide a set of basic elements with which to specify the meanings of the domain ontology entities can be merged with less effort. There are studies on generalized techniques for merging ontologies, but this area of research is still ongoing, and it is a recent event to see the issue sidestepped by having multiple domain ontologies using the same upper ontology like the OBO Foundry. Upper ontology An upper ontology (or foundation ontology) is a model of the commonly shared relations and objects that are generally applicable across a wide range of domain ontologies. It usually employs a core glossary that overarches the terms and associated object descriptions as they are used in various relevant domain ontologies. Standardized upper ontologies available for use include BFO, BORO method, Dublin Core, GFO, Cyc, SUMO, UMBEL, and DOLCE. WordNet has been considered an upper ontology by some and has been used as a linguistic tool for learning domain ontologies. Hybrid ontology The Gellish ontology is an example of a combination of an upper and a domain ontology. Visualization A survey of ontology visualization methods is presented by Katifori et al. An updated survey of ontology visualization methods and tools was published by Dudás et al. The most established ontology visualization methods, namely indented tree and graph visualization are evaluated by Fu et al. A visual language for ontologies represented in OWL is specified by the Visual Notation for OWL Ontologies (VOWL). Engineering Ontology engineering (also called ontology building) is a set of tasks related to the development of ontologies for a particular domain. It is a subfield of knowledge engineering that studies the ontology development process, the ontology life cycle, the methods and methodologies for building ontologies, and the tools and languages that support them. Ontology engineering aims to make explicit the knowledge contained in software applications, and organizational procedures for a particular domain. Ontology engineering offers a direction for overcoming semantic obstacles, such as those related to the definitions of business terms and software classes. Known challenges with ontology engineering include: Ensuring the ontology is current with domain knowledge and term use Providing sufficient specificity and concept coverage for the domain of interest, thus minimizing the content completeness problem Ensuring the ontology can support its use cases Editors Ontology editors are applications designed to assist in the creation or manipulation of ontologies. It is common for ontology editors to use one or more ontology languages. Aspects of ontology editors include: visual navigation possibilities within the knowledge model, inference engines and information extraction; support for modules; the import and export of foreign knowledge representation languages for ontology matching; and the support of meta-ontologies such as OWL-S, Dublin Core, etc. Learning Ontology learning is the automatic or semi-automatic creation of ontologies, including extracting a domain's terms from natural language text. As building ontologies manually is extremely labor-intensive and time-consuming, there is great motivation to automate the process. Information extraction and text mining have been explored to automatically link ontologies to documents, for example in the context of the BioCreative challenges. Research Epistemological assumptions, which in research asks "What do you know? or "How do you know it?", creates the foundation researchers use when approaching a certain topic or area for potential research. As epistemology is directly linked to knowledge and how we come about accepting certain truths, individuals conducting academic research must understand what allows them to begin theory building. Simply, epistemological assumptions force researchers to question how they arrive at the knowledge they have. Languages An ontology language is a formal language used to encode an ontology. There are a number of such languages for ontologies, both proprietary and standards-based: Common Algebraic Specification Language is a general logic-based specification language developed within the IFIP working group 1.3 "Foundations of System Specifications" and is a de facto standard language for software specifications. It is now being applied to ontology specifications in order to provide modularity and structuring mechanisms. Common logic is ISO standard 24707, a specification of a family of ontology languages that can be accurately translated into each other. The Cyc project has its own ontology language called CycL, based on first-order predicate calculus with some higher-order extensions. DOGMA (Developing Ontology-Grounded Methods and Applications) adopts the fact-oriented modeling approach to provide a higher level of semantic stability. The Gellish language includes rules for its own extension and thus integrates an ontology with an ontology language. IDEF5 is a software engineering method to develop and maintain usable, accurate, domain ontologies. KIF is a syntax for first-order logic that is based on S-expressions. SUO-KIF is a derivative version supporting the Suggested Upper Merged Ontology. MOF and UML are standards of the OMG Olog is a category theoretic approach to ontologies, emphasizing translations between ontologies using functors. OBO, a language used for biological and biomedical ontologies. OntoUML is an ontologically well-founded profile of UML for conceptual modeling of domain ontologies. OWL is a language for making ontological statements, developed as a follow-on from RDF and RDFS, as well as earlier ontology language projects including OIL, DAML, and DAML+OIL. OWL is intended to be used over the World Wide Web, and all its elements (classes, properties and individuals) are defined as RDF resources, and identified by URIs. Rule Interchange Format (RIF) and F-Logic combine ontologies and rules. Semantic Application Design Language (SADL) captures a subset of the expressiveness of OWL, using an English-like language entered via an Eclipse Plug-in. SBVR (Semantics of Business Vocabularies and Rules) is an OMG standard adopted in industry to build ontologies. TOVE Project, TOronto Virtual Enterprise project Published examples Arabic Ontology, a linguistic ontology for Arabic, which can be used as an Arabic Wordnet but with ontologically-clean content. AURUM – Information Security Ontology, An ontology for information security knowledge sharing, enabling users to collaboratively understand and extend the domain knowledge body. It may serve as a basis for automated information security risk and compliance management. BabelNet, a very large multilingual semantic network and ontology, lexicalized in many languages Basic Formal Ontology, a formal upper ontology designed to support scientific research BioPAX, an ontology for the exchange and interoperability of biological pathway (cellular processes) data BMO, an e-Business Model Ontology based on a review of enterprise ontologies and business model literature SSBMO, a Strongly Sustainable Business Model Ontology based on a review of the systems based natural and social science literature (including business). Includes critique of and significant extensions to the Business Model Ontology (BMO). CCO and GexKB, Application Ontologies (APO) that integrate diverse types of knowledge with the Cell Cycle Ontology (CCO) and the Gene Expression Knowledge Base (GexKB) CContology (Customer Complaint Ontology), an e-business ontology to support online customer complaint management CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model, an ontology for cultural heritage COSMO, a Foundation Ontology (current version in OWL) that is designed to contain representations of all of the primitive concepts needed to logically specify the meanings of any domain entity. It is intended to serve as a basic ontology that can be used to translate among the representations in other ontologies or databases. It started as a merger of the basic elements of the OpenCyc and SUMO ontologies, and has been supplemented with other ontology elements (types, relations) so as to include representations of all of the words in the Longman dictionary defining vocabulary. Computer Science Ontology, an automatically generated ontology of research topics in the field of computer science Cyc, a large Foundation Ontology for formal representation of the universe of discourse Disease Ontology, designed to facilitate the mapping of diseases and associated conditions to particular medical codes DOLCE, a Descriptive Ontology for Linguistic and Cognitive Engineering Drammar, ontology of drama Dublin Core, a simple ontology for documents and publishing Financial Industry Business Ontology (FIBO), a business conceptual ontology for the financial industry Foundational, Core and Linguistic Ontologies Foundational Model of Anatomy, an ontology for human anatomy Friend of a Friend, an ontology for describing persons, their activities and their relations to other people and objects Gene Ontology for genomics Gellish English dictionary, an ontology that includes a dictionary and taxonomy that includes an upper ontology and a lower ontology that focusses on industrial and business applications in engineering, technology and procurement. Geopolitical ontology, an ontology describing geopolitical information created by Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO). The geopolitical ontology includes names in multiple languages (English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Italian); maps standard coding systems (UN, ISO, FAOSTAT, AGROVOC, etc.); provides relations among territories (land borders, group membership, etc.); and tracks historical changes. In addition, FAO provides web services of geopolitical ontology and a module maker to download modules of the geopolitical ontology into different formats (RDF, XML, and EXCEL). See more information at FAO Country Profiles. GAO (General Automotive Ontology) – an ontology for the automotive industry that includes 'car' extensions GOLD, General Ontology for Linguistic Description GUM (Generalized Upper Model), a linguistically motivated ontology for mediating between clients systems and natural language technology IDEAS Group, a formal ontology for enterprise architecture being developed by the Australian, Canadian, UK and U.S. Defence Depts. Linkbase, a formal representation of the biomedical domain, founded upon Basic Formal Ontology. LPL, Landmark Pattern Language NCBO Bioportal, biological and biomedical ontologies and associated tools to search, browse and visualise NIFSTD Ontologies from the Neuroscience Information Framework: a modular set of ontologies for the neuroscience domain. OBO-Edit, an ontology browser for most of the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontologies OBO Foundry, a suite of interoperable reference ontologies in biology and biomedicine OMNIBUS Ontology, an ontology of learning, instruction, and instructional design Ontology for Biomedical Investigations, an open-access, integrated ontology of biological and clinical investigations ONSTR, Ontology for Newborn Screening Follow-up and Translational Research, Newborn Screening Follow-up Data Integration Collaborative, Emory University, Atlanta. Plant Ontology for plant structures and growth/development stages, etc. POPE, Purdue Ontology for Pharmaceutical Engineering PRO, the Protein Ontology of the Protein Information Resource, Georgetown University ProbOnto, knowledge base and ontology of probability distributions. Program abstraction taxonomy Protein Ontology for proteomics RXNO Ontology, for name reactions in chemistry SCDO, the Sickle Cell Disease Ontology, facilitates data sharing and collaborations within the SDC community, amongst other applications (see list on SCDO website). Schema.org, for embedding structured data into web pages, primarily for the benefit of search engines Sequence Ontology, for representing genomic feature types found on biological sequences SNOMED CT (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine – Clinical Terms) Suggested Upper Merged Ontology, a formal upper ontology Systems Biology Ontology (SBO), for computational models in biology SWEET, Semantic Web for Earth and Environmental Terminology SSN/SOSA, The Semantic Sensor Network Ontology (SSN) and Sensor, Observation, Sample, and Actuator Ontology (SOSA) are W3C Recommendation and OGC Standards for describing sensors and their observations. ThoughtTreasure ontology TIME-ITEM, Topics for Indexing Medical Education Uberon, representing animal anatomical structures UMBEL, a lightweight reference structure of 20,000 subject concept classes and their relationships derived from OpenCyc WordNet, a lexical reference system YAMATO, Yet Another More Advanced Top-level Ontology YSO – General Finnish Ontology The W3C Linking Open Data community project coordinates attempts to converge different ontologies into worldwide Semantic Web. Libraries The development of ontologies has led to the emergence of services providing lists or directories of ontologies called ontology libraries. The following are libraries of human-selected ontologies. COLORE is an open repository of first-order ontologies in Common Logic with formal links between ontologies in the repository. DAML Ontology Library maintains a legacy of ontologies in DAML. Ontology Design Patterns portal is a wiki repository of reusable components and practices for ontology design, and also maintains a list of exemplary ontologies. Protégé Ontology Library contains a set of OWL, Frame-based and other format ontologies. SchemaWeb is a directory of RDF schemata expressed in RDFS, OWL and DAML+OIL. The following are both directories and search engines. OBO Foundry is a suite of interoperable reference ontologies in biology and biomedicine. Bioportal (ontology repository of NCBO) Linked Open Vocabularies OntoSelect Ontology Library offers similar services for RDF/S, DAML and OWL ontologies. Ontaria is a "searchable and browsable directory of semantic web data" with a focus on RDF vocabularies with OWL ontologies. (NB Project "on hold" since 2004). Swoogle is a directory and search engine for all RDF resources available on the Web, including ontologies. Open Ontology Repository initiative ROMULUS is a foundational ontology repository aimed at improving semantic interoperability. Currently there are three foundational ontologies in the repository: DOLCE, BFO and GFO. Examples of applications In general, ontologies can be used beneficially in several fields. Enterprise applications. A more concrete example is SAPPHIRE (Health care) or Situational Awareness and Preparedness for Public Health Incidences and Reasoning Engines which is a semantics-based health information system capable of tracking and evaluating situations and occurrences that may affect public health. Geographic information systems bring together data from different sources and benefit therefore from ontological metadata which helps to connect the semantics of the data. Domain-specific ontologies are extremely important in biomedical research, which requires named entity disambiguation of various biomedical terms and abbreviations that have the same string of characters but represent different biomedical concepts. For example, CSF can represent Colony Stimulating Factor or Cerebral Spinal Fluid, both of which are represented by the same term, CSF, in biomedical literature. This is why a large number of public ontologies are related to the life sciences. Life science data science tools that fail to implement these types of biomedical ontologies will not be able to accurately determine causal relationships between concepts. See also Commonsense knowledge bases Concept map Controlled vocabulary Classification scheme (information science) Folksonomy Formal concept analysis Formal ontology General Concept Lattice Knowledge graph Lattice Ontology Ontology alignment Ontology chart Open Semantic Framework Semantic technology Soft ontology Terminology extraction Weak ontology Web Ontology Language Related philosophical concepts Alphabet of human thought Characteristica universalis Interoperability Level of measurement Metalanguage Natural semantic metalanguage References Further reading External links Knowledge Representation at Open Directory Project Library of ontologies (Archive, Unmaintained) GoPubMed using Ontologies for searching ONTOLOG (a.k.a. "Ontolog Forum") - an Open, International, Virtual Community of Practice on Ontology, Ontological Engineering and Semantic Technology Use of Ontologies in Natural Language Processing Ontology Summit - an annual series of events (first started in 2006) that involves the ontology community and communities related to each year's theme chosen for the summit. Standardization of Ontologies Knowledge engineering Technical communication Information science Semantic Web Knowledge representation Knowledge bases Ontology editors

Environmental ethics

In environmental philosophy, environmental ethics is an established field of practical philosophy "which reconstructs the essential types of argumentation that can be made for protecting natural entities and the sustainable use of natural resources." The main competing paradigms are anthropocentrism, physiocentrism (called ecocentrism as well), and theocentrism. Environmental ethics exerts influence on a large range of disciplines including environmental law, environmental sociology, ecotheology, ecological economics, ecology and environmental geography. There are many ethical decisions that human beings make with respect to the environment. These decision raise numerous questions. For example: Should humans continue to clear cut forests for the sake of human consumption? What species or entities ought to be considered for their own sake, independently of its contribution to biodiversity and other extrinsic goods? Why should humans continue to propagate its species, and life itself? Should humans continue to make gasoline-powered vehicles? What environmental obligations do humans need to keep for future generations? Is it right for humans to knowingly cause the extinction of a species for the convenience of humanity? How should humans best use and conserve the space environment to secure and expand life? What role can Planetary Boundaries play in reshaping the human-earth relationship? The academic field of environmental ethics grew up in response to the works of Rachel Carson and Murray Bookchin and events such as the first Earth Day in 1970, when environmentalists started urging philosophers to consider the philosophical aspects of environmental problems. Two papers published in Science had a crucial impact: Lynn White's "The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis" (March 1967) and Garrett Hardin's "The Tragedy of the Commons" (December 1968). Also influential was Garett Hardin's later essay called "Exploring New Ethics for Survival", as well as an essay by Aldo Leopold in his A Sand County Almanac, called "The Land Ethic", in which Leopold explicitly claimed that the roots of the ecological crisis were philosophical (1949). The first international academic journals in this field emerged from North America in the late 1970s and early 1980s – the US-based journal Environmental Ethics in 1979 and the Canadian-based journal The Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy in 1983. The first British based journal of this kind, Environmental Values, was launched in 1992. Marshall's categories Some scholars have tried to categorise the various ways the natural environment is valued. Alan Marshall and Michael Smith are two examples of this, as cited by Peter Vardy in The Puzzle of Ethics. According to Marshall, three general ethical approaches have emerged over the last 40 years: Libertarian Extension, the Ecologic Extension, and Conservation Ethics. Libertarian extension Marshall's libertarian extension echoes a civil liberty approach (i.e. a commitment to extending equal rights to all members of a community). In environmentalism, the community is generally thought to consist of non-humans as well as humans. Andrew Brennan was an advocate of ecologic humanism (eco-humanism), the argument that all ontological entities, animate and inanimate, can be given ethical worth purely on the basis that they exist. The work of Arne Næss and his collaborator Sessions also falls under the libertarian extension, although they preferred the term "deep ecology". Deep ecology is the argument for the intrinsic value or inherent worth of the environment – the view that it is valuable in itself. Their argument falls under both the libertarian extension and the ecologic extension. Peter Singer's work can be categorized under Marshall's 'libertarian extension'. He reasoned that the "expanding circle of moral worth" should be redrawn to include the rights of non-human animals, and to not do so would be guilty of speciesism. Singer found it difficult to accept the argument from intrinsic worth of a-biotic or "non-sentient" (non-conscious) entities, and concluded in his first edition of "Practical Ethics" that they should not be included in the expanding circle of moral worth. This approach is essentially then, bio-centric. However, in a later edition of Practical Ethics after the work of Næss and Sessions, Singer admits that, although unconvinced by deep ecology, the argument from intrinsic value of non-sentient entities is plausible, but at best problematic. Singer advocated a humanist ethics. Ecologic extension Alan Marshall's category of ecologic extension places emphasis not on human rights but on the recognition of the fundamental interdependence of all biological (and some abiological) entities and their essential diversity. Whereas Libertarian Extension can be thought of as flowing from a political reflection of the natural world, ecologic extension is best thought of as a scientific reflection of the natural world. Ecological Extension is roughly the same classification of Smith's eco-holism, and it argues for the intrinsic value inherent in collective ecological entities like ecosystems or the global environment as a whole entity. Holmes Rolston, among others, has taken this approach. This category might include James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis; the theory that the planet earth alters its geo-physiological structure over time in order to ensure the continuation of an equilibrium of evolving organic and inorganic matter. The planet is characterized as a unified, holistic entity with independent ethical value, compared to which the human race is of no particular significance in the long run. Conservation ethics Marshall's category of 'conservation ethics' is an extension of use-value into the non-human biological world. It focuses only on the worth of the environment in terms of its utility or usefulness to humans. It contrasts the intrinsic value ideas of 'deep ecology,' hence is often referred to as 'shallow ecology,' and generally argues for the preservation of the environment on the basis that it has extrinsic value – instrumental to the welfare of human beings. Conservation is therefore a means to an end and purely concerned with mankind and inter-generational considerations. It could be argued that it is this ethic that formed the underlying arguments proposed by Governments at the Kyoto summit in 1997 and three agreements reached in the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Humanist theories Peter Singer advocated the preservation of "world heritage sites", unspoilt parts of the world that acquire a "scarcity value" as they diminish over time. Their preservation is a bequest for future generations as they have been inherited from human's ancestors and should be passed down to future generations so they can have the opportunity to decide whether to enjoy unspoilt countryside or an entirely urban landscape. A good example of a world heritage site would be the tropical rainforest, a very specialist ecosystem that has taken centuries to evolve. Clearing the rainforest for farmland often fails due to soil conditions, and once disturbed, can take thousands of years to regenerate. Applied theology The Christian world view sees the universe as created by God, and humankind accountable to God for the use of the resources entrusted to humankind. Ultimate values are seen in the light of being valuable to God. This applies both in breadth of scope – caring for people (Matthew 25) and environmental issues, e.g. environmental health (Deuteronomy 22.8; 23.12-14) – and dynamic motivation, the love of Christ controlling (2 Corinthians 5.14f) and dealing with the underlying spiritual disease of sin, which shows itself in selfishness and thoughtlessness. In many countries this relationship of accountability is symbolised at harvest thanksgiving. (B.T. Adeney : Global Ethics in New Dictionary of Christian Ethics and Pastoral Theology 1995 Leicester) Abrahamic religious scholars have used theology to motivate the public. John L. O'Sullivan, who coined the term manifest destiny, and other influential people like him used Abrahamic ideologies to encourage action. These religious scholars, columnists and politicians historically have used these ideas and continue to do so to justify the consumptive tendencies of a young America around the time of the Industrial Revolution. In order to solidify the understanding that God had intended for humankind to use earths natural resources, environmental writers and religious scholars alike proclaimed that humans are separate from nature, on a higher order. Those that may critique this point of view may ask the same question that John Muir asks ironically in a section of his novel A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf, why are there so many dangers in the natural world in the form of poisonous plants, animals and natural disasters, The answer is that those creatures are a result of Adam and Eve's sins in the garden of Eden. Since the turn of the 20th century, the application of theology in environmentalism diverged into two schools of thought. The first system of understanding holds religion as the basis of environmental stewardship. The second sees the use of theology as a means to rationalize the unmanaged consumptions of natural resources. Lynn White and Calvin DeWitt represent each side of this dichotomy. John Muir personified nature as an inviting place away from the loudness of urban centers. "For Muir and the growing number of Americans who shared his views, Satan's home had become God's Own Temple." The use of Abrahamic religious allusions assisted Muir and the Sierra Club to create support for some of the first public nature preserves. Authors like Terry Tempest Williams as well as John Muir build on the idea that "...God can be found wherever you are, especially outside. Family worship was not just relegated to Sunday in a chapel." References like these assist the general public to make a connection between paintings done at the Hudson River School, Ansel Adams' photographs, along with other types of media, and their religion or spirituality. Placing intrinsic value upon nature through theology is a fundamental idea of deep ecology. Normative ethical theories Normative ethics is a field in Moral Philosophy that investigates how one ought to act. What is morally right and wrong, and how moral standards are determined. Superficially, this approach may seem intrinsically anthropocentric. However, theoretical frameworks from traditional normative ethical theories are abundant within contemporary environmental ethics. Consequentialism Consequentialist theories focus on the consequences of actions, this emphasizes not what is 'right', but rather what is of 'value' and 'good'. Act Utilitarianism, for example, expands this formulation to emphasize that what makes an action right is whether it maximises well-being and reduces pain. Thus, actions that result in greater well-being are considered obligatory and permissible. It has been noted that this is an 'instrumentalist' position towards the environment, and as such not fully adequate to the delicate demands of ecological diversity.Rule-utilitarianism is the view that following certain rules without exception is the surest way to bring about the best consequences. This is an important update to act-utilitarianism because agents do not need to judge about the likely consequences of each act; all they must do is determine whether or not a proposed course of action falls under a specific rule and, if it does, act as the rule specifies. Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic (1949) tries to avoid this type of instrumentalism by proposing a more holistic approach to the relationship between humans and their 'biotic community', so to create a 'limit' based on the maxim that "a thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community; it is wrong when it tends otherwise." Thus, the use of natural resources is permissible as long as it does not disrupt the stability of the ecosystem. Some philosophers have categorised Leopold's views to be within a consequentialist framework, however it is disputed whether this was intentional. Other consequentialist views such as that of Peter Singer tend to emphasis the inclusion of non-human sentient beings into ethical considerations. This view argues that all sentient creates which are by nature able to feel pleasure and pain, are of equal moral consideration for their intrinsic value. Nevertheless, non-sentient beings, such as plants, rivers and ecosystems, are considered to be merely instrumental. Deontology Deontological theories state that an action should be based on duties or obligations to what is right, instead of what is good. In strong contrast to consequentialism, this view argues for principles of duty based not on a function of value, but on reasons that make no substantive reference to the consequences of an action. Something of intrinsic value, then, has to be protected not because its goodness would maximise a wider good, but because it is valuable in itself; not as a means towards something, but as an end in itself. Thus, if the natural environment is categorised as intrinsically valuable, any destruction or damage to such would be considered wrong as a whole rather than merely due to a calculated loss of net value. It can be said that this approach is more holistic in principle than one of consequentialist nature, as it fits more adequately with the delicate balance of large ecosystems. Theories of rights, for example, are generally deontological. That is, within this framework an environmental policy that gives rights to non-human sentient beings, would prioritise the conservation of such in their natural state, rather than in an artificial manner. Consider for example, issues in climate engineering; Ocean fertilisation aims to expand marine algae in order to remove higher levels of CO2. A complication from this approach is that it creates salient disruptions to local ecosystems. Furthermore, an environmental ethical theory based on the rights of marine animals in those ecosystems, would create a protection against this type of intervention. Environmental deontologists such as Paul W. Taylor, for example, have argued for a Kantian approach to issues of this kind. Taylor argues that all living things are 'teleological centres of life' deserving of rights and respect. His view uses a concept of 'universalizability', to argue that one ought to act only on actions which could be rationally willed as a universal law. Val Plumwood has criticised this approach by noting that the universalisation framework, is not necessarily based on 'respect' for the other, as it's based on duty and 'becoming' part of the environment. Virtue ethics Virtue ethics states that some character traits should be cultivated, and others avoided. This framework avoids problems of defining what is of intrinsic value, by instead arguing that what is important is to act in accordance with the correct character trait. The Golden mean formulation, for example, states that to be 'generous' (virtue), one should neither be miserly (deficiency) or extravagant (excess). Unlike deontology and consequentialism, theories of virtue focus their formulations on how the individual has to act to live a flourishing life. This presents a 'subjective flexibility' which seems like an adequate position to hold considering the fluctuating demands of sustainability. However, as a consequence, it can also be said that this is an inherently anthropocentric standpoint. Some Ecofeminist theories such as that of Val Plumwood, have been categorised as a form of virtue ethics. Plumwood argues that a virtue-based ethical framework adapts more fittingly to environmental diversity, as virtues such as 'respect', 'gratitude', and 'sensitivity', are not only suitable to ecological subjectivity but also more applicable to the views of indigenous people. Furthermore, what traits would be considered as part of environmental vices? Ronald Sandler argues that detrimental dispositions to human flourishing such as 'greed', 'intemperance' and 'arrogance', lead to detrimental dispositions to the protection of the environment such as 'apathy', against other species, and 'pessimism' about conservation. Views such as this, create a mutualistic connection between virtuous human flourishing, and environmental flourishing. Anthropocentrism Anthropocentrism is the position that humans are the most important or critical element in any given situation; that the human race must always be its own primary concern. Detractors of anthropocentrism argue that the Western tradition biases homo sapiens when considering the environmental ethics of a situation and that humans evaluate their environment or other organisms in terms of the utility for them (see speciesism). Many argue that all environmental studies should include an assessment of the intrinsic value of non-human beings, which would entail a reassessment of humans ecocultural identities. In fact, based on this very assumption, a philosophical article has explored recently the possibility of humans' willing extinction as a gesture toward other beings. The authors refer to the idea as a thought experiment that should not be understood as a call for action. Baruch Spinoza reasoned that if humans were to look at things objectively, they would discover that everything in the universe has a unique value. Likewise, it is possible that a human-centred or anthropocentric/androcentric ethic is not an accurate depiction of reality, and there is a bigger picture that humans may or may not be able to understand from a human perspective. Peter Vardy distinguished between two types of anthropocentrism. A strong anthropocentric ethic argues that humans are at the center of reality and it is right for them to be so. Weak anthropocentrism, however, argues that reality can only be interpreted from a human point of view, thus humans have to be at the centre of reality as they see it. Another point of view has been developed by Bryan Norton, who has become one of the essential actors of environmental ethics by launching environmental pragmatism, now one of its leading trends. Environmental pragmatism refuses to take a stance in disputes between defenders of anthropocentrist and non-anthropocentrist ethics. Instead, Norton distinguishes between strong anthropocentrism and weak-or-extended-anthropocentrism and argues that the former must underestimate the diversity of instrumental values humans may derive from the natural world. A recent view relates anthropocentrism to the future of life. Biotic ethics are based on the human identity as part of gene/protein organic life whose effective purpose is self-propagation. This implies a human purpose to secure and propagate life. Humans are central because only they can secure life beyond the duration of the Sun, possibly for trillions of eons. Biotic ethics values life itself, as embodied in biological structures and processes. Humans are special because they can secure the future of life on cosmological scales. In particular, humans can continue sentient life that enjoys its existence, adding further motivation to propagate life. Humans can secure the future of life, and this future can give human existence a cosmic purpose. Status of the field Only after 1990 did the field gain institutional recognition as programs such as Colorado State University, the University of Montana, Bowling Green State University, and the University of North Texas. In 1991, Schumacher College of Dartington, England, was founded and now provides an MSc in Holistic Science. These programs began to offer a master's degree with a specialty in environmental ethics/philosophy. Beginning in 2005 the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies at the University of North Texas offered a PhD program with a concentration in environmental ethics/philosophy. In Germany, the University of Greifswald has recently established an international program in Landscape Ecology & Nature Conservation with a strong focus on environmental ethics. In 2009, the University of Munich and Deutsches Museum founded the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, an international, interdisciplinary center for research and education in the environmental humanities. Relationship with animal ethics Differing conceptions of the treatment of and obligations towards animals, particularly those living in the wild, within animal ethics and environmental ethics has been a source of controversy between the two ethical positions; some ethicists have asserted that the two positions are incompatible, while others have argued that these disagreements can be overcome. See also Anarcho-primitivism Biocentrism Bioethics Climate ethics Conservation movement Crop art Earth Economics (policy think tank) Ecocentrism Ecological economics EcoQuest (a series of two educational games) Environmental health ethics Environmental movement Environmental organization Environmental politics Environmental racism Environmental resource management Environmental skepticism Environmental virtue ethics Hans Jonas Human ecology List of environmental philosophers Nature conservation Population control Resource depletion Self-validating reduction Solastalgia Terraforming Trail ethics Van Rensselaer Potter Veganism Notes Further reading Brennan, Andrew/ Lo, Yeuk-Sze 2016: Environmental Ethics. In: Zalta, Edward N. (Hg.): The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 Edition). https://plato.stanford.edu, Stanford University: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2016/entries/ethics–environmental/. Ott, Konrad (2020): Environmental ethics. In: Kirchhoff, Thomas (ed.): Online Encyclopedia Philosophy of Nature / Online Lexikon Naturphilosophie, doi: https://doi.org/10.11588/oepn.2020.0.71420; https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/oepn/article/view/71420. External links Bioethics Literature Database Brief History of Environmental Ethics Thesaurus Ethics in the Life Sciences EnviroLink Library: Environmental Ethics - online resource for environmental ethics information EnviroLink Forum - Environmental Ethics Discussion/Debate Environmental Ethics (journal) Sustainable and Ethical Architecture Architectural Firm Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Environmental Ethics entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Center for Environmental Philosophy UNT Dept of Philosophy Creation Care Reading Room: Extensive online resources for environment and faith (Tyndale Seminary) Category List - Religion-Online.org "Ecology/Environment" Islam, Christianity and the Environment Relational ethics Articles containing video clips Environmentalism Environmental philosophy

21st century skills

21st century skills comprise skills, abilities, and learning dispositions identified as requirements for success in 21st century society and workplaces by educators, business leaders, academics, and governmental agencies. This is part of an international movement focusing on the skills required for students to prepare for workplace success in a rapidly changing, digital society. Many of these skills are associated with deeper learning, which is based on mastering skills such as analytic reasoning, complex problem solving, and teamwork, which differ from traditional academic skills as these are not content knowledge-based. During the latter decades of the 20th century and into the 21st century, society evolved through technology advancements at an accelerated pace, impacting economy and the workplace, which impacted the educational system preparing students for the workforce. Beginning in the 1980s, government, educators, and major employers issued a series of reports identifying key skills and implementation strategies to steer students and workers towards meeting these changing societal and workplace demands. Western economies transformed from industrial-based to service-based, with trades and vocations having smaller roles. However, specific hard skills and mastery of particular skill sets, with a focus on digital literacy, are in increasingly high demand. People skills that involve interaction, collaboration, and managing others are increasingly important. Skills that enable flexibility and adaptability in different roles and fields, those that involve processing information and managing people more than manipulating equipment—in an office or a factory—are in greater demand. These are also referred to as "applied skills" or "soft skills", including personal, interpersonal, or learning-based skills, such as life skills (problem-solving behaviors), people skills, and social skills. The skills have been grouped into three main areas: Learning and innovation skills: critical thinking and problem solving, communications and collaboration, creativity and innovation Digital literacy skills: information literacy, media literacy, Information and communication technologies (ICT) literacy Career and life skills: flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, social and cross-cultural interaction, productivity and accountability Many of these skills are also identified as key qualities of progressive education, a pedagogical movement that began in the late nineteenth century and continues in various forms to the present. Background Since the early 1980s, a variety of governmental, academic, non-profit, and corporate entities have conducted considerable research to identify key personal and academic skills and competencies needed for the current and next generation. Though identification and implementation of 21st century skills into education and workplaces began in the United States, it has spread to Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and through national and international organizations such as APEC and the OECD. In 1981, the US Secretary of Education created the National Commission on Excellence in Education to examine the quality of education in the United States." The commission issued its report A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform in 1983. A key finding was that "educational reform should focus on the goal of creating a Learning Society." The report's recommendations included instructional content and skills: Five New Basics: English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Computer Science Other Curriculum Matters: Develop proficiency, rigor, and skills in Foreign Languages, Performing Arts, Fine Arts, Vocational Studies, and the pursuit of higher-level education. Skills and abilities (consolidated): enthusiasm for learning deep understanding application of learning examination, inquiry, critical thinking and reasoning communication – write well, listen effectively, discuss intelligently, be proficient in a foreign language, cultural, social, and environmental – understanding and implications technology – understand the computer as an information, computation, and communication device, and the world of computers, electronics, and related technologies. diverse learning across a broad range – fine arts, performing arts, and vocational Until the dawn of the 21st century, education systems across the world focused on preparing students to accumulate content and knowledge. As a result, schools focused on providing literacy and numeracy skills students, as these were perceived as necessary. However, developments in technology and telecommunication have made information and knowledge easily accessible. Therefore, while skills such as literacy and numeracy remain relevant and necessary, they no longer sufficiently prepare students for 21st century workplace success. In response to technological, demographic and socio-economic changes, education systems began shifting toward curricula and instruction that integrated a range of skills involving, not only on cognition, but interdependencies of cognitive, social, and emotional characteristics. Notable efforts were conducted by the US Secretary of Labor's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS), a national coalition called the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), the international Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the American Association of college and Universities, researchers at MIT and other institutions of higher learning, and private organizations. Additional research has found that the top skills demanded by U.S. Fortune 500 companies by the year 2000 had shifted from traditional reading, writing and arithmetic to teamwork, problem solving, and interpersonal skills. A 2006 Conference Board survey of some 400 employers revealed that the most important skills for new workforce entrants included oral and written communications and critical thinking/problem solving, ahead of basic knowledge and skills, such as the reading comprehension and mathematics. While the 'three Rs' were still considered foundational to new workforce entrants' abilities, employers emphasized that applied skills like collaboration/teamwork and critical thinking were 'very important' to success at work." A 2006 report from MIT researchers countered the suggestion that students acquire critical skills and competencies independently by interacting with popular culture, noting three continuing trends that "suggest the need for policy and pedagogical interventions:" The Participation Gap – the unequal access to the opportunities, experiences, skills, and knowledge that will prepare youth for full participation in the world of tomorrow. The Transparency Problem – The challenges young people face in learning to see clearly the ways that media shape perceptions of the world. The Ethics Challenge – The breakdown of traditional forms of professional training and socialization that might prepare young people for their increasingly public roles as media makers and community participants." According to labor economists at MIT and Harvard's Graduate School of Education, the economic changes brought about over the past four decades by emerging technology and globalization, employers' demands for people with competencies like complex thinking and communications skills has increased greatly. They argue that the success of the U.S. economy will rely on the nation's ability to give students the "foundational skills in problem-solving and communications that computers don't have." In 2010, the Common Core State Standards Initiative, an effort sponsored by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), issued the Common Core Standards, calling for the integration of 21st century skills into K-12 curricula across the United States. Teachers and general citizens also played a critical role in its development along with the NGA and CCSSO by commenting during two public forums which helped shape the curriculum and standards. States also convened teams of teachers to assist and provide feedback looking towards the National Education Association (NEA) and many other education organizations to provide constructive feedback. As of December 2018, 45 states have entirely adopted the common core standards, one state has adopted half by only adopting the literacy section (Minnesota), and only four states remain who have not adopted into the common core standards of education (Alaska, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia). Skills The skills and competencies considered "21st century skills" share common themes, based on the premise that effective learning, or deeper learning, requires a set of student educational outcomes that include acquisition of robust core academic content, higher-order thinking skills, and learning dispositions. This pedagogy involves creating, working with others, analyzing, and presenting and sharing both the learning experience and the learned knowledge or wisdom with peers, mentors, and teachers. Additionally, these skills foster engagement; seeking, forging, and facilitating connections to knowledge, ideas, peers, instructors, and wider audiences; creating/producing; and presenting/publishing. The classification or grouping has been undertaken to encourage and promote pedagogies that facilitate deeper learning through both traditional instruction as well as active learning, project-based learning, problem based learning, and others. A 2012 survey conducted by the American Management Association (AMA) identified three top skills necessary for their employees: critical thinking, communication and collaboration. Below are some of the more readily identifiable lists of 21st century skills. Common Core The Common Core Standards issued in 2010 intended to support the "application of knowledge through higher-order thinking skills." The initiative's stated goals promote the skills and concepts required for college and career readiness in multiple disciplines and life in the global economy. Skills identified for success in the areas of literacy and mathematics: cogent reasoning evidence collection critical-thinking, problem-solving, analytical thinking communication SCANS Following the release of A Nation at Risk, the U.S. Secretary of Labor appointed the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) to determine the skills needed for young people to succeed in the workplace fostering a high-performance economy. SCANS focused on a "learning a living" system. In 1991, an initial report was issued titled, What Work Requires of Schools. The report concluded that a high-performance workplace requires workers who have key fundamental skills: basic skills and knowledge, thinking skills to apply that knowledge, personal skills to manage and perform; and five key workplace competencies. Fundamental skills: Basic skills: reads, writes, performs arithmetic and mathematical operations, listens and speaks. Thinking skills: thinks creatively, makes decisions, solves problems, visualizes, knows how to learn, and reasons Personal qualities: displays responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, and integrity and honesty Workplace competencies: Resources: identifies, organizes, plans, and allocates resources Interpersonal: works with others (participates as member of a team, teaches others new skills, serves clients/customers, exercises leadership, negotiates, works with diversity) Information: acquires and uses information (acquires and evaluates, organizes and maintains, and interprets and communicates information; uses computers to process information) Systems: understands complex inter-relationships (understands systems, monitors and corrects performance, improves or designs systems) Technology: works with a variety of technologies (selects technology, applies technology to task, maintains and troubleshoots equipment) Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) In 2002, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (then Partnership for 21st Century Learning, or P21.org, now disbanded) was founded as a non-profit organization by a coalition that included members of the national business community, education leaders, and policymakers: the National Education Association (NEA), United States Department of Education, AOL Time Warner Foundation, Apple Computer, Inc., Cable in the Classroom, Cisco Systems, Inc., Dell Computer Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, SAP, Ken Kay (President and co-founder), and Diny Golder-Dardis. To foster a national conversation on "the importance of 21st century skills for all students" and "position 21st century readiness at the center of US K-12 education", P21 identified six key areas: Core subjects 21st century content Learning and thinking skills Information and communication technologies (ICT) literacy Life skills 21st century assessments 7C Skills were identified by P21 senior fellows, Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel: Critical thinking and problem solving Creativity and innovation Cross-cultural understanding Communications, information, and media literacy Computing and ICT literacy Career and life-skills 4 Cs Prompted by many school districts and states requesting a more manageable set of skills as a starting point, P21 conducted research that identified a commonly accepted subset they called the Four Cs of 21st century learning: Collaboration Communication Critical thinking Creativity The University of Southern California's Project New Literacies website list four different "C" skills: Create Circulate Connect Collaborate Participatory culture and new media literacies Researchers at MIT, led by Henry Jenkins, Director of the Comparative Media Studies Program, in 2006 issued a white paper ("Confronting the Challenges of a Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century"), that examined digital media and learning. To address this Digital Divide, they recommended an effort be made to develop the cultural competencies and social skills required to participate fully in modern society instead of merely advocating for installing computers in each classroom. What they term participatory culture shifts this literacy from the individual level to a broader connection and involvement, with the premise that networking and collaboration develop social skills that are vital to new literacies. These in turn build on traditional foundation skills and knowledge taught in school: traditional literacy, research, technical, and critical analysis skills. Participatory culture is defined by this study as having: low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one's creations, informal mentorship, belief that members' own contributions matter, and social connection (caring what other people think about their creations). Forms of participatory culture include: Affiliations – memberships, formal and informal, in online communities centered around various forms of media, such as message boards, metagaming, game clans, and other social media). Expressions – producing new creative forms, such as digital sampling, skinning and modding, fan videomaking, fan fiction writing, zines, mash-ups. Collaborative Problem-solving – working together in teams, formal and informal, to complete tasks and develop new knowledge (such as through Wikipedia, alternative reality gaming, spoiling). Circulations – shaping the flow of media (such as podcasting, blogging) The skills identified were: Play Simulation Appropriation Multitasking Distributed Cognition Collective Intelligence Judgment Transmedia Navigation Networking Negotiation A 2005 study (Lenhardt & Madden) found that more than one-half of all teens have created media content, and roughly one third of teens who use the Internet shared content they produced, indicating a high degree of involvement in participatory cultures. Such digital literacies emphasize the intellectual activities of a person working with sophisticated information communications technology, not on proficiency with the tool. EnGauge 21st century skills In 2003 the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory and the Metiri Group issued a report entitled "enGauge 21st Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital Age" based on two years of research. The report called for policymakers and educators to define 21st century skills, highlight the relationship of those skills to conventional academic standards, and recognize the need for multiple assessments to measure and evaluate these skills within the context of academic standards and the current technological and global society. To provide a common understanding of, and language for discussing, the needs of students, citizens, and workers in a modern digital society, the report identified four "skill clusters": Digital-Age Inventive Thinking Effective Communication High Productivity OECD competencies In 1997, member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development launched the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to monitor "the extent to which students near the end of compulsory schooling have acquired the knowledge and skills essential for full participation in society". In 2005 they identified three "Competency Categories to highlight delivery related, interpersonal, and strategic competencies:" Using Tools Interactively Interacting in Heterogeneous Groups Acting Autonomously American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) The AAC&U conducted several studies and surveys of their members. In 2007 they recommended that graduates of higher education attain four skills—The Essential Learning Outcomes: Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World Intellectual and Practical Skills Personal and Social Responsibility Integrative Learning They found that skills most widely addressed in college and university goals are: writing critical thinking quantitative reasoning oral communication intercultural skills information literacy ethical reasoning A 2015 survey of AAC&U member institutions added the following goals: analytic reasoning research skills and projects integration of learning across disciplines application of learning beyond the classroom civic engagement and competence ISTE / NETS performance standards The ISTE Educational Technology Standards (formerly National Educational Technology Standards (NETS)) are a set of standards published by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) to leverage the use of technology in K-12 education. These are sometimes intermixed with information and communication technologies (ICT) skills. In 2007 NETS issued a series of six performance indicators (only the first four are on their website as of 2016): Creativity and Innovation Communication and Collaboration Research and Information Fluency Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making Digital Citizenship Technology Operations and Concepts ICT Literacy Panel digital literacy standards (2007) In 2007 the Educational Testing Service (ETS) ICT Literacy Panel released its digital literacy standards: Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) proficiencies: Cognitive proficiency Technical proficiency ICT proficiency A person possessing these skills would be expected to perform these tasks for a particular set of information: access, manage, integrate, evaluate, create/publish/present. The emphasis is on proficiency with digital tools. Dede learning styles and categories In 2005, Chris Dede of the Harvard Graduate School of Education developed a framework based on new digital literacies entitled Neomillennial Learning Styles: Fluency in multiple media Active learning based on collectively seeking, sieving, and synthesizing experiences. Expression through non-linear, associational webs of representations. Co-design by teachers and students of personalized learning experiences. Dede category system With the exponential expansion of personal access to Internet resources, including social media, information and content on the Internet has evolved from being created by website providers to communities of contributors and individuals. The 21st century Internet centered on material created by a small number of people, Web 2.0 tools (e.g. Wikipedia) foster online communication, collaboration, and creation of content by large numbers of people (individually or in groups) in online communities. In 2009, Dede created a category system for Web 2.0 tools: Sharing (communal bookmarking, photo/video sharing, social networking, writers' workshops/fanfiction) Thinking (blogs, podcasts, online discussion fora) Co-Creating (wikis/collaborative file creation, mashups/collective media creation, collaborative social change communities) World Economic Forum In 2015, after consultations with Charles Fadel (of P21 and the Center for Curriculum Redesign), the World Economic Forum published a report titled "New Vision for Education: Unlocking the Potential of Technology" that focused on the pressing issue of the 21st-century skills gap and ways to address it through technology. In the report, they defined a set of 16 crucial proficiencies for education in the 21st century. Those skills include six "foundational literacies", four "competencies" and six "character qualities" listed below. Foundation literacies: Literacy and numeracy Scientific literacy ICT literacy Financial literacy Cultural literacy Civic literacy Competencies: Critical thinking/problem solving Communication Collaboration Creativity Character qualities: Initiative Persistence/grit Adaptability Curiosity Leadership Social and cultural awareness National Research Council In a paper titled "Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century" produced by the National Research Council of National Academies, the National Research defines 21st century skills, describes how the skills relate to each other and summaries the evidence regarding these skills. As a first step toward describing "21st century skills", the National Research Council identified three domains of competence: cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal while recognizing that these domains intertwine in human development and learning. More specifically, these three domains represent distinct facets of human thinking, building on previous efforts to identify and organize dimensions of human behavior. The committee produced the following cluster of 21st century skills in the above-mentioned three domains. Cognitive competencies: Cognitive processes and strategies: Critical thinking, problem solving, analysis, reasoning and argumentation, interpretation, decision-making, adaptive learning Knowledge: Information literacy, ICT literacy, oral and written communication, and active listening Creativity: Creativity and innovation Intrapersonal competencies: Intellectual openness: Flexibility, adaptability, artistic and cultural appreciation, personal and social responsibility, appreciation for diversity, adaptability, continuous learning, intellectual interest and curiosity Work ethic/conscientiousness: Initiative, self-direction, responsibility, perseverance, grit, career orientation, ethics, integrity, citizenship Positive core self-evaluation: Self monitoring, self evaluation, self reinforcement, physical and psychological health Interpersonal competencies: Teamwork and collaboration: Communication, collaboration, cooperation, teamwork, coordination, interpersonal skills Leadership: Responsibility, assertive communication, self presentation, social influence with others Center for Curriculum Redesign (“CCR”) After an extensive, 3-year review and synthesis of 111 global frameworks and 861 research papers, and using natural language processing and orthogonality analysis, CCR published in 2019 and updated in 2024 a list of ten competenciesthat concatenate the 250+ different terms used worldwide into: Skills: Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration. Character: Curiosity, Courage, Resilience, Ethics. Meta-Learning: Metacognition & Metaemotion Additionally, CCR mapped the various competencies to the academic disciplines most conducive to their development. During its comprehensive research on AI’s present and future capabilities in education, CCR added an analysis of the more critical competencies in the age of AI, adding an “Emphasis” designation on specific facets of these competencies. For instance, since incremental creativity is reachable by AI, the human emphasis should be on imagination. Lastly, CCR introduced the motivational drivers of personalized learning in an age of AI: Identity (& Belonging), Agency (& Growth mindset), and Purpose (& Passion). Implementation Multiple agencies and organizations issued guides and recommendation for implementation of 21st century skills supporting and encouraging change in learning environments and learning spaces. Five separate educational areas impacted include standards, assessment, professional development, curriculum & instruction, and learning environments. The efforts to implement 21st century skills into learning environments and curricula supports the evolution of education systems from traditional practices or factory model school model into a variety of different organizational models. Examples of hands-on learning and project-based learning are observable in programs and spaces such as STEM and makerspaces. Collaborative learning environments fostered flexibility in furniture and classroom layout as well as differentiated spaces, such as small seminar rooms near classrooms. Literacy with, and access to, digital technology also impacted the design of furniture and fixed components as students and teachers use tablets, interactive whiteboards and interactive projectors. Classroom sizes changed to accommodate a variety of furniture arrangements and groupings, as opposed to traditional configurations of desks in rows. In 2016, the Brookings Institution found that more than 100 countries embraced the concept of “21st century skills” in one terminology or another. However, further research by Brookings and CCR in 2018 showed that none of the major jurisdictions provided professional development to teachers, nor assessments of these competencies. See also Applied academics Design-based learning Information literacies Learning environment Learning space Phenomenon-based learning STEM fields References External links Seven Survival Skills Chris Dede, Comparing Frameworks for "21st Century Skills", Harvard Graduate School, July 2009. How Do You Define 21st-Century Learning? Making 21st Century Schools – Creating Learner-Centered Schoolplaces/Workplaces for a New Culture of Students at Work, Bob Pearlman About eSTEM Collaboration Curricula Learning Learning methods Learning programs Pedagogy Skills United States educational programs

Environmental movement in the United States

The organized environmental movement is represented by a wide range of non-governmental organizations or NGOs that seek to address environmental issues in the United States. They operate on local, national, and international scales. Environmental NGOs vary widely in political views and in the ways they seek to influence the environmental policy of the United States and other governments. The environmental movement today consists of both large national groups and also many smaller local groups with local concerns. Some resemble the old U.S. conservation movement - whose modern expression is The Nature Conservancy, Audubon Society and National Geographic Society - American organizations with a worldwide influence. Increasingly that movement is organized around addressing climate change in the United States alongside interrelated issues like climate justice and broader environmental justice issues. Issues Scope of the movement The early Conservation movement, which began in the late 19th century, included fisheries and wildlife management, water, soil conservation and sustainable forestry. Today it includes sustainable yield of natural resources, preservation of wilderness areas and biodiversity. The modern Environmental movement, which began in the 1960s with concern about air and water pollution, became broader in scope to include all landscapes and human activities. See List of environmental issues. Environmental health movement dating at least to Progressive Era (the 1890s - 1920s) urban reforms including clean water supply, more efficient removal of raw sewage and reduction in crowded and unsanitary living conditions. Today Environmental health is more related to nutrition, preventive medicine, ageing well and other concerns specific to the human body's well-being. Sustainability movement which started in the 1980s focused on Gaia theory, value of Earth and other interrelations between human sciences and human responsibilities. Its spinoff deep ecology was more spiritual but often claimed to be science. As public awareness and the environmental sciences have improved in recent years, environmental issues have broadened to include key concepts such as "sustainability" and also new emerging concerns such as ozone depletion, global warming, acid rain, land use and biogenetic pollution. Environmental movements often interact or are linked with other social movements, e.g. for peace, human rights, and animal rights; and against nuclear weapons and/or nuclear power, endemic diseases, poverty, hunger, etc. Some US colleges are now going green by signing the "President's Climate Commitment," a document that a college President can sign to enable said colleges to practice environmentalism by switching to solar power, etc. History Native Americans are frequently categorized as "the original environmentalists", however this assertion is frequently challenged for being overly simplistic. Early European settlers came to the United States brought from Europe the concept of the commons. In the colonial era, access to natural resources was allocated by individual towns, and disputes over fisheries or land use were resolved at the local level. Changing technologies, however, strained traditional ways of resolving disputes of resource use, and local governments had limited control over powerful special interests. For example, the damming of rivers for mills cut off upriver towns from fisheries; logging and clearing of forest in watersheds harmed local fisheries downstream. In New England, many farmers became uneasy as they noticed clearing of the forest changed stream flows and a decrease in bird population which helped control insects and other pests. These concerns become widely known with the publication of Man and Nature (1864) by George Perkins Marsh. The environmental impact method of analysis is generally the main mode for determining what issues the environmental movement is involved in. This model is used to determine how to proceed in situations that are detrimental to the environment by choosing the way that is least damaging and has the fewest lasting implications. Conservation movement Conservation first became a national issue during the progressive era's conservation movement (1890s - 1920s). The early national conservation movement shifted emphasis to scientific management which favored larger enterprises and control began to shift from local governments to the states and the federal government.(Judd) Some writers credit sportsmen, hunters and fishermen with the increasing influence of the conservation movement. In the 1870s sportsman magazines such as American Sportsmen, Forest and Stream, and Field and Stream are seen as leading to the growth of the conservation movement.(Reiger) This conservation movement also urged the establishment of state and national parks and forests, wildlife refuges, and national monuments intended to preserve noteworthy natural features. Conservation groups focus primarily on an issue that's origins are rooted in general expansion. As industrialization became more prominent as well as the increasing trend towards urbanization the conservative environmental movement began. Contrary to popular belief conservation groups are not against expansion in general, instead, they are concerned with efficiency with resources and land development. Progressive era Theodore Roosevelt and his close ally George Bird Grinnell, were motivated by the wanton waste that was taking place at the hand of market hunting. This practice resulted in placing a large number of North American game species on the edge of extinction. Roosevelt recognized that the laissez-faire approach of the U.S. Government was too wasteful and inefficient. In any case, they noted, most of the natural resources in the western states were already owned by the federal government. The best course of action, they argued, was a long-term plan devised by national experts to maximize the long-term economic benefits of natural resources. To accomplish the mission, Roosevelt and Grinnell formed the Boone and Crockett Club in 1887. The club was made up of the best minds and influential men of the day. The Boone and Crockett Club's contingency of conservationists, scientists, politicians, and intellectuals became Roosevelt's closest advisers during his march to preserve wildlife and habitat across North America. As president, Theodore Roosevelt became a prominent conservationist, putting the issue high on the national agenda. He worked with all the major figures of the movement, especially his chief advisor on the matter, Gifford Pinchot. Roosevelt was deeply committed to conserving natural resources and is considered to be the nation's first conservation President. He encouraged the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902 to promote federal construction of dams to irrigate small farms and placed under federal protection. Roosevelt set aside more Federal land for national parks and nature preserves than all of his predecessors combined. Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 Bird Reserves, four Game Preserves, and 150 National Forests, including Shoshone National Forest, the nation's first. The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately . Gifford Pinchot had been appointed by McKinley as chief of Division of Forestry in the Department of Agriculture. In 1905, his department gained control of the national forest reserves. Pinchot promoted private use (for a fee) under federal supervision. In 1907, Roosevelt designated of new national forests just minutes before a deadline. In May 1908, Roosevelt sponsored the Conference of Governors held in the White House, with a focus on natural resources and their most efficient use. Roosevelt delivered the opening address: "Conservation as a National Duty." In 1903 Roosevelt toured the Yosemite Valley with John Muir, who had a very different view of conservation and tried to minimize commercial use of water resources and forests. Working through the Sierra Club he founded, Muir succeeded in 1905 in having Congress transfer the Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley to the National Park Service. While Muir wanted nature preserved for the sake of pure beauty, Roosevelt subscribed to Pinchot's formulation, "to make the forest produce the largest amount of whatever crop or service will be most useful, and keep on producing it for generation after generation of men and trees." Muir and the Sierra Club vehemently opposed the damming of the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite in order to provide water to the city of San Francisco. Roosevelt and Pinchot supported the dam, as did President Woodrow Wilson. The Hetch Hetchy dam was finished in 1923 and is still in operation, but the Sierra Club still wants to tear it down. Other influential conservationists of the Progressive Era included George Bird Grinnell (a prominent sportsman who founded the Boone and Crockett Club), the Izaak Walton League and John Muir, the founder of the Sierra Club in 1892. Conservationists organized the National Parks Conservation Association, the Audubon Society, and other groups that still remain active. New Deal Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933–45), like his cousin Theodore Roosevelt, was an ardent conservationist. He used numerous programs of the departments of Agriculture and Interior to end wasteful land-use, mitigate the effects of the Dust Bowl, and efficiently develop natural resources in the West. One of the most popular of all New Deal programs was the Civilian Conservation Corps (1933–1943), which sent two million poor young men to work in rural and wilderness areas, primarily on conservation projects. Post-1945 After World War II increasing encroachment on wilderness land evoked the continued resistance of conservationists, who succeeded in blocking a number of projects in the 1950s and 1960s, including the proposed Bridge Canyon Dam that would have backed up the waters of the Colorado River into the Grand Canyon National Park. The Inter-American Conference on the Conservation of Renewable Natural Resources met in 1948 as a collection of nearly 200 scientists from all over the Americans forming the trusteeship principle that: "No generation can exclusively own the renewable resources by which it lives. We hold the commonwealth in trust for prosperity, and to lessen or destroy it is to commit treason against the future" Beginning of the modern movement During the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, several events occurred which raised the public awareness of harm to the environment caused by man. In 1954, the 23 man crew of the Japanese fishing vessel Lucky Dragon was exposed to radioactive fallout from a hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll. By 1969, the public reaction to an ecologically catastrophic oil spill from an offshore well in California's Santa Barbara Channel, Barry Commoner's protest against nuclear testing, along with Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring, and Paul R. Ehrlich's The Population Bomb (1968) all added anxiety about the environment. Pictures of Earth from space emphasized that the earth was small and fragile. As the public became more aware of environmental issues, concern about air pollution, water pollution, solid waste disposal, dwindling energy resources, radiation, pesticide poisoning (particularly use of DDT as described in Carson's influential Silent Spring), noise pollution, and other environmental problems engaged a broadening number of sympathizers. That public support for environmental concerns was widespread became clear in the Earth Day demonstrations of 1970. Several books after the middle of the 20th century contributed to the rise of American environmentalism (as distinct from the longer-established conservation movement), especially among college and university students and the more literate public. One was the publication of the first textbook on ecology, Fundamentals of Ecology, by Eugene Odum and Howard Odum, in 1953. Another was the appearance of the Carson's 1962 best-seller Silent Spring. Her book brought about a whole new interpretation of pesticides by exposing their harmful effects in nature. From this book, many began referring to Carson as the "mother of the environmental movement". Another influential development was a 1965 lawsuit, Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference v. Federal Power Commission, opposing the construction of a power plant on Storm King Mountain in New York (state), which is said to have given birth to modern United States environmental law. The wide popularity of The Whole Earth Catalogs, starting in 1968, was quite influential among the younger, hands-on, activist generation of the 1960s and 1970s. Recently, in addition to opposing environmental degradation and protecting wilderness, an increased focus on coexisting with natural biodiversity has appeared, a strain that is apparent in the movement for sustainable agriculture and in the concept of Reconciliation Ecology. During his time as U.S President, Lyndon Johnson would sign over 300 environment protection measures into law. This was credited as forming the legal basis of the modern environmental movement. Wilderness preservation In the modern wilderness preservation movement, important philosophical roles are played by the writings of John Muir who had been activist in the late 19th and early 20th century. Along with Muir perhaps most influential in the modern movement is Henry David Thoreau who published Walden in 1854. Also important was forester and ecologist Aldo Leopold, one of the founders of the Wilderness Society in 1935, who wrote a classic of nature observation and ethical philosophy, A Sand County Almanac, (1949). There is also a growing movement of campers and other people who enjoy outdoor recreation activities to help preserve the environment while spending time in the wilderness. Anti-nuclear movement The anti-nuclear movement in the United States consists of more than 80 anti-nuclear groups that have acted to oppose nuclear power or nuclear weapons, or both, in the United States. These groups include the Abalone Alliance, Clamshell Alliance, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and Physicians for Social Responsibility. The anti-nuclear movement has delayed construction or halted commitments to build some new nuclear plants, and has pressured the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to enforce and strengthen the safety regulations for nuclear power plants. Anti-nuclear protests reached a peak in the 1970s and 1980s and grew out of the environmental movement. Campaigns which captured national public attention involved the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant, Diablo Canyon Power Plant, Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant, and Three Mile Island. On June 12, 1982, one million people demonstrated in New York City's Central Park against nuclear weapons and for an end to the cold war arms race. It was the largest anti-nuclear protest and the largest political demonstration in American history. International Day of Nuclear Disarmament protests were held on June 20, 1983, at 50 sites across the United States. There were many Nevada Desert Experience protests and peace camps at the Nevada Test Site during the 1980s and 1990s. More recent campaigning by anti-nuclear groups has related to several nuclear power plants including the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Power Plant, Indian Point Energy Center, Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station, Salem Nuclear Power Plant, and Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. There have also been campaigns relating to the Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Plant, the Idaho National Laboratory, proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, the Hanford Site, the Nevada Test Site, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and transportation of nuclear waste from the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Some scientists and engineers have expressed reservations about nuclear power, including: Barry Commoner, S. David Freeman, John Gofman, Arnold Gundersen, Mark Z. Jacobson, Amory Lovins, Arjun Makhijani, Gregory Minor, Joseph Romm and Benjamin K. Sovacool. Scientists who have opposed nuclear weapons include Linus Pauling and Eugene Rabinowitch. Antitoxics groups Antitoxics groups are a subgroup that is affiliated with the Environmental Movement in the United States, that is primarily concerned with the effects that cities and their by-products have on humans. This aspect of the movement is a self-proclaimed "movement of housewives". Concern around the issues of groundwater contamination and air pollution rose in the early 1980s and individuals involved in antitoxics groups claim that they are concerned for the health of their families. A prominent case can be seen in the Love Canal Homeowner's association (LCHA); in this case, a housing development was built on a site that had been used for toxic dumping by the Hooker Chemical Company. As a result of this dumping, the residents had symptoms of skin irritation, Lois Gibbs, a resident of the development, started a grassroots campaign for reparations. Eventual success led to the government having to purchase homes that were sold in the development. Federal legislation in the 1970s Prior to the 1970s the protection of basic air and water supplies was a matter mainly left to each state. During the 1970s, the primary responsibility for clean air and water shifted to the federal government. Growing concerns, both environmental and economic, from cities and towns as well as sportsman and other local groups, and senators such as Maine's Edmund S. Muskie, led to the passage of extensive legislation, notably the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. Other legislation included the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which established the Council on Environmental Quality; the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972; the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the Safe Drinking Water Act (1974), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976), the Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1977, which became known as the Clean Water Act, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, commonly known as the Superfund Act (1980). These laws regulated public drinking water systems, toxic substances, pesticides, and ocean dumping; and protected wildlife, wilderness, and wild and scenic rivers. Moreover, the new laws provide for pollution research, standard setting, contaminated site cleanup, monitoring, and enforcement. The creation of these laws led to a major shift in the environmental movement. Groups such as the Sierra Club shifted focus from local issues to becoming a lobby in Washington and new groups, for example, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense, arose to influence politics as well. (Larson) Renewed focus on local action In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan sought to curtail the scope of environmental protection taking steps such as appointing James G. Watt. The major environmental groups responded with mass mailings which led to increased membership and donations. When industry groups lobbied to weaken regulation and a backlash against environmental regulations, the so-called wise use movement gained importance and influence.(Larson) "Post-environmentalism" In 2004, with the environmental movement seemingly stalled, some environmentalists started questioning whether "environmentalism" was even a useful political framework. According to a controversial essay titled "The Death of Environmentalism " (Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, 2004) American environmentalism has been remarkably successful in protecting the air, water, and large stretches of wilderness in North America and Europe, but these environmentalists have stagnated as a vital force for cultural and political change. Shellenberger and Nordhaus wrote, "Today environmentalism is just another special interest. Evidence for this can be found in its concepts, its proposals, and its reasoning. What stands out is how arbitrary environmental leaders are about what gets counted and what doesn't as 'environmental.' Most of the movement's leading thinkers, funders, and advocates do not question their most basic assumptions about who we are, what we stand for, and what it is that we should be doing." Their essay was followed by a speech in San Francisco called "Is Environmentalism Dead?" by former Sierra Club President, Adam Werbach, who argued for the evolution of environmentalism into a more expansive, relevant and powerful progressive politics. Werbach endorsed building an environmental movement that is more relevant to average Americans and controversially chose to lead Wal-Mart's effort to take sustainability mainstream. These "post-environmental movement" thinkers argue that the ecological crises the human species faces in the 21st century are qualitatively different from the problems the environmental movement was created to address in the 1960s and 1970s. They argue that climate change and habitat destruction are global and more complex, therefore demanding far deeper transformations of the economy, the culture and political life. The consequence of environmentalism's outdated and arbitrary definition, they argue, is a political irrelevancy. These "politically neutral" groups tend to avoid global conflicts and view the settlement of inter-human conflict as separate from regard for nature – in direct contradiction to the ecology movement and peace movement which have increasingly close links: while Green Parties, Greenpeace, and groups like the ACTivist Magazine regard ecology, biodiversity, and an end to non-human extinction as an absolute basis for peace, the local groups may not, and see a high degree of global competition and conflict as justifiable if it lets them preserve their own local uniqueness. However, such groups tend not to "burn out" and to sustain for long periods, even generations, protecting the same local treasures. Local groups increasingly find that they benefit from collaboration, e.g. on consensus decision-making methods, or making simultaneous policy, or relying on common legal resources, or even sometimes a common glossary. However, the differences between the various groups that make up the modern environmental movement tend to outweigh such similarities, and they rarely co-operate directly except on a few major global questions. In a notable exception, over 1,000 local groups from around the country united for a single day of action as part of the Step It Up 2007 campaign for real solutions to global warming. Groups such as The Bioregional Revolution are calling on the need to bridge these differences, as the converging problems of the 21st century they claim compel the people to unite and to take decisive action. They promote bioregionalism, permaculture, and local economies as solutions to these problems, overpopulation, global warming, global epidemics, and water scarcity, but most notably to "peak oil" – the prediction that the country is likely to reach a maximum in global oil production which could spell drastic changes in many aspects of the residents' everyday lives. Criticisms Some people are skeptical of the environmental movement and feel that it is more deeply rooted in politics than science. Although there have been serious debates about climate change and effects of some pesticides and herbicides that mimic animal sex steroids, science has shown that some of the claims of environmentalists have credence. Novelist Michael Crichton appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on September 28, 2005, to address concerns and recommended the employment of double-blind experimentation in environmental research. Crichton suggested that because environmental issues are so political in nature, policymakers need neutral, conclusive data to base their decisions on, rather than conjecture and rhetoric, and double-blind experiments are the most efficient way to achieve that aim. A consistent theme acknowledged by both supporters and critics (though more commonly vocalized by critics) of the environmental movement is that we know very little about the Earth we live in. Most fields of environmental studies are relatively new, and therefore what research we have is limited and does not date far enough back for us to completely understand long-term environmental trends. This has led a number of environmentalists to support the use of the precautionary principle in policy-making, which ultimately asserts that we don't know how certain actions may affect the environment and because there is reason to believe they may cause more harm than good we should refrain from such actions. Elitist In the December 1994 Wild Forest Review, Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair wrote "The mainstream environmental movement was elitist, highly paid, detached from the people, indifferent to the working class, and a firm ally of big government....The environmental movement is now accurately perceived as just another well-financed and cynical special interest group, its rancid infrastructure supported by Democratic Party operatives and millions in grants from corporate foundations." Many environmental organizations lack diversity, including often white women as the main demographic. However, environmental problems are experienced differently by different social groups, including black versus white groups. For the middle class white population in the US, environmental issues have often included pollution, barriers to recreational activities, etc.. On the other hand, for people of color, environmental issues were often life or death including issues of "smoke, soot, dust, . . . fumes gases, stench, and carbon monoxide." In the past environmental organizations have focused "on preserving natural resources and endangered species instead of protecting people of color from hazardous waste sites being built in their communities". When environmental organizations appoint people of color to positions of leadership, the focus will often shift more towards focus on these major, life-threatening issues. However, a significant 2014 State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations study found that the percentage of minorities working for environmental organizations has never exceeded 16% and less than 12% have achieved positions of leadership. Wilderness myth Historians have criticized the modern environmental movement for having romantic idealizations of wilderness. William Cronon writes "wilderness serves as the unexamined foundation on which so many of the quasi-religious values of modern environmentalism rest." Cronon claims that "to the extent that we live in an urban-industrial civilization but at the same time pretend to ourselves that our real home is in the wilderness, to just that extent we give ourselves permission to evade responsibility for the lives we actually lead." Similarly Michael Pollan has argued that the wilderness ethic leads people to dismiss areas whose wildness is less than absolute. In his book Second Nature, Pollan writes that "once a landscape is no longer 'virgin' it is typically written off as fallen, lost to nature, irredeemable." Debates within the movement Within the environmental movement, an ideological debate has taken place between those with an ecocentric viewpoint and an anthropocentric viewpoint. The anthropocentric view has been seen as the conservationist approach to the environment with nature viewed, at least in part, as a resource to be used by man. In contrast to the conservationist approach the ecocentric view, associated with John Muir, Henry David Thoreau and William Wordsworth referred to as the preservationist movement. This approach sees nature in a more spiritual way. Many environmental historians consider the split between John Muir and Gifford Pinchot. During the preservation/conservation debate, the term preservationist becomes to be seen as a pejorative term. While the ecocentric view focused on biodiversity and wilderness protection the anthropocentric view focuses on urban pollution and social justice. Some environmental writers, for example, William Cronon have criticized the ecocentric view as have a dualist view as a man being separate from nature. Critics of the anthropocentric viewpoint contend that the environmental movement has been taken over by so-called leftist with an agenda beyond environmental protection. Environmentalism and politics Environmentalists gained popularity in American politics after the creation or strengthening of numerous US environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and the formation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970. These successes were followed by the enactment of a series of laws regulating waste including the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; Toxic substances, (Toxic Substances Control Act); Pesticides (FIFRA: Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act); clean-up of polluted sites (Superfund); protection of endangered species (Endangered Species Act). Fewer environmental laws have been passed in the last decade as corporations and other conservative interests have increased their influence over American politics. Corporate cooperation against environmental lobbyists has been organized by the Wise Use group. At the same time, many environmentalists have been turning toward other means of persuasion, such as working with business, community, and other partners to promote sustainable development. Since the 1970s, coalitions and interests groups have directed themselves along the democrat and republican party lines. Much environmental activism is directed towards conservation as well as the prevention or elimination of pollution. However, conservation movements; ecology movements; peace movements; green parties; green- and eco-anarchists often subscribe to very different ideologies, while supporting the same goals as those who call themselves "environmentalists". To outsiders, these groups or factions can appear to be indistinguishable. As human population and industrial activity continue to increase, environmentalists often find themselves in serious conflict with those who believe that human and industrial activities should not be overly regulated or restricted, such as some libertarians. Environmentalists often clash with others, particularly corporate interests, over issues of the management of natural resources, like in the case of the atmosphere as a "carbon dump", the focus of climate change, and global warming controversy. They usually seek to protect commonly owned or unowned resources for future generations. Environmental justice in the United States Environmental justice is a movement that began in the U.S. in the 1980s and seeks an end to environmental racism. Environmental justice (EJ) did not come into regular use until 1982 when Warren County, a predominantly African American community, became a site for toxic waste dumping. This sparked protests which eventually led to the arrest of 414 peaceful African American protestors. In 1987, the publication of the United Church of Christ (UCC) Commission for Racial Justice's report "Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States" offered the first clear description of environmental racism (ER). ER looks different in different communities, and each context requires distinct policies and actions. Closely related to ER, the environmental justice movement is also grassroots in practice and "importantly, a movement, which means that it starts and lives with the people". Often, low-income and minority communities are located close to highways, garbage dumps, and factories, where they are exposed to greater pollution and environmental health risk than the rest of the population. The Environmental Justice movement seeks to link "social" and "ecological" environmental concerns, while at the same time keeping environmentalists conscious of the dynamics in their own movement, i.e. racism, sexism, homophobia, classicism, and other malaises of the dominant culture. In 1991, the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit drafted the 17 principles of environmental justice calling for an "appreciation of our diverse cultural perspectives" along with the "ecological unity and the interdependence of all species, and the right to be free from ecological destruction". Throughout the EJ movement there has been a focus on everyone being safe from environmental harms including pollution, hazardous wastes, land access, and also the ability of all to participate in decision-making. Over time, the main principle that has developed within the movement is "We speak for ourselves" meaning those within the community experiencing the environmental injustice should be the leaders of change. Major US environmental justice organizations Communities for a Better Environment: An organization founded in 1978 in San Francisco, California with the main mission of building power for low-income and communities of color to ultimately achieve environmental justice. They focus on reducing pollution and helping to create healthy, environmentally-friendly communities. In order to create action to tackle such an encompassing mission, CBE follows a threefold approach including community organizing, legal advocacy, and science. CBE, focuses on bringing marginalized communities together to create power and hence change in environmental decisions in their local areas. Volunteers from throughout the community come together to participate in door-knocking, community meetings, school groups, and various other educational opportunities. Today Communities for a Better Environment has expanded into Wisconsin and Minnesota. West Harlem Environmental Action: An organization founded in 1988 in New York city by community members foregrounding environmental racism within their community. West Harlem Environmental Action, now known as We Act, works on issues of climate justice, ensuring community-based participatory research, and participatory democracy are upheld within their organization and throughout the Harlem community. They mainly tackle issues of air regulation, pollution, and fair land use. Today, We Act has expanded to Washington, D.C. Indigenous Environmental Network: An organization founded in 1990 in North America with the main mission of uniting indigenous communities to protect "sacred sites, land, water, air, natural resources, health of both our people and all living things, and to build economically sustainable communities". IEN works with tribes to increase environmental education, organization, and in turn inspire action. IEN has expanded its reach globally, in recent years, providing global meetings to Indigenous communities on indigenous environmental issues. Climate Justice Alliance: An organization founded in 2013 in Detroit, Michigan with the main mission of uniting communities and organizations to following the just transition theory, versus the exploitative economic system in place. They place a strong emphasis on race, gender, and class in creating this transition. With creating this link between organizations and communities they hope to inspire action towards confronting climate change and the economy that creates it. Climate Justice Alliance focuses on making the transition within local communities to "clean community energy, regional food systems, zero waste, efficient, affordable, and durable housing, public transportation, ecosystem restoration and stewardship within scientific planetary boundaries". Climate Justice Alliance has currently expanded in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and North Carolina. Environmental rights Many environmental lawsuits turn on the question of who has standing; are the legal issues limited to property owners, or does the general public have a right to intervene? Christopher D. Stone's 1972 essay, "Should trees have standing?" seriously addressed the question of whether natural objects themselves should have legal rights, including the right to participate in lawsuits. Stone suggested that there was nothing absurd in this view, and noted that many entities now regarded as having legal rights were, in the past, regarded as "things" that were regarded as legally rightless; for example, aliens, children and women. His essay is sometimes regarded as an example of the fallacy of hypostatization. One of the earliest lawsuits to establish that citizens may sue for environmental and aesthetic harms was Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference v. Federal Power Commission, decided in 1965 by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The case helped halt the construction of a power plant on Storm King Mountain in New York State. See also United States environmental law and David Sive, an attorney who was involved in the case. Conservation biology is an important and rapidly developing field. One way to avoid the stigma of an "ism" was to evolve early anti-nuclear groups into the more scientific Green Parties, sprout new NGOs such as Greenpeace and Earth Action, and devoted groups to protecting global biodiversity and preventing global warming and climate change. But in the process, much of the emotional appeal, and many of the original aesthetic goals were lost. Nonetheless, these groups have well-defined ethical and political views, backed by science. Radical environmentalism While most environmentalists are often mainstream and peaceful, other groups are more radical in their approach. Adherents of radical environmentalism and ecological anarchism are involved in direct action campaigns to protect the environment. Some campaigns have employed controversial tactics including sabotage, blockades, and arson, while most use peaceful protests such as marches, tree sitting, and the like. There is substantial debate within the environmental movement as to the acceptability of these tactics, but almost all environmentalists condemn violent actions that can harm humans. Clashes by police In 2023, for the first time in the history of the United States, the police killed an environmental activist during a protest. The protesters were camping in Atlanta's South River Forest, a natural area that the City of Atlanta and Police planned to raze in order to erect a police training facility to be called "Cop City." Police attacked protesters on 18 January 2023. One protester, Tortuguita or, Manuel Esteban Páez Terán was killed and seven more were arrested. See also History of the environmental movement in the United States Earth Days, a 2009 documentary feature film about the start of the environmental movement in the United States. Environmentalism (Critique of George W. Bush's politics) Environmental issues in the United States Environmental racism Grassroots environmental activism in the United States–Mexico borderlands List of American non-fiction environmental writers List of anti-nuclear protests in the United States Metal roof Sex ecology References Further reading Bosso, Christopher. Environment, Inc.: From Grassroots to Beltway. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 2005 Bosso, Christopher, and Deborah Guber. "Maintaining Presence: Environmental Advocacy and the Permanent Campaign." pp. 78–99 in Environmental Policy: New Directions for the Twenty First Century, 6th ed., eds. Norman Vig and Michael Kraft. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2006 Brinkley, Douglas. Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening (2022) excerpt Brinkley, Douglas. The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America (2009) Carter, Neil. The Politics of the Environment: Ideas, Activism, Policy, 2nd ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007 Davies, Kate. (2013). The Rise of the U.S. Environmental Health Movement. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Daynes, Byron W. and Glen Sussman, White House Politics and the Environment: Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush (2010) . Hays, Samuel P. Conservation and the Gospel of Efficiency (Harvard University Press, 1959). Hays, Samuel P. Beauty, Health, and Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, 1955-1985 (1989) Hays, Samuel P. 'A History of Environmental Politics Since 1945 (2000), abridged version Huffman, James L. "A History of Forest Policy in the United States." Environmental Law 8#2 (1978): 239-280. Judd, Richard W. Common Lands and Common People: The Origins of Conservation in Northern New England (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997). Kline, Benjamin. First Along the River: A brief history of the U.S. environmental movement (4th ed. 2011) Reiger, John F. American Sportsmen and the Origins of Conservation (2000) Spears, Ellen Griffith. Rethinking the American Environmental Movement Post-1945'' (Routledge, 2019). Tresner, Erin. 2009. "Factors Affecting States' Ranking on the 2007 Forbes List of America's Greenest States" (Applied Research Project, Texas State University. online) External links The Emerging Environmental Majority by Christina Larson The Illusion of Preservation. Harvard Forestry State of Denial The Unlikely Environmentalists Worldchanging - Leading online magazine about environmental sustainability Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Environment Essays on environmental teachings of major religions The State of the Environmental Movement Thoreau Institute History of the environmental movement - Jeremiah Hall A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for a Living Planet - Documentary film directed and written by Mark Kitchell. Explores 50 years of environmental activism in the USA. Inspired by the book of the same name by Philip Shabecoff. United States Social history of the United States

Nanobiotechnology

Nanobiotechnology, bionanotechnology, and nanobiology are terms that refer to the intersection of nanotechnology and biology. Given that the subject is one that has only emerged very recently, bionanotechnology and nanobiotechnology serve as blanket terms for various related technologies. This discipline helps to indicate the merger of biological research with various fields of nanotechnology. Concepts that are enhanced through nanobiology include: nanodevices (such as biological machines), nanoparticles, and nanoscale phenomena that occurs within the discipline of nanotechnology. This technical approach to biology allows scientists to imagine and create systems that can be used for biological research. Biologically inspired nanotechnology uses biological systems as the inspirations for technologies not yet created. However, as with nanotechnology and biotechnology, bionanotechnology does have many potential ethical issues associated with it. The most important objectives that are frequently found in nanobiology involve applying nanotools to relevant medical/biological problems and refining these applications. Developing new tools, such as peptoid nanosheets, for medical and biological purposes is another primary objective in nanotechnology. New nanotools are often made by refining the applications of the nanotools that are already being used. The imaging of native biomolecules, biological membranes, and tissues is also a major topic for nanobiology researchers. Other topics concerning nanobiology include the use of cantilever array sensors and the application of nanophotonics for manipulating molecular processes in living cells. Recently, the use of microorganisms to synthesize functional nanoparticles has been of great interest. Microorganisms can change the oxidation state of metals. These microbial processes have opened up new opportunities for us to explore novel applications, for example, the biosynthesis of metal nanomaterials. In contrast to chemical and physical methods, microbial processes for synthesizing nanomaterials can be achieved in aqueous phase under gentle and environmentally benign conditions. This approach has become an attractive focus in current green bionanotechnology research towards sustainable development. Terminology The terms are often used interchangeably. When a distinction is intended, though, it is based on whether the focus is on applying biological ideas or on studying biology with nanotechnology. Bionanotechnology generally refers to the study of how the goals of nanotechnology can be guided by studying how biological "machines" work and adapting these biological motifs into improving existing nanotechnologies or creating new ones. Nanobiotechnology, on the other hand, refers to the ways that nanotechnology is used to create devices to study biological systems. In other words, nanobiotechnology is essentially miniaturized biotechnology, whereas bionanotechnology is a specific application of nanotechnology. For example, DNA nanotechnology or cellular engineering would be classified as bionanotechnology because they involve working with biomolecules on the nanoscale. Conversely, many new medical technologies involving nanoparticles as delivery systems or as sensors would be examples of nanobiotechnology since they involve using nanotechnology to advance the goals of biology. The definitions enumerated above will be utilized whenever a distinction between nanobio and bionano is made in this article. However, given the overlapping usage of the terms in modern parlance, individual technologies may need to be evaluated to determine which term is more fitting. As such, they are best discussed in parallel. Concepts Most of the scientific concepts in bionanotechnology are derived from other fields. Biochemical principles that are used to understand the material properties of biological systems are central in bionanotechnology because those same principles are to be used to create new technologies. Material properties and applications studied in bionanoscience include mechanical properties (e.g. deformation, adhesion, failure), electrical/electronic (e.g. electromechanical stimulation, capacitors, energy storage/batteries), optical (e.g. absorption, luminescence, photochemistry), thermal (e.g. thermomutability, thermal management), biological (e.g. how cells interact with nanomaterials, molecular flaws/defects, biosensing, biological mechanisms such as mechanosensation), nanoscience of disease (e.g. genetic disease, cancer, organ/tissue failure), as well as biological computing (e.g. DNA computing) and agriculture (target delivery of pesticides, hormones and fertilizers. The impact of bionanoscience, achieved through structural and mechanistic analyses of biological processes at nanoscale, is their translation into synthetic and technological applications through nanotechnology. Nanobiotechnology takes most of its fundamentals from nanotechnology. Most of the devices designed for nano-biotechnological use are directly based on other existing nanotechnologies. Nanobiotechnology is often used to describe the overlapping multidisciplinary activities associated with biosensors, particularly where photonics, chemistry, biology, biophysics, nanomedicine, and engineering converge. Measurement in biology using wave guide techniques, such as dual-polarization interferometry, is another example. Applications Applications of bionanotechnology are extremely widespread. Insofar as the distinction holds, nanobiotechnology is much more commonplace in that it simply provides more tools for the study of biology. Bionanotechnology, on the other hand, promises to recreate biological mechanisms and pathways in a form that is useful in other ways. Nanomedicine Nanomedicine is a field of medical science whose applications are increasing. Nanobots The field includes nanorobots and biological machines, which constitute a very useful tool to develop this area of knowledge. In the past years, researchers have made many improvements in the different devices and systems required to develop functional nanorobots – such as motion and magnetic guidance. This supposes a new way of treating and dealing with diseases such as cancer; thanks to nanorobots, side effects of chemotherapy could get controlled, reduced and even eliminated, so some years from now, cancer patients could be offered an alternative to treat such diseases instead of chemotherapy, which causes secondary effects such as hair loss, fatigue or nausea killing not only cancerous cells but also the healthy ones. Nanobots could be used for various therapies, surgery, diagnosis, and medical imaging – such as via targeted drug-delivery to the brain (similar to nanoparticles) and other sites. Programmability for combinations of features such as "tissue penetration, site-targeting, stimuli responsiveness, and cargo-loading" makes such nanobots promising candidates for "precision medicine". At a clinical level, cancer treatment with nanomedicine would consist of the supply of nanorobots to the patient through an injection that will search for cancerous cells while leaving the healthy ones untouched. Patients that are treated through nanomedicine would thereby not notice the presence of these nanomachines inside them; the only thing that would be noticeable is the progressive improvement of their health. Nanobiotechnology may be useful for medicine formulation. "Precision antibiotics" has been proposed to make use of bacteriocin-mechanisms for targeted antibiotics. Nanoparticles Nanoparticles are already widely used in medicine. Its applications overlap with those of nanobots and in some cases it may be difficult to distinguish between them. They can be used to for diagnosis and targeted drug delivery, encapsulating medicine. Some can be manipulated using magnetic fields and, for example, experimentally, remote-controlled hormone release has been achieved this way. On example advanced application under development are "Trojan horse" designer-nanoparticles that makes blood cells eat away – from the inside out – portions of atherosclerotic plaque that cause heart attacks and are the current most common cause of death globally. Artificial cells Artificial cells such as synthetic red blood cells that have all or many of the natural cells' known broad natural properties and abilities could be used to load functional cargos such as hemoglobin, drugs, magnetic nanoparticles, and ATP biosensors which may enable additional non-native functionalities. Other Nanofibers that mimic the matrix around cells and contain molecules that were engineered to wiggle was shown to be a potential therapy for spinal cord injury in mice. Technically, gene therapy can also be considered to be a form of nanobiotechnology or to move towards it. An example of an area of genome editing related developments that is more clearly nanobiotechnology than more conventional gene therapies, is synthetic fabrication of functional materials in tissues. Researcher made C. elegans worms synthesize, fabricate, and assemble bioelectronic materials in its brain cells. They enabled modulation of membrane properties in specific neuron populations and manipulation of behavior in the living animals which might be useful in the study and treatments for diseases such as multiple sclerosis in specific and demonstrates the viability of such synthetic in vivo fabrication. Moreover, such genetically modified neurons may enable connecting external components – such as prosthetic limbs – to nerves. Nanosensors based on e.g. nanotubes, nanowires, cantilevers, or atomic force microscopy could be applied to diagnostic devices/sensors Nanobiotechnology Nanobiotechnology (sometimes referred to as nanobiology) in medicine may be best described as helping modern medicine progress from treating symptoms to generating cures and regenerating biological tissues. Three American patients have received whole cultured bladders with the help of doctors who use nanobiology techniques in their practice. Also, it has been demonstrated in animal studies that a uterus can be grown outside the body and then placed in the body in order to produce a baby. Stem cell treatments have been used to fix diseases that are found in the human heart and are in clinical trials in the United States. There is also funding for research into allowing people to have new limbs without having to resort to prosthesis. Artificial proteins might also become available to manufacture without the need for harsh chemicals and expensive machines. It has even been surmised that by the year 2055, computers may be made out of biochemicals and organic salts. In vivo biosensors Another example of current nanobiotechnological research involves nanospheres coated with fluorescent polymers. Researchers are seeking to design polymers whose fluorescence is quenched when they encounter specific molecules. Different polymers would detect different metabolites. The polymer-coated spheres could become part of new biological assays, and the technology might someday lead to particles which could be introduced into the human body to track down metabolites associated with tumors and other health problems. Another example, from a different perspective, would be evaluation and therapy at the nanoscopic level, i.e. the treatment of nanobacteria (25-200 nm sized) as is done by NanoBiotech Pharma. In vitro biosensors "Nanoantennas" made out of DNA – a novel type of nano-scale optical antenna – can be attached to proteins and produce a signal via fluorescence when these perform their biological functions, in particular for their distinct conformational changes. This could be used for further nanobiotechnology such as various types of nanomachines, to develop new drugs, for bioresearch and for new avenues in biochemistry. Energy It may also be useful in sustainable energy: in 2022, researchers reported 3D-printed nano-"skyscraper" electrodes – albeit micro-scale, the pillars had nano-features of porosity due to printed metal nanoparticle inks – (nanotechnology) that house cyanobacteria for extracting substantially more sustainable bioenergy from their photosynthesis (biotechnology) than in earlier studies. Nanobiology While nanobiology is in its infancy, there are a lot of promising methods that may rely on nanobiology in the future. Biological systems are inherently nano in scale; nanoscience must merge with biology in order to deliver biomacromolecules and molecular machines that are similar to nature. Controlling and mimicking the devices and processes that are constructed from molecules is a tremendous challenge to face for the converging disciplines of nanobiotechnology. All living things, including humans, can be considered to be nanofoundries. Natural evolution has optimized the "natural" form of nanobiology over millions of years. In the 21st century, humans have developed the technology to artificially tap into nanobiology. This process is best described as "organic merging with synthetic". Colonies of live neurons can live together on a biochip device; according to research from Gunther Gross at the University of North Texas. Self-assembling nanotubes have the ability to be used as a structural system. They would be composed together with rhodopsins; which would facilitate the optical computing process and help with the storage of biological materials. DNA (as the software for all living things) can be used as a structural proteomic system – a logical component for molecular computing. Ned Seeman – a researcher at New York University – along with other researchers are currently researching concepts that are similar to each other. Bionanotechnology Distinction from nanobiotechnology Broadly, bionanotechnology can be distinguished from nanobiotechnology in that it refers to nanotechnology that makes use of biological materials/components – it could in principle or does alternatively use abiotic components. It plays a smaller role in medicine (which is concerned with biological organisms). It makes use of natural or biomimetic systems or elements for unique nanoscale structures and various applications that may not be directionally associated with biology rather than mostly biological applications. In contrast, nanobiotechnology uses biotechnology miniaturized to nanometer size or incorporates nanomolecules into biological systems. In some future applications, both fields could be merged. DNA DNA nanotechnology is one important example of bionanotechnology. The utilization of the inherent properties of nucleic acids like DNA to create useful materials or devices – such as biosensors – is a promising area of modern research. DNA digital data storage refers mostly to the use of synthesized but otherwise conventional strands of DNA to store digital data, which could be useful for e.g. high-density long-term data storage that isn't accessed and written to frequently as an alternative to 5D optical data storage or for use in combination with other nanobiotechnology. Membrane materials Another important area of research involves taking advantage of membrane properties to generate synthetic membranes. Proteins that self-assemble to generate functional materials could be used as a novel approach for the large-scale production of programmable nanomaterials. One example is the development of amyloids found in bacterial biofilms as engineered nanomaterials that can be programmed genetically to have different properties. Lipid nanotechnology Lipid nanotechnology is another major area of research in bionanotechnology, where physico-chemical properties of lipids such as their antifouling and self-assembly is exploited to build nanodevices with applications in medicine and engineering. Lipid nanotechnology approaches can also be used to develop next-generation emulsion methods to maximize both absorption of fat-soluble nutrients and the ability to incorporate them into popular beverages. Computing "Memristors" fabricated from protein nanowires of the bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens which function at substantially lower voltages than previously described ones may allow the construction of artificial neurons which function at voltages of biological action potentials. The nanowires have a range of advantages over silicon nanowires and the memristors may be used to directly process biosensing signals, for neuromorphic computing (see also: wetware computer) and/or direct communication with biological neurons. Other Protein folding studies provide a third important avenue of research, but one that has been largely inhibited by our inability to predict protein folding with a sufficiently high degree of accuracy. Given the myriad uses that biological systems have for proteins, though, research into understanding protein folding is of high importance and could prove fruitful for bionanotechnology in the future. Agriculture In the agriculture industry, engineered nanoparticles have been serving as nano carriers, containing herbicides, chemicals, or genes, which target particular plant parts to release their content. Previously nanocapsules containing herbicides have been reported to effectively penetrate through cuticles and tissues, allowing the slow and constant release of the active substances. Likewise, other literature describes that nano-encapsulated slow release of fertilizers has also become a trend to save fertilizer consumption and to minimize environmental pollution through precision farming. These are only a few examples from numerous research works which might open up exciting opportunities for nanobiotechnology application in agriculture. Also, application of this kind of engineered nanoparticles to plants should be considered the level of amicability before it is employed in agriculture practices. Based on a thorough literature survey, it was understood that there is only limited authentic information available to explain the biological consequence of engineered nanoparticles on treated plants. Certain reports underline the phytotoxicity of various origin of engineered nanoparticles to the plant caused by the subject of concentrations and sizes . At the same time, however, an equal number of studies were reported with a positive outcome of nanoparticles, which facilitate growth promoting nature to treat plant. In particular, compared to other nanoparticles, silver and gold nanoparticles based applications elicited beneficial results on various plant species with less and/or no toxicity. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) treated leaves of Asparagus showed the increased content of ascorbate and chlorophyll. Similarly, AgNPs-treated common bean and corn has increased shoot and root length, leaf surface area, chlorophyll, carbohydrate and protein contents reported earlier. The gold nanoparticle has been used to induce growth and seed yield in Brassica juncea. Nanobiotechnology is used in tissue cultures. The administration of micronutrients at the level of individual atoms and molecules allows for the stimulation of various stages of development, initiation of cell division, and differentiation in the production of plant material, which must be qualitatively uniform and genetically homogeneous. The use of nanoparticles of zinc (ZnO NPs) and silver (Ag NPs) compounds gives very good results in the micropropagation of chrysanthemums using the method of single-node shoot fragments. Tools This field relies on a variety of research methods, including experimental tools (e.g. imaging, characterization via AFM/optical tweezers etc.), x-ray diffraction based tools, synthesis via self-assembly, characterization of self-assembly (using e.g. MP-SPR, DPI, recombinant DNA methods, etc.), theory (e.g. statistical mechanics, nanomechanics, etc.), as well as computational approaches (bottom-up multi-scale simulation, supercomputing). Risk management As of 2009, the risks of nanobiotechnologies are poorly understood and in the U.S. there is no solid national consensus on what kind of regulatory policy principles should be followed. For example, nanobiotechnologies may have hard to control effects on the environment or ecosystems and human health. The metal-based nanoparticles used for biomedical prospectives are extremely enticing in various applications due to their distinctive physicochemical characteristics, allowing them to influence cellular processes at the biological level. The fact that metal-based nanoparticles have high surface-to-volume ratios makes them reactive or catalytic. Due to their small size, they are more likely to be able to penetrate biological barriers such as cell membranes and cause cellular dysfunction in living organisms. Indeed, the high toxicity of some transition metals can make it challenging to use mixed oxide NPs in biomedical uses. It triggers adverse effects on organisms, causing oxidative stress, stimulating the formation of ROS, mitochondrial perturbation, and the modulation of cellular functions, with fatal results in some cases. Bonin notes that "Nanotechnology is not a specific determinate homogenous entity, but a collection of diverse capabilities and applications" and that nanobiotechnology research and development is – as one of many fields – affected by dual-use problems. See also Biomimicry Colloidal gold Genome editing (bacteria, (micro-borgs)) Gold nanoparticle Nanobiomechanics Nanoparticle–biomolecule conjugate Nanosubmarine Nanozymes References External links What is Bionanotechnology?—a video introduction to the field Nanobiotechnology in Orthopaedic Nanotechnology Biotechnology

Overpopulation

Overpopulation or overabundance is a phenomenon in which a species' population becomes larger than the carrying capacity of its environment. This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scale migration, leading to an overabundant species and other animals in the ecosystem competing for food, space, and resources. The animals in an overpopulated area may then be forced to migrate to areas not typically inhabited, or die off without access to necessary resources. Judgements regarding overpopulation always involve both facts and values. Animals often are judged overpopulated when their numbers cause impacts that people find dangerous, damaging, expensive, or otherwise harmful. Societies may be judged overpopulated when their human numbers cause impacts that degrade ecosystem services, decrease human health and well-being, or crowd other species out of existence. Background In ecology, overpopulation is a concept used primarily in wildlife management. Typically, an overpopulation causes the entire population of the species in question to become weaker, as no single individual is able to find enough food or shelter. As such, overpopulation is thus characterized by an increase in the diseases and parasite-load which live upon the species in question, as the entire population is weaker. Other characteristics of overpopulation are lower fecundity, adverse effects on the environment (soil, vegetation or fauna) and lower average body weights. Especially the worldwide increase of deer populations, which usually show irruptive growth, is proving to be of ecological concern. Ironically, where ecologists were preoccupied with conserving or augmenting deer populations only a century ago, the focus has now shifted in the direct opposite, and ecologists are now more concerned with limiting the populations of such animals. Supplemental feeding of charismatic species or interesting game species is a major problem in causing overpopulation, as is too little hunting or trapping of such species. Management solutions are increasing hunting by making it easier or cheaper for (foreign) hunters to hunt, banning supplemental feeding, awarding bounties, forcing landowners to hunt or contract professional hunters, using immunocontraception, promoting the harvest of venison or other wild meats, introducing large predators (rewilding), poisonings or introducing diseases. A useful tool in wildlife culling is the use of mobile freezer trailers in which to store carcasses. The harvest of meat from wild animals is a sustainable method of creating a circular economy. Immunocontraception is a non-lethal method of regulating wild-animal population growth. Immunocontraception has been successfully used or tested in a variety of wild-animal populations including those of bison, deer, elephants, gray squirrels, pigeons, rats and wild horses. Among the limitations of injectable immunocontraceptives are a relatively long time between vaccine administration and a reduction in population size (although stabilization of population size occurs faster) and the need to be in close proximity with animals for injection. Oral vaccines do not have the latter limitation, but they are still not as well developed as injectable vaccines. Judgements about overpopulation of wildlife or domestic animals typically are made in terms of human purposes and interests; since these vary, such judgements may vary, too. Judgements about human overpopulation are even more contentious, since the purposes and interests involved may be very important, even rising to the level of existence itself. Nevertheless, all people and every society have an interest in preserving a habitable biosphere, which may be compromised or degraded by too may people. In the context of rapid climate change, mass species extinction and other global environmental problems, discussions regarding human overpopulation are inevitable. Recent scientific evidence from many sources suggests Earth may be overpopulated currently. Evidence of rapidly declining ecosystem services was presented in detail in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of 2005, a collaborative effort involving more than 1,360 experts worldwide. More recent scientific accounts are provided by ecological footprint accounting and interdisciplinary research on planetary boundaries for safe human use of biosphere. The Sixth Assessment Report on Climate Change from the IPCC and the First Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services by the IPBES, large international summaries of the state of scientific knowledge regarding climate disruption and biodiversity loss, also support the view that unprecedented human numbers are contributing to global ecological decline. Recent estimates of a sustainable global human population run between two and four billion people. Judgements about human or animal overpopulation hinge partly on whether people feel a moral obligation to leave sufficient habitat and resources to preserve viable populations of other species. Recent biodiversity losses show that humanity's success in supporting larger human populations over the past century has depended on reducing the populations of many of Earth's other species. This is a special example of the competitive exclusion principle in ecology, which states that two species which compete for the same limited resource cannot coexist at constant population values. Today humanity essentially competes with other species everywhere on Earth. We thus face choices regarding whether to preserve populations of other species and limit our own, or not. These essentially ethical choices  will make a difference in future judgements about overpopulation. Well studied species Deer In Scotland the program of having landowners privately cull the overpopulation of red deer in the highlands has proved an abject failure. Scotland's deer are stunted, emaciated, and frequently starve in the Spring. As of 2016 the population is now so high, that 100,000 deer would need to be culled each year only to maintain the current population. A number of landowners have proven unwilling to accede to the law, requiring government intervention anyway. It has been necessary to contract professional hunters in order to satisfy landowner legislation regarding the annual cull. Millions of pounds of taxpayers' cash is spent on the annual cull. As of 2020, 100,000 deer are shot each year. Compounding the problem, some landowners have used supplemental feeding at certain shooting blinds in order to ease sport hunting. Overpopulation can have effects on forage plants, eventually causing a species to alter the greater environment. Natural ecosystems are extremely complex. The overpopulation of deer in Britain has been caused by legislation making hunting more difficult, but another reason may be the proliferation of forests, used by different deer species to breed and shelter. Forests and parks have caused Britain to be much more forested than it was in recent history, and may thus perversely be causing biodiversity loss, conversion of heath habitat to grassland, extirpation of grassland and woodland plants due to overgrazing and the changing of the habitat structure. Examples are bluebells and primroses. Deer open up the forest and reduce the amount of brambles, which then has knock-on effects on dormice and certain birds which nest near the ground, such as the capercaillie, dunnock, nightingale, song thrush, willow warbler, marsh tit, willow tit and bullfinch. Populations of the nightingale and the European turtle dove are believed to be primarily impacted by muntjac. Grouse populations suffer due to smashing into the fencing needed to protect against deer. A significant amount of the environmental destruction in Britain is caused by an overabundance of deer. Besides ecological effects, overpopulation of deer causes economic effects due to browsing on crops, expensive fencing needed to combat this and protect new afforestation planting and coppice growth, and increasing numbers of road traffic incidents. High populations cause stripping of the bark of trees, eventually destroying forests. Protecting forests from deer costs on average three times as much as planting the forest in the first place. The NGO Trees for Life spent weeks planting native trees in Scotland, aiming to rebuild the ancient Caledonian Forest. After winter snowdrifts in 2014/2015 flattened the deer fences, more than a decade's growth was lost in a matter of weeks. In 2009 – 2010 the cost of forest protection in Scotland ran to £10.5m. Some animals, such as muntjac, are too small and boring for most hunters to shoot, which poses additional management problems. In the United States the exact same problem is seen with white-tailed deer, where populations have exploded and become invasive species in some areas. The state of Wisconsin has an estimated population of 1.9 million White tail deer, measured in 2020. In continental Europe roe deer pose a similar problem, although the populations were formerly much less, they have swelled in the 20th century so that although two and a half million are shot each year by hunters in Western Europe alone, as of 1998, the population still appears to be increasing, causing problems for forestry and traffic. In an experiment where roe deer on a Norwegian island were freed from human harvest and predators, the deer showed a doubling of the population each year or two. In the Netherlands and southern England roe deer were extirpated from the entirety of the country except for a few small areas around 1875. In the 1970s the species was still completely absent from Wales, but as of 2013, it has colonized the entire country. As new forests were planted in the Netherlands in the 20th century, the population began to expand rapidly. As of 2016 there are some 110,000 deer in the country. Birds Aquaculture operations, recreation angling and populations of endangered fish such as the schelly are impacted by cormorant populations. Open aquaculture ponds provide winter or year-round homes and food for cormorants. Cormorants' effect on the aquaculture industry is significant, with a dense flock capable of consuming an entire harvest. Cormorants are estimated to cost the catfish industry in Mississippi alone between $10 million and $25 million annually. Cormorant culling is commonly achieved by sharp-shooting, nest destruction, roost dispersal and oiling the eggs. Geese numbers have also been called overpopulated. In the Canadian Arctic region, snow geese, Ross's geese, greater white-fronted geese and some populations of Canada geese have been increasing significantly over the past decades. Lesser snow geese populations have increased to over three million, and continue to increase by some 5% per year. Giant Canada geese have grown from near extinction to nuisance levels, in some areas. Average body sizes have decreased and parasite loads are higher. Before the 1980s, Arctic geese populations had boom and bust cycles (see above) thought to be based on food availability, although there are still some bust years, this no longer seems the case. It is difficult to know what the numbers of geese were before the 20th century, before human impact presumably altered them. There are a few anecdotal claims from that time of two or three million, but these are likely exaggerations, as that would imply a massive die-off or vast amounts harvested, for which there is no evidence. More likely estimates from the period of 1500 to 1900 are a few hundred thousand animals, which implies that with the exception of Ross's geese, modern populations of geese are many millions more than in pre-industrial levels. Humans are blamed as the ultimate cause for the increase, directly and indirectly, due to management legislation limiting hunting introduced specifically in order to protect bird populations, but most importantly due to the increase in agriculture and large parks, which has had the effect of creating vast amounts of unintentional sanctuaries filled with food. Urban geese flocks have increased enormously. City ordinances generally prohibit discharging firearms, keeping such flocks safe, and there is abundant food. Geese profit from agricultural grain crops, and seem to be shifting their habitat preferences to such farmlands. Reduction of goose hunting in the US since the 1970s seems to have further had the effect of protecting populations. In Canada hunting has also decreased dramatically, from 43.384% harvest rates in the 1960s to 8% in the 1990s. Nonetheless, when kill rates were compared to populations, hunting alone does not seems to be solely responsible for the increase -weather or a not yet completed shift in habitat preference to agricultural land may also be factors. Although hunting may have formerly been the main factor in maintaining stable populations, ecologists no longer consider it a practical management solution, as public interest in the practice has continued to wane, and the population is now so large that the massive culls needed are unrealistic to ask from the public. Climate change in the Arctic would appear to be an obvious cause for the increase, but when subpopulations are correlated with local climatic increases, this does not seem to hold true, and furthermore, breeding regions seem to be shifting southwards anyway, irrespective of climate change. The nutrient subsidy provided by foraging in agricultural land may have made the overall landscape use by geese unsustainable. Where such geese congregate local plant communities have been substantially altered; these chronic effects are cumulative, and have been considered a threat to the Arctic ecosystems, due to knock-on effects on native ducks, shorebirds and passerines. Grubbing and overgrazing by geese completely denudes the tundra and marshland, in combination with abiotic processes, this creates large desert expanses of hypersaline, anoxic mud which continue to increase each year. Biodiversity drops to only one or two species which are inedible for geese, such as Senecio congestus, Salicornia borealis and Atriplex hastata. Because grazing occurs in serial stages, with biodiversity decreasing at each stage, floral composition may be used as an indicator of the degree of goose foraging at a site. Other effects are destruction of the vegetation holding dunes in place, the shift from sedge meadows and grassy swards with herbaceous plants to moss fields, which can eventually give way to bare ground called 'peat barrens', and the erosion of this bare peat until glacial gravel and till is bared. In the High Arctic research is less developed: Eriophorum scheuchzeri and E. angustifolium fens appear to be affected, and are being replaced by carpets of moss, whereas meadows covered in Dupontia fisheri appear to be escaping destruction. There does not appear to be the damage found at lower latitudes in the Arctic. There is little proper research in effects on other birds. The yellow rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) appears to be extirpated from areas of Manitoba due habitat loss caused by the geese, whereas on the other hand the semipalmated plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) appears to be taking advantage of the large areas of dead willows as a breeding ground. In the wintering grounds in continental USA, effects are much less pronounced. Experimentally excluding geese by means of fencing in North Carolina has found heavily affected areas can regenerate after only two years. Bulrush stands (Schoenoplectus americanus) are still an important component of the diet, but there are indications the bulrush is being impacted, with soft mudflats gradually replacing areas where it grows. Damage to agriculture is primarily to seedlings, winter wheat and hay production. Changing the species composition to species less palatable to geese, such as Lotus may alleviate losses in hay operations. Geese also feed on agricultural land without causing economic loss, gleaning seeds from corn, soya or other grains and feeding on wheat, potato and corn stubble. In Québec crop damage insurance for the hay industry began in 1992 and claims increased yearly; actual compensation paid by the government, including administrative costs, amount to some half a million dollars a year. The fact that Arctic regions are remote, there is little public understanding for combatting the problem, and ecologists as yet do not have any effective solutions for combatting the problem anyway. In Canada, the most important hunters of geese are the Cree people around Hudson Bay, members of the Mushkegowuk Harvesters Association, with an average kill rate of up to 60.75 birds per species per hunter in the 1970s. Kill rates have dropped, with hunters taking only half as much in the 1990s. However, total numbers of kills have increased, i.e. there are more hunters, but they are killing less per person. Nonetheless, per household the kills are approximately the same, at 100 birds. This indicates that stimulating an increase in native hunting might be difficult to achieve. The Cree population has increased. Elders say the taste of the birds has gotten worse, and they are thinner, both possibly effects due to the overpopulation. Elders also say that hunting has gotten more difficult, because there are less young and goslings, which are more likely to fall for decoys. Inuit and other people in the north do much less hunting of geese, with kill rates of 1 to 24 per species per hunter. Per kilogram, hunters save some $8.14 to $11.40 from buying poultry at stores. Total kill numbers from hunters elsewhere in the US and southern Canada has been falling steadily. This is blamed on a decline in people interested in hunting, more feeding areas for the birds, and larger flocks with more experienced adult birds which makes decoying difficult. Individual hunters are bagging higher numbers, compensating lower hunter numbers. Management strategies in the USA include increasing the bag limit and the number of open hunting days, goose egg addling, trapping and relocation, and egg and nest destruction, managing habitat to make it less attractive to geese, harassment and direct culling. In Denver, Colorado, during moulting season biologists rounded up 300Canada geese (of 5,000 in the city), ironically on Canada Day, killing them and distributing the meat to needy families (as opposed to sending it to a landfill), to try to curb the number of geese, following such programs in New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Maryland. Complaints about the birds were that they had taken over the golf courses, pooped all over the place, devoured native plants and scared citizens. Such culls have proven socially controversial, with intense backlash by some citizens. Park officials had tried dipping eggs in oil, using noise-makers and planting tall plants, but this was not sufficient. In Russia, the problem does not seem to exist, likely due to human harvest and local long-term cooling climate trends in the Russian Far East and Wrangel Island. It is also possible that the population growth is completely natural, and that when the carrying capacity of the environment is reached the population will stop growing. For organisations such as Ducks Unlimited, the resurgence of goose populations in North America can be called one of the greatest success story in wildlife management. By 2003 the US goose harvest was approaching 4 million, three times the numbers 30 years previously. Pets In the United States, over half of the households own a dog or a cat. Even with so much pet ownership there is still an issue with pet overpopulation, especially seen in shelters. Because of this problem it is estimated that between 10 and 25 percent of dogs and cats are killed yearly. The animals are killed humanely, but the goal is to greatly lower and eventually completely avoid this. Estimating the overpopulation of pets, especially cats and dogs, is a difficult task, but it has been a continuous problem. It has been hard to determine the number of shelters and animals in each shelter around even just the US. Animals are constantly being moved around or euthanized, so it is difficult to keep track of those numbers across the country. It is becoming universally agreed upon that sterilization is a tool that can help reduce population size so that less offspring are produced in the future With less offspring, pet populations can start to decrease which reduces the amount that get killed each year. Population cycles In the wild, rampant population growth of prey species often causes growth in the populations of predators. Such predator-prey relationships can form cycles, which are usually mathematically modelled as Lotka–Volterra equations. In natural ecosystems, predator population growth lags just behind the prey populations. After the prey population crashes, the overpopulation of predators causes the entire population to be subjected to mass starvation. The population of the predator drops, as less young are able to survive into adulthood. This could be considered a perfect time for wildlife managers to allow hunters or trappers to harvest as much of these animals as necessary, for example lynx in Canada, although on the other hand this may impact the ability of the predator to rebound when the prey population begins to exponentially increase again. Such mathematical models are also crucial in determining the amount of fish which may be sustainably harvested in fisheries, this is known as the maximum sustainable yield. Predator population growth has the effect of controlling the prey population, and can result in the evolution of prey species in favour of genetic characteristics that render it less vulnerable to predation (and the predator may co-evolve, in response). In the absence of predators, species are bound by the resources they can find in their environment, but this does not necessarily control overpopulation, at least in the short term. An abundant supply of resources can produce a population boom followed by a population crash. Rodents such as lemmings and voles have such population cycles of rapid growth and subsequent decrease. Snowshoe hares populations similarly cycle dramatically, as did those of one of their predators, the lynx. Another example is the cycles among populations of grey wolves and moose in Isle Royale National Park. For some still unexplained reason, such patterns in mammal population dynamics are more prevalent in ecosystems found at more arctic latitudes. Some species such as locusts experience large natural cyclic variations, experienced by farmers as plagues. Determining population size/density When determining whether a population is overpopulated a variety of factors must be looked at. Given the complexity of the issue, scientists and wildlife managers often differ in judging such claims. In many cases scientists will look to food sources and living space to gauge the abundance of a species in a particular area. National parks collect extensive data on the activities and quality of the environment they are established in. This data can be used to track whether a specific species is consuming larger amounts of their desired food source over time. This is done typically in four ways, the first being "total counting". Researchers will use aerial photography to count large populations in a specific area such as deer, waterfowl, and other "flocking" or "herd" animals. Incomplete counts involve counting a small subsection of a population and extrapolating the data across the whole area. This method will take into account the behavior of the animals such as how much territory a herd may cover, the density of the population, and other potential factors that may come into question. The third method is "indirect counts"; this is done by looking at the environment for signs of animal presence. Typically done by counting fecal matter or dens/nesting of a particular animal. This method is not as accurate as direct counting, but gives general counts of a population in a specific locale. Lastly the method of mark-recapture is used extensively to determine general population sizes. This method involves the trapping of animals after which some form of tag is placed on the animal and it is released back into the wild. After which, other trappings will determine population size based on the number of marked versus unmarked animals. Fish populations Similar methods can be used to determine the population of fish however some key differences arise in the extrapolation of data. Unlike many land animals in-land fish populations are divided into smaller population sizes. Factors such as migration may not be relevant when determining population in a specific locales while more important for others such as the many species of salmon or trout. Monitoring of waterways and isolated bodies of water provide more frequently updated information on the populations in specific areas. This is done using similar methods to the mark-recapture methods of many land animals. Introduced species The introduction of a foreign species has often caused ecological disturbance, such as when deer and trout were introduced into Argentina, or when rabbits were introduced to Australia and predators were introduced in turn to attempt to control the rabbits. When an introduced species is so successful that its population begins to increase exponentially and causes deleterious effects to farmers, fisheries, or the natural environment, these introduced species are called invasive species. In the case of the Mute swan, Cygnus olor, their population has rapidly spread across much of North America as well as parts of Canada and western Europe. This species of swan has caused much concern for wildlife management as they damage aquatic vegetation, and harass other waterfowl, displacing them. The population of the Mute swan has seen an average increase of around 10-18% per year which further threatens to impact the areas they inhabit. Management of the species comes in a variety of ways. Similar to overpopulated or invasive species, hunting is one of the most effective methods of population control. Other methods may involve trapping, relocation, or euthanasia. Criticism In natural ecosystems, populations naturally expand until they reach the carrying capacity of the environment; if the resources on which they depend are exhausted, they naturally collapse. According to the animal rights movement, calling this an 'overpopulation' is more an ethics question than a scientific fact. Animal rights organisations are commonly critics of ecological systems and wildlife management. Animal rights activists and locals earning income from commercial hunts counter that scientists are outsiders who do not know wildlife issues, and that any slaughter of animals is evil. Various case studies indicate that use of cattle as 'natural grazers' in many European nature parks due to absence of hunting, culling or natural predators (such as wolves), may cause an overpopulation because the cattle do not migrate. This has the effect of reducing plant biodiversity, as the cattle consume native plants. Because such cattle populations begin to starve and die in the winter as available forage drops, this has caused animal rights activists to advocate supplemental feeding, which has the effect of exacerbating the ecological effects, causing nitrification and eutrophication due to excess faeces, deforestation as trees are destroyed, and biodiversity loss. Despite the ecological effects of overpopulation, wildlife managers may want such high populations in order to satisfy public enjoyment of seeing wild animals. Others contend that introducing large predators such as lynx and wolves may have similar economic benefits, even if tourists rarely actually catch glimpses of such creatures. In regards to population size, most of the methods used give estimates that vary in accuracy to the actual size and density of the population. Criticisms of theses methods generally fall onto the efficacy of methods used. Human overpopulation Overpopulation can result from an increase in births, a decline in mortality rates against the background of high fertility rates. It is possible for very sparsely populated areas to be overpopulated if the area has a meagre or non-existent capability to sustain life (e.g. a desert). Advocates of population moderation cite issues like quality of life and risk of starvation and disease and human pressures on the environment as a basis to argue against continuing high human population growth and for population decline. See also Overshoot (population) References Population density Population ecology Zoology

Natural resource economics

Natural resource economics deals with the supply, demand, and allocation of the Earth's natural resources. One main objective of natural resource economics is to better understand the role of natural resources in the economy in order to develop more sustainable methods of managing those resources to ensure their availability for future generations. Resource economists study interactions between economic and natural systems, with the goal of developing a sustainable and efficient economy. Areas of discussion Natural resource economics is a transdisciplinary field of academic research within economics that aims to address the connections and interdependence between human economies and natural ecosystems. Its focus is how to operate an economy within the ecological constraints of earth's natural resources. Resource economics brings together and connects different disciplines within the natural and social sciences connected to broad areas of earth science, human economics, and natural ecosystems. Economic models must be adapted to accommodate the special features of natural resource inputs. The traditional curriculum of natural resource economics emphasized fisheries models, forestry models, and mineral extraction models (i.e. fish, trees, and ore). In recent years, however, other resources, notably air, water, the global climate, and "environmental resources" in general have become increasingly important to policy-making. Academic and policy interest has now moved beyond simply the optimal commercial exploitation of the standard trio of resources to encompass management for other objectives. For example, natural resources more broadly have defined recreational, as well as commercial values. They may also contribute to overall social welfare levels, by their mere existence. The economics and policy area focuses on the human aspects of environmental problems. Traditional areas of environmental and natural resource economics include welfare theory, land/location use, pollution control, resource extraction, and non-market valuation, and also resource exhaustibility, sustainability, environmental management, and environmental policy. Research topics could include the environmental impacts of agriculture, transportation and urbanization, land use in poor and industrialized countries, international trade and the environment, climate change, and methodological advances in non-market valuation, to name just a few. Hotelling's rule is a 1938 economic model of non-renewable resource management by Harold Hotelling. It shows that efficient exploitation of a nonrenewable and nonaugmentable resource would, under otherwise stable economic conditions, lead to a depletion of the resource. The rule states that this would lead to a net price or "Hotelling rent" for it that rose annually at a rate equal to the rate of interest, reflecting the increasing scarcity of the resource. Nonaugmentable resources of inorganic materials (i.e. minerals) are uncommon; most resources can be augmented by recycling and by the existence and use of substitutes for the end-use products (see below). Vogely has stated that the development of a mineral resource occurs in five stages: (1) The current operating margin (rate of production) governed by the proportion of the reserve (resource) already depleted. (2) The intensive development margin governed by the trade-off between the rising necessary investment and quicker realization of revenue. (3) The extensive development margin in which extraction is begun of known but previously uneconomic deposits. (4) The exploration margin in which the search for new deposits (resources) is conducted and the cost per unit extracted is highly uncertain with the cost of failure having to be balanced against finding usable resources (deposits) that have marginal costs of extraction no higher than in the first three stages above. (5) The technology margin which interacts with the first four stages. The Gray-Hotelling (exhaustion) theory is a special case, since it covers only Stages 1–3 and not the far more important Stages 4 and 5. Simon has stated that the supply of natural resources is infinite (i.e. perpetual) These conflicting views will be substantially reconciled by considering resource-related topics in depth in the next section, or at least minimized. Furthermore, Hartwick's rule provides insight to the sustainability of welfare in an economy that uses non-renewable resources. Perpetual resources vs. exhaustibility Background and introduction The perpetual resource concept is a complex one because the concept of resource is complex and changes with the advent of new technology (usually more efficient recovery), new needs, and to a lesser degree with new economics (e.g. changes in prices of the material, changes in energy costs, etc.). On the one hand, a material (and its resources) can enter a time of shortage and become a strategic and critical material (an immediate exhaustibility crisis), but on the other hand a material can go out of use, its resource can proceed to being perpetual if it was not before, and then the resource can become a paleoresource when the material goes almost completely out of use (e.g. resources of arrowhead-grade flint). Some of the complexities influencing resources of a material include the extent of recyclability, the availability of suitable substitutes for the material in its end-use products, plus some other less important factors. The Federal Government suddenly became compellingly interested in resource issues on December 7, 1941, shortly after which Japan cut the U.S. off from tin and rubber and made some other materials, such as tungsten, very difficult to obtain. This was the worst case for resource availability, becoming a strategic and critical material. After the war a government stockpile of strategic and critical materials was set up, having around 100 different materials that were purchased for cash or obtained by trading off U.S. agricultural commodities for them. In the longer term, scarcity of tin later led to completely substituting aluminum foil for tin foil and polymer lined steel cans and aseptic packaging substituting for tin electroplated steel cans. Resources change over time with technology and economics; more efficient recovery leads to a drop in the ore grade needed. The average grade of the copper ore processed has dropped from 4.0% copper in 1900 to 1.63% in 1920, 1.20% in 1940, 0.73% in 1960, 0.47% in 1980, and 0.44% in 2000. Cobalt had been in an iffy supply status ever since the Belgian Congo (world's only significant source of cobalt) was given a hasty independence in 1960 and the cobalt-producing province seceded as Katanga, followed by several wars and insurgencies, local government removals, railroads destroyed, and nationalizations. This was topped off by an invasion of the province by Katangan rebels in 1978 that disrupted supply and transportation and caused the cobalt price to briefly triple. While the cobalt supply was disrupted and the price shot up, nickel and other substitutes were pressed into service. Following this, the idea of a "Resource War" by the Soviets became popular. Rather than the chaos that resulted from the Zairean cobalt situation, this would be planned, a strategy designed to destroy economic activity outside the Soviet bloc by the acquisition of vital resources by noneconomic means (military?) outside the Soviet bloc (Third World?), then withholding these minerals from the West. An important way of getting around a cobalt situation or a "Resource War" situation is to use substitutes for a material in its end-uses. Some criteria for a satisfactory substitute are (1) ready availability domestically in adequate quantities or availability from contiguous nations, or possibly from overseas allies, (2) possessing physical and chemical properties, performance, and longevity comparable to the material of first choice, (3) well-established and known behavior and properties particularly as a component in exotic alloys, and (4) an ability for processing and fabrication with minimal changes in existing technology, capital plant, and processing and fabricating facilities. Some suggested substitutions were alunite for bauxite to make alumina, molybdenum and/or nickel for cobalt, and aluminum alloy automobile radiators for copper alloy automobile radiators. Materials can be eliminated without material substitutes, for example by using discharges of high tension electricity to shape hard objects that were formerly shaped by mineral abrasives, giving superior performance at lower cost, or by using computers/satellites to replace copper wire (land lines). An important way of replacing a resource is by synthesis, for example, industrial diamonds and many kinds of graphite, although a certain kind of graphite could be almost replaced by a recycled product. Most graphite is synthetic, for example, graphite electrodes, graphite fiber, graphite shapes (machined or unmachined), and graphite powder. Another way of replacing or extending a resource is by recycling the material desired from scrap or waste. This depends on whether or not the material is dissipated or is available as a no longer usable durable product. Reclamation of the durable product depends on its resistance to chemical and physical breakdown, quantities available, price of availability, and the ease of extraction from the original product. For example, bismuth in stomach medicine is hopelessly scattered (dissipated) and therefore impossible to recover, while bismuth alloys can be easily recovered and recycled. A good example where recycling makes a big difference is the resource availability situation for graphite, where flake graphite can be recovered from a renewable resource called kish, a steelmaking waste created when carbon separates out as graphite within the kish from the molten metal along with slag. After it is cold, the kish can be processed. Several other kinds of resources need to be introduced. If strategic and critical materials are the worst case for resources, unless mitigated by substitution and/or recycling, one of the best is an abundant resource. An abundant resource is one whose material has so far found little use, such as using high-aluminous clays or anorthosite to produce alumina, and magnesium before it was recovered from seawater. An abundant resource is quite similar to a perpetual resource. The reserve base is the part of an identified resource that has a reasonable potential for becoming economically available at a time beyond when currently proven technology and current economics are in operation. Identified resources are those whose location, grade, quality, and quantity are known or estimated from specific geologic evidence. Reserves are that part of the reserve base that can be economically extracted at the time of determination; reserves should not be used as a surrogate for resources because they are often distorted by taxation or the owning firm's public relations needs. Comprehensive natural resource models Harrison Brown and associates stated that humanity will process lower and lower grade "ore". Iron will come from low-grade iron-bearing material such as raw rock from anywhere in an iron formation, not much different from the input used to make taconite pellets in North America and elsewhere today. As coking coal reserves decline, pig iron and steel production will use non-coke-using processes (i.e. electric steel). The aluminum industry could shift from using bauxite to using anorthosite and clay. Magnesium metal and magnesia consumption (i.e. in refractories), currently obtained from seawater, will increase. Sulfur will be obtained from pyrites, then gypsum or anhydrite. Metals such as copper, zinc, nickel, and lead will be obtained from manganese nodules or the Phosphoria formation (sic!). These changes could occur irregularly in different parts of the world. While Europe and North America might use anorthosite or clay as raw material for aluminum, other parts of the world might use bauxite, and while North America might use taconite, Brazil might use iron ore. New materials will appear (note: they have), the result of technological advances, some acting as substitutes and some with new properties. Recycling will become more common and more efficient (note: it has!). Ultimately, minerals and metals will be obtained by processing "average" rock. Rock, 100 tonnes of "average" igneous rock, will yield eight tonnes of aluminum, five tonnes of iron, and 0.6 tonnes of titanium. The USGS model based on crustal abundance data and the reserve-abundance relationship of McKelvey, is applied to several metals in the Earth's crust (worldwide) and in the U.S. crust. The potential currently recoverable (present technology, economy) resources that come closest to the McKelvey relationship are those that have been sought for the longest time, such as copper, zinc, lead, silver, gold and molybdenum. Metals that do not follow the McKelvey relationship are ones that are byproducts (of major metals) or have not been vital to the economy until recently (titanium, aluminum to a lesser degree). Bismuth is an example of a byproduct metal that does not follow the relationship very well; the 3% lead reserves in the western U.S. would have only 100 ppm bismuth, clearly too low-grade for a bismuth reserve. The world recoverable resource potential is 2,120 million tonnes for copper, 2,590 million tonnes for nickel, 3,400 million tonnes for zinc, 3,519 billion tonnes for aluminum, and 2,035 billion tonnes for iron. Diverse authors have further contributions. Some think the number of substitutes is almost infinite, particularly with the flow of new materials from the chemical industry; identical end products can be made from different materials and starting points. Since all materials are 100 times weaker than they theoretically should be, it ought to be possible to eliminate areas of dislocations and greatly strengthen them, enabling lesser quantities to be used. To summarize, "mining" companies will have more and more diverse products, the world economy is moving away from materials towards services, and the population seems to be levelling, all of which implies a lessening of demand growth for materials; much of the materials will be recovered from somewhat uncommon rocks, there will be much more coproducts and byproducts from a given operation, and more trade in minerals and materials. Trend towards perpetual resources As radical new technology impacts the materials and minerals world more and more powerfully, the materials used are more and more likely to have perpetual resources. There are already more and more materials that have perpetual resources and less and less materials that have nonrenewable resources or are strategic and critical materials. Some materials that have perpetual resources such as salt, stone, magnesium, and common clay were mentioned previously. Thanks to new technology, synthetic diamonds were added to the list of perpetual resources, since they can be easily made from a lump of another form of carbon. Synthetic graphite, is made in large quantities (graphite electrodes, graphite fiber) from carbon precursors such as petroleum coke or a textile fiber. A firm named Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. is utilizing the removal of dislocations in a material with a technique that overcomes performance limitations caused by inherent weaknesses in the crystal atomic structure. It makes amorphous metal alloys, which retain a random atomic structure when the hot metal solidifies, rather than the crystalline atomic structure (with dislocations) that normally forms when hot metal solidifies. These amorphous alloys have much better performance properties than usual; for example, their zirconium-titanium Liquidmetal alloys are 250% stronger than a standard titanium alloy. The Liquidmetal alloys can supplant many high performance alloys. Exploration of the ocean bottom in the last fifty years revealed manganese nodules and phosphate nodules in many locations. More recently, polymetallic sulfide deposits have been discovered and polymetallic sulfide "black muds" are being presently deposited from "black smokers" The cobalt scarcity situation of 1978 has a new option now: recover it from manganese nodules. A Korean firm plans to start developing a manganese nodule recovery operation in 2010; the manganese nodules recovered would average 27% to 30% manganese, 1.25% to 1.5% nickel, 1% to 1.4% copper, and 0.2% to 0.25% cobalt (commercial grade) Nautilus Minerals Ltd. is planning to recover commercial grade material averaging 29.9% zinc, 2.3% lead, and 0.5% copper from massive ocean-bottom polymetallic sulfide deposits using an underwater vacuum cleaner-like device that combines some current technologies in a new way. Partnering with Nautilus are Tech Cominco Ltd. and Anglo-American Ltd., world-leading international firms. There are also other robot mining techniques that could be applied under the ocean. Rio Tinto is using satellite links to allow workers 1500 kilometers away to operate drilling rigs, load cargo, dig out ore and dump it on conveyor belts, and place explosives to subsequently blast rock and earth. The firm can keep workers out of danger this way, and also use fewer workers. Such technology reduces costs and offsets declines in metal content of ore reserves. Thus a variety of minerals and metals are obtainable from unconventional sources with resources available in huge quantities. Finally, what is a perpetual resource? The ASTM definition for a perpetual resource is "one that is virtually inexhaustible on a human time-scale". Examples given include solar energy, tidal energy, and wind energy, to which should be added salt, stone, magnesium, diamonds, and other materials mentioned above. A study on the biogeophysical aspects of sustainability came up with a rule of prudent practice that a resource stock should last 700 years to achieve sustainability or become a perpetual resource, or for a worse case, 350 years. If a resource lasting 700 or more years is perpetual, one that lasts 350 to 700 years can be called an abundant resource, and is so defined here. How long the material can be recovered from its resource depends on human need and changes in technology from extraction through the life cycle of the product to final disposal, plus recyclability of the material and availability of satisfactory substitutes. Specifically, this shows that exhaustibility does not occur until these factors weaken and play out: the availability of substitutes, the extent of recycling and its feasibility, more efficient manufacturing of the final consumer product, more durable and longer-lasting consumer products, and even a number of other factors. The most recent resource information and guidance on the kinds of resources that must be considered is covered on the Resource Guide-Update Transitioning: perpetual resources to paleoresources Perpetual resources can transition to being a paleoresource. A paleoresource is one that has little or no demand for the material extracted from it; an obsolescent material, humans no longer need it. The classic paleoresource is an arrowhead-grade flint resource; no one makes flint arrowheads or spearheads anymore—making a sharpened piece of scrap steel and using it is much simpler. Obsolescent products include tin cans, tin foil, the schoolhouse slate blackboard, and radium in medical technology. Radium has been replaced by much cheaper cobalt-60 and other radioisotopes in radiation treatment. Noncorroding lead as a cable covering has been replaced by plastics. Pennsylvania anthracite is another material where the trend towards obsolescence and becoming a paleoresource can be shown statistically. Production of anthracite was 70.4 million tonnes in 1905, 49.8 million tonnes in 1945, 13.5 million tonnes in 1965, 4.3 million tonnes in 1985, and 1.5 million tonnes in 2005. The amount used per person was 84 kg per person in 1905, 7.1 kg in 1965, and 0.8 kg in 2005. Compare this to the USGS anthracite reserves of 18.6 billion tonnes and total resources of 79 billion tonnes; the anthracite demand has dropped so much that these resources are more than perpetual. Since anthracite resources are so far into the perpetual resource range and demand for anthracite has dropped so far, is it possible to see how anthracite might become a paleoresource? Probably by customers continuing to disappear (i.e. convert to other kinds of energy for space heating), the supply network atrophy as anthracite coal dealers cannot retain enough business to cover costs and close, and mines with too small a volume to cover costs also close. This is a mutually reinforcing process: customers convert to other forms of cleaner energy that produce less pollution and carbon dioxide, then the coal dealer has to close because of lack of enough sales volume to cover costs. The coal dealer's other customers are then forced to convert unless they can find another nearby coal dealer. Finally, the anthracite mine closes because it does not have enough sales volume to cover its costs. Global geochemical cycles See also Bioeconomics C. Arden Pope Calculation in kind Earth Economics (policy think tank) Ecodynamics Ecological economics Economic rent Energy accounting Energy Economics Energy and Environment Environmental economics Industrial ecology Jevons's paradox Land value tax Low-carbon economy Peak oil Hubbert's peak Population dynamics Severance tax Social metabolism Sustainable development Systems ecology Thermoeconomics Tragedy of the anticommons Tragedy of the commons World3 References Further reading David A. Anderson (2019). Environmental Economics and Natural Resource Management 5e, New York: Routledge. Michael J. Conroy and James T. Peterson (2013). Decision Making in Natural Resource Management, New York: Wiley-Blackwell. Kevin H. Deal (2016). Wildlife and Natural Resource Management 4e, Boston: Delmar Cengage Learning. External links The International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE) The International Journal of Green Economics Curated bibliography at IDEAS/RePEc Energy economics Natural resource management

Colonisation (biology)

Colonisation or colonization is the spread and development of an organism in a new area or habitat. Colonization comprises the physical arrival of a species in a new area, but also its successful establishment within the local community. In ecology, it is represented by the symbol λ (lowercase lambda) to denote the long-term intrinsic growth rate of a population. Surrounding theories and applicable process have been introduced below. These include dispersal, colonisation-competition trade off and prominent examples that have been previously studied. One classic scientific model in biogeography posits that a species must continue to colonize new areas through its life cycle (called a taxon cycle) in order to persist. Accordingly, colonisation and extinction are key components of island biogeography, a theory that has many applications in ecology, such as metapopulations. Another factor included in this scientific model is the competition-colonisation trade off. This idea goes into the driving factors of colonisation through many species that all share a need to expand. Scale Colonisation occurs on several scales. In the most basic form, as biofilm in the formation of communities of microorganisms on surfaces. This microbiological colonisation also takes place within each animal or plant and is called microbiome. In small scales such as colonising new sites, perhaps as a result of environmental change. And on larger scales where a species expands its range to encompass new areas. This can be through a series of small encroachments, such as in woody plant encroachment, or by long-distance dispersal. The term range expansion is also used. Dispersal Dispersion in biology is the dissemination, or scattering, of organisms over periods within a given area or over the Earth. The dispersion of species into new locations can be inspired by many causes. Often times species naturally disperse due to physiological adaptations which allows for a higher survival rate of progeny in new ecosystems. Other times these driving factors are environmentally related, for example global warming, disease, competition, predation. Dispersion of different species can come in many forms. Some prime examples of this is flight of species across long distances, wind dispersal of plant and fungi progeny, long distance of travel in packs, etc. Competition-Colonisation Trade-off The competition-colonisation trade-off refers to a driving factor that has a large influence over diversity and how it is maintained in a community. This is considered a driving factor because all species have to make a decision to entertain competition with others in the community or disperse from the community in hopes of a more optimal environment. This can span from available nutrient sources, light exposure, oxygen availability, reproduction competition, etc.. These trade offs are critical in the explanation of colonisation and why it happens. Use The term is generally only used to refer to the spread of a species into new areas by natural means, as opposed to unnatural introduction or translocation by humans, which may lead to invasive species. Colonisation events Large-scale notable pre-historic colonisation events include: Arthropods the colonisation of the Earth's land by the first animals, the arthropods. The first fossils of land animals come from millipedes. These were seen about 450 million years ago. Humans the early human migration and colonisation of areas outside Africa according to the recent African origin paradigm, resulting in the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna, although the role of humans in this event is controversial. Birds the colonisation of the New World by the cattle egret and the little egret the colonisation of Britain by the little egret the colonisation of western North America by the barred owl the colonisation of the East Coast of North America by the Brewer's blackbird the colonisation-westwards spread across Europe of the collared dove the spread across the eastern USA of the house finch the expansion into the southern and western areas of South Africa by the Hadeda Ibis Reptiles the colonisation of Anguilla by Green iguanas following a rafting event in 1995 the colonisation of Burmese pythons into the Florida Everglades. The release of snakes came from the desire to breed them and sell them as exotic pets. As they grew people became unable to care for the animals and began to release them into the Everglades. Dragonflies the colonisation of Britain by the small red-eyed damselfly Moths the colonisation of Britain by Blair's shoulder-knot Land Vertebrates The colonisation of Madagascar by land-bound vertebrates. Plants The colonisation of Pinus species through wind dispersion. See also Colony (biology) Invasive species Pioneer species References Further reading Community ecology Ecological processes Ecology terminology

Homesteading

Homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. It is characterized by subsistence agriculture, home preservation of food, and may also involve the small scale production of textiles, clothing, and craft work for household use or sale. Homesteading has been pursued in various ways around the world and throughout different historical eras. It is typically distinguished from rural village or commune living by the isolation of the homestead (socially, physically, or both). Use of the term in the United States dates back to the Homestead Act (1862) and before. In sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in nations formerly controlled by the British Empire, a homestead is the household compound for a single extended family. In the UK the terms smallholder and croft are rough synonyms of homesteader. Modern homesteaders often use renewable energy options including solar and wind power. Many also choose to plant and grow heirloom vegetables and to raise heritage livestock. Homesteading is not defined by where someone lives, such as the city or the country, but by the lifestyle choices they make. As historical governmental policy Historically, homesteading has been used by governmental entities (engaged in national expansion) to help settle what were termed unsettled areas, especially in the United States, Canada, and Australia. This resulted in the violent relocation of many Indigenous people. Guided by legal homestead principles, many of these "homestead acts" were instituted in the 19th and 20th centuries and targeted specific areas, with most being discontinued after a set time-frame or goal. Renewed interest in homesteading was brought about by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's program of Subsistence Homesteading in the 1930s and 1940s. As a social movement The attractiveness of back-to-the-land movements dates from the Roman era, and has been noted in Asian poetry and philosophy tracts as well (Agriculturalism). In the 1700s, the philosophy of physiocracy developed in France and by the 1800s and early 1900s the philosophy of Agrarianism had taken hold in many places around the world. The ideas of modern homesteading proponents, such as Ralph Borsodi, gained in popularity in the 1960s in the United States. Self-sufficiency movements in the 1990s and 2000s began to apply the concept to urban and suburban settings, known as urban homesteading. According to author John Seymour, "urban homesteading" incorporates small-scale sustainable agriculture and homemaking. As an economic choice In homesteading, social and government support systems are frequently eschewed in favor of self-reliance and relative deprivation in order to maximize independence and self-determination. The degree of independence occurs along a spectrum, with many homesteaders creating foodstuffs or crafts to appeal to high-end niche markets in order to meet financial needs. Other homesteaders come to the lifestyle following successful careers which provide the funding for land, housing, taxes, and specialized equipment such as solar panels, farm equipment, and electric generators. Modern government regulation—in the form of property taxes, building codes, food safety codes, zoning regulations, minimum wage and social security for occasional labor, and town council restrictions on landscaping and animal keeping—can increase the marginal cost of home production of food in areas affected by these restrictions. Careful choice of homesteading location is essential for economic success. Potential benefits of homesteading include a satisfying standard of living and a healthier, more rewarding lifestyle than more conventional patterns of living. See also Permaculture Seasteading Urban homesteading Notes Further reading Cannon, Brian Q., “Homesteading Remembered: A Sesquicentennial Perspective,” Agricultural History, 87 (Winter 2013), 1–29. External links Mid-America Homesteading Conference Life on a Modern Homestead State of Alaska Land Offerings and Remote Recreation Cabins Staking Program Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture – Homesteading Simple living Self-sustainability Agrarianism Western (genre) staples and terminology

Religious naturalism

Religious naturalism is a framework for religious orientation in which a naturalist worldview is used to respond to types of questions and aspirations that are parts of many religions. It has been described as "a perspective that finds religious meaning in the natural world." Religious naturalism can be considered intellectually, as a philosophy, and it can be embraced as a part of, or as the focus of, a personal religious orientation. Advocates have stated that it can be a significant option for people who are unable to embrace religious traditions in which supernatural presences or events play prominent roles, and that it provides "a deeply spiritual and inspiring religious vision" that is particularly relevant in a time of ecological crisis. Overview Naturalism Naturalism is the view that the natural world is all that exists, and that its constituents, principles, and relationships are the sole reality. All that occurs is seen as being due to natural processes, with nothing supernatural involved. As Sean Carroll put it: Naturalism comes down to three things: There is only one world, the natural world. The world evolves according to unbroken patterns, the laws of nature. The only reliable way of learning about the world is by observing it. Essentially, naturalism is the idea that the world revealed to us by scientific investigation is the one true world. In religious naturalism, a naturalist view (as described above) defines the bounds of what can be believed as being possible or real. As this does not include a view of a personal god who may cause specific actions or miracles, or of a soul that may live on after death, religious naturalists draw from what can be learned about the workings of the natural world as they try to understand why things happen as they do, and for perspectives that can help to determine what is right or good (and why) and what we might aspire to and do. Religious When the term, religious, is used with respect to religious naturalism, it is understood in a general way—separate from the beliefs or practices of specific established religions, but including types of questions, aspirations, values, attitudes, feelings, and practices that are parts of many religious traditions. It can include... interpretive, spiritual, and moral responses to questions about how things are and which things matter, beliefs, practices, and ethics that orient people to "the big picture" (including our place in relation to a vast and ancient cosmos and other people and forms of life), and pursuit of "high-minded goals" (such as truth, wisdom, fulfillment, serenity, self-understanding, justice, and a meaningful life). As Jerome Stone put it, "One way of getting at what we mean by religion is that it is our attempt to make sense of our lives and behave appropriately within the total scheme of things." When discussing distinctions between religious naturalists and non-religious (nonspiritual) naturalists, Loyal Rue said: "I regard a religious or spiritual person to be one who takes ultimate concerns to heart." He noted that, while "plain old" naturalists share similar views about what may occur in the world, those who describe themselves as religious naturalists take nature more "to heart", in seeing it as vitally important, and as something that they may respond to on a deeply personal level. Shared principles The main principle of religious naturalism is that a naturalist worldview can serve as a foundation for religious orientation. Shared principles related to naturalism include views that: the best way to understand natural processes is through methods of science; where scientists observe, test, and draw conclusions from what is seen and non-scientists learn from what scientists have described; for some topics, such as questions of purpose, meaning, morality, and emotional or spiritual responses, science may be of limited value and perspectives from psychology, philosophy, literature, and related disciplines, plus art, myth, and use of symbols, can contribute to understanding; and due to limits in human knowledge, some things are currently not well-understood, and some things may never be known. Shared principles related to having nature as a focus of religious orientation include the view that nature is of ultimate importance—as the forces and ordered processes that enable our lives, and all of life, and that cause all things to be are as they are. As such, nature can prompt religious responses, which can vary for each person and can include: a sense of amazement or awe – at the wonder of our lives and our world, and the beauty, order, and power that can be seen in nature, appreciation or gratitude – for the gift of life, and opportunities for fulfillment that can come with this, a sense of humility, in seeing ourselves as small and fleeting parts of a vast and ancient cosmos, an attitude of acceptance (or appreciation) of mystery, where learning to become comfortable with the fact that some things are unable to be known can contribute to peace of mind, and reverence – in viewing the natural world as sacred (worthy of religious veneration). Nature is not "worshipped", in the sense of reverent devotion to a deity. Instead, the natural world is respected as a primary source of truth—as it expresses and illustrates the varied principles of nature that enable life and may contribute to well-being. With this, learning about nature, including human nature, (via both academic and artistic resources and direct personal experiences) is seen as valuable—as it can provide an informed base of understanding of how things are and why things happen as they do, expand awareness and appreciation of the interdependence among all things, prompt an emotional or spiritual sense of connection with other people and forms of life in all of nature, and serve as a point of reference for considering and responding to moral and religious questions and life challenges. Tenets As in many religious orientations, religious naturalism includes a central story, with a description of how it is believed that our world and human beings came to be. In this (based on what can be understood through methods of science), the cosmos began approximately 13.8 billion years ago as a massive expansion of energy, which has been described as "the Big Bang". Due to natural forces and processes, this expansion led over time to the emergence of light, nuclear particles, galaxies, stars, and planets. Life on Earth is thought to have emerged more than 3.5 billion years ago—beginning with molecules that combined in ways that enabled them to maintain themselves as stable entities and self-replicate, which evolved to single-cell organisms and then to varied multi-cell organisms that, over time, included millions of varied species, including mammals, primates, and humans, living in complex interdependent ecosystems. This story has been described as "The Epic of Evolution" and, for religious naturalists, it provides a foundation for considering how things are, which things matter, and how we should live. It is also seen as having a potential to unite all humans with a shared understanding of our world, including conditions that are essential to all lives, as it is based on the best available scientific knowledge and is widely accepted among scientists and in many cultures worldwide. From the perspective of religious naturalism humans are seen as biological beings—composed of natural substances and products of evolution who act in ways that are enabled and limited by natural processes. With this, all of what we think, feel, desire, decide, and do is due to natural processes and, after death, each person ceases to be, with no potential for an eternal afterlife or reincarnation. Due to evolving from common ancient roots, many of the processes that enable our human lives (including aspects of body and mind) are shared by other types of living things. And, as we recognize what we share, we can feel a type of kinship or connection with all forms of life. Similarly, recognizing that all forms of life are: dependent on conditions on Earth (to provide atmosphere, soil, temperature, water, and other requirements for life) and also interdependent with other forms of life (as sources of food, and in contributing to healthy ecosystems), and in recognizing and appreciating Earth as a rare site, in a vast cosmos, where life exists, and as the environment that is essential for our lives and well-being, this planet and its life-enabling qualities is seen as being of ultimate concern, which can prompt or warrant a felt need to respect, preserve, and protect the varied ecosystems that sustain us. Values are seen as having accompanied the emergence of life—where, unlike rocks and other inanimate objects that perform no purposeful actions, living things have a type of will that prompts them to act in ways that enable them (or their group) to survive and reproduce. With this, life can be seen as a core/primary value, and things that can contribute to life and well-being are also valued. And, from a religious naturalist perspective, ongoing reproduction and continuation of life (a "credo of continuation"), has been described as a long-term goal or aspiration. Morality, likewise, is seen as having emerged in social groups, as standards for behavior and promotion of virtues that contribute to the well-being of groups. Evolutionary roots of this can be seen in groups of primates and some other types of mammals and other creatures, where empathy, helping others, a sense of fairness, and other elements of morality have often been seen. It includes promotion of "virtues" (behaviors seen pro-social or "good"). With perspectives of religious naturalism, moral concern is seen as extending beyond the well-being of human groups to an "ecomorality" that also includes concern for the well-being of non-human species (in part, as this recognizes how non-human life can contribute to the well-being of humans, and also as it respects the value of all life). With recognition that moral choices can be complex (where as some choices benefit one group, they may cause harm to others), an aspiration is that, beyond aspiring to virtues and adhering to social rules, religious naturalists can work to develop mature judgement that prepares them to consider varied aspects of challenges, judge options, and make choices that consider impact from several perspectives. Advocates of religious naturalism believe that, as they offer perspectives that can help to show how things really are in the physical world, and which things ultimately matter, and as they can contribute to development of religious attitudes, including humility, gratitude, compassion, and caring, and enhance exposure to and appreciation of the many wonders of the natural world, perspectives from religious naturalism can contribute to personal wholeness, social cohesion, and awareness and activities that can contribute to preservation of global ecosystems. Beyond supporting a credo of continuation that values varied forms of life and ecosystems, aspirations based on religious naturalism include: living in harmony with nature, exploring and celebrating the mysteries of nature, and pursuing goals that enable the long-term viability of the biosphere. As suggested by Donald Crosby, since nature is regarded as a focus of religious commitment and concern, religious naturalists may "grant to nature the kind of reverence awe, love and devotion we in the West have formerly reserved for God." History Core themes in religious naturalism have been present, in varied cultures, for centuries. But active discussion, with the use of this name, is relatively recent. Zeno (c. 334 – c. 262 BCE, a founder of Stoicism) said: Views consistent with religious naturalism can be seen in ancient Daoist texts (e.g., Dao De Jing) and some Hindu views (such as God as Nirguna Brahman, God without attributes). They may also be seen in Western images that do not focus on active, personal aspects of God, such as Thomas Aquinas' view of God as Pure Act, Augustine's God as Being Itself, and Paul Tillich's view of God as Ground of Being . As Wesley Wildman has described, views consistent with religious naturalism have long existed as part of the underside of major religious traditions, often quietly and sometimes in mystical strands or intellectual sub-traditions, by practitioners who are not drawn to supernatural claims. The earliest uses of the term, religious naturalism, seem to have occurred in the 1800s. In 1846, the American Whig Review described "a seeming 'religious naturalism, In 1869, American Unitarian Association literature adjudged:"Religious naturalism differs from this mainly in the fact that it extends the domain of nature farther outward into space and time. ...It never transcends nature". Ludwig Feuerbach wrote that religious naturalism was "the acknowledgment of the Divine in Nature" and also "an element of the Christian religion", but by no means that religion's definitive "characteristic" or "tendency". In 1864, Pope Pius IX condemned religious naturalism in the first seven articles of the Syllabus of Errors. Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983), founder of the Jewish Reconstructionist movement, was an early advocate of religious naturalism. He believed that a naturalistic approach to religion and ethics was possible in a desacralizing world. He saw God as the sum of all-natural processes. Other verified usages of the term came in 1940 from George Perrigo Conger and from Edgar S. Brightman. Shortly thereafter, H. H. Dubs wrote an article entitled "Religious Naturalism: An Evaluation", which begins "Religious naturalism is today one of the outstanding American philosophies of religion..." and discusses ideas developed by Henry Nelson Wieman in books that predate Dubs's article by 20 years. In 1991 Jerome A. Stone wrote The Minimalist Vision of Transcendence explicitly "to sketch a philosophy of religious naturalism". Use of the term was expanded in the 1990s by Loyal Rue, who was familiar with it from Brightman's book. Rue used the term in conversations with several people before 1994, and subsequent conversations between Rue and Ursula Goodenough [both of whom were active in the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS) led to Goodenough's use in her book The Sacred Depths of Nature and by Rue in Religion is Not About God and other writings. Since 1994 numerous authors have used the phrase or expressed similar thinking. Examples include Chet Raymo, Stuart Kauffman and Karl E. Peters. Mike Ignatowski states that "there were many religious naturalists in the first half of the 20th century and some even before that" but that "religious naturalism as a movement didn't come into its own until about 1990 [and] took a major leap forward in 1998 when Ursula Goodenough published The Sacred Depths of Nature, which is considered one of the founding texts of this movement." Biologist Ursula Goodenough states: Donald Crosby's Living with Ambiguity published in 2008, has, as its first chapter, "Religion of Nature as a Form of Religious Naturalism". Loyal Rue's Nature Is Enough published in 2011, discusses "Religion Naturalized, Nature Sanctified" and "The Promise of Religious Naturalism". Religious Naturalism Today: The Rebirth of a Forgotten Alternative is a history by Dr. Jerome A. Stone (Dec. 2008 release) that presents this paradigm as a once-forgotten option in religious thinking that is making a rapid revival. It seeks to explore and encourage religious ways of responding to the world on a completely naturalistic basis without a supreme being or ground of being. This book traces this history and analyzes some of the issues dividing religious naturalists. It covers the birth of religious naturalism, from George Santayana to Henry Nelson Wieman and briefly explores religious naturalism in literature and art. Contested issues are discussed including whether nature's power or goodness is the focus of attention and also on the appropriateness of using the term "God". The contributions of more than twenty living religious naturalists are presented. The last chapter ends the study by exploring what it is like on the inside to live as a religious naturalist. Chet Raymo writes that he had come to the same conclusion as Teilhard de Chardin: "Grace is everywhere", and that naturalistic emergence is in everything and far more magical than religion-based miracles. A future humankind religion should be ecumenical, ecological, and embrace the story provided by science as the "most reliable cosmology". Carol Wayne White is among a younger generation of scholars whose model of religious naturalism helps advance socially- and ethically- oriented models of practice. Using the best available insights from scientific studies, White conceives of the human as an emergent, interconnected life form amid spectacular biotic diversity, which has far-reaching ethical implications within the context of ecology, religion, and American life. Her religious naturalism contributes to an intellectual legacy that has attempted to overcome the deficient conceptions of our myriad nature couched in problematic binary constructions. In doing so, her religious naturalism not only presents human beings as biotic forms emerging from evolutionary processes sharing a deep homology with other sentient beings, it also emphasizes humans valuing such connection. In Black Lives and Sacred Humanity, Toward an African American Religious Naturalism (Fordham Press, 2016), White confronts both human–human forms of injustice and ecological forms of injustice that occur when we fail to recognize these basic truths. As P. Roger Gillette summarizes: Varieties The literature related to religious naturalism includes many variations in conceptual framing. This reflects individual takes on various issues, to some extent various schools of thought, such as basic naturalism, religious humanism, pantheism, panentheism, and spiritual naturalism that have had time on the conceptual stage, and to some extent differing ways of characterizing Nature. The current discussion often relates to the issue of whether belief in a God or God-language and associated concepts have any place in a framework that treats the physical universe as its essential frame of reference and the methods of science as providing the preeminent means for determining what Nature is. There are at least three varieties of religious naturalism, and three similar but somewhat different ways to categorize them. They are: An approach to naturalism using theological language but fundamentally treats God metaphorically. An approach to naturalism using theological language, but as either (1) a faith statement or supported by philosophical arguments, or (2) both, usually leaving open the question whether that usage as metaphor or refers to the ultimate answer that Nature can be. Neo-theistic (process theology, progressive religions) – Gordon Kaufman, Karl E. Peters, Ralph Wendell Burhoe, Edmund Robinson Non-theistic (agnostic, naturalistic concepts of god) – Robertson himself, Stanley Klein, Stuart Kauffman, Naturalistic Paganism. Atheistic (no God concept, some modern naturalism, Process Naturalism, C. Robert Mesle, non-militant atheism, antitheism) – Jerome A. Stone, Michael Cavanaugh, Donald A. Crosby, Ursula Goodenough, Daniel Dennett, and Carol Wayne White A miscellany of individual perspectives – Philip Hefner The first category has as many sub-groups as there are distinct definitions for god. Believers in a supernatural entity (transcendent) are by definition not religious naturalists, however the matter of a naturalistic concept of God (Immanence) is currently debated. Strong atheists are not considered religious naturalists in this differentiation. Some individuals call themselves religious naturalists but refuse to be categorized. The unique theories of religious naturalists Loyal Rue, Donald A. Crosby, Jerome A. Stone, and Ursula Goodenough are discussed by Michael Hogue in his 2010 book The Promise of Religious Naturalism. God concepts Those who conceive of God as the creative process within the universe—example, Henry Nelson Wieman Those who think of God as the totality of the universe considered religiously—Bernard Loomer. A third type of religious naturalism sees no need to use the concept or terminology of God—Stone himself and Ursula Goodenough Stone emphasizes that some religious naturalists do not reject the concept of God, but if they use the concept, it involves a radical alteration of the idea such as Gordon Kaufman who defines God as creativity. Ignatowski divides religious naturalism into only two types—theistic and non-theistic. Notable proponents and critics Proponents Proponents of religious naturalism are seen from two perspectives. The first includes contemporary individuals who have discussed and supported religious naturalism, per se. The other includes historic individuals who may not have used or been familiar with the term, "religious naturalism", but who had views that are relevant to and whose thoughts have contributed to the development of religious naturalism. Individuals who have openly discussed and supported religious naturalism, include: Chet Raymo Loyal Rue Donald A. Crosby Jerome A. Stone Michael Dowd Ursula Goodenough Terrence Deacon Loren Eiseley Philip Hefner Ralph Wendell Burhoe Mordecai Kaplan Henry Nelson Wieman George Santayana Gordon D. Kaufman Stuart Kauffman Stanley A. Klein C. Robert Mesle Karl E. Peters Varadaraja V. Raman Ian Barbour Robert S. Corrington Wesley Wildman Carol Wayne White Individuals who were precursors to religious naturalism, or who otherwise influenced its development, include: Lao-Tzu Albert Einstein W.E.B. Du Bois Aldo Leopold Critics Religious naturalism has been criticized from two perspectives. One is that of traditional Western religion, which disagrees with naturalist disbelief in a personal God. Another is that of naturalists who do not agree that a religious sense can or should be associated with naturalist views. Critics in the first group include supporters of traditional Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religions. Critics in the second group include: Richard Dawkins John Haught Prominent communities and leaders Religious naturalists sometimes use the social practices of traditional religions, including communal gatherings and rituals, to foster a sense of community, and to serve as reinforcement of its participants' efforts to expand the scope of their understandings. Some other groups mainly communicate online. Some known examples of religious naturalists groupings and congregation leaders are: Religious Naturalist Association Spiritual Naturalist Society Unitarian Universalist Religious Naturalists Religious Naturalism Facebook Group Universal Pantheist Society founded 1975 – Pantheism is an intercepting concept with religious naturalism Congregation Beth Or, a Jewish congregation near Chicago led by Rabbi David Oler Congregation of Beth Adam in Loveland Ohio led by Rabbi Robert Barr Pastor Ian Lawton, minister at the Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, West Michigan and Center for Progressive Christianity Religious Naturalism is the focus of classes and conferences at some colleges and theology schools. Articles about religious naturalism have appeared frequently in journals, including Zygon, American Journal of Theology and Philosophy, and the International Journal for Philosophy and Religion. See also List of new religious movements References Further reading 2015 – Donald A. Crosby – More Than Discourse: Symbolic Expressions of Naturalistic Faith, State University of New York Press, 2015 – Nathan Martinez – Rise Like Lions: Language and The False Gods of Civilization, 2008 – Donald A. Crosby – The Thou of Nature: Religious Naturalism and Reverence for Sentient Life, State University of New York Press, 2011 – Loyal Rue – Nature Is Enough, State University of New York Press, 2010 – Michael Hogue – The Promise of Religious Naturalism, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., Sept.16, 2010, 2009 – Michael Ruse & Joseph Travis  – Evolution: The First Four Billion Years, Belknap Press, 2009, 2008 – Donald A. Crosby – Living with Ambiguity: Religious Naturalism and the Menace of Evil, State University of New York Press, 2008 – Michael Dowd – Thank God for Evolution:, Viking (June 2008), 2008 – Chet Raymo – When God Is Gone, Everything Is Holy: The Making of a Religious Naturalist, Sorin Books, 2008 – Kenneth R. Miller – Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul, Viking Adult, 2008, 2008 – Eugenie C. Scott – Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction, Greenwood Press, 2007 – Eric Chaisson – Epic of Evolution, Columbia University Press (March 2, 2007), 2006 – John Haught – Is Nature Enough?, Cambridge University Press (May 31, 2006), 2006 – Loyal Rue – Religion Is Not About God, Rutgers University Press, July 24, 2006, 2004 – Gordon Kaufman – In the Beginning... Creativity, Augsburg Fortress Pub., 2004, 2003 – James B. Miller – The Epic of Evolution: Science and Religion in Dialogue, Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2003, 2002  – Donald A. Crosby – A Religion of Nature – State University of New York Press, 2000 – Ursula Goodenough – Sacred Depths of Nature, Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (June 15, 2000), 2000 – John Stewart – Evolution's Arrow: The Direction of Evolution and the Future of Humanity, Chapman Press, 2000, 1997 – Connie Barlow – Green Space Green Time: The Way of Science, Springer (September 1997), 1992 – Brian Swimme – The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era, HarperCollins, 1992, Reading lists – Evolution Reading Resources, Books of the Epic of Evolution, Cosmic Evolution External links Religious Naturalist Association Religious Naturalism Resources Boston University The Great Story leading religious naturalist educational website Naturalism.org The New Cosmology The Spiritual Naturalist Society Religion Religious studies Religion and politics Religion and government

Sexual and reproductive health

Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life. Sexual and reproductive health is more commonly defined as sexual and reproductive health and rights, to encompass individual agency to make choices about their sexual and reproductive lives. The term can also be further defined more broadly within the framework of the World Health Organization's (WHO) definition of health―as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity"―. WHO has a working definition of sexual health (2006) as '“…a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity. Sexual health requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence. For sexual health to be attained and maintained, the sexual rights of all persons must be respected, protected and fulfilled.” This includes sexual wellbeing, encompassing the ability of an individual to have responsible, satisfying and safe sex and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so. UN agencies in particular define sexual and reproductive health as including both physical and psychological well-being vis-à-vis sexuality. Furthermore, the importance of ensuring sexual lives are pleasurable and satisfying, and not only focused on negative consequences of sex has been emphasized by many agencies such as the World Association of Sexual Health as well as considering the positive impacts on health and well-being of safe and satisfying relationships. A further interpretation includes access to sex education, access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of birth control, as well as access to appropriate health care services, as the ability of women to go safely through pregnancy and childbirth could provide couples with the best chance of having a healthy infant. The critical Guttmacher- Lancet Commission on Sexual and reproductive health and rights states state Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are essential for sustainable development because of their links to gender equality and women’s wellbeing, their impact on maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health, and their roles in shaping future economic development and environmental sustainability. Yet progress towards fulfilling SRHR for all has been stymied because of weak political commitment, inadequate resources, persistent discrimination against women and girls, and an unwillingness to address issues related to sexuality openly and comprehensively. As a result, almost all of the 4·3 billion people of reproductive age worldwide will have inadequate sexual and reproductive health services over the course of their lives'. Individuals face inequalities in reproductive health services. Inequalities vary based on socioeconomic status, education level, age, ethnicity, religion, and resources available in their environment. Low income individuals may lack access to appropriate health services and/or knowledge of how to maintain reproductive health. Additionally, many approaches involving women, families, and local communities as active stakeholders in interventions and strategies to improve reproductive health. Overview The WHO assessed in 2008 that "Reproductive and sexual ill-health accounts for 20% of the global burden of ill-health for women, and 14% for men." Reproductive health is a part of sexual and reproductive health and rights. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), unmet needs for sexual and reproductive health deprive women of the right to make "crucial choices about their own bodies and futures", affecting family welfare. Women bear and usually nurture children, so their reproductive health is inseparable from gender equality. Denial of such rights also worsens poverty. Adolescent health Adolescent health creates a major global burden and has a great deal of additional and diverse complications compared to adult reproductive health such as early pregnancy and parenting issues, difficulties accessing contraception and safe abortions, lack of healthcare access, and high rates of HIV, sexually transmitted infections and mental health issues. Each of those can be affected by outside political, economic and socio-cultural influences. For most adolescent females, they have yet to complete their body growth trajectories, therefore adding a pregnancy exposes them to a predisposition to complications. These complications range from anemia, malaria, HIV and other STIs, postpartum bleeding and other postpartum complications, mental health disorders such as depression and suicidal thoughts or attempts. In 2016, adolescent birth rates between the ages of 15-19 was 45 per 1000. In 2014, 1 in 3 experienced sexual violence, and there more than 1.2 million deaths. The top three leading causes of death in females between the ages of 15-19 are maternal conditions 10.1%, self-harm 9.6%, and road conditions 6.1%. The causes of teenage pregnancy are vast and diverse. In developing countries, young women are pressured to marry for different reasons. One reason is to bear children to help with work, another on a dowry system to increase the families income, another is due to prearranged marriages. These reasons tie back to the financial needs of girls' families, cultural norms, religious beliefs, and external conflicts. Adolescent pregnancy, especially in developing countries, carries increased health risks, and contributes to maintaining the cycle of poverty. The availability and type of sex education for teenagers varies in different parts of the world. Teens that are self-identified as non-heterosexual may develop additional problems if they live in places where homosexual activity is socially disapproved or even illegal; in extreme cases, there can be depression, social isolation, and even suicide among LGBT youth. Maternal health 95% of maternal deaths occur in low income contexts and countries, and in 25 years, the maternal mortality globally dropped to 44%. Statistically, a woman's chance of survival during childbirth is closely tied to her social-economic status, access to healthcare, where she lives geographically, and cultural norms. To compare, a woman dies of complications from childbirth every minute in developing countries versus a total of 1% of total maternal mortality deaths in developed countries. Women in developing countries have little access to family planning services, different cultural practices, lack of information, birthing attendants, prenatal care, birth control, postnatal care, lack of access to health care, and are typically in poverty. In 2015, those in low-income countries had access to antenatal care visits averaged 40% and were preventable. All these reasons led to an increase in the maternal mortality ratio (MMR). One of the international Sustainable Development Goals developed by United Nations is to improve maternal health by a targeted 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030. Most models of maternal health encompass family planning, preconception, prenatal, and postnatal care. All care after childbirth recovery is typically excluded, which includes pre-menopause and aging into old age. During childbirth, women typically die from severe bleeding, infections, high blood pressure during pregnancy, delivery complications, or an unsafe abortion. Other reasons can be regional such as complications related to diseases such as malaria and AIDS during pregnancy. The younger the woman is when she gives birth, the more at risk she and her baby are for complications and possible mortality. There is a significant relationship between the quality of maternal services made available and the greater financial standings of a country. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia exemplify this as these regions are significantly deprived of medical staff and affordable health opportunities. Most countries provide for their health services through a combination of funding from government tax revenue and local households. Poorer nations or regions with extremely concentrated wealth can leave citizens on the margins uncared for or overlooked. However, the lack of proper leadership can result in a nation's public sectors being mishandled or poorly performing despite said nation's resources and standing. In addition, poorer nations funding their medical services through taxes places a greater financial burden on the public and effectively the mothers themselves. Responsibility and accountability on the part of mental health sectors are strongly emphasized as to what will remedy the poor quality of maternal health globally. The impact of different maternal health interventions across the globe stagger variously and are vastly uneven. This is the result of a lack of political and financial commitment to the issue as most safe motherhood programs internationally have to compete for significant funding. Some resolve that if global survival initiatives were promoted and properly funded it would prove to be mutually beneficial for the international community. Investing in maternal health would ultimately advance several issues such as gender inequality, poverty, and general global health standards. As it currently stands, pregnant women are subjugated to high financial costs throughout the duration of their term internationally which is highly taxing and strenuous. In addition, if either parent has a genetic disease, there is risk of these being passed on to the children. Birth control or technical solutions (assisted reproductive technology) can be an option then. LGBT+ sexual and reproductive health The sexual and reproductive health of LGBT+ people face challenges through issues like the ongoing HIV pandemic, binary organization of "men" and "women"'s reproductive health, alongside stigma and repression that limit LGBT+ people from accessing the healthcare they need. Sexual health is a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being in relation to sexuality. It is important to not only consider the sexual/physical health of an individual but also the cultural and contextual factors that influence an individual's well-being. The lack of competent providers and stigma attached to homosexuality have a great impact on the sexual health of the LGBTQ+ population. The LGBTQ+ population faces a number of obstacles in terms of sexual and reproductive health. The different stigmas and biases that come with these barriers make receiving proper care difficult. Some of these stigmas that follow those in the LGBTQ+ population in terms of their sexual and reproductive health are associating certain diseases, and other illnesses with this community. This leaves those in the LGBTQ+ population in a position that makes them vulnerable, as well as victims of a number of health disparities. The overall health of those in the LGBTQ+ population is determinant on sexual and reproductive health as these all make up the health of these individuals. Those in the LGBTQ+ community face also face discrimination from providers and insurance companies, on top of all of the other barriers and limits on access to care that they endure. All of these factors have led to those in the LGBTQ+ population having worse health outcomes. Contraception Access to reproductive health services is very poor in many countries. Women are often unable to access maternal health services due to a lack of knowledge about the existence of such services or lack of freedom of movement. Some women are subjected to forced pregnancy and banned from leaving the home. In many countries, women are not allowed to leave home without a male relative or husband, and therefore their ability to access medical services is limited. Therefore, increasing women's autonomy is needed in order to improve reproductive health, however, doing so may require a cultural shift. According to the WHO, "All women need access to antenatal care in pregnancy, skilled care during childbirth, and care and support in the weeks after childbirth". The fact that the law allows certain reproductive health services, does not necessarily ensure that such services are actually in use by the people. The availability of contraception, sterilization, and abortion is dependent on laws, as well as social, cultural, and religious norms. Some countries have liberal laws regarding these issues, but in practice, it is very difficult to access such services due to doctors, pharmacists, and other social and medical workers being conscientious objectors. In developing regions of the world, there are about 214 million women who want to avoid pregnancy but are unable to use safe and effective family planning methods. When taken correctly, the combined oral contraceptive pill is over 99% effective at preventing pregnancy. However, it does not protect from sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Some methods, such as using condoms, achieve both protection from STIs and unwanted pregnancies. There are also natural family planning methods, which may be preferred by religious people, but some very conservative religious groups, such as the Quiverfull movement, oppose these methods too because they advocate the maximization of procreation. One of the oldest ways to reduce unwanted pregnancy is coitus interruptus - still widely used in the developing world. There are many types of contraceptives. One type of contraceptive includes barrier methods. One barrier method includes condoms for males and females. Both types stop sperm from entering the woman's uterus, thereby preventing pregnancy from occurring. Another type of contraception is the birth control pill, which stops ovulation from occurring by combining the chemicals progestin and estrogen. Many women use this method of contraception, however, they discontinue using it equally as much as they use it. One reason for this is because of the side effects that may occur from using the pill, and because some health care providers do not take women's concerns about negative side effects seriously. The use of the birth control pill is common in western countries, and two forms of combined oral contraceptives are on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the most important medications needed in a basic health system. There are many objections to the use of birth control, both historically and in the present day. One argument against birth control usage states that there is no need for birth control, to begin with. This argument was levied in 1968 when Richard Nixon was elected president, and the argument stated that since birth rates were at their lowest point since World War II ended, birth control was not necessary. Demographic planning arguments were also the basis of the population policy of Nicolae Ceaușescu in communist Romania, who adopted a very aggressive natalist policy which included outlawing abortion and contraception, routine pregnancy tests for women, taxes on childlessness, and legal discrimination against childless people. Such policies consider that coercion is an acceptable means of reaching demographic targets. Religious objections are based on the view that premarital sex should not happen, while married couples should have as many children as possible. As such, the Catholic Church encourages premarital abstinence from sex. This argument was written out in Humanae Vitae, a papal encyclical released in 1968. The Catholic Church bases its argument against birth control pills on the basis that birth control pills undermine the natural law of God. The Catholic Church also argues against birth control on the basis of family size, with Cardinal Mercier of Belgium arguing,  "...the duties of conscience are above worldly considerations, and besides, it is the large families who are the best" (Reiterman, 216). Another argument states that women should use natural methods of contraception in place of artificial ones, such as having sexual intercourse when one is infertile. Support for contraception is based on views such as reproductive rights, women's rights, and the necessity to prevent child abandonment and child poverty. The World Health Organization states that "By preventing unintended pregnancy, family planning /contraception prevents deaths of mothers and children". Sexually transmitted infection A sexually transmitted infection (STI) --previously known as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) or venereal disease (VD)-- is an infection that has a significant likelihood of transmission between humans by means of sexual activity. The CDC analyses the eight most common STIs: chlamydia, gonorrhea, hepatitis B virus (HBV), herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), human papillomavirus (HPV), syphilis, and trichomoniasis. There are 1 million new infections a day and more than 20 million new cases within the United States. In 2020, WHO estimated 374 million new infections with 1 of 4 STIs: chlamydia (129 million), gonorrhoea (82 million), syphilis (7.1 million) and trichomoniasis (156 million). More than 490 million people were estimated to be living with genital herpes in 2016, and an estimated 300 million women have an HPV infection, the primary cause of cervical cancer and anal cancer among men who have sex with men. Numbers of such high magnitude weigh a heavy burden on the local and global economy. A study conducted at Oxford University in 2015 concluded that despite giving participants early antiviral medications (ART), they still cost an estimated $256 billion over 2 decades. HIV testing done at modest rates could reduce HIV infections by 21%, HIV retention by 54%, and HIV mortality rates by 64%, with a cost-effectiveness ratio of $45,300 per quality-adjusted life year. However, the study concluded that the United States has led to an excess in infections, treatment costs, and deaths, even when interventions do not improve overall survival rates. There is a profound reduction in STI rates once those who are sexually active are educated about transmissions, condom promotion, interventions targeted at key and vulnerable populations through comprehensive sex education courses or programs. Recent evidence shows that acknowledging the role pleasure takes in people's sexual lives and integrating this in sexual health services and education has a significant impact on increasing condom use and improved sexual health outcomes. South Africa's policy addresses the needs of women at risk for HIV and who are HIV positive as well as their partners and children. The policy also promotes screening activities related to sexual health such as HIV counseling and testing as well as testing for other STIs, tuberculosis, cervical cancer, and breast cancer. The CDC stated that the rate of sexually transmitted infections is higher among minorities compared to white people. These minorities are currently being affected by different factors including health literacy, socioeconomic status, access to health services, and fear of discrimination by health providers. The rates of infection are five to eight times higher in the Black community compared to non-Hispanic White people. Young African American women are at a higher risk for STIs, including HIV. A recent study published outside of Atlanta, Georgia collected data (demographic, psychological, and behavioral measures) with a vaginal swab to confirm the presence of STIs. They found a profound difference that those women who had graduated from college were far less likely to have STIs, potentially be benefiting from a reduction in vulnerability to acquiring STIs/HIV as they gain in education status and potentially move up in demographic areas and/or status. Abortion Globally, an estimated 25 million unsafe abortions occur each year. The vast majority of such unsafe abortions occur in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The abortion debate is the ongoing controversy surrounding the moral, legal, and religious status of induced abortion. The sides involved in the debate are the self-described "pro-choice" and "pro-life" movements. "Pro-choice" emphasizes the right of women to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy. "Pro-life" emphasizes the right of the embryo or fetus to gestate to term and be born. Both terms are considered loaded in mainstream media, where terms such as "abortion rights" or "anti-abortion" are generally preferred. Each movement has, with varying results, sought to influence public opinion and to attain legal support for its position, with small numbers of radical activists using violence, such as murder and arson. Articles from the World Health Organization call legal abortion a fundamental right of women regardless of where they live, and argue that unsafe abortion is a silent pandemic. In 2005, it was estimated that 19-20 million abortions had complications, some complications are permanent, while another estimated 68,000 women died from unsafe abortions. Having access to safe abortion can have positive impacts on women's health and life, and vice versa. "Legislation of abortion on request is necessary but an insufficient step towards improving women's health. In some countries where it abortion is legal and has been for decades, there has been no improvement in access to adequate services making abortion unsafe due to lack of healthcare services. It is hard to get an abortion due to legal and policy barriers, social and cultural barriers (gender discrimination, poverty, religious restrictions, lack of support), health system barriers (lack of facilities or trained personnel). However, safe abortions with trained personnel, good social support, and access to facilities, can improve maternal health and increase reproductive health later in life. The Maputo Protocol, which was adopted by the African Union in the form of a protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, states at Article 14 (Health and Reproductive Rights) that: "(2). States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to: [...] c) protect the reproductive rights of women by authorising medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the foetus." The Maputo Protocol is the first international treaty to recognize abortion, under certain conditions, as a woman's human right. The General comment No. 36 (2018) on article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, on the right to life, adopted by the Human Rights Committee in 2018, defines, for the first time ever, a human right to abortion - in certain circumstances (however these UN general comments are considered soft law, and, as such, not legally binding). When negotiating the Cairo Programme of Action at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), the issue was so contentious that delegates eventually decided to omit any recommendation to legalize abortion, instead advising governments to provide proper post-abortion care and to invest in programs that will decrease the number of unwanted pregnancies. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women considers the criminalization of abortion a "violations of women's sexual and reproductive health and rights" and a form of "gender based violence"; paragraph 18 of its General recommendation No. 35 on gender based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 states that: "Violations of women's sexual and reproductive health and rights, such as forced sterilizations, forced abortion, forced pregnancy, criminalisation of abortion, denial or delay of safe abortion and post abortion care, forced continuation of pregnancy, abuse and mistreatment of women and girls seeking sexual and reproductive health information, goods and services, are forms of gender based violence that, depending on the circumstances, may amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment." The same General Recommendation also urges countries at paragraph 31 to [...] In particular, repeal: a) Provisions that allow, tolerate or condone forms of gender based violence against women, including [...] legislation that criminalises abortion". In 2008, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a group comprising members from 47 European countries, has adopted a resolution calling for the decriminalization of abortion within reasonable gestational limits and guaranteed access to safe abortion procedures. The nonbinding resolution was passed on April 16 by a vote of 102 to 69. Accesses to abortion is not only a question of legality but also an issue of overcoming de facto barriers, such as conscientious objections from medical staff, high prices, lack of knowledge about the law, lack of access to medical care (especially in rural areas). The de facto inability of women to access abortion even in countries where it is legal is highly controversial because it results in a situation where women have rights only on paper, not in practice; the UN in its 2017 resolution on Intensification of efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls: domestic violence urged states to guarantee access to "safe abortion where such services are permitted by national law". There are two primary arguments for maintaining legalized abortion today in the U.S. The first is recognizing the full citizenship of women. The Roe v. Wade'' court case on abortion compared the citizenship of women and fetuses Because the Constitution defines born people as citizens, Justice Harry Blackmun ruled that fetuses were not citizens. The citizenship of women is emphasized because fetuses are not individual entities that can exist without the woman. Another reason why the full citizenship of women is defined by advocates for abortion is that it recognizes the right of women to manage their own bodies. Fertility affects women's bodies. The argument for abortion prevents others from making decisions that alter a woman's body. Pro-choice advocates also attempt to confirm that state-mandated education or other outside biases do not attempt to influence these decisions. Feminists argue that women throughout history have had to justify their citizenship politically and socially. The right to manage one's own body is a matter of health, safety, and respect. The citizenship of women and the right to manage their own bodies is a societal confirmation that feminists highlight as a pro-choice justification. The second primary argument to uphold legalized abortion and creating better access to it is the necessity of abortion and the health and safety of pregnant women. There are two events that largely changed the course of public opinion about abortion in the U.S. The first is Sherry Finkbine, who was denied access to an abortion by the board of obstetrician-gynecologists at her local hospital. Although she was privileged enough to afford the trip, Finkbine was forced to travel to Sweden for an abortion to avoid caring for a damaged fetus in addition to four children. The other event that changed public opinion was the outbreak of rubella in the 1950s and 60s. Because rubella disrupted the growth of fetuses and caused deformities during pregnancy, the California Therapeutic Abortion Act was signed in 1967, permitting doctors to legally abort pregnancies that pose a risk to a pregnant woman's physical or mental health. These two events are commonly used to show how the health and safety of pregnant women are contingent upon abortions as well as the ability to give birth to and adequately take care of a child. Another argument in favor of legalized abortion to service necessity are the reasons why an abortion might be necessary. Nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended, and over half of all unintended pregnancies in the United States are met with abortion. Unintended pregnancy can lead to serious harm to women and children for reasons such as not being able to afford to raise a baby, inaccessibility to time off of work, difficulties facing single motherhood, difficult socio-economic conditions for women. Unintended pregnancies also have a greater potential for putting women of color at risk due to systematically produced environmental hazards from proximity to pollution, access to livable income, and affordable healthy food. These factors as threats to the health and safety of pregnant women run parallel to data that shows the number of abortions in the United States did not decline while laws restricting legal access to abortion were implemented. At a global level, the region with the strictest abortion laws is considered to be Latin America (see Reproductive rights in Latin America), a region strongly influenced by the Catholic Church in Latin America. Female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital circumcision or cutting, is the traditional, non-medical practice of altering or injuring the female reproductive organs, often by removing all or parts of the external genitalia. It is mostly practiced in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, and affects over 200 million women and girls worldwide. More severe forms of FGM are highly concentrated in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan. The WHO categorizes FGM into four types: Type I (Clitoridectomy) is the removal of all or part of the clitoris. This may or may not include removing the prepuce along with the clitoral glans. Type II (Excision) is the removal of the clitoris along with all or part of the labia minora. This may or may not include removing all or part of the labia majora. Type III (Infibulation) is the act of removing the inner or outer labia and sealing the wound, leaving only a narrow opening. Type IV refers to "all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes (piercing, scraping, cauterizing of the genital area)." FGM often takes the form of a traditional celebration conducted by an elder or community leader. The age that women undergo the procedure varies depending on the culture, although it is most commonly performed on prepubescent girls. Certain cultures value FGM as a coming of age ritual for girls and use it to preserve a woman's virginity and faithfulness to the husband after marriage. It is also closely connected with some traditional ideals of female beauty and hygiene. FGM may or may not have religious connotations depending on the circumstances. There are no health benefits of FGM, as it interferes with the natural functions of a woman's and girls' bodies, such as causing severe pain, shock, hemorrhage, tetanus or sepsis (bacterial infection), urine retention, open sores in the genital region and injury to nearby genital tissue, recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections, cysts, increased risk of infertility, childbirth complications and newborn deaths. Sexual problems are 1.5 more likely to occur in women who have undergone FGM, they may experience painful intercourse, have less sexual satisfaction, and be two times more likely to report a lack of sexual desire. In addition, the maternal and fetal death rate is significantly higher due to childbirth complications. FGM can have severe negative psychological effects on women, both during and after the procedure. These can include long-term symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and low self-esteem. Some women report that the procedure was carried out without their consent and knowledge, and describe feelings of fear and helplessness while it was taking place. A 2018 study found that larger quantities of the hormone cortisol were secreted in women who had undergone FGM, especially those who had experienced more severe forms of the procedure and at an early age. This marks the body's chemical response to trauma and stress and can indicate a greater risk for developing symptoms of PTSD and other trauma disorders, although there are limited studies showing a direct correlation. The Istanbul Convention prohibits FGM (Article 38). Legislation has been introduced in certain countries to prevent FGM. A 2016 survey of 30 countries showed 24 had policies to manage and prevent FGM, although the process to provide funding, education, and resources were often inconsistent and lacking. Some countries have seen a slight decline in FGM rates, while others show little to no change. Child and forced marriage The practice of forcing young girls into early marriage, common in many parts of the world, is threatening their reproductive health. According to the World Health Organization: Niger has the highest prevalence of child marriage under 18 in the world, while Bangladesh has the highest rate of marriage of girls under age 15. Practices such as bride price and dowry can contribute to child and forced marriages. International Conference on Population and Development, 1994 The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) was held in Cairo, Egypt, from 5 to 13 September 1994. Delegations from 179 States took part in negotiations to finalize a Programme of Action on population and development for the next 20 years. Some 20,000 delegates from various governments, UN agencies, NGOs, and the media gathered for a discussion of a variety of population issues, including immigration, infant mortality, birth control, family planning, and the education of women. In the ICPD Program of Action, 'reproductive health' is defined as: This definition of the term is also echoed in the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, or the so-called Beijing Declaration of 1995. However, the ICPD Program of Action, even though it received the support of a large majority of UN Member States, does not enjoy the status of an international legal instrument; it is therefore not legally binding. The Program of Action endorses a new strategy which emphasizes the numerous linkages between population and development and focuses on meeting the needs of individual women and men rather than on achieving demographic targets. The ICPD achieved consensus on four qualitative and quantitative goals for the international community, the final two of which have particular relevance for reproductive health: Reduction of maternal mortality: A reduction of maternal mortality rates and a narrowing of disparities in maternal mortality within countries and between geographical regions, socio-economic and ethnic groups. Access to reproductive and sexual health services including family planning: Family planning counseling, pre-natal care, safe delivery and post-natal care, prevention and appropriate treatment of infertility, prevention of abortion and the management of the consequences of abortion, treatment of reproductive tract infections, sexually transmitted infections and other reproductive health conditions; and education, counseling, as appropriate, on human sexuality, reproductive health, and responsible parenthood. Services regarding HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, infertility, delivery, hormone therapy, sex reassignment therapy, and abortion should be made available. Active discouragement of female genital mutilation (FGM). The keys to this new approach are empowering women, providing them with more choices through expanded access to education and health services, and promoting skill development and employment. The programme advocates making family planning universally available by 2015 or sooner, as part of a broadened approach to reproductive health and rights, provides estimates of the levels of national resources and international assistance that will be required, and calls on governments to make these resources available. Sustainable Development Goals Half of the development goals put on by the United Nations started in 2000 to 2015 with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Reproductive health was Goal 5 out of 8. To monitor the progress, the UN agreed to four indicators: Contraceptive prevalence rates Adolescent birth rate Antenatal care coverage Unmet need for family planning Progress was slow, and according to the WHO in 2005, about 55% of women did not have sufficient antenatal care and 24% had no access to family planning services. The MDGs expired in 2015 and were replaced with a more comprehensive set of goals to cover a span of 2016–2030 with a total of 17 goals, called the Sustainable Development Goals. All 17 goals are comprehensive in nature and build off one another, but goal 3 is "To ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages". Specific targets are to reduce global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births, end preventable deaths of newborns and children, reduce the number by 50% of accidental deaths globally, strengthen the treatment and prevention programs of substance abuse and alcohol. Goal 4 emphasizes the fact that no one should be left out in providing quality education. Target 4 specifically mentions the inclusion of persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations. In addition, one of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goal 5 is to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health. By region North America The CDC estimated that one in five people in the US had a sexually transmitted infection (STI) totalling near about 68 million infections in 2018. 26 million new STI in 2018. Almost half of new STI were among youth aged 15 to 24 in the US. New STIs total $16 billion in direct medical costs. Engaging in oral sex can carry the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). AfricaHIV/AIDSHIV/AIDS in Africa is a major public health problem. The population of Sub-Saharan Africa is the worst affected region with the disease especially affecting the young female population. According to the National Library of Medicine, "Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) is occupied by 12% of the global population, but disproportionately has more than 90% of children younger than 15 years of age and 68% of adults that are living with HIV2." In Nigeria in specific, "There is early sexual maturity and considerable sexual activity between 9 and 15 years of age." HIV is also transmissible through breast milk, which proves that women infected with HIV/AIDS have to deal with more health consequences. South of the Sahara, the AIDS epidemic is the leading cause of death. The reasons for the high spread of HIV/AIDS can be broken down into 7 main subsections: poverty, inadequate medical care, lack of prevention and education, taboo and stigma, sexual behavior, prostitution, and sexual violence against women. With a high population of individuals living in extreme poverty, condoms, HIV tests, and other forms of screening are not prioritized, leaving many individuals lacking the necessities to protect themselves from the disease. According to the International Finance Corporation, "Health care in Sub-Saharan Africa remains the worst in the world, with few countries able to spend the $34 to $40 a year per person that the World Health Organization considers the minimum for basic health care." Notably, though widespread poverty, "an astonishing 50 percent of the region's health expenditure is financed by out-of-pocket payments from individuals." This represents the lack of both affordability and accessibility surrounding the health care system in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to the United Nation, Sub-Saharan Africa struggles with the highest rate of education exclusion in the world; 60% of youth ages 15 to 17 are not in school. With this lack of education, information regarding HIV/AIDS and prevention practices are not transmitted to a number of individuals, leading to more citizens being unaware of the severity of the disease. Stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS further contributes to the high infection rate. In African villages, an individual's life is closely intertwined with their friends, families, and neighbors around them. Individuals who have HIV/AIDS are motivated to keep it a secret in fear of isolation and alienation. The extremity of this stigma is conveyed by some of the dialogue, people living with HIV are often ridiculed as "a walking corpse", referred to as "an HIV" and even called in Tanzania, "nyambizi", or submarine, which implies that an HIV-positive person is "menacing and deadly." Sexual behavior and prostitution also play a part in the increased rate of transmission of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Due to the high rates of poverty, prostitution is widespread, and sexual partners are often changing, increasing the likelihood of transmission. Africa has one of the highest rates of rape in the world, with many women getting AIDS due to raped and sexual violence by an HIV-infected offender. Similarly, gender roles within many African countries contribute to this, as "in much of sub-Saharan Africa, women are a subordinate group who are expected to become pregnant, bear children, and fulfill the sexual desires of their husbands without hesitation".Fertility rates and contraceptivesIn most African countries, the total fertility rate is very high often due to a lack of access to contraception, family planning, and practices such as forced child marriage. For instance, Niger, Angola, Mali, Burundi, Somalia and Uganda have very high fertility rates. According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, "Africa has the lowest rate of contraceptive use (33%) and the highest rate of unmet need for contraceptives (22%)." In Mozambique, despite efforts in improving access to modern contraceptive methods, the general fertility rate is "still high at 5.3 and the unmet need for contraceptives is also high at 26%." Among young women, the fertility rate has dramatically increased from 167 births per 1000 aged between (15–19 years) in 2011 to 194 in 2015 with a large increase in rural areas from 183 to 230. Contraceptive prevalence among (15–19 years) remains low at 14% in 2015 when compared to the national prevalence among the reproductive age group (15–49 years) at 25% in the same year.Types of contraceptivesThe copper IUD has been provided less frequently than other contraceptive methods but there have been signs of an increase in most reported provinces. The most frequently provided methods are implants and injectable progesterone, which is not as ideal as condom usage, which is still required with this method to decrease the risk of HIV. In Nigeria, specifically, people who have multiple partners are often unwilling to protect themselves with condoms. "In a study conducted in a rural community in South West Nigeria in 1993, it was found that although 94.7% of 302 candidates aged between 20 and 54 years admitted hearing about the condom, only 51.3% admitted ever using it." According to the International Family Planning Perspective, "these injectable progesterone products made up 49% of South Africa's contraceptive use and up to 90% in some provinces." Though contraceptive use is rising in African countries, discontinuation rates are also high. Weak health systems challenge Sub-Saharan African countries in expanding contraceptive outreach, promotions and service.Contraceptive accessibilityThe updated contraceptive guidelines in South Africa attempt to improve accessibility by providing special service delivery and prompting awareness for adolescents, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex people, disabled people, chronically ill people, women who are perimenopausal, sex workers, migrants and males. They also aim to increase access to long-acting contraceptive methods such as the copper IUD, the single rod progestogen implant combined with estrogen and progesterone injectables. Tanzanian provider perspectives also realized the biggest obstacle in maintaining healthy contraceptive care in their communities: lack of consistency. Contraceptive dispensaries found that the capability of providing service to patients was inconsistent and substandard. This resulted in unsatisfied reproductive goals, low educational attainment, miseducation about the side effects of certain contraceptives. Accessibility has also been hindered as a result of inadequate quantities of properly trained medical personnel. According to the African Journal of Reproductive Health, "Shortage of the medical attendant...is a challenge, we are not able to attend to a big number of clients, also we do not have enough education which makes us unable to provide women with the methods they want". The majority of medical centers are staffed by people without medical training and few doctors and nurses, despite federal regulations, due to lack of resources. One center had only one person who was able to insert and remove implants, and without her, they were unable to service people who required this method of contraceptive care. Another dispensary which carried two methods of birth control shared that they sometimes run out of both materials at the same time which makes it difficult to keep up with the supply and demand chain.Social factors effect on contraceptivesUnbalanced gender dynamics, spousal dynamics, economic conditions, religious norms, cultural norms, and constraints in supply chains all contribute to contraceptive rates and usage. One instance of this is a provider who referenced harmful propaganda about the side effects of contraceptive usage. The spread of this propaganda is one of the many examples of influential people in the community, such as elders and religious leaders, discouraging proper contraceptive care/health. In some cases, influential members of the community often convince others that condoms and contraceptive pills contain microorganisms that cause cancer. In regards to spousal and gendered dynamics, many women often have faced pressure from their spouse or family members to use avoid birth control which resulted in them using it secretly. This is also one of the many reasons women frequently preferred undetectable contraceptive methods which can lead to less effective contraceptives.Other common sexually transmitted infections in Sub-Saharan AfricaSub-Saharan Africa ranks first in STI yearly incidence compared to other world regions, reiterating the major problem that public health is in African countries. In Sub-Saharan Africa, STIs are the most common reasons that individuals seek medical care. According to the World Health Organization, every year in Africa "there are 3.5 million cases of syphilis, 15 million cases of chlamydial disease, 16 million cases of gonorrhea, and 30 million cases of trichomoniasis."Sexually transmitted infections and womenThe majority of HIV infections, risks, and other sexually transmitted infections in Sub-Saharan Africa disproportionately impact women. Women, particularly under the age of 30, account for more than half of new infections on the African continent, employing incidence rates that are often double that of their male counterparts. Not only do women contain more risk of infection, but the consequences of these diseases are often significantly worse for women, as they can affect reproductive health as well. Some consequences of bacterial STIs include "pelvic inflammatory disease, chronic pelvic pain, tubal infertility, pregnancy complications, fetal and neonatal death." HIV infection is less unbalanced in gender infections, but other STIs disproportionately affect women, "who bear 80 percent of the disability." Previously stated, women are also more susceptible to infection due to social stigma and gendered expectations. "Most women with STDs will not seek medical care at all, or will only present late for treatment, when complications have already developed, complications that have devastating physical, psychological, and social consequences, particularly for women and their children." Women of lower-income status are often the least likely subgroup to receive any sort of medical attention.More on LGBTQ+ healthIndividuals who identify as transgender often yield significantly higher rates of HIV in comparison to other subgroups. African politics and government are silent on LGBTQ+ issues in the political sphere, which translates in part to their accessibility and prioritization in healthcare. "It is possible that the invisibility of transgender people in epidemiological data from Africa is related to the criminalization of same-sex behaviour in many countries," representative of how traditional attitudes shape one's ability to participate similarly in society. Further research conducted among transgender women in South Africa shows more "health disparities and poor access to appropriate mental, sexual and reproductive health services." Still, however, there is limited data concerning transgender individuals within African countries. Individuals identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community, in a study conducted by BMC International Health and Human Rights, resulted all in facing some sort of discrimination by healthcare providers based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Violations took four distinct forms: availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality. Facilities in South Africa lack services for specific LGBT concerns, providers refuse to care for patients identifying within the community, and if did, articulate moral disapproval. Finally, the lack of quality and knowledge about LGBTQ+ identities and health needs contributes to disproportionate negative harms, avoiding or delaying seeking healthcare with these implications. The Workplace and Reproductive Health Reproductive health can be impacted by exposures in the workplace. Both women and men who work during their reproductive years can be exposed to a variety of chemical, physical, and psychosocial hazards at work that can impact their fertility. Many women continue to work while pregnant, thus increasing the likelihood that both mother and baby could be exposed. Routes of Exposure Harmful substances can enter a woman's body through breathing in (inhalation), contact with the skin, or swallowing (ingestion). Pregnant workers and those planning to become pregnant should be especially concerned about exposure to reproductive hazards. Some chemicals (such as alcohol) can circulate in the mother's blood, pass through the placenta, and reach the developing fetus. Other hazardous agents can affect the overall health of the woman and reduce the delivery of nutrients to the fetus. Radiation can pass directly through the mother's body to harm her eggs or the fetus. Some drugs and chemicals can also pass through a mother's body into the nursing baby through the breast milk. Reproductive hazards do not affect every woman or every pregnancy. Whether a woman or her baby is harmed depends on how much of the hazard they are exposed to, when they are exposed, how long they are exposed, how they are exposed, and personal factors like age, stage of menstrual cycle, stage of pregnancy or when exposure occurs. For example, exposure to a hazard could block ovulation and pregnancy only at specific times of the menstrual cycle. Exposure during the first 3 months of pregnancy might cause a birth defect or a miscarriage. Exposure during the last 6 months of pregnancy could slow the baby's growth, affect its brain development, or cause premature labor. Workplace substances that affect female workers and their pregnancies can also harm their families. Without knowing it, workers can bring home harmful substances that can affect the health of other family members—both adults and children. For example, lead brought home from the workplace on a worker's skin, hair, clothes, shoes, tool box, or car can cause lead poisoning in family members, especially young children. Occupational Reproductive Hazards A number of occupational hazards can impact reproductive health and subsequently reproductive outcomes including chemical, physical, and psychosocial hazards. Although more than 1,000 workplace chemicals have been shown to have reproductive effects on animals, most have not been studied in humans. In addition, most of the 4 million other chemical mixtures in commercial use remain untested. Some reproductive hazards include: Anesthetic gases Antineoplastic (cancer treatment drugs) Chemical disinfectants and sterilants Certain ethylene glycol ethers such as 2-ethoxyethanol (2EE) and 2-methoxyethanol (2ME) Carbon disulfide (CS2) Epoxies and resins Ethylene Oxide Formaldehyde Heat Infectious agents Lead and other heavy metals Noise Pesticides Ionizing radiation Non-ionizing radiation Secondhand smoke Smoke and by-products of burning Solvents Shift work and long working hours Strenuous physical demands (e.g. prolonged standing, heavy lifting, bending) Many chemicals are not evaluated for reproductive toxicity and occupational exposure limits are developed based on nonpregnant adults. Exposure levels considered safe for an adult may, or may not be safe for a fetus. Reproductive health problems that might be caused by workplace exposures Workplace hazards can lead to certain reproductive health problems, such as: Reduced fertility or infertility Erectile dysfunction Menstrual cycle and ovulatory disorders Women's health problems linked to sex hormone imbalance Miscarriage Stillbirth Babies born too soon or too small Birth defects Child developmental disorders Childhood cancers Occupational hazards and female reproductive health Some workplace hazards can affect reproductive health, the ability to become pregnant, and the health of unborn children. Most women can safely keep working in their job during their pregnancy. But some jobs involve exposures that are harmful to pregnant or breastfeeding women. Some female health problems that may be caused by workplace reproductive hazards include the following: Disruption of the menstrual cycle and hormone production High levels of physical or emotional stress or exposure to chemicals such as pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organic solvents and carbon disulfide, may disrupt the balance between the brain, pituitary gland, and ovaries. This disruption can result in an imbalance of estrogen and progesterone, and lead to changes in menstrual cycle length and regularity and ovulation. Because these sex hormones have effects throughout a woman's body, severe or long-lasting hormone imbalances may affect a woman's overall health. Hazards that can disrupt the menstrual cycle and/or sex hormone production include: a variety of pesticides carbon disulfide (CS2) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) organic solvents jet fuel shift work Infertility and Subfertility About 10% to 15% of all couples are infertile or have subfertility, which means that they are unable to conceive a child after 1 year of trying to become pregnant. Many factors can affect fertility, and these factors can affect one or both partners. Damage to the woman's eggs or the man's sperm, or a change in the hormones needed to regulate the normal menstrual cycle are just a few things that can cause problems with fertility. More common causes of infertility include: Damage to the woman's eggs Damage to the man's sperm Infertility can be caused by change in the hormones needed to regulate the normal menstrual cycle and uterine growth. Hazards that can reduce fertility in women include: cancer treatment drugs, including antineoplastic drugs lead ionizing radiation, including x-rays and gamma rays nitrous oxide (N2O) Miscarriages and Stillbirths About 1 in every 6 pregnancies ends in a miscarriage—the unplanned termination of a pregnancy. Miscarriages can occur very early in pregnancy, even before the woman knows she is pregnant. Miscarriages and stillbirths occur for many reasons, such as the following: The egg or sperm may be damaged so that the egg cannot be fertilized or cannot survive after fertilization. A problem may exist in the hormone system needed to maintain the pregnancy. The fetus may not have developed normally. Physical problems may exist with the uterus or cervix. Birth Defects A birth defect is a physical abnormality present at birth, though it may not be detected until later. About 2% to 3% of babies are born with a major birth defect. In most cases, the cause of the birth defect is unknown. The first 3 months of the pregnancy is a very sensitive time of development because the internal organs and limbs are formed during this period. Many women are not aware that they are pregnant during much of this critical period. Low Birth Weight and Premature Birth About 7% of babies born in the United States are born underweight or prematurely. Poor maternal nutrition, smoking, and alcohol use during pregnancy are believed to be responsible for most of these cases. Although better medical care has helped many underweight or premature babies to develop and grow normally, they are more likely than other babies to become ill or even die during their first year of life. Developmental Disorders Sometimes the brain of the fetus does not develop normally, which leads to developmental delays or learning disabilities later in life. About 10% of children in the United States have some form of developmental disability. Such problems are often not noticeable at birth. They can be difficult to measure, may be temporary or permanent, and range from mild to severe. Developmental problems may appear as hyperactivity, short attention span, reduced learning ability, or (in severe cases) intellectual disability. Other Health Problems Even if a woman is not trying to become pregnant, her general health can be harmed by reproductive hazards that alter the production of sex hormones. Sex hormones have effects throughout a woman's body. Some workplace exposures can cause an imbalance of estrogen and progesterone levels in the blood. This disruption can increase vulnerability to: Some cancers, such as endometrial or breast cancer Osteoporosis Heart disease Tissue loss or weakening Effects on the brain and spinal cord, including symptoms of menopause Occupational hazards and male reproductive health A number of workplace substances have been identified as reproductive hazards for men such as: Lead Dibromochloropropane Carbaryl (Sevin ) Toluenediamine and Dinitrotoluene Ethylene Dibromide Plastic Production (styrene and acetone) Ethylene Glycol Monoethyl Ether Welding Perchloroethylene Mercury Vapor Heat Military Radar High levels of Kepone High levels of Bromine Vapor High levels of radiation Carbon disulfide 2,4-Dichlorophenoxy Acetic Acid (2,4-D) Exposure to occupational hazards can impact: Number of Sperm. Some reproductive hazards can stop or slow the actual production of sperm. This means that there will be fewer sperm present to fertilize an egg; if no sperm are produced, the man is sterile. If the hazard prevents sperm from being made, sterility is permanent. Sperm Shape. Reproductive hazards may cause the shape of sperm cells to be different. These sperm often have trouble swimming or lack the ability to fertilize the egg. Sperm Transfer. Hazardous chemicals may collect in the epididymis, seminal vesicles, or prostate. These chemicals may kill the sperm, change the way in which they swim, or attach to the sperm and be carried to the egg or the unborn child. Sexual Performance. Changes in amounts of hormones can affect sexual performance. Some chemicals, like alcohol, may also affect the ability to achieve erections, whereas others may affect the sex drive. Several drugs (both legal and illegal) have effects on sexual performance, but little is known about the effects of workplace hazards. Sperm Chromosomes. Reproductive hazards can affect the chromosomes found in sperm. The sperm and egg each contribute 23 chromosomes at fertilization. The DNA stored in these chromosomes determines what someone will look like and their our bodies will function. Radiation or chemicals may cause changes or breaks in the DNA. If the sperm's DNA is damaged, it may not be able to fertilize an egg; or if it does fertilize an egg, it may affect the development of the fetus. Some cancer treatment drugs are known to cause such damage. However, little is known about the effects of workplace hazards on sperm chromosomes. Pregnancy'''. If a damaged sperm does fertilize an egg, the egg might not develop properly, causing a miscarriage or a possible health problem in the baby. If a reproductive hazard is carried in the semen, the fetus might be exposed within the uterus, possibly leading to problems with the pregnancy or with the health of the baby after it is born. See also Sexual intercourse#Health effects Abortion debate Demography List of bacterial vaginosis microbiota POPLINE: world's largest reproductive health database The INFO Project Reproductive justice Reproductive rights Obstetric transition Comprehensive sex education (CSE) Health education Organizations: Association of Reproductive Health Professionals EngenderHealth Guttmacher Institute German Foundation for World Population International Planned Parenthood Federation Marie Stopes International Pacific Society for Reproductive Health Trust Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition United Nations Population Fund MEASURE Evaluation References External links CDC Division of Reproductive Health WHO Reproductive health and research [https://www.measureevaluation.org/prh/rh_indicators MEASURE Evaluation Family Planning and Reproductive Health Indicators Sexual Health Indicators Database]. . Population Midwifery

Agroecosystem

Agroecosystems are the ecosystems supporting the food production systems in farms and gardens. As the name implies, at the core of an agroecosystem lies the human activity of agriculture. As such they are the basic unit of study in Agroecology, and Regenerative Agriculture using ecological approaches. Like other ecosystems, agroecosystems form partially closed systems in which animals, plants, microbes, and other living organisms and their environment are interdependent and regularly interact. They are somewhat arbitrarily defined as a spatially and functionally coherent unit of agricultural activity. An agroecosystem can be seen as not restricted to the immediate site of agricultural activity (e.g. the farm). That is, it includes the region that is impacted by this activity, usually by changes to the complexity of species assemblages and energy flows, as well as to the net nutrient balance. Agroecosystems, particularly those managed intensively, are characterized as having simpler species composition, energy and nutrient flows than "natural" ecosystems. Likewise, agroecosystems are often associated with elevated nutrient input, much of which exits the farm leading to eutrophication of connected ecosystems not directly engaged in agriculture. Utilization Forest gardens are probably the world's oldest and most resilient agroecosystem. Some major organizations are hailing farming within agroecosystems as the way forward for mainstream agriculture. Current farming methods have resulted in over-stretched water resources, high levels of erosion and reduced soil fertility. According to a report by the International Water Management Institute and the United Nations Environment Programme, there is not enough water to continue farming using current practices; therefore how critical water, land, and ecosystem resources are used to boost crop yields must be reconsidered. The report suggested assigning value to ecosystems, recognizing environmental and livelihood tradeoffs, and balancing the rights of a variety of users and interests, as well addressing inequities that sometimes result when such measures are adopted, such as the reallocation of water from poor to rich, the clearing of land to make way for more productive farmland, or the preservation of a wetland system that limits fishing rights. One of the major efforts of disciplines such as agroecology is to promote management styles that blur the distinction between agroecosystems and "natural" ecosystems, both by decreasing the impact of agriculture (increasing the biological and trophic complexity of the agricultural system as well as decreasing the nutrient inputs/outflow) and by increasing awareness that "downstream" effects extend agroecosystems beyond the boundaries of the farm (e.g. the Corn Belt agroecosystem includes the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico). In the first case, polyculture or buffer strips for wildlife habitat can restore some complexity to a cropping system, while organic farming can reduce nutrient inputs. Efforts of the second type are most common at the watershed scale. An example is the National Association of Conservation Districts' Lake Mendota Watershed Project, which seeks to reduce runoff from the agricultural lands feeding into the lake with the aim of reducing algal blooms. See also Agriculture Agriculture in Concert with the Environment Agroecological restoration Agroecology Agroecosystem analysis Agrophysics Ecology of contexts Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Network Polyculture Further reading Seabrook, Wendy, 2022, How to Choose Regenerative Practices – that Work. Learning from Nature References Ecosystems Sustainable agriculture Environmental impact of agriculture

Bioethics

Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, medicine, and technologies. It proposes the discussion about moral discernment in society (what decisions are "good" or "bad" and why) and it is often related to medical policy and practice, but also to broader questions as environment, well-being and public health. Bioethics is concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, theology and philosophy. It includes the study of values relating to primary care, other branches of medicine ("the ethics of the ordinary"), ethical education in science, animal, and environmental ethics, and public health. Etymology The term bioethics (Greek , "life"; , "moral nature, behavior") was coined in 1927 by Fritz Jahr in an article about a "bioethical imperative" regarding the use of animals and plants in scientific research. In 1970, the American biochemist, and oncologist Van Rensselaer Potter used the term to describe the relationship between the biosphere and a growing human population. Potter's work laid the foundation for global ethics, a discipline centered around the link between biology, ecology, medicine, and human values. Sargent Shriver, the spouse of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, claimed that he had invented the term "bioethics" in the living room of his home in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1970. He stated that he thought of the word after returning from a discussion earlier that evening at Georgetown University, where he discussed with others a possible Kennedy family sponsorship of an institute focused around the "application of moral philosophy to concrete medical dilemmas". Purpose and scope The discipline of bioethics has addressed a wide swathe of human inquiry; ranging from debates over the boundaries of lifestyles (e.g. abortion, euthanasia), surrogacy, the allocation of scarce health care resources (e.g. organ donation, health care rationing), to the right to refuse medical care for religious or cultural reasons. Bioethicists disagree among themselves over the precise limits of their discipline, debating whether the field should concern itself with the ethical evaluation of all questions involving biology and medicine, or only a subset of these questions. Some bioethicists would narrow ethical evaluation only to the morality of medical treatments or technological innovations, and the timing of medical treatment of humans. Others would increase the scope of moral assessment to encompass the morality of all moves that would possibly assist or damage organisms successful of feeling fear. The scope of bioethics has evolved past mere biotechnology to include topics such as cloning, gene therapy, life extension, human genetic engineering, astroethics and life in space, and manipulation of basic biology through altered DNA, XNA and proteins. These (and other) developments may affect future evolution and require new principles that address life at its core, such as biotic ethics that values life itself at its basic biological processes and structures, and seeks their propagation. Moving beyond the biological, issues raised in public health such as vaccination and resource allocation have also encouraged the development of novel ethics frameworks to address such challenges. A study published in 2022 based on the corpus of full papers from eight main bioethics journals demonstrated the heterogeneity of this field by distinguishing 91 topics that have been discussed in these journals over the past half a century. Principles One of the first areas addressed by modern bioethicists was human experimentation. According to the Declaration of Helsinki published by the World Medical Association, the essential principles in medical research involving human subjects are autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. The autonomy of individuals to make decisions while assuming responsibility for them and respecting the autonomy of others ought to be respected. For people unable to exercise their autonomy, special measures ought to be taken to protect their rights and interests. In US, the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research was initially established in 1974 to identify the basic ethical principles that should underlie the conduct of biomedical and behavioral research involving human subjects. However, the fundamental principles announced in the Belmont Report (1979)—namely, respect for persons, beneficence and justice—have influenced the thinking of bioethicists across a wide range of issues. Others have added non-maleficence, human dignity, and the sanctity of life to this list of cardinal values. Overall, the Belmont Report has guided lookup in a course centered on defending prone topics as properly as pushing for transparency between the researcher and the subject. Research has flourished within the past 40 years and due to the advance in technology, it is thought that human subjects have outgrown the Belmont Report, and the need for revision is desired. Another essential precept of bioethics is its placement of cost on dialogue and presentation. Numerous dialogue based bioethics organizations exist in universities throughout the United States to champion precisely such goals. Examples include the Ohio State Bioethics Society and the Bioethics Society of Cornell. Professional level versions of these organizations also exist. Many bioethicists, in particular scientific scholars, accord the easiest precedence to autonomy. They trust that every affected person ought to decide which direction of motion they think about most in line with their beliefs. In other words, the patient should always have the freedom to choose their own treatment. Medical ethics Medical ethics is a utilized department of ethics that analyzes the exercise of clinical medicinal drug and associated scientific research. Medical ethics is based on a set of values. These values consist of the appreciation for autonomy, beneficence, and justice. Ethics affects medical decisions made by healthcare providers and patients. Medical ethics is the study of moral values and judgments as they apply to medicine. The four main moral commitments are respect for autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. Using these four principles and thinking about what the physicians' specific concern is for their scope of practice can help physicians make moral decisions. As a scholarly discipline, medical ethics encompasses its practical application in clinical settings as well as work on its history, philosophy, theology, and sociology. Medical ethics tends to be understood narrowly as applied professional ethics; whereas bioethics has a more expansive application, touching upon the philosophy of science and issues of biotechnology. The two fields often overlap, and the distinction is more so a matter of style than professional consensus. Medical ethics shares many principles with other branches of healthcare ethics, such as nursing ethics. A bioethicist assists the health care and research community in examining moral issues involved in our understanding of life and death, and resolving ethical dilemmas in medicine and science. Examples of this would be the topic of equality in medicine, the intersection of cultural practices and medical care, ethical distribution of healthcare resources in pandemics, and issues of bioterrorism. Medical ethical concerns frequently touch on matters of life and death. Patient rights, informed consent, confidentiality, competency, advance directives, carelessness, and many other topics are highlighted as serious health concerns. The proper actions to take in light of all the circumstances are what ethics is all about. It discusses the difference between what is proper and wrong at a certain moment and a particular society. Medical ethics is concerned with the duties that doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers have to patients, society, and other health professionals. The health profession has a set of ethical standards that are relevant to various organizations of health workers and medical facilities. Ethics are never stagnant and always relevant. What is seen as acceptable ethics now may not be so one hundred years ago. The hospital administrator is required to have a thorough awareness of their moral and legal obligations. Medical sociology The practice of bioethics in clinical care have been studied by medical sociology. Many scholars consider that bioethics arose in response to a perceived lack of accountability in medical care in the 1970s. Studying the clinical practice of ethics in medical care, Hauschildt and Vries found that ethical questions were often reframed as clinical judgments to allow clinicians to make decisions. Ethicists most often put key decisions in the hands of physicians rather than patients. Communication strategies suggested by ethicists act to decrease patient autonomy. Examples include, clinicians discussing treatment options with one another prior to talking to patients or their family to present a united front limited patient autonomy, hiding uncertainty amongst clinicians. Decisions about overarching goals of treatment were reframed as technical matters excluding patients and their families. Palliative care experts were used as intermediaries to guide patients towards less invasive end-of-live treatment. In their study, Hauschild and Vries found that 76% of ethical consultants were trained as clinicians. Studying informed consent, Corrigan found that some social processes resulted in limitations to patients choice, but also at times patients could find questions regarding consent to medical trials burdensome. The most prevalent subject is how social stratification (based on SES, gender, class, ethnicity, and age) affects patterns of behavior related to health and sickness, illness risk, disability, and other outcomes related to health care. The study of health care organization and provision, which encompasses the evolving organizational structures of health care organizations and the social psychology of health and health care, is another important approach. These latter research cover topics including connections between doctors and patients, coping mechanisms, and social support. The description of other important fields of medical sociology study emphasizes how theory and research have changed in the twenty-first century. Perspectives and methodology Bioethicists come from a wide variety of backgrounds and have training in a diverse array of disciplines. The field contains individuals trained in philosophy such as Baruch Brody of Rice University, Julian Savulescu of the University of Oxford, Arthur Caplan of NYU, Peter Singer of Princeton University, Frances Kamm of Rutgers University, Daniel Callahan of the Hastings Center, and Daniel Brock of Harvard University; medically trained clinician ethicists such as Mark Siegler of the University of Chicago and Joseph Fins of Cornell University; lawyers such as Nancy Dubler of Albert Einstein College of Medicine or Jerry Menikoff of the federal Office for Human Research Protections; political scientists like Francis Fukuyama; religious studies scholars including James Childress; and theologians like Lisa Sowle Cahill and Stanley Hauerwas. The field, formerly dominated by formally trained philosophers, has become increasingly interdisciplinary, with some critics even claiming that the methods of analytic philosophy have harmed the field's development. Leading journals in the field include The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, the Hastings Center Report, the American Journal of Bioethics, the Journal of Medical Ethics, Bioethics, the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, Public Health Ethics, and the Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics. Bioethics has also benefited from the process philosophy developed by Alfred North Whitehead. Another discipline that discusses bioethics is the field of feminism; the International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics has played an important role in organizing and legitimizing feminist work in bioethics. Many religious communities have their histories of inquiry into bioethical issues and have developed rules and guidelines on how to deal with these issues from within the viewpoint of their respective faiths. The Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths have each developed a considerable body of literature on these matters. In the case of many non-Western cultures, a strict separation of religion from philosophy does not exist. In many Asian cultures, for example, there is a lively discussion on bioethical issues. Buddhist bioethics, in general, is characterized by a naturalistic outlook that leads to a rationalistic, pragmatic approach. Buddhist bioethicists include Damien Keown. In India, Vandana Shiva is a leading bioethicist speaking from the Hindu tradition. In Africa, and partly also in Latin America, the debate on bioethics frequently focuses on its practical relevance in the context of underdevelopment and geopolitical power relations. In Africa, their bioethical approach is influenced by and similar to Western bioethics due to the colonization of many African countries. Some African bioethicists are calling for a shift in bioethics that utilizes indigenous African philosophy rather than western philosophy. Some African bioethicists also believe that Africans will be more likely to accept a bioethical approach grounded in their own culture, as well as empower African people. Masahiro Morioka argues that in Japan the bioethics movement was first launched by disability activists and feminists in the early 1970s, while academic bioethics began in the mid-1980s. During this period, unique philosophical discussions on brain death and disability appeared both in the academy and journalism. In Chinese culture and bioethics, there is not as much of an emphasis on autonomy as opposed to the heavy emphasis placed on autonomy in Western bioethics. Community, social values, and family are all heavily valued in Chinese culture, and contribute to the lack of emphasis on autonomy in Chinese bioethics. The Chinese believe that the family, community, and individual are all interdependent of each other, so it is common for the family unit to collectively make decisions regarding healthcare and medical decisions for a loved one, instead of an individual making an independent decision for his or her self. Some argue that spirituality and understanding one another as spiritual beings and moral agents is an important aspect of bioethics, and that spirituality and bioethics are heavily intertwined with one another. As a healthcare provider, it is important to know and understand varying world views and religious beliefs. Having this knowledge and understanding can empower healthcare providers with the ability to better treat and serve their patients. Developing a connection and understanding of a patient's moral agent helps enhance the care provided to the patient. Without this connection or understanding, patients can be at risk of becoming "faceless units of work" and being looked at as a "set of medical conditions" as opposed to the storied and spiritual beings that they are. Islamic bioethics Bioethics in the realm of Islam differs from Western bioethics, but they share some similar perspectives viewpoints as well. Western bioethics is focused on rights, especially individual rights. Islamic bioethics focuses more on religious duties and obligations, such as seeking treatment and preserving life. Islamic bioethics is heavily influenced and connected to the teachings of the Qur'an as well as the teachings of Muhammad. These influences essentially make it an extension of Shariah or Islamic Law. In Islamic bioethics, passages from the Qur'an are often used to validate various medical practices. For example, a passage from the Qur'an states "whosoever killeth a human being ... it shall be as if he had killed all humankind, and whosoever saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he saved the life of all humankind." This excerpt can be used to encourage using medicine and medical practices to save lives, but can also be looked at as a protest against euthanasia and assisted suicide. A high value and worth are placed on human life in Islam, and in turn, human life is deeply valued in the practice of Islamic bioethics as well. Muslims believe all human life, even one of poor quality, needs to be given appreciation and must be cared for and conserved. The Islamic education on sensible problems associated to existence in normal and human lifestyles in unique can be sought in Islamic bioethics. As we will see later, due to the fact of interconnectedness of the Islamic regulation and the Islamic ethics, the Islamic bioethics has to reflect on consideration on necessities of the Islamic regulation (Shari‘ah) in addition to ethical considerations. To react to new technological and medical advancements, informed Islamic jurists regularly will hold conferences to discuss new bioethical issues and come to an agreement on where they stand on the issue from an Islamic perspective. This allows Islamic bioethics to stay pliable and responsive to new advancements in medicine. The standpoints taken by Islamic jurists on bioethical issues are not always unanimous decisions and at times may differ. There is much diversity among Muslims varying from country to country, and the different degrees to which they adhere by Shariah. Differences and disagreements in regards to jurisprudence, theology, and ethics between the two main branches of Islam, Sunni, and Shia, lead to differences in the methods and ways in which Islamic bioethics is practiced throughout the Islamic world. An area where there is a lack of consensus is brain death. The Organization of Islamic Conferences Islamic Fiqh Academy (OIC-IFA) holds the view that brain death is equivalent to cardiopulmonary death, and acknowledges brain death in an individual as the individual being deceased. On the contrary, the Islamic Organization of Medical Sciences (IOMS) states that brain death is an "intermediate state between life and death" and does not acknowledge a brain dead individual as being deceased. Islamic bioethicists look to the Qur'an and religious leaders regarding their outlook on reproduction and abortion. It is firmly believed that the reproduction of a human child can only be proper and legitimate via marriage. This does not mean that a child can only be reproduced via sexual intercourse between a married couple, but that the only proper and legitimate way to have a child is when it is an act between husband and wife. It is okay for a married couple to have a child artificially and from techniques using modern biotechnology as opposed to sexual intercourse, but to do this out of the context of marriage would be deemed immoral. Islamic bioethics is strongly against abortion and strictly prohibits it. The IOMS states that "from the moment a zygote settles inside a woman's body, it deserves a unanimously recognized degree of respect." Abortion may only be permitted in unique situations where it is considered to be the "lesser evil". Islamic bioethics may be used to find advice on practical matters relating to life in general and human life in particular. As we will see later, Islamic bioethics must take into account both moral concerns and the requirements of the Islamic law (Shari'ah) due to the interdependence of Islamic law and Islamic ethics. In order to avoid making a mistake, everything must be thoroughly examined, first against moral criteria and then against legal ones. It appears that many writers on Islamic bioethics have failed to distinguish between the two. Despite the fact that Islamic law and morality are completely in agreement with one another, they may have distinct prescriptions because of their diverse ends and objectives. One distinction, for instance, is that Islamic ethics seeks to teach those with higher desires how to become more perfect and closer to God, but Islamic law seeks to decrease criteria for perfection or pleasure in both realms that are doable for the average or even lower than average. So whatever is deemed essential or required by Islamic law is undoubtedly viewed the same way by Islamic ethics. However, there may be situations where something is not against Islamic law but is nonetheless condemned by Islamic ethics. Or there can be circumstances that, while not required by Islamic law, are essential from an ethical standpoint. For instance, while idle conversation is not strictly forbidden by Islamic law, it is morally unacceptable since it wastes time and is detrimental to one's spiritual growth. The night prayers are another illustration (which should be performed after midnight and before dawn). Islamic bioethics' first influences Islamic bioethics is founded on the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and reason (al-'aql), much like any other inquiry into Islam. Sunni Muslims may use terms like ijmaa' (consensus) and qiyas in place of reason (analogy). Ijmaa' and qiyas as such are not recognized by Shi'a since they are insufficient proofs on their own. Christian bioethics In Christian bioethics it is noted that the Bible, especially the New Testament, teaches about healing by faith. Healing in the Bible is often associated with the ministry of specific individuals including Elijah, Jesus and Paul. The largest group of miracles mentioned in the New Testament involves cures, the Gospels give varying amounts of detail for each episode, sometimes Jesus cures simply by saying a few words, at other times, he employs material such as spit and mud. Christian physician Reginald B. Cherry views faith healing as a pathway of healing in which God uses both the natural and the supernatural to heal. Being healed has been described as a privilege of accepting Christ's redemption on the cross. Pentecostal writer Wilfred Graves Jr. views the healing of the body as a physical expression of salvation. , after describing Jesus exorcising at sunset and healing all of the sick who were brought to him, quotes these miracles as a fulfillment of the prophecy in : "He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases". Jesus endorsed the use of the medical assistance of the time (medicines of oil and wine) when he told the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37), who "bound up [an injured man's] wounds, pouring on oil and wine" (verse 34) as a physician would. Jesus then told the doubting teacher of the law (who had elicited this parable by his self-justifying question, "And who is my neighbor?" in verse 29) to "go, and do likewise" in loving others with whom he would never ordinarily associate (verse 37). The principle of the sacredness of human life is at the basis of Catholic bioethics. On the subject of abortion, for example, Catholics and Orthodox are on very similar positions. Catholic bioethics insists on this concept, without exception, while Anglicans, Waldensians and Lutherans have positions closer to secular ones, for example with regard to the end of life. In 1936, Ludwig Bieler argued that Jesus was stylized in the New Testament in the image of the "divine man" (Greek: theios aner), which was widespread in antiquity. It is said that many of the famous rulers and elders of the time had divine healing powers. Contemporary bioethical and health care policy issues, including abortion, the distribution of limited resources, the nature of appropriate hospital chaplaincy, fetal experimentation, the use of fetal tissue in treatment, genetic engineering, the use of critical care units, distinctions between ordinary and extraordinary treatment, euthanasia, free and informed consent, competency determinations, the meaning of life, are being examined within the framework of traditional Christian moral commitments. Feminist bioethics Feminist bioethics critiques the fields of bioethics and medicine for its lack of inclusion of women's and other marginalized group's perspectives. This lack of perspective from women is thought to create power imbalances that favor men. These power imbalances are theorized to be created from the androcentric nature of medicine. One example of a lack of consideration of women is in clinical drug trials that exclude women due to hormonal fluctuations and possible future birth defects. This has led to a gap in the research on how pharmaceuticals can affect women. Feminist bioethicists call for the necessity of feminist approaches to bioethics because the lack of diverse perspectives in bioethics and medicine can cause preventable harm to already vulnerable groups. This study first gained prevalence in the field of reproductive medicine as it was viewed as a "woman's issue". Since then, feminist approaches to bioethics has expanded to include bioethical topics in mental health, disability advocacy, healthcare accessibility, and pharmaceuticals. Lindemann notes the need for the future agenda of feminist approaches to bioethics to expand further to include healthcare organizational ethics, genetics, stem cell research, and more. Notable figures in feminist bioethics include Carol Gilligan, Susan Sherwin, and the creators of the International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, Mary C. Rawlinson and Anne Donchin. Sherwin's book No Longer Patient: Feminist Ethics in Health Care (1992) is credited with being one of the first full-length books published on the topic of feminist bioethics and points out the shortcomings in then-current bioethical theories. Sherwin's viewpoint incorporates models of oppression within healthcare that intend to further marginalize women, people of color, immigrants, and people with disabilities. Since created in 1992, the International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics has done much work to legitimize feminist work and theory in bioethics. By pointing out the male marking of its purportedly generic human subject and the fact that the tradition does not see women's rights as human rights, feminist bioethics challenges bioethics. This article explores how the other gender becomes mute and invisible as a result of this unseen gendering of the universal. It demonstrates how the dehumanization of "man" is a root cause of illness on a social and personal level. Finally, it makes many recommendations for how representations of women's experience and bodies could help to constructively reconsider fundamental ethical principles. Environmental bioethics Bioethics, the ethics of the life sciences in general, expanded from the encounter between experts in medicine and the laity, to include organizational and social ethics, environmental ethics. As of 2019 textbooks of green bioethics existed. Ethical issues in gene therapy Gene therapy involves ethics, because scientists are making changes to genes, the building blocks of the human body. Currently, therapeutic gene therapy is available to treat specific genetic disorders by editing cells in specific body parts. For example, gene therapy can treat hematopoietic disease. There is also a controversial gene therapy called "germline gene therapy", in which genes in a sperm or egg can be edited to prevent genetic disorder in the future generation. It is unknown how this type of gene therapy affects long-term human development. In the United States, federal funding cannot be used to research germline gene therapy. The ethical challenges in gene therapy for rare childhood diseases underscore the complexity of initiating trials, determining dosage levels, and involving affected families. With over a third of gene therapies targeting rare, genetic, pediatric-onset, and life-limiting diseases, fair participant selection and transparent engagement with patient communities become crucial ethical considerations. Another concern involves the use of virus-derived vectors for gene transfer, raising safety and hereditary implications. Additionally, the ethical dilemma in gene therapy explores the potential harms of human enhancement, particularly regarding the birth of disabled individuals. Addressing these challenges is vital for responsible development, application, and equitable access to gene therapies. The experience with human growth hormone further illustrates the blurred lines between therapy and enhancement, emphasizing the importance of ethical considerations in balancing therapeutic benefits and potential enhancements, especially in the rapidly advancing field of genomic medicine. As gene therapies progress towards FDA approval, collaboration with clinical genetics providers becomes essential to navigate the ethical complexities of this new era in medicine. Professional practice Bioethics as a subject of expert exercise (although now not a formal profession) developed at the beginning in North America in the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, in the areas of clinical / medical ethics and research ethics. Slowly internationalizing as a field, since the 2000s professional bioethics has expanded to include other specialties, such as organizational ethics in health systems, public health ethics, and more recently Ethics of artificial intelligence. Professional ethicists may be called consultants, ethicists, coordinators, or even analysts; and they may work in healthcare organizations, government agencies, and in both the public and private sectors. They may also be full-time employees, unbiased consultants, or have cross-appointments with educational institutions, such as lookup centres or universities. Models of bioethics According to Igor Boyko's book "Bioethics", there are three models of bioethics in the world: Model 1 is "liberal" when there are no restrictions. Model 2 is "utilitarian", when what is prohibited is allowed for one person or a group of persons, if it is useful and beneficial for the majority of people. Model 3 is "personalistic", where the human person is considered a supernatural and inviolable integrity. Learned societies and professional associations The field of bioethics has developed national and international learned societies and professional associations, such as the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, the Canadian Bioethics Society, the Canadian Association of Research Ethics Boards, the Association of Bioethics Program Directors, the Bangladesh Bioethics Society and the International Association of Bioethics. Education Bioethics is taught in courses at the undergraduate and graduate level in different academic disciplines or programs, such as Philosophy, Medicine, Law, Social Sciences. It has become a requirement for professional accreditation in many health professional programs (Medicine, Nursing, Rehabilitation), to have obligatory training in ethics (e.g., professional ethics, medical ethics, clinical ethics, nursing ethics). Interest in the field and professional opportunities have led to the development of dedicated programs with concentrations in Bioethics, largely in the United States, Canada (List of Canadian bioethics programs) and Europe, offering undergraduate majors/minors, graduate certificates, and master's and doctoral degrees. Training in bioethics (usually clinical, medical, or professional ethics) are part of core competency requirements for health professionals in fields such as nursing, medicine or rehabilitation. For example, every medical school in Canada teaches bioethics so that students can gain an understanding of biomedical ethics and use the knowledge gained in their future careers to provide better patient care. Canadian residency training programs are required to teach bioethics as it is one of the conditions of accreditation, and is a requirement by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Criticism As a field of study, bioethics has also drawn criticism. For instance, Paul Farmer noted that bioethics tends to focus its attention on problems that arise from "too much care" for patients in industrialized nations while giving little or no attention to the ethical problem of too little care for the poor. Farmer characterizes the bioethics of handling morally difficult clinical situations, normally in hospitals in industrialized countries, as "quandary ethics". He does not regard quandary ethics and clinical bioethics as unimportant; he argues, rather, that bioethics must be balanced and give due weight to the poor. Additionally, bioethics has been condemned for its lack of diversity in thought, particularly concerning race. Even as the field has grown to include the areas of public opinion, policymaking, and medical decision-making, little to no academic writing has been authored concerning the intersection between race–especially the cultural values imbued in that construct–and bioethical literature. John Hoberman illustrates this in a 2016 critique, in which he points out that bioethicists have been traditionally resistant to expanding their discourse to include sociological and historically relevant applications. Central to this is the notion of white normativity, which establishes the dominance of white hegemonic structures in bioethical academia and tends to reinforce existing biases. These points and critiques, along with the neglect of women's perspectives within bioethics, have also been discussed amongst feminist bioethical scholars. However, differing views on bioethics' lack of diversity of thought and social inclusivity have also been advanced. For example, one historian has argued that the diversity of thought and social inclusivity are the two essential cornerstones of bioethics, albeit they have not been fully realized. In order to practice critical bioethics, bioethicists must base their investigations in empirical research, refute ideas with facts, engage in self-reflection, and be skeptical of the assertions made by other bioethicists, scientists, and doctors. A thorough normative study of actual moral experience is what is intended. Issues Research in bioethics is conducted by a broad and interdisciplinary community of scholars, and is not restricted only to those researchers who define themselves as "bioethicists": it includes researchers from the humanities, social sciences, health sciences and health professions, law, the fundamental sciences, etc. These researchers may be working in specialized bioethics centers and institutes associated with university bioethics training programs; but they may also be based in disciplinary departments without a specific bioethics focus. Notable examples of research centers include, amongst others, The Hastings Center, the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, the Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, the Centre for Human Bioethics. Areas of bioethics research that are the subject of published, peer-reviewed bioethical analysis include: See also References Further reading Ігор Бойко, Біоетика, скрипти для студентів, Український Католицький Університет, Львів 2008. – 180 с./Ihor Boyko, Bioethics, scripts for students, Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv 2008. – 180 p./ External links Bioethics entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. "Feminist Bioethics" at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy "MyBioethics" – a free online resource (app) for learning bioethics through real cases. Applied ethics Philosophy of biology

Sustainable tourism

Sustainable tourism is a concept that covers the complete tourism experience, including concern for economic, social, and environmental issues as well as attention to improving tourists' experiences and addressing the needs of host communities. Sustainable tourism should embrace concerns for environmental protection, social equity, and the quality of life, cultural diversity, and a dynamic, viable economy delivering jobs and prosperity for all. It has its roots in sustainable development and there can be some confusion as to what "sustainable tourism" means. There is now broad consensus that tourism should be sustainable. In fact, all forms of tourism have the potential to be sustainable if planned, developed and managed properly. Tourist development organizations are promoting sustainable tourism practices in order to mitigate negative effects caused by the growing impact of tourism, for example its environmental impacts. The United Nations World Tourism Organization emphasized these practices by promoting sustainable tourism as part of the Sustainable Development Goals, through programs like the International Year for Sustainable Tourism for Development in 2017. There is a direct link between sustainable tourism and several of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Tourism for SDGs focuses on how SDG 8 ("decent work and economic growth"), SDG 12 ("responsible consumption and production") and SDG 14 ("life below water") implicate tourism in creating a sustainable economy. According to the World Travel & Tourism Travel, tourism constituted "10.3 percent to the global gross domestic product, with international tourist arrivals hitting 1.5 billion marks (a growth of 3.5 percent) in 2019" and generated $1.7 trillion export earnings yet, improvements are expected to be gained from suitable management aspects and including sustainable tourism as part of a broader sustainable development strategy. Definition Sustainable tourism is "an exceedingly complex concept with varied definitions due to different interpretations of the meaning and use of the concept". It has its roots in sustainable development, a term that is "open to wide interpretation". This can lead to some confusion as to what sustainable tourism means. A definition of sustainable tourism from 2020 is: "Tourism which is developed and maintained in an area in such a manner and at such a scale that it remains viable over an infinite period while safeguarding the Earth's life-support system on which the welfare of current and future generations depends." Sustainable tourism covers the complete tourism experience, including concern for economic, social and environmental issues as well as attention to improving tourists' experiences. The concept of sustainable tourism aims to reduce the negative effects of tourism activities. This has become almost universally accepted as a desirable and politically appropriate approach to tourism development. Background Global goals The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), is the custodian agency to monitor the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 8 ("decent work and economic growth") that are related to tourism. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all". Given the dramatic increase in tourism, the report strongly promotes responsible tourism. Even though some countries and sectors in the industry are creating initiatives for tourism in addressing the SDGs, knowledge sharing, finance and policy for sustainable tourism are not fully addressing the needs of stakeholders. The SDGs include targets on tourism and sustainable tourism in several goals: Target 8.9 of SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth) states: "By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products". Target 12.a of SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production) is formulated as "Develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products." UNWTO is the custodian agency for this target. Target 14.7 of SDG 14 (Life below Water) is to: "By 2030, increase the economic benefits to small island developing States and least developed countries from the sustainable use of marine resources, including through sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism". Comparison with conventional tourism and mass tourism According to the UNWTO, "Tourism comprises the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes." Global economists forecast continuing international tourism growth, the amount depending on the location. As one of the world's largest and fastest-growing industries, this continuous growth will place great stress on remaining biologically diverse habitats and Indigenous cultures. By educating tourists, indigenous communities can foster a newfound appreciation toward their “country's natural, cultural, or historical uniqueness” (Cohan, 1978). Overall, tourists are motivated to learn more, and in return, this can ‘help to shape the self-image of the natives” (Cohan, 1978). Meaning, the natives that live on these indigenous lands can better understand their own history while simultaneously educating foreigners. The comparison between tourism in remote locations versus tourism in more developed areas raises a few key differences. Conventional tourism that takes place in more established locations often has thorough infrastructure to accommodate the needs of tourists, whereas remote locations most likely would not have upscale infrastructure. For example, “new airstrips and hotels” are being constructed at an ever-growing rate. Therefore, in an effort to compare and bring mass tourism to the remotest islands, remote regions will accommodate and meet the needs of guests by developing these facilities. However, it is important to note that changes to the environment may occur for a variety of reasons. For instance, drastic changes may be made because of evolving generational differences and changing socio-political structures. Mass tourism is the organized movement of large numbers of tourists to popular destinations such as theme parks, national parks, beaches or cruise ships. Mass tourism uses standardized packaged leisure products and experiences packaged to accommodate large number of tourists at the same time. Related similar concepts Responsible tourism While "sustainable tourism" is a concept, the term "responsible tourism" refers to the behaviors and practices that can lead to sustainable tourism. For example, backpacker tourism is a trend that contributes to sustainability from the various environmental, economic, and cultural activities associated with it. All stakeholders are responsible for the kind of tourism they develop or engage in. Both service providers and purchasers or consumers are held accountable. Being responsible demands “thinking” by using planning and development frameworks that are properly grounded in ethical thinking around what is good and right for communities, the natural world and tourists. According to the Center for Responsible Tourism, responsible tourism is "tourism that maximizes the benefits to local communities, minimizes negative social or environmental impacts, and helps local people conserve fragile cultures and habitats or species." Responsible tourism incorporates not only being responsible for interactions with the physical environment, but also of the economic and social interactions. While different groups will see responsibility in different ways, the shared understanding is that responsible tourism should entail improvements in tourism. This would include ethical thinking around what is "good" and "right" for local communities and the natural world, as well as for tourists. Responsible tourism is an aspiration that can be realized in different ways in different originating markets and in the diverse destinations of the world. Responsible tourism has also been critiqued. Studies have shown that the degree to which individuals engage in responsible tourism is contingent upon their engagement socially. Meaning, tourist behaviors will fluctuate depending on the range of social engagement that each tourist chooses to take part in. A study regarding responsible tourists behavior concludes that it is not only a personal behavior of tourists that shape outcomes, but also a reflection of mechanisms put in place by governments. Other research has put into question the promise that tourism, even responsible tourism, is inline with UN Sustainable Development Goals given the difficulties in measuring such impact. Some argue that it actually detracts attention from the wider issues surrounding tourism that are in need of regulation, such as the number of visitors and environmental impact. Ecotourism Nature Positive Tourism Nature positive tourism recognises that tourism should do more than leave no trace. It should leave behind positive benefits for the natural world. A form of regenerative tourism, nature positive tourism is a way for the tourism industry to address the global biodiversity crisis by committing to a nature-positive approach. This requires change across the sector to arrest and reverse declines in nature by 2030, and to achieve full recovery by 2050. The premise of nature positive tourism rests on the principle that all types of tourism – mainstream or otherwise – rely on nature and impact on it too. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, 80% of good and services in the industry are highly dependent on nature. The impacts of tourism on nature span all five of the key drivers of global biodiversity loss – land use change, pollution, climate change, over-exploitation of natural resources, and the invasion of non-native species. Nature positive tourism recognises and addresses these impacts and takes steps to ensure any tourism activities protect and restore natural biodiversity. This could be through supporting reforestation or regeneration initiatives, making space for nature in urban hotels, or changing operating procedures to eradicate light and water pollution. To promote the adoption of a Nature Positive approach within the industry by 2030, the Nature Positive Tourism Partnership (NPTP) was launched by the UN World Tourism Organisation with the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, following COP15. More broadly, the partnership aims to support the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework, an agreement that aligns closely with the principles of the nature-positive goal. Since it was launched, nearly 150 organisations have shown support for the NPTP. A report ('Nature Positive Travel & Tourism in Action') was published in April 2024 to describe the partnership's plan to work towards the nature-positive goal. Some of the priority actions suggested include identifying impacts on biodiversity by assessing operations, setting SMART targets (specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, and time-bound), and stopping animal exploitation. This followed an earlier report by the WTTC in 2022, just before COP15, that launched its nature-positive travel initiative. Criticism Although we are seeking solutions for sustainable tourism, there is no desirable change in the tourism system. Sustainable models must be able to adapt to new challenges a face a wider form of societal transformations. Many critics view the extractive nature of "sustainable tourism" as an oxymoron, as it is fundamentally unable to continue indefinitely. True and perfect sustainability is likely impossible in all but the most favorable circumstances, as the interests of equity, economy, and ecology often conflict with one another and require tradeoffs. It is a reality that many things are done in the name of sustainability are actually masking the desire to allow extra profits. There is often alienation of local populations from the tourists. Such cases highlight that sustainable tourism covers a wide spectrum from "very weak" to "very strong" when the degree of anthropocentrism and exploitation of human and natural resources is taken into account. Stakeholders Stakeholders of sustainable tourism can include organizations as well as individuals. A stakeholder in the tourism industry is deemed to be anyone who is impacted by development positively or negatively. Stakeholder involvement reduces potential conflict between the tourists and host community by involving the latter in shaping the way in which tourism develops. Governments and good governance The government plays an important role in encouraging sustainable tourism whether it be through marketing, information services, education, and advice through public-private collaborations. However, the values and ulterior motives of governments often need to be taken into account when assessing the motives for sustainable tourism. One important factor to consider in any ecologically sensitive or remote area or an area new to tourism is that of carrying capacity. This is the capacity of tourists of visitors an area can sustainably tolerate over time without damaging the environment or culture of the surrounding area. This can be altered and revised in time and with changing perceptions and values. Scholars have pointed out that partnerships "incrementally nudge governance towards greater inclusion of diverse stakeholders". Partnerships refer to cooperation between private, public and civil society actors. Its purpose is to implement sustainability policies. Governance is essential in developing partnership initiatives. Good governance principles for National Parks and protected areas management include legitimacy and voice, direction, performance, accountability and fairness. Non-governmental organizations Non-governmental organizations are one of the stakeholders in advocating sustainable tourism. Their roles can range from spearheading sustainable tourism practices to simply doing research. University research teams and scientists can be tapped to aid in the process of planning. Such solicitation of research can be observed in the planning of Cát Bà National Park in Vietnam. Dive resort operators in Bunaken National Park, Indonesia, play a crucial role by developing exclusive zones for diving and fishing respectively, such that both tourists and locals can benefit from the venture. Large conventions, meetings and other major organized events drive the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry. Cities and convention centers compete to attract such commerce, commerce which has heavy impacts on resource use and the environment. Major sporting events, such as the Olympic Games, present special problems regarding environmental burdens and degradation. But burdens imposed by the regular convention industry can be vastly more significant. Green conventions and events are a new but growing sector and marketing point within the convention and hospitality industry. More environmentally aware organizations, corporations, and government agencies are now seeking more sustainable event practices, greener hotels, restaurants and convention venues, and more energy-efficient or climate-neutral travel and ground transportation. However, the convention trip not taken can be the most sustainable option: "With most international conferences having hundreds if not thousands of participants, and the bulk of these usually traveling by plane, conference travel is an area where significant reductions in air-travel-related GHG emissions could be made. ... This does not mean non-attendance" (Reay, 2004), since modern Internet communications are now ubiquitous and remote audio/visual participation. For example, by 2003 Access Grid technology had already successfully hosted several international conferences. A particular example is the large American Geophysical Union's annual meeting, which has used live streaming for several years. This provides live streams and recordings of keynotes, named lectures, and oral sessions, and provides opportunities to submit questions and interact with authors and peers. Following the live stream, the recording of each session is posted online within 24 hours. Some convention centers have begun to take direct action in reducing the impact of the conventions they host. One example is the Moscone Center in San Francisco, which has a very aggressive recycling program, a large solar power system, and other programs aimed at reducing impact and increasing efficiency. Local communities Local communities benefit from sustainable tourism through economic development, job creation, and infrastructure development. Tourism revenues bring economic growth and prosperity to attractive tourist destinations, which can raise the standard of living in destination communities. Sustainable tourism operators commit themselves to creating jobs for local community members. An increase in tourism revenue to an area acts as a driver for the development of increased infrastructure. As tourist demands increase in a destination, a more robust infrastructure is needed to support the needs of both the tourism industry and the local community. A 2009 study of rural operators throughout the province of British Columbia, Canada found "an overall strong 'pro-sustainability' attitude among respondents. Dominant barriers identified were lack of available money to invest, lack of incentive programs, other business priorities, and limited access to suppliers of sustainable products, with the most common recommendation being the need for incentive programs to encourage businesses to become more sustainable." International organizations The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) serves as the international body for fostering increased knowledge and understanding of sustainable tourism practices, promoting the adoption of universal sustainable tourism principles, and building demand for sustainable travel. GSTC launched the GSTC Criteria, a global standard for sustainable travel and tourism, which includes criteria and performance indicators for destinations, tour operators and hotels. The GSTC Criteria serve as the international standard for certification agencies (the organizations that would inspect a tourism product, and certify them as a sustainable company). The GSTC Criteria has the potential to be applied to national parks to improve the standards of operation and increase sustainability efforts in the United States. Sustainable transport and mobility Tourism can be related to travel for leisure, business and visiting friends and relatives and can also include means of transportation related to tourism. Without travel there is no tourism, so the concept of sustainable tourism is tightly linked to a concept of sustainable transport. Two relevant considerations are tourism's reliance on fossil fuels and tourism's effect on climate change. 72 percent of tourism's CO2 emissions come from transportation, 24 percent from accommodations, and 4 percent from local activities. Aviation accounts for 55% of those transportation CO2 emissions (or 40% of tourism's total). However, when considering the impact of all greenhouse gas emissions, of condensation trails and induced cirrus clouds, aviation alone could account for up to 75% of tourism's climate impact. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) considers an annual increase in aviation fuel efficiency of 2 percent per year through 2050 to be realistic. However, both Airbus and Boeing expect the passenger-kilometers of air transport to increase by about 5 percent yearly through at least 2020, overwhelming any efficiency gains. By 2050, with other economic sectors having greatly reduced their CO2 emissions, tourism is likely to be generating 40 percent of global carbon emissions. The main cause is an increase in the average distance traveled by tourists, which for many years has been increasing at a faster rate than the number of trips taken. "Sustainable transportation is now established as the critical issue confronting a global tourism industry that is palpably unsustainable, and aviation lies at the heart of this issue." The European Tourism Manifesto has also called for an acceleration in the development of cycling infrastructure to boost local clean energy travel. Deployment of non-motorized infrastructures and the re-use of abandoned transport infrastructure (such as disused railways) for cycling and walking has been proposed. Connectivity between these non-motorized routes (greenways, cycle routes) and main attractions nearby (i.e. Natura2000 sites, UNESCO sites, etc.) has also been requested. It has also called for sufficient and predictable rail infrastructure funding, and a focus on digital multimodal practices, including end-to-end ticketing (such as Interrail), all of which are in-line with the EU's modal shift goal. Global tourism accounts for about eight percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. This percentage takes into account airline transportation as well as other significant environmental and social impacts that are not always beneficial to local communities and their economies. Challenges Displacement and resettlement In places where there was no tourism prior to tourism companies' arrival, displacement and resettlement of local communities is a common issue. For example, the Maasai tribes in Tanzania have been a victim of this problem. After the second World War, conservationists moved into the areas where the Maasai tribes lived, with the intent to make such areas accessible to tourists and to preserve the areas' natural beauty and ecology. This was often achieved through establishing national parks and conservation areas. It has been claimed that Maasai activities did not threaten the wildlife and the knowledge was blurred by "colonial disdain" and misunderstandings of savannah wildlife. As the Maasai have been displaced, the area within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) has been adapted to allow easier access for tourists through the construction of campsites and tracks, as well as the removal of stone objects such as stones for souvenirs. Environmental impacts When it comes to tourism, the desire to visit more remote locations is a growing trend. Specifically, these undeveloped lands are being prized as scarce resources that are attractive for nature-based tourism. The natural environments are seen as a highly valued locations for tourists due to their naturally challenging terrain. The large impact that tourism has on remote locations results in a great deal of destruction to the environment. Due to the influx of visitors, natural habitats deteriorate, biodiversity is lost, and overall climate change has increased. The permanent destruction of these natural lands has increased due to tourists seeking more adventurous experiences, such as places where they feel challenged by the change of scenery and lifestyles. Therefore, the desire to explore challenging locations, along with the need to experience authentic cultures, drives tourists to remote travel destinations. Which in turn, decreases the number of natural destinations. Improvements Management aspects Promotion of sustainable tourism practices are often connected to the management of tourist locations by locals or the community. This form of tourism is based on the premise that the people living next to a resource are the ones best suited to protecting it. This means that the tourism activities and businesses are developed and operated by local community members, and certainly with their consent and support. Sustainable tourism typically involves the conservation of resources that are capitalized upon for tourism purposes. Locals run the businesses and are responsible for promoting the conservation messages to protect their environment. Community-based sustainable tourism (CBST) associates the success of the sustainability of the ecotourism location to the management practices of the communities who are directly or indirectly dependent on the location for their livelihoods. A salient feature of CBST is that local knowledge is usually utilized alongside wide general frameworks of ecotourism business models. This allows the participation of locals at the management level and typically allows a more intimate understanding of the environment. The use of local knowledge also means an easier entry level into a tourism industry for locals whose jobs or livelihoods are affected by the use of their environment as tourism locations. Environmentally sustainable development crucially depends on the presence of local support for a project. It has also been noted that in order for success projects must provide direct benefits for the local community. However, recent research has found that economic linkages generated by CBST may only be sporadic, and that the linkages with agriculture are negatively affected by seasonality and by the small scale of the cultivated areas. This means that CBST may only have small-scale positive effects for these communities. Partnerships between governments and tourism agencies with smaller communities are not particularly effective because of the disparity in aims between the two groups, i.e. true sustainability versus mass tourism for maximum profit. In Honduras, such a divergence can be demonstrated where consultants from the World Bank and officials from the Institute of tourism wanted to set up a selection of 5-star hotels near various ecotourism destinations. But another operating approach in the region by USAID and APROECOH (an ecotourism association) promotes community-based efforts which have trained many local Hondurans. Grassroot organizations were more successful in Honduras. As part of a development strategy Developing countries are especially interested in international tourism, and many believe it brings countries a large selection of economic benefits including employment opportunities, small business development, and increased in payments of foreign exchange. Many assume that more money is gained through developing luxury goods and services in spite of the fact that this increases a countries dependency on imported products, foreign investments and expatriate skills. This classic 'trickle down' financial strategy rarely makes its way down to brings its benefits down to small businesses. It has been said that the economic benefits of large-scale tourism are not doubted but that the backpacker or budget traveler sector is often neglected as a potential growth sector by developing countries governments. This sector brings significant non-economic benefits which could help to empower and educate the communities involved in this sector. "Aiming 'low' builds upon the skills of the local population, promotes self-reliance, and develops the confidence of community members in dealing with outsiders, all signs of empowerment" and all of which aid in the overall development of a nation. In the 1990s, international tourism was seen as an import potential growth sector for many countries, particularly in developing countries as many of the world's most beautiful and 'untouched' places are located in developing countries. Prior to the 1960s, studies tended to assume that the extension of the tourism industry to LEDCs was a good thing. In the 1970s, this changed as academics started to take a much more negative view on tourism's consequences, particularly criticizing the industry as an effective contributor towards development. International tourism is a volatile industry with visitors quick to abandon destinations that were formerly popular because of threats to health or security. Tourism is seen as a resilient industry and bounces back quickly after severe setbacks, like natural disasters, September 11th attacks and COVID-19. Many call for more attention to "lessons learned" from these setbacks to improve mitigation measures that could be taken in advance. Cultural Improvements Tourists in a lot of ways can have a heavy impact on a country's cultural heritage. For example, by booking excursions that are based around heritage there is encouragement for important practices and traditions to be passed down. The same can be said for local artistry, locals continue to craft and create goods that reflect their culture due to rising popularity visits from tourists. Marketplaces that are high foot traffic locations for tourists can be extremely important for a country's community. For a single community, cultural impacts and economic impacts can go hand in hand. For over 44 countries, the tourism industry contributes to more than 15% of total employment. When traveling to be a sustainable tourist, it's important to only appreciate the culture and not appropriate it or dampen it. By better understanding different cultures, you are setting up the world for better social outcomes. By practicing sustainable tourism, tourists can create better cross-cultural understanding, mutual empathy, and tolerance. Trends Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic Due to COVID-19, an unprecedented decrease of 65% took place in international tourist numbers in first half of 2020 as compared to 2019. Countries around the world closed their borders and introduced travel restrictions in response to the pandemic. The situation is expected to gradually improve in 2021 depending upon lifting of travel restrictions, availability of COVID-19 vaccine and return of traveler confidence. Furthermore, the current COVID-19 pandemic has made many sustainability challenges of tourism clearer. Therefore sustainable tourism scholars call for a transformation of tourism. They state that the COVID-19 pandemic has created a window of opportunity, in which stakeholders can shift towards more sustainable practices and rethink systems. The system cannot be sustained in its current form. The constant aim for economic growth goes at the expense of Earth's ecosystems, wildlife, and well-being. The gap between rich and poor is growing every year, and the pandemic has spurred this even further. Our current systems are often in place for the few, leaving the many behind. This is no different for the global and local tourism systems. Therefore, tourism scholars argue we should learn from the pandemic. "COVID-19 provides striking lessons to the tourism industry, policy makers and tourism researchers about the effects of global change. The challenge is now to collectively learn from this global tragedy to accelerate the transformation of sustainable tourism". Technology is seen as a partial solution to the disruptive impacts of pandemics like COVID-19. Although it can be counterproductive for sustainable tourism if it is utilized for data collection that may be misused for mass tourism, technology and digital advancements have provided the tools necessary for e-tourism to evolve and become more valuable amidst the pandemic. Scholars argue that "surrogate tourism" will allow tourists to remain home while employing local guides at the destination to facilitate personalized, interactive, real-time tours (PIRTs). While these options will not take the place of conventional travel experience, there is a market for PIRTs especially for persons with disabilities and the elderly, and for the "sustainable citizen who wishes to minimize their impact on the planet". History Historically, the movement toward sustainable tourism through responsible tourism emerged following the environmental awareness that rose out of the 1960s and 1970s amid a growing phenomenon of "mass tourism". In 1973, the European Travel Commission initiated a multilateral effort to advance environmentally sound tourism and development. Jost Krippendorf, a former professor at the University of Bern, is considered to be one of the first individuals to express ideas about sustainable tourism. In his book "The landscape eaters", Krippendorf argues for “sanfter turismus”, or "soft tourism". The South African national tourism policy (1996) used the term "responsible tourism" and mentioned the well-being of the local community as a main factor. In 2014, the Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism focused on the role of business in promoting responsible tourism. While further research is needed to understand the impacts of responsible tourism, a study conducted in 2017 found that well-managed responsible tourism practices were beneficial to local communities. Examples Forest tourism The Haliburton Sustainable Forest in central Ontario, Canada is a sustainably managed and privately owned 100,000 forest that supports both tourism and the logging industry. Based on a 100-year plan for sustaining the forest, the Haliburton Sustainable Forest has sources of income with tourism and logging that contribute to the long-term stability of the local economy and to the health of the forest. In just over four decades the forest has been transformed from a run-down forestry holding to a flourishing, multi-use operation with benefits to owners, employees and the public at large as well as the environment. Sustainable touristic cities In 2019, Machu Picchu in Peru was "recognized as Latin America's first 100% sustainable city through the management of its waste". The country of Bhutan is notably sustainable as well, it is one of the only carbon neutral countries. Bhutan offsets carbon footprints produced by both locals and tourists alike through hydro-powered renewable energy and its vast forest land, which functions as a natural carbon sink. Organizations Biosphere Tourism is an organization that certifies industry players who are able to balance sociocultural, economic and ecological factors within a tourism destination. The Tread Right Foundation (The Travel Corporation's not-for-profit foundation) has been recognized in 2019 by the UNWTO's annual awards for its pioneering work in sustainability. Geosport Geosport is one of the latest concepts in the field of tourism, mainly focusing on promoting spaces, sports heritage sites, and routes as means of attracting tourists through sustainability and sustainable management measures. Geosport combines local cultural heritage, natural resources, and destination branding with sport. It allows visitors to explore the local cultural and natural heritage more deeply. By enhancing the communication between people and the environment, the concepts of sustainable development and environmental protection are subtly promoted. See also BEST Education Network Heritage tourism International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development Journal of Sustainable Tourism Mohonk Agreement World Tourism Day Overtourism IT.A.CÀ - Festival of Responsible Tourism Nature-positive References External links International Centre for Responsible Tourism Linking Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Tourism at World Heritage Sites UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development African Fair Tourism & Trade Organisation Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism Global Sustainable Tourism Council Economy and the environment Types of tourism Articles containing video clips Sustainability Sustainable development

Ecophysiology

Ecophysiology (from Greek , oikos, "house(hold)"; , physis, "nature, origin"; and , -logia), environmental physiology or physiological ecology is a biological discipline that studies the response of an organism's physiology to environmental conditions. It is closely related to comparative physiology and evolutionary physiology. Ernst Haeckel's coinage bionomy is sometimes employed as a synonym. Plants Plant ecophysiology is concerned largely with two topics: mechanisms (how plants sense and respond to environmental change) and scaling or integration (how the responses to highly variable conditions—for example, gradients from full sunlight to 95% shade within tree canopies—are coordinated with one another), and how their collective effect on plant growth and gas exchange can be understood on this basis. In many cases, animals are able to escape unfavourable and changing environmental factors such as heat, cold, drought or floods, while plants are unable to move away and therefore must endure the adverse conditions or perish (animals go places, plants grow places). Plants are therefore phenotypically plastic and have an impressive array of genes that aid in acclimating to changing conditions. It is hypothesized that this large number of genes can be partly explained by plant species' need to live in a wider range of conditions. Light Light is the food of plants, i.e. the form of energy that plants use to build themselves and reproduce. The organs harvesting light in plants are leaves and the process through which light is converted into biomass is photosynthesis. The response of photosynthesis to light is called light response curve of net photosynthesis (PI curve). The shape is typically described by a non-rectangular hyperbola. Three quantities of the light response curve are particularly useful in characterising a plant's response to light intensities. The inclined asymptote has a positive slope representing the efficiency of light use, and is called quantum efficiency; the x-intercept is the light intensity at which biochemical assimilation (gross assimilation) balances leaf respiration so that the net CO2 exchange of the leaf is zero, called light compensation point; and a horizontal asymptote representing the maximum assimilation rate. Sometimes after reaching the maximum assimilation declines for processes collectively known as photoinhibition. As with most abiotic factors, light intensity (irradiance) can be both suboptimal and excessive. Suboptimal light (shade) typically occurs at the base of a plant canopy or in an understory environment. Shade tolerant plants have a range of adaptations to help them survive the altered quantity and quality of light typical of shade environments. Excess light occurs at the top of canopies and on open ground when cloud cover is low and the sun's zenith angle is low, typically this occurs in the tropics and at high altitudes. Excess light incident on a leaf can result in photoinhibition and photodestruction. Plants adapted to high light environments have a range of adaptations to avoid or dissipate the excess light energy, as well as mechanisms that reduce the amount of injury caused. Light intensity is also an important component in determining the temperature of plant organs (energy budget). Temperature In response to extremes of temperature, plants can produce various proteins. These protect them from the damaging effects of ice formation and falling rates of enzyme catalysis at low temperatures, and from enzyme denaturation and increased photorespiration at high temperatures. As temperatures fall, production of antifreeze proteins and dehydrins increases. As temperatures rise, production of heat shock proteins increases. Metabolic imbalances associated with temperature extremes result in the build-up of reactive oxygen species, which can be countered by antioxidant systems. Cell membranes are also affected by changes in temperature and can cause the membrane to lose its fluid properties and become a gel in cold conditions or to become leaky in hot conditions. This can affect the movement of compounds across the membrane. To prevent these changes, plants can change the composition of their membranes. In cold conditions, more unsaturated fatty acids are placed in the membrane and in hot conditions, more saturated fatty acids are inserted. Plants can avoid overheating by minimising the amount of sunlight absorbed and by enhancing the cooling effects of wind and transpiration. Plants can reduce light absorption using reflective leaf hairs, scales, and waxes. These features are so common in warm dry regions that these habitats can be seen to form a 'silvery landscape' as the light scatters off the canopies. Some species, such as Macroptilium purpureum, can move their leaves throughout the day so that they are always orientated to avoid the sun (paraheliotropism). Knowledge of these mechanisms has been key to breeding for heat stress tolerance in agricultural plants. Plants can avoid the full impact of low temperatures by altering their microclimate. For example, Raoulia plants found in the uplands of New Zealand are said to resemble 'vegetable sheep' as they form tight cushion-like clumps to insulate the most vulnerable plant parts and shield them from cooling winds. The same principle has been applied in agriculture by using plastic mulch to insulate the growing points of crops in cool climates in order to boost plant growth. Water Too much or too little water can damage plants. If there is too little water then tissues will dehydrate and the plant may die. If the soil becomes waterlogged then the soil will become anoxic (low in oxygen), which can kill the roots of the plant. The ability of plants to access water depends on the structure of their roots and on the water potential of the root cells. When soil water content is low, plants can alter their water potential to maintain a flow of water into the roots and up to the leaves (Soil plant atmosphere continuum). This remarkable mechanism allows plants to lift water as high as 120 m by harnessing the gradient created by transpiration from the leaves. In very dry soil, plants close their stomata to reduce transpiration and prevent water loss. The closing of the stomata is often mediated by chemical signals from the root (i.e., abscisic acid). In irrigated fields, the fact that plants close their stomata in response to drying of the roots can be exploited to 'trick' plants into using less water without reducing yields (see partial rootzone drying). The use of this technique was largely developed by Dr Peter Dry and colleagues in Australia If drought continues, the plant tissues will dehydrate, resulting in a loss of turgor pressure that is visible as wilting. As well as closing their stomata, most plants can also respond to drought by altering their water potential (osmotic adjustment) and increasing root growth. Plants that are adapted to dry environments (Xerophytes) have a range of more specialized mechanisms to maintain water and/or protect tissues when desiccation occurs. Waterlogging reduces the supply of oxygen to the roots and can kill a plant within days. Plants cannot avoid waterlogging, but many species overcome the lack of oxygen in the soil by transporting oxygen to the root from tissues that are not submerged. Species that are tolerant of waterlogging develop specialised roots near the soil surface and aerenchyma to allow the diffusion of oxygen from the shoot to the root. Roots that are not killed outright may also switch to less oxygen-hungry forms of cellular respiration. Species that are frequently submerged have evolved more elaborate mechanisms that maintain root oxygen levels, such as the aerial roots seen in mangrove forests. However, for many terminally overwatered houseplants, the initial symptoms of waterlogging can resemble those due to drought. This is particularly true for flood-sensitive plants that show drooping of their leaves due to epinasty (rather than wilting). concentration is vital for plant growth, as it is the substrate for photosynthesis. Plants take in through stomatal pores on their leaves. At the same time as enters the stomata, moisture escapes. This trade-off between gain and water loss is central to plant productivity. The trade-off is all the more critical as Rubisco, the enzyme used to capture , is efficient only when there is a high concentration of in the leaf. Some plants overcome this difficulty by concentrating within their leaves using carbon fixation or Crassulacean acid metabolism. However, most species used carbon fixation and must open their stomata to take in whenever photosynthesis is taking place. The concentration of in the atmosphere is rising due to deforestation and the combustion of fossil fuels. This would be expected to increase the efficiency of photosynthesis and possibly increase the overall rate of plant growth. This possibility has attracted considerable interest in recent years, as an increased rate of plant growth could absorb some of the excess and reduce the rate of global warming. Extensive experiments growing plants under elevated using Free-Air Concentration Enrichment have shown that photosynthetic efficiency does indeed increase. Plant growth rates also increase, by an average of 17% for above-ground tissue and 30% for below-ground tissue. However, detrimental impacts of global warming, such as increased instances of heat and drought stress, mean that the overall effect is likely to be a reduction in plant productivity. Reduced plant productivity would be expected to accelerate the rate of global warming. Overall, these observations point to the importance of avoiding further increases in atmospheric rather than risking runaway climate change. Wind Wind has three very different effects on plants. It affects the exchanges of mass (water evaporation, ) and of energy (heat) between the plant and the atmosphere by renewing the air at the contact with the leaves (convection). It is sensed as a signal driving a wind-acclimation syndrome by the plant known as thigmomorphogenesis, leading to modified growth and development and eventually to wind hardening. Its drag force can damage the plant (leaf abrasion, wind ruptures in branches and stems and windthrows and toppling in trees and lodging in crops). Exchange of mass and energy Wind influences the way leaves regulate moisture, heat, and carbon dioxide. When no wind is present, a layer of still air builds up around each leaf. This is known as the boundary layer and in effect insulates the leaf from the environment, providing an atmosphere rich in moisture and less prone to convective heating or cooling. As wind speed increases, the leaf environment becomes more closely linked to the surrounding environment. It may become difficult for the plant to retain moisture as it is exposed to dry air. On the other hand, a moderately high wind allows the plant to cool its leaves more easily when exposed to full sunlight. Plants are not entirely passive in their interaction with wind. Plants can make their leaves less vulnerable to changes in wind speed, by coating their leaves in fine hairs (trichomes) to break up the airflow and increase the boundary layer. In fact, leaf and canopy dimensions are often finely controlled to manipulate the boundary layer depending on the prevailing environmental conditions. Acclimation Plants can sense the wind through the deformation of its tissues. This signal leads to inhibits the elongation and stimulates the radial expansion of their shoots, while increasing the development of their root system. This syndrome of responses known as thigmomorphogenesis results in shorter, stockier plants with strengthened stems, as well as to an improved anchorage. It was once believed that this occurs mostly in very windy areas. But it has been found that it happens even in areas with moderate winds, so that wind-induced signal were found to be a major ecological factor. Trees have a particularly well-developed capacity to reinforce their trunks when exposed to wind. From the practical side, this realisation prompted arboriculturalists in the UK in the 1960s to move away from the practice of staking young amenity trees to offer artificial support. Wind damage Wind can damage most of the organs of the plants. Leaf abrasion (due to the rubbing of leaves and branches or to the effect of airborne particles such as sand) and leaf of branch breakage are rather common phenomena, that plants have to accommodate. In the more extreme cases, plants can be mortally damaged or uprooted by wind. This has been a major selective pressure acting over terrestrial plants. Nowadays, it is one of the major threatening for agriculture and forestry even in temperate zones. It is worse for agriculture in hurricane-prone regions, such as the banana-growing Windward Islands in the Caribbean. When this type of disturbance occurs in natural systems, the only solution is to ensure that there is an adequate stock of seeds or seedlings to quickly take the place of the mature plants that have been lost- although, in many cases, a successional stage will be needed before the ecosystem can be restored to its former state. Animals Humans The environment can have major influences on human physiology. Environmental effects on human physiology are numerous; one of the most carefully studied effects is the alterations in thermoregulation in the body due to outside stresses. This is necessary because in order for enzymes to function, blood to flow, and for various body organs to operate, temperature must remain at consistent, balanced levels. Thermoregulation To achieve this, the body alters three main things to achieve a constant, normal body temperature: Heat transfer to the epidermis The rate of evaporation The rate of heat production The hypothalamus plays an important role in thermoregulation. It connects to thermal receptors in the dermis, and detects changes in surrounding blood to make decisions of whether to stimulate internal heat production or to stimulate evaporation. There are two main types of stresses that can be experienced due to extreme environmental temperatures: heat stress and cold stress. Heat stress is physiologically combated in four ways: radiation, conduction, convection, and evaporation. Cold stress is physiologically combated by shivering, accumulation of body fat, circulatory adaptations (that provide an efficient transfer of heat to the epidermis), and increased blood flow to the extremities. There is one part of the body fully equipped to deal with cold stress. The respiratory system protects itself against damage by warming the incoming air to 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit before it reaches the bronchi. This means that not even the most frigid of temperatures can damage the respiratory tract. In both types of temperature-related stress, it is important to remain well-hydrated. Hydration reduces cardiovascular strain, enhances the ability of energy processes to occur, and reduces feelings of exhaustion. Altitude Extreme temperatures are not the only obstacles that humans face. High altitudes also pose serious physiological challenges on the body. Some of these effects are reduced arterial , the rebalancing of the acid-base content in body fluids, increased hemoglobin, increased RBC synthesis, enhanced circulation, and increased levels of the glycolysis byproduct 2,3 diphosphoglycerate, which promotes off-loading of O2 by hemoglobin in the hypoxic tissues. Environmental factors can play a huge role in the human body's fight for homeostasis. However, humans have found ways to adapt, both physiologically and tangibly. Scientists George A. Bartholomew (1919–2006) was a founder of animal physiological ecology. He served on the faculty at UCLA from 1947 to 1989, and almost 1,200 individuals can trace their academic lineages to him. Knut Schmidt-Nielsen (1915–2007) was also an important contributor to this specific scientific field as well as comparative physiology. Hermann Rahn (1912–1990) was an early leader in the field of environmental physiology. Starting out in the field of zoology with a Ph.D. from University of Rochester (1933), Rahn began teaching physiology at the University of Rochester in 1941. It is there that he partnered with Wallace O. Fenn to publish A Graphical Analysis of the Respiratory Gas Exchange in 1955. This paper included the landmark O2-CO2 diagram, which formed the basis for much of Rahn's future work. Rahn's research into applications of this diagram led to the development of aerospace medicine and advancements in hyperbaric breathing and high-altitude respiration. Rahn later joined the University at Buffalo in 1956 as the Lawrence D. Bell Professor and Chairman of the Department of Physiology. As Chairman, Rahn surrounded himself with outstanding faculty and made the University an international research center in environmental physiology. See also Comparative physiology Evolutionary physiology Ecology Phylogenetic comparative methods Plant physiology Raymond B. Huey Theodore Garland, Jr. Tyrone Hayes References Further reading Spicer, J. I., and K. J. Gaston. 1999. Physiological diversity and its ecological implications. Blackwell Science, Oxford, U.K. x + 241 pp. . Definitions and Opinions by: G. A. Bartholomew, A. F. Bennett, W. D. Billings, B. F. Chabot, D. M. Gates, B. Heinrich, R. B. Huey, D. H. Janzen, J. R. King, P. A. McClure, B. K. McNab, P. C. Miller, P. S. Nobel, B. R. Strain. Subfields of ecology Physiology Animal physiology Plant physiology Ecology terminology Animal ecology Plant ecology Articles containing video clips

Effects of climate change on agriculture

There are numerous effects of climate change on agriculture, many of which are making it harder for agricultural activities to provide global food security. Rising temperatures and changing weather patterns often result in lower crop yields due to water scarcity caused by drought, heat waves and flooding. These effects of climate change can also increase the risk of several regions suffering simultaneous crop failures. Currently this risk is regarded as rare but if these simultaneous crop failures did happen they would have significant consequences for the global food supply. Many pests and plant diseases are also expected to either become more prevalent or to spread to new regions. The world's livestock are also expected to be affected by many of the same issues, from greater heat stress to animal feed shortfalls and the spread of parasites and vector-borne diseases. The increased atmospheric level from human activities (mainly burning of fossil fuels) causes a fertilisation effect. This effect offsets a small portion of the detrimental effects of climate change on agriculture. However, it comes at the expense of lower levels of essential micronutrients in the crops. Furthermore, CO2 fertilisation has little effect on C4 crops like maize. On the coasts, some agricultural land is expected to be lost to sea level rise, while melting glaciers could result in less irrigation water being available. On the other hand, more arable land may become available as frozen land thaws. Other effects include erosion and changes in soil fertility and the length of growing seasons. Also, bacteria like Salmonella and fungi that produce mycotoxin grow faster as the climate warms. Their growth has negative effects on food safety, food loss and prices. There has been extensive research on the effects of climate change on individual crops, particularly on the four staple crops: corn (maize), rice, wheat and soybeans. These crops are responsible for around two-thirds of all calories consumed by humans (both directly and indirectly as animal feed). The research investigates important uncertainties, for example future population growth, which will increase global food demand for the foreseeable future. The future degree of soil erosion and groundwater depletion are further uncertainties. On the other hand, a range of improvements to agricultural yields, collectively known as the Green Revolution, has increased yields per unit of land area by between 250% and 300% since the 1960. Some of that progress will likely continue. The scientific consensus is that global food security will change relatively little in the near-term. 720 million to 811 million people were undernourished in 2021, with around 200,000 people being at a catastrophic level of food insecurity. Climate change is expected to add an additional 8 to 80 million people who are at risk of hunger by 2050. The estimated range depends on the intensity of future warming and the effectiveness of adaptation measures. Agricultural productivity growth will likely have improved food security for hundreds of millions of people by then. Predictions that reach further into the future (to 2100 and beyond) are rare. There is some concern about the effects on food security from more extreme weather events in future. Nevertheless, at this stage there is no expectation of a widespread global famine due to climate change within the 21st century. Direct effects from changing weather patterns Observed changes in adverse weather conditions Agriculture is sensitive to weather, and major events like heatwaves or droughts or heavy rains (also known as low and high precipitation extremes) can cause substantial losses. For example, Australia's farmers are very likely to suffer losses during the El Nino weather conditions, while 2003 European heat wave led to 13 billion euros in uninsured agriculture losses. Climate change is known to increase the frequency and severity of heatwaves, and to make precipitation less predictable and more prone to extremes, but since climate change attribution is still a relatively new field, connecting specific weather events and the shortfalls they cause to climate change over natural variability is often difficult. Exceptions include West Africa, where the climate-induced intensification of extreme weather was found to have already decreased millet yields by 10–20%, and sorghum yields 5–15%. Similarly, it was found that climate change had intensified drought conditions in Southern Africa in 2007, which elevated food prices and caused "acute food insecurity" in the country of Lesotho. Agriculture in Southern Africa was also adversely affected by drought after climate change intensified the effects of 2014–2016 El Niño event. In Europe, between 1950 and 2019, heat extremes have become more frequent and also more likely to occur consecutively, while cold extremes have declined. At the same time, Northern Europe and much of Eastern Europe was found to experience extreme precipitation more often, while the Mediterranean became more affected by drought. Similarly, the severity of heatwave and drought effects on European crop production was found to have tripled over a 50-year period – from losses of 2.2% during 1964–1990 to losses of 7.3% in 1991–2015. In the summer of 2018, heat waves probably linked to climate change greatly reduced average yield in many parts of the world, especially Europe. During the month of August, more crop failures resulted in a rise in global food prices. On the other hand, floods, often linked to climate change, have also had notable adverse effects on agriculture in the recent years. In May 2019, floods shortened corn planting season in the Midwestern United States, lowering the projected yield from 15 billion bushels to 14.2. During the 2021 European floods, estimates pointed to severe damage to the agricultural sector of Belgium, one of the countries hardest hit by the floods, including long-term effects like soil erosion. In China, 2023 research found that extreme rainfall had cost the country about 8% of its rice output over the two preceding decades. This was considered comparable to losses caused by extreme heat over this period. Projected effects from temperature increase Changes in temperature and weather patterns will alter areas suitable for farming. The current prediction is that temperatures will increase and precipitation will decrease in arid and semi-arid regions (Middle East, Africa, Australia, Southwest United States, and Southern Europe). In addition, crop yields in tropical regions will be negatively affected by the projected moderate increase in temperature (1–2 °C) expected to occur during the first half of the century. During the second half of the century, further warming is projected to decrease crop yields in all regions including Canada and the Northern United States. Many staple crops are extremely sensitive to heat and when temperatures rise over , soybean seedlings are killed and corn pollen loses its vitality. Higher winter temperatures and more frost-free days in some regions can currently be disruptive, as they can cause phenological mismatch between flowering time of plants and the activity of pollinators, threatening their reproductive success. In the longer term, however, they would result in longer growing seasons. For example, a 2014 study found that maize yields in the Heilongjiang region of China increased by between 7 and 17% per decade as a result of rising temperatures. On the other hand, a year 2017 meta-analysis comparing data from four different methods of estimating effect of warming (two types of climate model, statistical regressions and field experiments where land around certain crops was warmed by a certain amount to compare them with the controls) concluded that on a global scale, warming alone has consistently negative effects on the yields of four most important crops, suggesting that any increases would be down to precipitation changes and the CO2 fertilization effect. Heat stress in livestock Changes in agricultural water availability and reliability Both droughts and floods contribute to decreases in crop yields. On average, climate change increases the overall amount of water contained in the atmosphere by 7% per every , thus increasing precipitation. However, this increase in precipitation is not distributed evenly in space (atmospheric circulation patterns already cause different areas to receive different amounts of rainfall) or time: heavy rainfall, with the potential to cause floods, becomes more frequent. This means that under the probable mid-range climate change scenario, SSP2-4.5, precipitation events globally will become larger by 11.5%, yet the time between them will increase by an average of 5.1%. Under the highest-emission scenario SSP5-8.5, there will be an 18.5% increase in size of events and 9.6% increase in the duration between them. At the same time, water losses by plants through evotranspiration will increase almost everywhere due to higher temperatures. While the fertilisation effect also reduces such losses by plants, it depends on the area's climate which effect will dominate. As such, the 2020–2023 Horn of Africa drought has been primarily attributed to the great increase in evotranspiration exacerbating the effect of persistent low rainfall, which would have been more manageable in the cooler preindustrial climate. In total, this means that droughts have been occurring more frequently on average because of climate change. Africa, southern Europe, the Middle East, most of the Americas, Australia, South and Southeast Asia are the parts of the globe where droughts are expected to become more frequent and intense in spite of the global increase in precipitation. Droughts disturb , and these effects can be aggravated by population growth and urban expansion spurring on increased demand for water. The ultimate outcome is water scarcity, which results in crop failures and the loss of pasture grazing land for livestock, exacerbating pre-existing poverty in developing countries and leading to malnutrition and potentially famine. Irrigation of crops is able to reduce or even remove the effects on yields of lower rainfall and higher temperatures – through localised cooling.  However, using water resources for irrigation has downsides and is expensive. Further, some sources of irrigation water may become less reliable. This includes irrigation driven by water runoff from glaciers during the summer, as there has already been an observed retreat of glaciers since 1850, and it is expected to continue, depleting the glacial ice and reducing or outright eliminating runoff. In Asia, global warming of will reduce the ice mass of Asia's high mountains by about 29–43%,: Approximately 2.4 billion people live in the drainage basin of the Himalayan rivers: In India alone, the river Ganges provides water for drinking and farming for more than 500 million people. In the Indus River watershed, these mountain water resources contribute to up to 60% of irrigation outside of the monsoon season, and an additional 11% of total crop production. Since Effects of climate change on the water cycle are projected to substantially increase precipitation in all but the westernmost parts of the watershed, the loss of the glaciers is expected to be offset: however, agriculture in the region will become more reliable on monsoon than ever, and hydropower generation would become less predictable and reliable. Effects on plants caused by increasing atmospheric CO2 and methane Elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide affects plants in a variety of ways. Elevated CO2 increases crop yields and growth through an increase in photosynthetic rate, and it also decreases water loss as a result of stomatal closing. Higher yields due to CO2 fertilisation Reduced nutritional value of crops Changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide may reduce the nutritional quality of some crops, with for instance wheat having less protein and less of some minerals. The nutritional quality of C3 plants (e.g. wheat, oats, rice) is especially at risk: lower levels of protein as well as minerals (for example zinc and iron) are expected. Food crops could see a reduction of protein, iron and zinc content in common food crops of 3 to 17%. This is the projected result of food grown under the expected atmospheric carbon-dioxide levels of 2050. Using data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization as well as other public sources, the authors analyzed 225 different staple foods, such as wheat, rice, maize, vegetables, roots and fruits. The effect of increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide on the nutritional quality of plants is not limited only to the above-mentioned crop categories and nutrients. A 2014 meta-analysis has shown that crops and wild plants exposed to elevated carbon dioxide levels at various latitudes have lower density of several minerals such as magnesium, iron, zinc, and potassium. Studies using Free-Air Concentration Enrichment have also shown that increases in CO2 lead to decreased concentrations of micronutrients in crop and non-crop plants with negative consequences for human nutrition, including decreased B vitamins in rice. This may have knock-on effects on other parts of ecosystems as herbivores will need to eat more food to gain the same amount of protein. Empirical evidence shows that increasing levels of result in lower concentrations of many minerals in plant tissues. Doubling levels results in an 8% decline, on average, in the concentration of minerals. Declines in magnesium, calcium, potassium, iron, zinc and other minerals in crops can worsen the quality of human nutrition. Researchers report that the levels expected in the second half of the 21st century will likely reduce the levels of zinc, iron, and protein in wheat, rice, peas, and soybeans. Some two billion people live in countries where citizens receive more than 60 percent of their zinc or iron from these types of crops. Deficiencies of these nutrients already cause an estimated loss of 63 million life-years annually. Alongside a decrease in minerals, evidence shows that plants contain 6% more carbon, 15% less nitrogen, 9% less phosphorus, and 9% less sulfur at double conditions. The increase in carbon is mostly attributed to carbohydrates without a structural role in plants – the human-digestable, calorie-providing starch and simple sugars. The decrease in nitrogen translates directly into a decrease in the protein content. As a result, higher not only reduce a plant's micronutrients, but also the quality of its macronutrient combination. Increasing damages from surface-level ozone Anthropogenic methane emissions have a significant contribution to warming due to the high global warming potential of methane. At the same time, methane also acts as a precursor to surface ozone, which is a significant air pollutant. Its effects include lowering physiological functions and therefore the yield and quality of crops. Following methane levels, tropospheric ozone levels "increased substantially since the late 19th century", and according to a 2016 estimate, the four major crops (see later section) experienced yield losses of 5±1.5% relative to a no-climate change scenario due to ozone increases alone, which is nearly half of the negative effects caused by the other effects of climate change (10.9±3.2%), and cancels out most of the fertilisation effect (6.5±1.0%). Changes in the extent and quality of agricultural land Erosion and soil fertility The warmer atmospheric temperatures observed over the past decades are expected to lead to a more vigorous hydrological cycle, including more extreme rainfall events. Erosion and soil degradation is more likely to occur. Soil fertility would also be affected by global warming. Increased erosion in agricultural landscapes from anthropogenic factors can occur with losses of up to 22% of soil carbon in 50 years. Climate change will also cause soils to warm. In turn, this could cause the soil microbe population size to dramatically increase 40–150%. Warmer conditions would favor growth of certain bacteria species, shifting the bacterial community composition. Elevated carbon dioxide would increase the growth rates of plants and soil microbes, slowing the soil carbon cycle and favoring oligotrophs, which are slower-growing and more resource efficient than copiotrophs. Agricultural land loss from sea level rise A rise in the sea level would result in an agricultural land loss, in particular in areas such as South East Asia. Erosion, submergence of shorelines, salinity of the water table due to the increased sea levels, could mainly affect agriculture through inundation of low-lying lands. Low-lying areas such as Bangladesh, India and Vietnam will experience major loss of rice crop if sea levels rise as expected by the end of the century. Vietnam for example relies heavily on its southern tip, where the Mekong Delta lies, for rice planting. A one-metre rise in sea level will cover several square kilometres of rice paddies in Vietnam. Besides simply flooding agricultural land, sea level rise can also cause saltwater intrusion into freshwater wells, particularly if they are already below sea level. Once the concentration of saltwater exceeds 2–3%, the well becomes unusable. Notably, areas along an estimated 15% of the US coastline already have the majority of local groundwater below the sea level. Thawing of potentially arable land Climate change may increase the amount of arable land by reducing the amount of frozen land. A 2005 study reports that temperature in Siberia has increased three-degree Celsius in average since 1960 (much more than the rest of the world). However, reports about the effect of global warming on Russian agriculture indicate conflicting probable effects: while they expect a northward extension of farmable lands, they also warn of possible productivity losses and increased risk of drought. The Arctic region is expected to benefit from increased opportunities for agriculture and forestry. Response of insects, plant diseases and weeds Climate change will alter pest, plant disease and weed distributions, with potential to reduce crop yields, including of staple crops like wheat, soybeans, and corn (maize). Warmer temperatures can increase the metabolic rate and number of breeding cycles of insect populations. Historically, cold temperatures at night and in the winter months would kill off insects, bacteria and fungi. The warmer, wetter winters are promoting fungal plant diseases like wheat rusts (stripe and brown/leaf) and soybean rust to travel northward. The increasing incidence of flooding and heavy rains also promotes the growth of various other plant pests and diseases. Insect pollinators and pests Climate change is expected to have a negative effect on many insects, greatly reducing their species distribution and thus increasing their risk of going extinct. Around 9% of agricultural production is dependent in some way on insect pollination, and some pollinator species are also adversely affected, with wild bumblebees known to be particularly vulnerable to recent warming. At the same time, insects are the most diverse animal taxa, and some species will benefit from the changes, including notable agricultural pests and disease vectors. Insects that previously had only two breeding cycles per year could gain an additional cycle if warm growing seasons extend, causing a population boom. Temperate places and higher latitudes are more likely to experience a dramatic change in insect populations: for instance, the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic in British Columbia, Canada had killed millions of pine trees, partially because the winters were not cold enough to slow or kill the growing beetle larvae. Likewise, potato tuber moth and Colorado potato beetle are predicted to spread into areas currently too cold for them. Further, effects of climate change on the water cycle often mean that both wet seasons and drought seasons will become more intense. Some insect species will breed more rapidly because they are better able to take advantage of such changes in conditions. This includes certain insect pests, such as aphids and whiteflies: similarly, locust swarms could also cause more damage as the result. A notable example was the 2019–2022 locust infestation focused on East Africa, considered the worst of its kind in many decades. The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, is a highly invasive plant pest, which can cause have massive damage to crops, especially maize. In the recent years, it has spread to countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and this spread is linked to climate change. It is expected that these highly invasive crop pests will spread to other parts of the planet since they have a high capacity to adapt to different environments. Invasive plant species Weeds A changing climate may favour the more biologically diverse weeds over the monocrops on many farms. Characteristics of weeds such as their genetic diversity, cross-breeding ability, and fast-growth rates put them at an advantage in changing climates as these characteristics allow them to adapt readily in comparison to most farm's uniform crops, and give them a biological advantage. Weeds also undergo the same acceleration of cycles as cultivated crops, and would also benefit from CO2 fertilization. Since most weeds are C3 plants, they are likely to compete even more than now against C4 crops such as corn. The increased levels are also expected to increase the tolerance of weeds to herbicides, reducing their efficiency. However, this may be counteracted by increased temperatures elevating their effectiveness. Plant pathogens Currently, pathogens result in losses of 10–16% of the global harvest and this level is likely to rise as plants are at an ever-increasing risk of exposure to pests and pathogens. Research has shown that climate change may alter the developmental stages of plant pathogens that can affect crops. This includes several pathogens associated with potato blackleg disease (e.g. Dickeya), as they grow and reproduce faster at higher temperatures. The warming is also expected to elevate food safety issues and food spoilage caused by mycotoxin-producing fungi, and bacteria such as Salmonella. Climate change would cause an increase in rainfall in some areas, which would lead to an increase of atmospheric humidity and the duration of the wet seasons. Combined with higher temperatures, these conditions could favour the development of fungal diseases, such as late blight, or bacterial infections such as Ralstonia solanacearum, which may also be able to spread more easily through flash flooding. Climate change has the capability of altering pathogen and host interactions, specifically the rates of pathogen infection and the resistance of the host plant. Also affected by plant disease are the economic costs associated with growing different plants that might yield less profit as well as treating and managing already diseased crops. For instance, soybean rust is a vicious plant pathogen that can kill off entire fields in a matter of days, devastating farmers and costing billions in agricultural losses. Change in weather patterns and temperature due to climate change leads to dispersal of plant pathogens as hosts migrate to areas with more favourable conditions. This increases crop losses due to diseases. For instance, aphids act as vectors for many potato viruses and will be able to spread further due to increased temperatures. Effects on crop yields Observed effects According to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report from 2022, there is high confidence that in and of itself, climate change to date has left primarily negative effects on both crop yields and quality of produce, although there has been some regional variation: more negative effects have been observed for some crops in low-latitudes (maize and wheat), while positive effects of climate change have been observed in some crops in high-latitudes (maize, wheat, and sugar beets). I.e. during the period 1981 to 2008, global warming has had negative effects on wheat yield in especially tropical regions, with decreases in average global yields by 5.5%.  A study in 2019 tracked ~20,000 political units globally for 10 crops (maize, rice, wheat, soybean, barley, cassava, oil palm, rapeseed, sorghum and sugarcane), providing more detail on the spatial resolution and a larger number of crops than previously studied. It found that crop yields across Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and Australia had in general decreased because of climate change (compared to the baseline value of 2004–2008 average data), though exceptions are present. The effect of global climate change on yields of different crops from climate trends ranged from −13.4% (oil palm) to 3.5% (soybean). The study also showed that effects are generally positive in Latin America. Effects in Asia and Northern and Central America are mixed. While the Green Revolution had ensured the growth of overall crop production per land area of 250% to 300% since the 1960, with around 44% attributed to newer crop varieties alone, it is believed this growth would have been even greater without the counteracting role of climate change on major crop yields over the same period. Between 1961 and 2021, global agricultural productivity could have been 21% greater than it actually was, if it did not have to contend with climate change. Such shortfalls would have affected food security of vulnerable populations the most: a study in 2019 showed that climate change has already increased the risk of food insecurity in many food insecure countries. Even in developed countries such as Australia, extreme weather associated with climate change has been found to cause a wide range of cascading spillovers through supply chain disruption, in addition to its primary effect on fruit, vegetable, and livestock sectors and the rural communities reliant on them. Between 1961 and 1985, cereal production more than doubled in developing nations, largely due to the development of irrigation, fertiliser, and seed varieties. Even in the absence of further scientific/technological developments, many of the existing advancements have not been evenly distributed, and their spread from the developed world to the developing world is expected to drive some improvements on its own. Further, agricultural expansion has slowed down in the recent years, but this trend is widely expected to reverse in the future in order to maintain the global food supply under all but the most optimistic climate change scenarios consistent with the Paris Agreement. Generalized yield projections In 2007, the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report had suggested that global production potential would increase up to around of globally averaged warming, as productivity increases for cereals in high latitudes would outweigh decreases in the low latitudes and global aggregate yields of rain-fed agriculture would increase by 5–20% in the first half of the 21st century. Warming exceeding this level would very likely see global declines in yields. Since then, subsequent reports had been more negative on the global production potential. The US National Research Council assessed the literature on the effects of climate change on crop yields in 2011, and provided central estimates for key crops. A meta-analysis in 2014 revealed consensus that yield is expected to decrease in the second half of the century, and with greater effect in tropical than temperate regions. Effects on yields for four major crops There is a large number of agricultural crops, but not all of them are equally important. Most climate change assessments focus on "four major crops" – maize (corn), rice, wheat and soybeans – which are consumed directly and indirectly, as animal feed (the main purpose of soybeans). The three cereals are collectively responsible for half of the total human calorie intake, and together with soybeans, they account for two thirds. Different methods have been used to project future yields of these crops, and by 2019, the consensus was that warming would lead to aggregate declines of the four. Maize and soybean would decrease with any warming, whereas rice and wheat production might peak at of warming. In 2021, a paper which used an ensemble of 21 climate models estimated that under the most intense climate change scenario used at the time, RCP8.5, global yields of these four crops would decline by between 3–12% around 2050 and by 11–25% by the year 2100. The losses were concentrated in what are currently the major agricultural producers and exporters. For instance, even by 2050, some agricultural areas of Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Southeast China, Southern Europe and the United States would suffer production losses of mostly maize and soybeans exceeding 25%. A similar finding - that some major "breadbaskets" would begin to see unequivocal effects of climate change, both positive and negative, before the year 2040 - had been established in another study from the same year. Since it represents the worst-case scenario of continually increasing emissions with no efforts to reduce them, RCP8.5 is often considered unrealistic, and a less intense RCP4.5 scenario (which still leads to nearly by century's end, far in excess of the Paris Agreement goals) is now usually considered a better match for the current trajectory. Maize Out of the four crops, maize is considered the most vulnerable to warming, with one meta-analysis concluding that every of global warming reduces maize yields by 7.4%. It is also a C4 carbon fixation plant, meaning that it experiences little benefit from the increased levels. When the results from modelling experiments comparing the combined output of latest earth system models and dedicated agricultural crop models were published in 2021, the most notable new finding was the substantial reduction in projected global yields of maize. While the previous generation suggested that under the low-warming scenario, maize productivity would increase by around 5% by the end of the century, the latest had shown a reduction of 6% under the equivalent scenario, SSP1-2.6. Under the high-emission SSP5-8.5, there was a global decline of 24% by 2100, as opposed to the earlier suggestion of a 1% increase. Rice Studies indicate that on their own, temperature changes reduce global rice yields by 3.2% for every of global warming. Projections become more complicated once the changes in precipitation, fertilisation effect and other factors need to be taken into account: for instance, climate effects on rice growth in East Asia had been a net positive so far, although 2023 research suggested that by the end of the century, China could lose up to 8% of its rice yield due to increases in extreme rainfall events alone. As of 2021, global projections of rice yields from the most advanced climate and agricultural models were less consistent than they were for wheat and maize, and less able to identify a clear statistically significant trend. Wheat Climate change effects on rainfed wheat will vary depending on the region and local climatic conditions. Studies in Iran surrounding changes in temperature and rainfall are representative for several different parts of the world since there exists a wide range of climatic conditions. They range from temperate to hot-arid to cold semi-arid. Scenarios based on increasing temperature by up to and rainfall decreases by up to 25% show wheat grain yield losses can be significant. The losses can be as much as 45% in temperate areas and over 50% in hot-arid areas. But in cold semi-arid areas yields can be increased somewhat (about 15%). Adaptation strategies with the most promise center around dates for seed planting. Late planting in November to January can have significant positive effects on yields due to the seasonality of rainfall. However, those experiments did not consider the effects of increases. Globally, temperature changes alone are expected to reduce annual wheat yield by 6% for every of global warming. However, other factors such as precipitation and the fertilisation effect benefit wheat yields far more. In November 2021, the results from modelling experiments comparing the combined output of latest earth system models and dedicated agricultural crop models were published. While it projected a consistent decrease in future global yields of maize, particularly under greater warming, it found the opposite for wheat yields. When the previous generation of models suggested a 9% increase in global wheat yields by 2100 under the high-emission scenario, the updated results indicate that under its highest-warming SSP5-8.5 scenario, they would increase by 18%. Soybeans Studies have shown that when levels rise, soybean leaves are less nutritious; therefore plant-eating beetles have to eat more to get their required nutrients. In addition, soybeans are less capable of defending themselves against the predatory insects under high . The diminishes the plant's jasmonic acid production, an insect-killing poison that is excreted when the plant senses it is being attacked. Without this protection, beetles are able to eat the soybean leaves freely, resulting in a lower crop yield. This is not a problem unique to soybeans, and many plant species' defense mechanisms are impaired in a high environment. Studies indicate that on their own, temperature changes reduce global soybean yields by 3.1% for every of global warming. These projections become more complicated once the changes in precipitation, fertilisation effect and other factors need to be taken into account: as of 2021, global projections of soybean yields from the most advanced climate and agricultural models were less able to establish a strong trend when compared to the projections for maize and wheat. Other crops Climate change induced by increasing greenhouse gases is likely to differ across crops and countries. Millet and sorghum Millet and sorghum are not as widely consumed as the four major crops, but they are crucial staples in many African countries. A paper published in the year 2022 found that under the highest-warming SSP5-8.5 scenario, changes in temperature and soil moisture would reduce the aggregate yields of millet, sorghum, maize and soybeans by between 9% and 32%, depending on the model. Notably, this was a less pessimistic result than in the earlier models, which the authors attributed to simulating soil moisture directly, rather than attempting to indirectly account for it by tracking precipitation changes caused by effects of climate change on the water cycle. Lentils (besides soybeans) Climate change induced drought stress in Africa will likely lead to a reduction in the nutritional quality of the common bean. This would primarily impact populations in poorer countries less able to compensate by eating more food, more varied diets, or possibly taking supplements. Potatoes As well as affecting potatoes directly, climate change will also affect the distributions and populations of many potato diseases and pests. For instance, late blight is predicted to become a greater threat in some areas (e.g. in Finland) and become a lesser threat in others (e.g. in the United Kingdom Altogether, one 2003 estimate suggests that future (2040–2069) worldwide potato yield would be 18–32% lower than it was at the time, driven by declines in hotter areas like Sub-Saharan Africa, unless farmers and potato cultivars can adapt to the new environment. Grapevines (wine production) Effects on livestock rearing Global food security and undernutrition Scientific understanding of how climate change would affect global food security has evolved over time. The latest IPCC Sixth Assessment Report in 2022 suggested that by 2050, the number of people at risk of hunger will increase under all scenarios by between 8 and 80 million people, with nearly all of them in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Central America. However, this comparison was done relative to a world where no climate change had occurred, and so it does not rule out the possibility of an overall reduction in hunger risk when compared to present-day conditions. The earlier Special Report on Climate Change and Land suggested that under a relatively high emission scenario (RCP6.0), cereals may become 1–29% more expensive in 2050 depending on the socioeconomic pathway. Compared to a scenario where climate change is absent, this would put between 1–181 million people with low income at risk of hunger. It is difficult to project the effect of climate change on utilization (protecting food against spoilage, being healthy enough to absorb nutrients, etc.) In 2016, a modelling study suggested that by mid-century, the most intense climate change scenario would reduce per capita global food availability by 3.2%, with a 0.7% decrease in red meat consumption and a 4% decrease in fruit and vegetable consumption. According to its numbers, 529,000 people would die between 2010 and 2050 as the result, primarily in South Asia and East Asia: two-thirds of those deaths would be caused by the lack of micronutrients from reduced fruit and vegetable supply, rather than outright starvation. Acting to slow climate change would reduce these projections by up to 71%. Food prices are also expected to become more volatile. As of 2017, around 821 million people had suffered from hunger. This was equivalent to about 11% of the world population: regionally, this included 23.2% of sub-Saharan Africa, 16.5% of the Caribbean and 14.8% of South Asia. In 2021, 720 million to 811 million people were considered undernourished in 2021 (of whom 200,000, 32.3 million and 112.3 million people were at a "catastrophic", "emergency" and "crisis" levels of food insecurity, respectively). In 2020, research suggested that the baseline projected level of socioeconomic development (Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 2) would reduce this number to 122 million globally by 2050, even as the population grows to reach 9.2 billion. The effect of climate change would at most increase this 2050 figure by around 80 million, and the negative effect could be reduced to 20 million through enabling easier food trade with measures such as eliminating tariffs. In 2021, a meta-analysis of 57 studies on food security was more pessimistic, suggesting that the year 2050 population at risk of hunger would be around 500 million under SSP2. Some variations of Shared Socioeconomic Pathways with high climate change and a lack of equitable global development instead resulted in an outright increase of global hunger by up to 30% from its 2010 levels. For the earlier IPCC Fourth Assessment Report in 2007, the analysis of four main SRES pathways had shown with medium confidence (about 50% certainty)) that trends of social and economic development in three of them (A1, B1, B2) would see the number of undernourished people decline to 100–130 million people by the year 2080, while trends in A2 projected 770 million undernourished – similar to the contemporary (early 21st century) figures of ~700 million people. Once the effect of climate change implied by those scenarios was taken into account, A1, B1 and B2 scenarios would see 100–380 million undernourished by 2080 (still a major decline in hunger from 2006 levels), and A2 would see 740–1,300 million, although there was only low (20% certainty) to medium certainty in these figures. Sub-Saharan Africa would likely overtake Asia as the world's most food-insecure region, primarily due to differing socioeconomic trends. Effects of extreme weather and synchronized crop failures Some scientists consider the aforementioned projections of crop yields and food security of limited use, because in their view, they primarily model climate change as a change in mean climate state, and are not as well-equipped to consider climatic extremes. For instance, a paper published in 2021 had also attempted to calculate the number of people facing hunger in 2050 – but now on the assumption that a climate event with a 1% (i.e. once in 100 years) likelihood of occurring in the new climate (meaning it would have been effectively impossible in the present climate) were to impact that year. It estimated that such an event would increase the baseline number by 11–33% even in the low-emission scenario, and by 20–36% in the high-emission one. If such an event were to affect more vulnerable regions like South Asia, then they would have required triple their 2021 level of known food reserves to absorb the blow. Notably, other papers show that simulating recent historical extreme events in climate models, such as the 2003 European heatwave, typically results in lower effects than what had been observed in the real world, indicating that the effects of future extreme events are also likely to be underestimated. The difference between climatic mean and extremes may be particularly important for determining areas where agriculture may stop being viable. In 2021, a research team aimed to extend climate model projections of mean changes in temperature and the water cycle to the year 2500. They suggested that under the second-strongest warming scenario RCP6.0, land area capable of supporting four major temperate crops (maize, potato, soybean and wheat) would become about 11% smaller by 2100 and 18.3% smaller by 2500, while for major tropical crops (cassava, rice, sweet potato, sorghum, taro, and yam), it would decline by only 2.3% around 2100, yet by around 15% by 2500. Under the low-emission scenario RCP2.6, changes are much smaller, with around 3% decline in suitable land area for temperate crops by 2500 and an equivalent gain for tropical crops by then. Yet, another paper from 2021 suggested that by 2100, under the high-emission SSP5-8.5, 31% and 34% of the current crop and livestock production would leave what the authors have defined as a "safe climatic space": that is, those areas (most of South Asia and the Middle East, as well as parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Central America) would experience very rapid shift in Holdridge life zones (HLZ) and associated weather, while also being low in social resilience. Notably, a similar fraction of global crop and livestock production would also experience a large change in HLZ, but in more developed areas which would have better chances of adapting. In contrast, under the low-emissions SSP1-2.6, 5% and 8% of crop and livestock production would leave what is defined as the safe climatic space. Also in 2021, it was suggested that the high-emission scenario would result in a 4.5-fold increase in the probability of breadbasket failures (defined as a yield loss of 10% or more) by 2030, which could then increase 25 times by 2050. This corresponds to reaching and thresholds under that scenario: earlier research suggested that for maize, this would increase risks for multiple simultaneous breadbasket failures (yield loss of 10% or more) from 6% under the late-20th century climate to 40% and 54%, respectively. Some countries are particularly dependent on imports from certain exporters, meaning that a crop failure in those countries would hit them disproportionately. I.e. a ban on export of staple crops from Russia, Thailand and the United States alone would place around 200 million people (90% from Sub-Saharan Africa) at risk of starvation. Additionally, there is the issue of representing synchronisation - where extreme climate events happen to strike multiple important producer regions around the same time. It was estimated that if hypothetically, every region with a synchronized growing season were to experience crop failure at the same time, it would cause losses of four major crops between 17% and 34%. More realistically, analysis of historic data suggested that there have already been synchronized climate events associated with up to 20% yield losses. According to a 2016 estimate, if global maize, rice and wheat exports declined by 10%, 55 million people in 58 poor countries lose at least 5% of their food supply. Further, two specific Rossby wave pattern are known to induce simultaneous heat extremes in either Eastern Asia, Eastern Europe and Central North America, or in Western Asia, Western Europe and Western Central North America, respectively. These heat extremes have already been shown to cause 3–4% declines in crop yield across the affected regions: yet, concerningly, climate models overestimate the effects of such historic events in North America and underestimate them elsewhere, simulating effectively no net yield loss. Labour and economic effects As extreme weather events become more common and more intense, floods and droughts can destroy crops and eliminate food supply, while disrupting agricultural activities and rendering workers jobless. With more costs to the farmer, some will no longer find it financially feasible to farm: i.e. some farmers may choose to permanently leave drought-affected areas. Agriculture employs the majority of the population in most low-income countries and increased costs can result in worker layoffs or pay cuts. Other farmers will respond by raising their food prices; a cost that is directly passed on to the consumer and affects the affordability of food. Some farms do not sell their produce but instead feed a family or community; without that food, people will not have enough to eat. This results in decreased production, increased food prices, and potential starvation in parts of the world. The agriculture industry in India makes up 52% of their employment and the Canadian Prairies supply 51% of Canadian agriculture; any changes in the production of food crops from these areas could have profound effects on the economy. Notably, one estimate suggests that a warming of relative to late 20th century (i.e. closer to when compared to preindustrial temperatures – a level associated with the SSP5-8.5 scenario) would cause labour capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia to decline by 30 to 50%, as the number of days when outdoor workers experience heat stress increases: up to 250 days the worst-affected parts of these two continents and of Central and South America. This could then increase crop prices by around 5%. Similarly, North China Plain is also expected to be highly affected, in part due to the region's extensive irrigation networks resulting in unusually moist air. In scenarios without aggressive action to stop climate change, some heatwaves could become extreme enough to cause mass mortality in outdoor labourers, although they will remain relatively uncommon (up to around once per decade starting from 2l00 under the most extreme scenario). Further, the role of climate change in undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies can be calculated as the loss of "years of full health".One estimate presented in 2016 suggests that under the scenario of strong warming and low adaptation due to high global conflict and rivalry, such losses may take up 0.4% of the global GDP and 4% of the GDP in India and the South Asian region by the year 2100. Long-term predictions (beyond 2050) There are fewer projections looking beyond 2050. In general, even as climate change would cause increasingly severe effects on food production, most scientists do not anticipate it to result in mass human mortality within this century. This is in part because the studies also anticipate at least some continuation of the ongoing agricultural improvements, yet also because of agricultural expansion. For instance, a 2013 paper estimated that if the high warming of RCP 8.5 scenario was not alleviated by fertilisation effect, it would reduce aggregate yields by 17% by the year 2050: yet, it anticipated that this would be mostly offset through an 11% increase in cropland area. Similarly, one of the assumptions of Shared Socioeconomic Pathways is a significant increase in land allocated to agriculture (and a corresponding decrease in forest and "other natural land" area) in every pathway besides the SSP1 (officially subtitled "Sustainability" or "Taking the Green Road"), where the inverse occurs – and which has both the lowest level of future warming and the lowest projected population growth. Regional effects Africa Asia For East and Southeast Asia, an estimate in 2007 stated that crop yields could increase up to 20% by the mid-21st century. In Central and South Asia, projections suggested that yields might decrease by up to 30%, over the same time period. Taken together, the risk of hunger was projected to remain very high in several developing countries. Different Asian Countries have various effects from climate change. China, for example, benefits from a temperature increase scenario accompanying with carbon fertilisation and leading to a 3% gain of US$18 billion per year; however, India will face two thirds of the continent's aggregate losses on agriculture because its high corp net revenue suffers from the high spring temperature. In the Indo-Gangetic plain of India, heat stress and water availability are predicted to have significant negative effects on yield of wheat. Direct effects of increased mean and maximum temperatures is predicted to reduce wheat yields by up to 10%. The effect of reduced availability of water for irrigation is more significant, running at yield losses up to 35%. Due to climate change, livestock production will be decreased in Bangladesh by diseases, scarcity of forage, heat stress and breeding strategies. Australia and New Zealand Without further adaptation to climate change, projected effects would likely be substantial. By 2030, production from agriculture and forestry was projected to decline over much of southern and eastern Australia, and over parts of eastern New Zealand. In New Zealand, initial benefits were projected close to major rivers and in western and southern areas. Europe For Southern Europe, it was predicted in 2007 that climate change would reduce crop productivity. In Central and Eastern Europe, forest productivity was expected to decline. In Northern Europe, the initial effect of climate change was projected to increase crop yields. The 2019 European Environment Agency report "Climate change adaptation in the agricultural sector in Europe" again confirmed this. According to this 2019 report, projections indicate that yields of non-irrigated crops like wheat, corn and sugar beet would decrease in southern Europe by up to 50% by 2050 (under a high-end emission scenario). This could result in a substantial decrease in farm income by that date. Also farmland values are projected to decrease in parts of southern Europe by more than 80% by 2100, which could result in land abandonment. The trade patterns are also said to be affected, in turn affecting agricultural income. Also, increased food demand worldwide could exert pressure on food prices in the coming decades. In Ukraine, where temperatures are increasing throughout the year and precipitation is predicted to increase, winter wheat yields (wheat sown in winter) could increase by 20–40% in the north and northwestern regions by 2050, as compared to 2010. Latin America The major agricultural products of Latin America include livestock and grains; such as maize, wheat, soybeans, and rice. Increased temperatures and altered hydrological cycles are predicted to translate to shorter growing seasons, overall reduced biomass production, and lower grain yields. Brazil, Mexico and Argentina alone contribute 70-90% of the total agricultural production in Latin America. In these and other dry regions, maize production is expected to decrease. A study summarising a number of impact studies of climate change on agriculture in Latin America indicated that wheat is expected to decrease in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Livestock, which is the main agricultural product for parts of Argentina, Uruguay, southern Brazil, Venezuela, and Colombia is likely to be reduced. Variability in the degree of production decrease among different regions of Latin America is likely. For example, one 2003 study that estimated future maize production in Latin America predicted that by 2055 maize in eastern Brazil will have moderate changes while Venezuela is expected to have drastic decreases. Increased rainfall variability has been one of the most devastating consequences of climate change in Central America and Mexico. From 2009 to 2019, the region saw years of heavy rainfall in between years of below average rainfall. The spring rains of May and June have been particularly erratic, posing issues for farmers plant their maize crops at the onset of the spring rains. Most subsistence farmers in the region have no irrigation and thus depend on the rains for their crops to grow. In Mexico, only 21% of farms are irrigated, leaving the remaining 79% dependent on rainfall. Suggested potential adaptation strategies to mitigate the effects of global warming on agriculture in Latin America include using plant breeding technologies and installing irrigation infrastructure. North America Droughts are becoming more frequent and intense in arid and semiarid western North America as temperatures have been rising, advancing the timing and magnitude of spring snow melt floods and reducing river flow volume in summer. Direct effects of climate change include increased heat and water stress, altered crop phenology, and disrupted symbiotic interactions. These effects may be exacerbated by climate changes in river flow, and the combined effects are likely to reduce the abundance of native trees in favour of non-native herbaceous and drought-tolerant competitors, reduce the habitat quality for many native animals, and slow litter decomposition and nutrient cycling. Climate change effects on human water demand and irrigation may intensify these effects. In Canada, notable increases are predicted for spring-sown wheat. Adaptation Climate change adaptation measures may reduce the risk of negative effects on agriculture from climate change. Adaptation can occur through changes in management practices, agricultural innovation, institutional changes, and climate-smart agriculture. To create a sustainable food system, these measures are considered as essential as changes needed to reduce global warming in general. Agricultural innovation is essential to addressing the potential issues of climate change. This includes better management of soil, water-saving technology, matching crops to environments, introducing different crop varieties, crop rotations, appropriate fertilization use, and supporting community-based adaptation strategies. On a government and global level, research and investments into agricultural productivity and infrastructure must be done to get a better picture of the issues involved and the best methods to address them. Government policies and programs must provide environmentally sensitive government subsidies, educational campaigns, and economic incentives as well as funds, insurance, and safety nets for vulnerable populations. In addition, providing early warning systems, and accurate weather forecasts to poor or remote areas will allow for better preparation. Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture See also 2022 food crises Agroecology Climate change and invasive species Climate change and meat production Climate resilience Climate-smart agriculture Effects of climate change Effects of climate change on fisheries Environmental issues with agriculture Special Report on Climate Change and Land (2019 IPCC report) References External links Climate change (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Climate adaptation & mitigation (CGIAR) Effects of climate change

Sustainable Development Goal 16

Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16 or Global Goal 16) is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015, the official wording is: "Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels". The Goal has 12 targets and 23 indicators. SDG 16 has ten outcome targets: Reduce violence; protect children from abuse, exploitation, trafficking and violence; promote the rule of law and ensure equal access to justice; combat organized crime and illicit financial and arms flows, substantially reduce corruption and bribery; develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions; ensure responsive, inclusive and representative decision-making; strengthen the participation in global governance; provide universal legal identity; ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms. There are also two means of implementation targets: Strengthen national institutions to prevent violence and combat crime and terrorism; promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies. Background The Sustainable Development Goals are a collection of 17 global goals set by the United Nations. The goals are interrelated though each has its own targets to achieve. The SDGs cover a broad range of social and economic development issues. SDG 16 addresses the need to promote peace and inclusive institutions. Areas of improvement include for example: reducing lethal violence, reducing civilian deaths in conflicts, and eliminating human trafficking. Targets, Indicators and progress SDG 16 has twelve targets and twenty-four indicators. Three of the targets specify their agenda by the year 2030. Below is the list of all the targets with a short version and a long version of the titles. No data is available yet for the following indicators: 16.4.1, 16.4.2, 16.6.2, 16.7.1, 16.7.2, 16.b.1. For all the other indicators, data and world maps are available to visualize progress. Target 16.1: Reduce violence everywhere Long title: "Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere." This target has four indicators: Indicator 16.1.1 Number of victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population, by sex and age. Indicator 16.1.2 Conflict-related deaths per 100,000 population, by sex, age and cause. Indicator 16.1.3 Proportion of population subjected to (a) physical violence, (b) psychological violence and (c) sexual violence in the previous 12 months. Indicator 16.1.4 Proportion of population that feel safe walking alone around the area they live. Honor based violence (HBV) is classified as not only murder or violence, but rather a heroic attainment of religious beliefs, typically committed by a male family member. The United Nations estimates that around 5,000 women are killed annually in relation to HBV. However, the actual number is several times higher due to weak administration of these crimes. Authorities are reluctant to report statistics that could potentially affect their international reputation or are bribed in order to protect the family's reputation. Target 16.5 indicates instills the concept of bribery further, and Target 16.2 portrays the lack of crime reported. Where conflict strikes, men are more likely to die on battlefields, but women will be targeted for sexual violence, exploitation and other violation. UNICEF, as well as indicator 16.1.3, classifies violence into three categories: physical, psychological, and sexual. Save the Children, a non-governmental organization aimed to help vulnerable adolescents in Bolivia who fit at least one classification of violence through modules as follows: Module 1- Self-esteem, personal empowerment, and leadership Module 2- Sexual and reproductive health Module 3- Entrepreneurial skills and economic empowerment Module 4- Basic competences; math and literacy The program was found to have had a positive effect for success for females, with an improvement in bargaining power within the household and reduction in income-related stress. Additionally, this program may be a factor that led to the decrease in violence against girls in Bolivia. The UNODC reports that in 2017 alone, around 464,000 people were victims of intentional homicide and homicide rates were 6.1 per 100,000. Two thirds of global homicides occur in Latin America and the Caribbeans or sub-Saharan Africa. Poverty, economic inequality, and high youth unemployment are some of the major reasons behind the high homicide rates in Latin America. The UNODC found that, homicides are four times morel likely to occur in regions with high economic disparity than those that have economic equity, which helps to explain the high homicide rates in some Latin American regions. Although homicide rates have been seeing a reduction the past several years, the progress on SDG 16 has been reversing. If current global trends continue, it is estimated that all forms of violence will increase by 10-46 percent by 2030. Target 16.2: Protect children from abuse, exploitation, trafficking and violence Long title: "End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children." This target has three indicators: Indicator 16.2.1: Proportion of children aged 1–17 years who experienced any physical punishment and/or psychological aggression by caregivers in the past month. Indicator 16.2.2: Number of victims of human trafficking per 100,000 population, by sex, age and form of exploitation. Indicator 16.2.3: Proportion of young women and men aged 18–29 years who experienced sexual violence by age 18. One target is to see the end to sex trafficking, forced labor, and all forms of violence against and torture of children. It is difficult to monitor this target though because there is insufficient data on some types of crime, for example violent punishment of children. Violence against children by their caregivers is widespread. The global COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the challenges of child protection and mental health services. With this occurring in the world currently, no country is on track to eliminate all forms of violence and to promote mental health and well-being as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development pledges. In 2017, the UN reported some progress on detecting victims of trafficking. Sexual exploitation numbers have declined, but forced labor has increased. Target 16.3: Equal access to justice The full text of Target 16.3 is: "Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all." This target has three indicators: Indicator 16.3.1: Proportion of victims of violence in the previous 12 months who reported their victimization to competent authorities or other officially recognized conflict resolution mechanisms. Indicator 16.3.2: Unsentenced detainees as a proportion of overall prison population. Indicator 16.3.3: Proportion of the population who have experienced a dispute in the past two years and who accessed a formal or informal dispute resolution mechanism, by type of mechanism. Regarding indicator 16.3.2, a progress report from 2019 concludes that of the 149 countries with available data, 31 countries had "a rate lower than 15 per cent" and 62 had "a rate higher than 35 per cent." Asia and Oceania countries experienced high increases in rates during the years 2016–2018. Indicator 16.3.3 was added to the official indicator framework in 2020, when it was approved by the United Nations Statistical Commission. It measures the proportion of the population who have experienced a dispute in the past two years and who accessed a formal or informal dispute resolution mechanism, by type of mechanism. Target 16.4: Combat organized crime and illicit financial and arms flows The full text of Target 16.4: "By 2030, significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime." The target has two indicators: Indicator 16.4.1: Total value of inward and outward illicit financial flows (in current United States dollars). Indicator 16.4.2: Proportion of seized, found or surrendered arms whose illicit origin or context has been traced or established by a competent authority in line with international instruments. Target 16.5: Substantially reduce corruption and bribery The full text of Target 16.5: "Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms." The target has two indicators: Indicator 16.5.1: Proportion of persons who had at least one contact with a public official and who paid a bribe to a public official, or were asked for a bribe by those public officials, during the previous 12 months. Indicator 16.5.2: Proportion of businesses that had at least one contact with a public official and that paid a bribe to a public official, or were asked for a bribe by those public officials during the previous 12 months. Based on available data from 38 countries collected in years 2010-2020, bribery when accessing public services was least present (at an average rate of 3.7 per cent) in high-income countries and most present (at an average of 22.3 per cent) in lower-income countries. Target 16.6: Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions The full text of Target 16.6: "Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels." The target has two indicators: Indicator 16.6.1: Primary government expenditures as a proportion of original approved budget, by sector (or by budget codes or similar). Indicator 16.6.2: Proportion of population satisfied with their last experience of public services. This is the end. Target 16.7: Ensure responsive, inclusive and representative decision-making The full text of Target 16.7: "Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels." The target has two indicators: Indicator 16.7.1: Proportions of positions in national and local institutions, including (a) the legislatures; (b) the public service; and (c) the judiciary, compared to national distributions, by sex, age, persons with disabilities and population groups. Indicator 16.7.2: Proportion of population who believe decision-making is inclusive and responsive, by sex, age, disability and population group. Target 16.8: Strengthen the participation in global governance The full text of Target 16.8: "Broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the institutions of global governance." The target has a single indicator. Indicator 16.8.1 is the "Proportion of members and voting rights of developing countries in international organizations". Target 16.9: Provide universal legal identity The full text of Target 16.9: "By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration." It has one indicator: Indicator 16.9.1 is the "Proportion of children under 5 years of age whose births have been registered with a civil authority, by age". Different businesses are evaluating the addition of target 16.9 according to their priorities, categories include child protection, economic development, national security, social protection, public health, and so forth. Individuals without proof of legal identity, primarily women and the less fortunate are excluded from the economy. Target 16.9 overlaps with other SDG targets. For instance, Target 1.3 which implements social protection systems can not be nationally addressed without the vulnerable being able to identify themselves. This is also affiliated with SDG 3 in terms of healthcare and SDG 4 in terms of education. A lack of legal identity can prevent numerous measures that are put in effect to benefit individuals who require it most, creating higher rates of inequality. More than a quarter of children under 5 were unregistered worldwide as of 2015. People in high-income countries experience a lower prevalence of bribery when using public services compared to those in low-income countries. Target 16.10: Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms The full text of Target 16.10: "Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements." The target has two indicators: Indicator 16.10.1 Number of verified cases of killing, kidnapping, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention and torture of journalists, associated media personnel, trade unionists and human rights advocates in the previous 12 months. Indicator 16.10.2 Number of countries that adopt and implement constitutional, statutory and/or policy guarantees for public access to information. Rights to information is a fundamental piece of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 2019, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) found that 125 countries have chosen to take up Right to Information(RTI), Access to Information(ATI), or Freedom to Information(FTI)  laws or equivalent guarantees. Seventeen countries were found to not have any sort of laws or promises in favor of public access to information. Although a majority of countries globally have adopted RTI related policies, UNESCO identified an issue regarding the sustainability in monitoring and reporting practices on target 16.10. They called for the implementation of oversight bodies, specifically, giving them leadership positions on overseeing progress on the SDG's nationally. The importance of progressing target 16.10 can be seen through a quote by Nadia Al-Sakkaf, the Republic of Yemen's former Minister of Information, “If information is power then access to information is empowerment.” Target 16.a: Strengthen national institutions to prevent violence and combat crime and terrorism The full text of Target 16.a: "Strengthen relevant national institutions, including through international cooperation, for building capacity at all levels, in particular in developing countries, to prevent violence and combat terrorism and crime." It has one indicator. Indicator 16.a.1 is the "Existence of independent national human rights institutions in compliance with the Paris Principles". Target 16.b: Promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies The full text of Target 16.b: "Promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development." It has one indicator. Indicator 16.b.1 is the "Proportion of population reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed in the previous 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under international human rights law". Custodian agencies Custodian agencies are responsible for monitoring and reporting of indicators: Indicator 16.1.1: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and World Health Organisation (WHO). Indicator 16.1.2: Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Indicator 16.1.3 and 16.1.4: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Indicator 16.2.1 and 16.2.3: United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Indicators 16.2.2, 16.3.2 and 16.5.1: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Indicator 16.4.1: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNTAD) Indicator 16.4.2: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs Indicator 16.5.2: World Bank (WB) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Indicator 16.6.1: World Bank (WB) Indicator 16.6.2 and for two indicators under Target 16.7: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Indicator 16.8.1: Department of Economic and Social Affairs-Financing for Development Office (DESA/FFDO) Indicator 16.9.1: Department of Economic and Social Affairs-Statistics Division (DESA/UNSD) and United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Indicator 16.10.1, 16.a.1 and 16.b.1: Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Indicator 16.10.2: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Monitoring and progress High-level progress reports for all the SDGs are published in the form of reports by the United Nations Secretary General. The most recent one is from April 2020. The International Programme for the Development of Communication is responsible for the follow-up of the SDG 16 through indicators 16.10.1 and 16.10.2. Every two years, a report containing information from the Member States on the status of judicial inquiries on each of the killings condemned by UNESCO is submitted to the IPDC Council by UNESCO's Director-General. The journalists safety indicators is a tool developed by UNESCO which, according to UNESCO's website, aims on mapping the key features that can help assess the safety of journalists, and help determine whether adequate follow-up is given to crimes committed against them. The IPDC Talks also allow the Programme to raise awareness on the importance of access to information. The IPDC also monitors and reports on access to information laws around the world through the United Nations Secretary-General global report on follow-up to SDGs. Challenges The global COVID-19 pandemic is predicted to increase the frequency of conflicts as countries blame others for their situation. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has also caused a major setback, in particular accounting for most of the 53% increase in civilian conflict deaths that year. Links with other SDGs The Sustainable Development Goals are not taken as being completely independent one from the other, but rather as being closely linked. In this way, media development enhances freedom of speech, peace, but also contributes to sustainability, poverty eradication and human rights. Fostering peace and inclusive societies can help reduce inequalities (SDG10) and help economies prosper (SDG8). The 2012 outcome document of the United Nations Summit on the 2030 Agenda considers that sustainable development can not be achieved without building peaceful, just and inclusive societies and addressing issues of corruption, poor governance, insecurity and injustice. Organizations The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the United Nations global development network which is concerned with SDG 16. Hence, the Program focuses on democratic governance and peace building. The UNDP also works on conflict prevention by empowering youth, especially women. Also, they aim at supporting the frameworks and structure and by acting as mediators. References External links UN Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform – SDG 16 “Global Goals” Campaign - SDG 16 SDG-Track.org - SDG 16 UN SDG 16 in the US Pages containing links to subscription-only content Peace Human rights Justice Freedom of expression Sustainable Development Goals United Nations documents 2015 establishments in New York City Projects established in 2015

Dysbiosis

Dysbiosis (also called dysbacteriosis) is characterized by a disruption to the microbiome resulting in an imbalance in the microbiota, changes in their functional composition and metabolic activities, or a shift in their local distribution. For example, a part of the human microbiota such as the skin flora, gut flora, or vaginal flora, can become deranged (unbalanced), when normally dominating species become underrepresented and species that normally are outcompeted or contained increase to fill the void. Similar to the human gut microbiome, diverse microbes colonize the plant rhizosphere, and dysbiosis in the rhizosphere, can negatively impact plant health. Dysbiosis is most commonly reported as a condition in the gastrointestinal tract or plant rhizosphere. Typical microbial colonies found on or in the body are benign or beneficial. These appropriately sized microbial colonies carry out a series of helpful and necessary functions, such as aiding in digestion. They also help protect the body from infiltration by pathogenic microbes. These beneficial microbial colonies compete with each other for space and resources. However, when this balance is disturbed, these colonies exhibit a decreased ability to check each other's growth, which can then lead to overgrowth of one or more of the disturbed colonies which may further damage some of the other smaller beneficial ones in a vicious cycle. As more beneficial colonies are damaged, making the imbalance more pronounced, more overgrowth issues occur because the damaged colonies are less able to check the growth of the overgrowing ones. If this goes unchecked long enough, a pervasive and chronic imbalance between colonies will set in, which ultimately minimizes the beneficial nature of these colonies as a whole. Potential causes of dysbiosis Any disruption of the body’s microbiota is able to lead to dysbiosis. Dysbiosis in the gut happens when the bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract become unbalanced. There are many causes for dysbiosis in the gut. Some reasons include, but are not limited to:   Dietary changes Antibiotics that affect the gut flora Psychological and physical stress (weakens immune system) Use of radiation, chemotherapy, antiviral drugs, radioactive isotopes, and hormone therapy Presence of intestinal helminths (human parasites) Uncontrolled rectal cleansing with enemas Inflammatory process in the intestine Chronic and acute infections (HIV, Hepatitis C & B, herpes, etc.) Gut/intestinal dysbiosis Bacteria in the human gut’s intestines are the most diverse in the human body and play a vital role in human health. In the gastrointestinal tract, dysbiosis manifests particularly during small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), commonly caused by a decrease in the passage of food and waste through the gastrointestinal tract following surgery or other pre-existing conditions. SIBO is characterized by symptoms of abdominal pain, diarrhea, discomfort after eating, and malnutrition. Similarly, dysbiosis manifests during small intestinal fungal overgrowth (SIFO) caused by excessive population levels of fungi in a bowel. SIFO can be characterized by GI symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea) in those previously immunocompromised. The consumer’s dietary habits can be one of the most influential factors on the gut’s microbiota. Diets high in carbohydrates and refined sugars are common links to dysbiosis in the gut, whereas those rich in fruits, vegetables, and fish oils are considered more favorable to the gut due to their anti-inflammatory properties. Many diseases, such as IBD, Type 2 Diabetes, Crohn's, and even allergies, are suggested to be due, in part, to an alteration in the microbiome of the gut. Probiotics can sometimes cause mild gas and bloating in people who first start taking them, especially at high doses, as their body gets used to having new gut bacteria introduced into their gut. Oral dysbiosis The mouth is frequently exposed to novel microbes from the environment, and this can lead to microbial disturbances in the mouth as well as in the stomach and intestines. Hygiene and nutritional variation are imperative in preventing oral diseases such as gingivitis, tooth decay, and cavities, which are linked to altered microbial communities in the oral cavity. Oral pathogens can affect multiple microbiota compartments of the body and alter systemic processes, such as immunological alterations or digestion issues. Smoking, drinking, oral intercourse, and advanced age are all associated with oral dysbiosis. Skin dysbiosis There are a number of types of microorganisms that reside in and on the human skin, collectively known as the skin flora. Normal healthy microbial communities may have some positive effects. Altered microbial composition and diversity (dysbiosis), may play a role in some non-infectious skin conditions such as acne, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and rosacea. In more extreme cases, such as cellulitis, a pathogenic bacteria can infect the skin, the most common being Streptococci species and Staphylococcus aureus. Vaginal dysbiosis The vagina contains a microbiome (vaginal flora) that can become disturbed and result in conditions such as bacterial vaginosis. Alterations in vaginal flora can also affect vaginal health in reproduction, as well as one's risk of acquiring and the subsequent severity of sexually transmitted infections. Role of antibiotics in promoting dysbiosis Dysbiosis can occur during many stages of life and can be triggered by many different sources. Antibiotics, for example, are often a significant contributor to disruptions in microbiomes. This occurs because not all microbes will be affected by the antibiotic in the same way, and so it can change the balance of different types of microbes as well as changing the total number of microbes. Antibiotic usage during young childhood development can lead to adverse gut issues (dysbiosis) in adulthood. The gut microbiome is altered from antibiotics and is linked to future gut disease, i.e., IBD, ulcerative colitis, obesity, etc. The intestinal immune system is directly influenced by the gut microbiome and can be hard to recover if damaged through antibiotics. The use of minocycline in acne vulgaris has been associated with skin and gut dysbiosis. Effects Gut dysbiosis has been linked to the pathogenesis of both intestinal and extra-intestinal disorders. Dysbiosis may affect intestinal disorders include IBD, IBS, and coeliac disease, as well as extra-intestinal conditions including allergies, asthma, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. Gut dysbiosis can also be a factor in neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular diseases due to the link between age-related dysbiosis and inflammation. Inflammation is a common factor for a wide variety of age-related pathologies, including neurological diseases. By correcting the dysbiosis in elderly patients, it may be possible to prevent the development of neurodegenerative diseases. Dysbiosis may contribute to the cause or development of neurological conditions, including autism, pain, depression, anxiety, and stroke. Dysbiosis contributing to neurological conditions is due to interactions with the gut-brain axis allowing the gut microbiome to influence neural development, cognition, and behavior. There has also been evidence that the gut microbiota composition can be altered due to changes in behavior, and changing the microbiome can also cause depressive-like behaviors. Microbial colonies also excrete many different types of waste byproducts. Using different waste removal mechanisms, under normal circumstances the body effectively manages these byproducts with little or no trouble. Unfortunately, oversized and inappropriately large colonies, due to their increased numbers, excrete increased amounts of these byproducts. As the amount of microbial byproducts increases, the higher waste byproducts levels can overburden the body's waste removal mechanisms. A human’s microbiome can change because of inflammatory processes, such as cell-mediated inflammation and host-mediated inflammation, or a ‘driver’ bacteria causing/aggravating inflammation. This change allows the microbial community to become more susceptible to pathogens. Once the pathogens are established successfully, they contribute to dysbiosis and produce genotoxins and other potential cancer-causing microbial metabolites. The evolution of pathogens is another possible effect of dysbiosis, contributing to a potential increase in cancer risk. The density of bacteria in the colon is high (about 1012 per ml.), and these bacteria are subject to dysbiosis. By contrast, the small intestine has a relatively low density of bacteria (about 102 per ml.) so that dysbiosis is likely less of a problem. This difference may account for the greater than 10-fold higher incidence of cancer in the colon compared to the small intestine. The risk of Intestinal cancer is associated with a Western high fat diet that increases susceptibility to secondary bile acid induced dysbiosis. Exposure of the colon to an increased level of secondary bile acids resulting from dysbiosis can cause DNA damage, and such damage can cause carcinogenic mutations in colon cells. Gut dysbiosis can affect the cardiovascular system “via signaling molecules and bioactive metabolites. This could cause diseases through neuro-entero-endocrine hormones that can lead to heart failure and other conditions such as chronic kidney disease, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. Associated illnesses Cross-regulation occurs between the host and the gut microbiota in healthy people, resulting in a homeostatic equilibrium of bacteria that keeps the gastrointestinal tract healthy and free of potentially pathogenic bacteria. There are three significant categories of dysbiosis: loss of beneficial organisms, excessive growth of potentially harmful microorganisms, and loss of overall microbial diversity. Disruptions in the microbiome can allow outside factors or even pathogenic members of the microbiome to take hold in the gut environment. Dysbiosis has been reported to be associated with illnesses, such as multiple chemical sensitivity, periodontal disease, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, obesity, cancer, bacterial vaginosis, and colitis. Inflammatory bowel disease There is no single or well-understood microbial cause of Crohn's disease, but three major pathogens have been associated with Crohn's disease: Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP), adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC), and Clostridioides difficile. The causal role, if any, these bacteria play has yet to be determined. Rather than the "one-microbe-one disease" hypothesis, some think that Crohn's is caused by an imbalance of commensal microflora associated with more complex interactions between the host and the entire intestinal microbiota. Obesity Obesity is a metabolic condition in which the body retains an unhealthy amount of fat. Similar to IBD, a specific microbiota appears to be linked to the development of obesity. There is a notable reduction in microbial diversity in obese individuals. Research in humans and animals shows an association of obesity with altered ratios between Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes; as Bacteriodetes decreases, Firmicutes increases. This ratio has been linked to body weight and fat accumulation, indicating that obese people have a higher disproportionate ratio of these bacteria. Diabetes mellitus Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a carbohydrate metabolism disorder characterized by insufficient insulin output or utilization, which is needed for the body to turn sugars and starches into energy. The prevalence of DM in the United States is about 29.1 million, with about 1.7 million new diagnoses annually. The two forms of diabetes are Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 DM is also known as Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM). Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition that affects the beta cells in the pancreas, causing insulin production to be impaired. It is most often diagnosed in children and young adults. Type 2 diabetes mellitus, also known as Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM), is a type of diabetes that affects adults and is characterized by insulin resistance, which occurs when tissue sensitivity insulin is reduced, causing the body to ignore the insulin released. Research has shown dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota may contribute to both forms of diabetes. Dysbiosis related to type 1 DM is characterized by a decline in mucin-degrading bacteria, such as Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus, and Prevotella, and an increase in Bacteroidetes and Clostridium. Cancer Sustained periods of dysbiosis lead to extended amounts of stress and inflammation in the gut microbiome, which can in turn promote the production of carcinogenic metabolites. Intestinal dysbiosis has been associated with colorectal cancer (CRC). According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. In CRC patients, a general dysbiosis pattern has been discovered, including a decrease in butyrate-producing bacteria and an increase in the proportion of several potentially pathogenic bacteria. Clostridioides difficile C. difficile is an opportunistic bacteria that commonly infects patients following a disruption in the microbiome, such as treatment with antibiotics. Infection can lead to several different symptoms including watery diarrhea, fever, loss of appetite, nausea, and abdominal pain. Severe or chronic infections of C. difficile can lead to inflammation of the colon, a condition known as colitis. Periodontitis Periodontitis is an oral infection that can damage the bones supporting teeth and lead to tooth loss. One of the major risk factors for periodontitis is the disruption of the oral microbiome such that there is an accumulation of pathogenic bacteria. Studies show that the oral microbiota changes as periodontitis progress, shifting from gram-positive aerobes to gram-negative anaerobes. Oral dysbiosis is likely to evolve, shifting the symbiotic host-microbe relationship to a pathogenic one. During this time, the host's oral health deteriorates, eventually leading to clinical disease. Acne vulgaris The use of minocycline in acne vulgaris has been associated with skin and gut dysbiosis. Cardiovascular disease Dysbiosis of intestinal microbiota may accelerate the progression of cardiovascular disease. Dietary habits, high stress, intestinal infections and use of antibiotics can cause an imbalance in the species and quantity of microorganisms in the adult intestine. Gut dysbiosis may lead to inflammation and metabolic disorders that promote the development of cardiovascular disease. Treatments Antibiotics Because of the complex interactions in the microbiome, not much data exists on the efficacy of using antibiotics to treat dysbiosis. However, the broad-spectrum antibiotic rifaximin has been shown to have a favorable response in several of the ailments associated with dysbiosis, including irritable bowel syndrome. While most antibiotics alter the gut microbiota for the duration of the treatment, some cause long-lasting changes. However, repeated exposure to antibiotics can also cause the opposite of the intended effect and destabilize the gut microbiome, resulting in promoting “outgrowth of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria” (see antibiotic misuse) thus aggravating gut dysbiosis. Fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) is an experimental treatment that has resolved 80–90 percent of dysbiosis-related infections caused by recurrent C. difficile infections that do not respond to antibiotics in randomized, controlled clinical trials. A patient's colon is transplanted during FMT with a fecal preparation from a carefully screened, healthy stool donor. FMT is thought to work by repopulating the patient's microbiome with various microorganisms that compete with C. difficile for space. FMTs use the same line of reasoning as probiotics; to recreate a healthy balance of microbiota in the microbiome by inserting beneficial microbes into the environment. FMT accomplishes this by taking a donation of fecal matter from a healthy individual, diluted, strained and introduced to a diseased patient. FMTs are currently used to treat patients with Clostridioides difficile infections, who have proved resistant to other therapies.; however, this is considered an investigational therapy at present with risks that have not been fully defined. FMT is also being investigated for use in psychiatric disorders. Because the process is not sterile and contaminations can pass from donor to patient, there is a push to isolate key microbiota and culture them independently. Probiotics The World Health Organization defines probiotics as "live microorganisms, which when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host". The benefit of using probiotics to treat dysbiosis related diseases lies in its ability to treat the underlying cause of said diseases. Some benefits include their ability to suppress inflammation in the microbiome and disrupt colonization by pathogens. Excessive use of antibiotics, IBD, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and many more ailments are related to interruptions in the microbiome(dysbiosis), especially in the human gut. Probiotics can promote healthier microbial function by introducing or reintroducing helpful bacteria to strengthen the weaknesses presented in a dysbiotic microbiome. It is essential to recognize that such circumstances are beneficial bacteria that occur more frequently than harmful ones. Probiotics can be utilized in aiding existing conditions and preventing such diseases by instituting anti-inflammatory properties and improving immune cell function. The human gut contains a wide diversity of bacteria and can easily be disrupted through diet, medicinal usage, diseases, and many others. Probiotics have proven influential in returning the intestinal microbiota to homeostatic balance and improve intestinal health. Probiotics contain anti-inflammatory properties that assist in the prevention and treatment of intestinal diseases due to microbial dysbiosis. More research is needed to understand better the many benefits probiotics can offer for multiple forms of dysbiosis. Lactobacillus is the most researched single strain of probiotic bacteria. It is sold to consumers for gut health either as a single strain or part of a multi-strain formulation. See also Gut flora Human microbiome List of bacterial vaginosis microbiota Microbiome Notes and references External links Intestinal dysbiosis Symptoms and signs

Biosphere

The biosphere, also called the ecosphere, is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also be termed the zone of life on Earth. The biosphere (which is technically a spherical shell) is virtually a closed system with regard to matter, with minimal inputs and outputs. Regarding energy, it is an open system, with photosynthesis capturing solar energy at a rate of around 100 terawatts. By the most general biophysiological definition, the biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of the lithosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. The biosphere is postulated to have evolved, beginning with a process of biopoiesis (life created naturally from matter, such as simple organic compounds) or biogenesis (life created from living matter), at least some 3.5 billion years ago. In a general sense, biospheres are any closed, self-regulating systems containing ecosystems. This includes artificial biospheres such as and , and potentially ones on other planets or moons. Origin and use of the term The term "biosphere" was coined in 1875 by geologist Eduard Suess, who defined it as the place on Earth's surface where life dwells. While the concept has a geological origin, it is an indication of the effect of both Charles Darwin and Matthew F. Maury on the Earth sciences. The biosphere's ecological context comes from the 1920s (see Vladimir I. Vernadsky), preceding the 1935 introduction of the term "ecosystem" by Sir Arthur Tansley (see ecology history). Vernadsky defined ecology as the science of the biosphere. It is an interdisciplinary concept for integrating astronomy, geophysics, meteorology, biogeography, evolution, geology, geochemistry, hydrology and, generally speaking, all life and Earth sciences. Narrow definition Geochemists define the biosphere as being the total sum of living organisms (the "biomass" or "biota" as referred to by biologists and ecologists). In this sense, the biosphere is but one of four separate components of the geochemical model, the other three being geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. When these four component spheres are combined into one system, it is known as the ecosphere. This term was coined during the 1960s and encompasses both biological and physical components of the planet. The Second International Conference on Closed Life Systems defined biospherics as the science and technology of analogs and models of Earth's biosphere; i.e., artificial Earth-like biospheres. Others may include the creation of artificial non-Earth biospheres—for example, human-centered biospheres or a native Martian biosphere—as part of the topic of biospherics. Earth's biosphere Overview Currently, the total number of living cells on the Earth is estimated to be 1030; the total number since the beginning of Earth, as 1040, and the total number for the entire time of a habitable planet Earth as 1041. This is much larger than the total number of estimated stars (and Earth-like planets) in the observable universe as 1024, a number which is more than all the grains of beach sand on planet Earth; but less than the total number of atoms estimated in the observable universe as 1082; and the estimated total number of stars in an inflationary universe (observed and unobserved), as 10100. Age The earliest evidence for life on Earth includes biogenic graphite found in 3.7 billion-year-old metasedimentary rocks from Western Greenland and microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone from Western Australia. More recently, in 2015, "remains of biotic life" were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. In 2017, putative fossilized microorganisms (or microfossils) were announced to have been discovered in hydrothermal vent precipitates in the Nuvvuagittuq Belt of Quebec, Canada that were as old as 4.28 billion years, the oldest record of life on earth, suggesting "an almost instantaneous emergence of life" after ocean formation 4.4 billion years ago, and not long after the formation of the Earth 4.54 billion years ago. According to biologist Stephen Blair Hedges, "If life arose relatively quickly on Earth ... then it could be common in the universe." Extent Every part of the planet, from the polar ice caps to the equator, features life of some kind. Recent advances in microbiology have demonstrated that microbes live deep beneath the Earth's terrestrial surface and that the total mass of microbial life in so-called "uninhabitable zones" may, in biomass, exceed all animal and plant life on the surface. The actual thickness of the biosphere on Earth is difficult to measure. Birds typically fly at altitudes as high as and fish live as much as underwater in the Puerto Rico Trench. There are more extreme examples for life on the planet: Rüppell's vulture has been found at altitudes of ; bar-headed geese migrate at altitudes of at least ; yaks live at elevations as high as above sea level; mountain goats live up to . Herbivorous animals at these elevations depend on lichens, grasses, and herbs. Life forms live in every part of the Earth's biosphere, including soil, hot springs, inside rocks at least deep underground, and at least high in the atmosphere. Marine life under many forms has been found in the deepest reaches of the world ocean while much of the deep sea remains to be explored. Under certain test conditions, microorganisms have been observed to survive the vacuum of outer space. The total amount of soil and subsurface bacterial carbon is estimated as 5 × 1017 g. The mass of prokaryote microorganisms—which includes bacteria and archaea, but not the nucleated eukaryote microorganisms—may be as much as 0.8 trillion tons of carbon (of the total biosphere mass, estimated at between 1 and 4 trillion tons). Barophilic marine microbes have been found at more than a depth of in the Mariana Trench, the deepest spot in the Earth's oceans. In fact, single-celled life forms have been found in the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, by the Challenger Deep, at depths of . Other researchers reported related studies that microorganisms thrive inside rocks up to below the sea floor under of ocean off the coast of the northwestern United States, as well as beneath the seabed off Japan. Culturable thermophilic microbes have been extracted from cores drilled more than into the Earth's crust in Sweden, from rocks between . Temperature increases with increasing depth into the Earth's crust. The rate at which the temperature increases depends on many factors, including the type of crust (continental vs. oceanic), rock type, geographic location, etc. The greatest known temperature at which microbial life can exist is (Methanopyrus kandleri Strain 116). It is likely that the limit of life in the "deep biosphere" is defined by temperature rather than absolute depth. On 20 August 2014, scientists confirmed the existence of microorganisms living below the ice of Antarctica. Earth's biosphere is divided into several biomes, inhabited by fairly similar flora and fauna. On land, biomes are separated primarily by latitude. Terrestrial biomes lying within the Arctic and Antarctic Circles are relatively barren of plant and animal life. In contrast, most of the more populous biomes lie near the equator. Annual variation Artificial biospheres Experimental biospheres, also called closed ecological systems, have been created to study ecosystems and the potential for supporting life outside the Earth. These include spacecraft and the following terrestrial laboratories: Biosphere 2 in Arizona, United States, 3.15 acres (13,000 m2). BIOS-1, BIOS-2 and BIOS-3 at the Institute of Biophysics in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, in what was then the Soviet Union. Biosphere J (CEEF, Closed Ecology Experiment Facilities), an experiment in Japan. Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative (MELiSSA) at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Extraterrestrial biospheres No biospheres have been detected beyond the Earth; therefore, the existence of extraterrestrial biospheres remains hypothetical. The rare Earth hypothesis suggests they should be very rare, save ones composed of microbial life only. On the other hand, Earth analogs may be quite numerous, at least in the Milky Way galaxy, given the large number of planets. Three of the planets discovered orbiting TRAPPIST-1 could possibly contain biospheres. Given limited understanding of abiogenesis, it is currently unknown what percentage of these planets actually develop biospheres. Based on observations by the Kepler Space Telescope team, it has been calculated that provided the probability of abiogenesis is higher than 1 to 1000, the closest alien biosphere should be within 100 light-years from the Earth. It is also possible that artificial biospheres will be created in the future, for example with the terraforming of Mars. See also Climate system Cryosphere Thomas Gold Circumstellar habitable zone Homeostasis Life-support system Man and the Biosphere Programme Montreal Biosphere Noosphere Rare biosphere Shadow biosphere Simple biosphere model Soil biomantle Wardian case Winogradsky column References Further reading The Biosphere (A Scientific American Book), San Francisco, W.H. Freeman and Co., 1970, . This book, originally the December 1970 Scientific American issue, covers virtually every major concern and concept since debated regarding materials and energy resources (including solar energy), population trends, and environmental degradation (including global warming). External links Article on the Biosphere at Encyclopedia of Earth GLOBIO.info, an ongoing programme to map the past, current and future impacts of human activities on the biosphere Paul Crutzen Interview, freeview video of Paul Crutzen Nobel Laureate for his work on decomposition of ozone talking to Harry Kroto Nobel Laureate by the Vega Science Trust. Atlas of the Biosphere Oceanography Superorganisms Biological systems

Inbreeding

Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and other consequences that may arise from expression of deleterious recessive traits resulting from incestuous sexual relationships and consanguinity. Animals avoid inbreeding only rarely. Inbreeding results in homozygosity, which can increase the chances of offspring being affected by recessive traits. In extreme cases, this usually leads to at least temporarily decreased biological fitness of a population (called inbreeding depression), which is its ability to survive and reproduce. An individual who inherits such deleterious traits is colloquially referred to as inbred. The avoidance of expression of such deleterious recessive alleles caused by inbreeding, via inbreeding avoidance mechanisms, is the main selective reason for outcrossing. Crossbreeding between populations sometimes has positive effects on fitness-related traits, but also sometimes leads to negative effects known as outbreeding depression. However, increased homozygosity increases the probability of fixing beneficial alleles and also slightly decreases the probability of fixing deleterious alleles in a population. Inbreeding can result in purging of deleterious alleles from a population through purifying selection. Inbreeding is a technique used in selective breeding. For example, in livestock breeding, breeders may use inbreeding when trying to establish a new and desirable trait in the stock and for producing distinct families within a breed, but will need to watch for undesirable characteristics in offspring, which can then be eliminated through further selective breeding or culling. Inbreeding also helps to ascertain the type of gene action affecting a trait. Inbreeding is also used to reveal deleterious recessive alleles, which can then be eliminated through assortative breeding or through culling. In plant breeding, inbred lines are used as stocks for the creation of hybrid lines to make use of the effects of heterosis. Inbreeding in plants also occurs naturally in the form of self-pollination. Inbreeding can significantly influence gene expression which can prevent inbreeding depression. Overview Offspring of biologically related persons are subject to the possible effects of inbreeding, such as congenital birth defects. The chances of such disorders are increased when the biological parents are more closely related. This is because such pairings have a 25% probability of producing homozygous zygotes, resulting in offspring with two recessive alleles, which can produce disorders when these alleles are deleterious. Because most recessive alleles are rare in populations, it is unlikely that two unrelated partners will both be carriers of the same deleterious allele; however, because close relatives share a large fraction of their alleles, the probability that any such deleterious allele is inherited from the common ancestor through both parents is increased dramatically. For each homozygous recessive individual formed there is an equal chance of producing a homozygous dominant individual — one completely devoid of the harmful allele. Contrary to common belief, inbreeding does not in itself alter allele frequencies, but rather increases the relative proportion of homozygotes to heterozygotes; however, because the increased proportion of deleterious homozygotes exposes the allele to natural selection, in the long run its frequency decreases more rapidly in inbred populations. In the short term, incestuous reproduction is expected to increase the number of spontaneous abortions of zygotes, perinatal deaths, and postnatal offspring with birth defects. The advantages of inbreeding may be the result of a tendency to preserve the structures of alleles interacting at different loci that have been adapted together by a common selective history. Malformations or harmful traits can stay within a population due to a high homozygosity rate, and this will cause a population to become fixed for certain traits, like having too many bones in an area, like the vertebral column of wolves on Isle Royale or having cranial abnormalities, such as in Northern elephant seals, where their cranial bone length in the lower mandibular tooth row has changed. Having a high homozygosity rate is problematic for a population because it will unmask recessive deleterious alleles generated by mutations, reduce heterozygote advantage, and it is detrimental to the survival of small, endangered animal populations. When deleterious recessive alleles are unmasked due to the increased homozygosity generated by inbreeding, this can cause inbreeding depression. There may also be other deleterious effects besides those caused by recessive diseases. Thus, similar immune systems may be more vulnerable to infectious diseases (see Major histocompatibility complex and sexual selection). Inbreeding history of the population should also be considered when discussing the variation in the severity of inbreeding depression between and within species. With persistent inbreeding, there is evidence that shows that inbreeding depression becomes less severe. This is associated with the unmasking and elimination of severely deleterious recessive alleles. However, inbreeding depression is not a temporary phenomenon because this elimination of deleterious recessive alleles will never be complete. Eliminating slightly deleterious mutations through inbreeding under moderate selection is not as effective. Fixation of alleles most likely occurs through Muller's ratchet, when an asexual population's genome accumulates deleterious mutations that are irreversible. Despite all its disadvantages, inbreeding can also have a variety of advantages, such as ensuring a child produced from the mating contains, and will pass on, a higher percentage of its mother/father's genetics, reducing the recombination load, and allowing the expression of recessive advantageous phenotypes. Some species with a Haplodiploidy mating system depend on the ability to produce sons to mate with as a means of ensuring a mate can be found if no other male is available. It has been proposed that under circumstances when the advantages of inbreeding outweigh the disadvantages, preferential breeding within small groups could be promoted, potentially leading to speciation. Genetic disorders Autosomal recessive disorders occur in individuals who have two copies of an allele for a particular recessive genetic mutation. Except in certain rare circumstances, such as new mutations or uniparental disomy, both parents of an individual with such a disorder will be carriers of the gene. These carriers do not display any signs of the mutation and may be unaware that they carry the mutated gene. Since relatives share a higher proportion of their genes than do unrelated people, it is more likely that related parents will both be carriers of the same recessive allele, and therefore their children are at a higher risk of inheriting an autosomal recessive genetic disorder. The extent to which the risk increases depends on the degree of genetic relationship between the parents; the risk is greater when the parents are close relatives and lower for relationships between more distant relatives, such as second cousins, though still greater than for the general population. Children of parent-child or sibling-sibling unions are at an increased risk compared to cousin-cousin unions. Inbreeding may result in a greater than expected phenotypic expression of deleterious recessive alleles within a population. As a result, first-generation inbred individuals are more likely to show physical and health defects, including: The isolation of a small population for a period of time can lead to inbreeding within that population, resulting in increased genetic relatedness between breeding individuals. Inbreeding depression can also occur in a large population if individuals tend to mate with their relatives, instead of mating randomly. Due to higher prenatal and postnatal mortality rates, some individuals in the first generation of inbreeding will not live on to reproduce. Over time, with isolation, such as a population bottleneck caused by purposeful (assortative) breeding or natural environmental factors, the deleterious inherited traits are culled. Island species are often very inbred, as their isolation from the larger group on a mainland allows natural selection to work on their population. This type of isolation may result in the formation of race or even speciation, as the inbreeding first removes many deleterious genes, and permits the expression of genes that allow a population to adapt to an ecosystem. As the adaptation becomes more pronounced, the new species or race radiates from its entrance into the new space, or dies out if it cannot adapt and, most importantly, reproduce. The reduced genetic diversity, for example due to a bottleneck will unavoidably increase inbreeding for the entire population. This may mean that a species may not be able to adapt to changes in environmental conditions. Each individual will have similar immune systems, as immune systems are genetically based. When a species becomes endangered, the population may fall below a minimum whereby the forced interbreeding between the remaining animals will result in extinction. Natural breedings include inbreeding by necessity, and most animals only migrate when necessary. In many cases, the closest available mate is a mother, sister, grandmother, father, brother, or grandfather. In all cases, the environment presents stresses to remove from the population those individuals who cannot survive because of illness. There was an assumption that wild populations do not inbreed; this is not what is observed in some cases in the wild. However, in species such as horses, animals in wild or feral conditions often drive off the young of both sexes, thought to be a mechanism by which the species instinctively avoids some of the genetic consequences of inbreeding. In general, many mammal species, including humanity's closest primate relatives, avoid close inbreeding possibly due to the deleterious effects. Examples Although there are several examples of inbred populations of wild animals, the negative consequences of this inbreeding are poorly documented. In the South American sea lion, there was concern that recent population crashes would reduce genetic diversity. Historical analysis indicated that a population expansion from just two matrilineal lines was responsible for most of the individuals within the population. Even so, the diversity within the lines allowed great variation in the gene pool that may help to protect the South American sea lion from extinction. In lions, prides are often followed by related males in bachelor groups. When the dominant male is killed or driven off by one of these bachelors, a father may be replaced by his son. There is no mechanism for preventing inbreeding or to ensure outcrossing. In the prides, most lionesses are related to one another. If there is more than one dominant male, the group of alpha males are usually related. Two lines are then being "line bred". Also, in some populations, such as the Crater lions, it is known that a population bottleneck has occurred. Researchers found far greater genetic heterozygosity than expected. In fact, predators are known for low genetic variance, along with most of the top portion of the trophic levels of an ecosystem. Additionally, the alpha males of two neighboring prides can be from the same litter; one brother may come to acquire leadership over another's pride, and subsequently mate with his 'nieces' or cousins. However, killing another male's cubs, upon the takeover, allows the new selected gene complement of the incoming alpha male to prevail over the previous male. There are genetic assays being scheduled for lions to determine their genetic diversity. The preliminary studies show results inconsistent with the outcrossing paradigm based on individual environments of the studied groups. In Central California, sea otters were thought to have been driven to extinction due to over hunting, until a small colony was discovered in the Point Sur region in the 1930s. Since then, the population has grown and spread along the central Californian coast to around 2,000 individuals, a level that has remained stable for over a decade. Population growth is limited by the fact that all Californian sea otters are descended from the isolated colony, resulting in inbreeding. Cheetahs are another example of inbreeding. Thousands of years ago, the cheetah went through a population bottleneck that reduced its population dramatically so the animals that are alive today are all related to one another. A consequence from inbreeding for this species has been high juvenile mortality, low fecundity, and poor breeding success. In a study on an island population of song sparrows, individuals that were inbred showed significantly lower survival rates than outbred individuals during a severe winter weather related population crash. These studies show that inbreeding depression and ecological factors have an influence on survival. The Florida panther population was reduced to about 30 animals, so inbreeding became a problem. Several females were imported from Texas and now the population is better off genetically. Measures A measure of inbreeding of an individual A is the probability F(A) that both alleles in one locus are derived from the same allele in an ancestor. These two identical alleles that are both derived from a common ancestor are said to be identical by descent. This probability F(A) is called the "coefficient of inbreeding". Another useful measure that describes the extent to which two individuals are related (say individuals A and B) is their coancestry coefficient f(A,B), which gives the probability that one randomly selected allele from A and another randomly selected allele from B are identical by descent. This is also denoted as the kinship coefficient between A and B. A particular case is the self-coancestry of individual A with itself, f(A,A), which is the probability that taking one random allele from A and then, independently and with replacement, another random allele also from A, both are identical by descent. Since they can be identical by descent by sampling the same allele or by sampling both alleles that happen to be identical by descent, we have f(A,A) = 1/2 + F(A)/2. Both the inbreeding and the coancestry coefficients can be defined for specific individuals or as average population values. They can be computed from genealogies or estimated from the population size and its breeding properties, but all methods assume no selection and are limited to neutral alleles. There are several methods to compute this percentage. The two main ways are the path method and the tabular method. Typical coancestries between relatives are as follows: Father/daughter or mother/son → 25% Brother/sister → 25% Grandfather/granddaughter or grandmother/grandson → 12.5% Half-brother/half-sister, Double cousins → 12.5% Uncle/niece or aunt/nephew → 12.5% Great-grandfather/great-granddaughter or great-grandmother/great-grandson → 6.25% Half-uncle/niece or half-aunt/nephew → 6.25% First cousins → 6.25% Animals Wild animals Banded mongoose females regularly mate with their fathers and brothers. Bed bugs: North Carolina State University found that bedbugs, in contrast to most other insects, tolerate incest and are able to genetically withstand the effects of inbreeding quite well. Common fruit fly females prefer to mate with their own brothers over unrelated males. Cottony cushion scales: 'It turns out that females in these hermaphrodite insects are not really fertilizing their eggs themselves, but instead are having this done by a parasitic tissue that infects them at birth,' says Laura Ross of Oxford University's Department of Zoology. 'It seems that this infectious tissue derives from left-over sperm from their father, who has found a sneaky way of having more children by mating with his daughters.' Adactylidium: The single male offspring mite mates with all the daughters when they are still in the mother. The females, now impregnated, cut holes in their mother's body so that they can emerge. The male emerges as well, but does not look for food or new mates, and dies after a few hours. The females die at the age of 4 days, when their own offspring eat them alive from the inside. Domestic animals Breeding in domestic animals is primarily assortative breeding (see selective breeding). Without the sorting of individuals by trait, a breed could not be established, nor could poor genetic material be removed. Homozygosity is the case where similar or identical alleles combine to express a trait that is not otherwise expressed (recessiveness). Inbreeding exposes recessive alleles through increasing homozygosity. Breeders must avoid breeding from individuals that demonstrate either homozygosity or heterozygosity for disease causing alleles. The goal of preventing the transfer of deleterious alleles may be achieved by reproductive isolation, sterilization, or, in the extreme case, culling. Culling is not strictly necessary if genetics are the only issue in hand. Small animals such as cats and dogs may be sterilized, but in the case of large agricultural animals, such as cattle, culling is usually the only economic option. The issue of casual breeders who inbreed irresponsibly is discussed in the following quotation on cattle: Meanwhile, milk production per cow per lactation increased from 17,444 lbs to 25,013 lbs from 1978 to 1998 for the Holstein breed. Mean breeding values for milk of Holstein cows increased by 4,829 lbs during this period. High producing cows are increasingly difficult to breed and are subject to higher health costs than cows of lower genetic merit for production (Cassell, 2001). Intensive selection for higher yield has increased relationships among animals within breed and increased the rate of casual inbreeding. Many of the traits that affect profitability in crosses of modern dairy breeds have not been studied in designed experiments. Indeed, all crossbreeding research involving North American breeds and strains is very dated (McAllister, 2001) if it exists at all. The BBC produced two documentaries on dog inbreeding titled Pedigree Dogs Exposed and Pedigree Dogs Exposed: Three Years On that document the negative health consequences of excessive inbreeding. Linebreeding Linebreeding is a form of inbreeding. There is no clear distinction between the two terms, but linebreeding may encompass crosses between individuals and their descendants or two cousins. This method can be used to increase a particular animal's contribution to the population. While linebreeding is less likely to cause problems in the first generation than does inbreeding, over time, linebreeding can reduce the genetic diversity of a population and cause problems related to a too-small gene pool that may include an increased prevalence of genetic disorders and inbreeding depression. Outcrossing Outcrossing is where two unrelated individuals are crossed to produce progeny. In outcrossing, unless there is verifiable genetic information, one may find that all individuals are distantly related to an ancient progenitor. If the trait carries throughout a population, all individuals can have this trait. This is called the founder effect. In the well established breeds, that are commonly bred, a large gene pool is present. For example, in 2004, over 18,000 Persian cats were registered. A possibility exists for a complete outcross, if no barriers exist between the individuals to breed. However, it is not always the case, and a form of distant linebreeding occurs. Again it is up to the assortative breeder to know what sort of traits, both positive and negative, exist within the diversity of one breeding. This diversity of genetic expression, within even close relatives, increases the variability and diversity of viable stock. Laboratory animals Systematic inbreeding and maintenance of inbred strains of laboratory mice and rats is of great importance for biomedical research. The inbreeding guarantees a consistent and uniform animal model for experimental purposes and enables genetic studies in congenic and knock-out animals. In order to achieve a mouse strain that is considered inbred, a minimum of 20 sequential generations of sibling matings must occur. With each successive generation of breeding, homozygosity in the entire genome increases, eliminating heterozygous loci. With 20 generations of sibling matings, homozygosity is occurring at roughly 98.7% of all loci in the genome, allowing for these offspring to serve as animal models for genetic studies. The use of inbred strains is also important for genetic studies in animal models, for example to distinguish genetic from environmental effects. The mice that are inbred typically show considerably lower survival rates. Humans Effects Inbreeding increases homozygosity, which can increase the chances of the expression of deleterious or beneficial recessive alleles and therefore has the potential to either decrease or increase the fitness of the offspring. Depending on the rate of inbreeding, natural selection may still be able to eliminate deleterious alleles. With continuous inbreeding, genetic variation is lost and homozygosity is increased, enabling the expression of recessive deleterious alleles in homozygotes. The coefficient of inbreeding, or the degree of inbreeding in an individual, is an estimate of the percent of homozygous alleles in the overall genome. The more biologically related the parents are, the greater the coefficient of inbreeding, since their genomes have many similarities already. This overall homozygosity becomes an issue when there are deleterious recessive alleles in the gene pool of the family. By pairing chromosomes of similar genomes, the chance for these recessive alleles to pair and become homozygous greatly increases, leading to offspring with autosomal recessive disorders. However, these deleterious effects are common for very close relatives but not for those related on the 3rd cousin or greater level, who exhibit increased fitness. Inbreeding is especially problematic in small populations where the genetic variation is already limited. By inbreeding, individuals are further decreasing genetic variation by increasing homozygosity in the genomes of their offspring. Thus, the likelihood of deleterious recessive alleles to pair is significantly higher in a small inbreeding population than in a larger inbreeding population. The fitness consequences of consanguineous mating have been studied since their scientific recognition by Charles Darwin in 1839. Some of the most harmful effects known from such breeding includes its effects on the mortality rate as well as on the general health of the offspring. Since the 1960s, there have been many studies to support such debilitating effects on the human organism. Specifically, inbreeding has been found to decrease fertility as a direct result of increasing homozygosity of deleterious recessive alleles. Fetuses produced by inbreeding also face a greater risk of spontaneous abortions due to inherent complications in development. Among mothers who experience stillbirths and early infant deaths, those that are inbreeding have a significantly higher chance of reaching repeated results with future offspring. Additionally, consanguineous parents possess a high risk of premature birth and producing underweight and undersized infants. Viable inbred offspring are also likely to be inflicted with physical deformities and genetically inherited diseases. Studies have confirmed an increase in several genetic disorders due to inbreeding such as blindness, hearing loss, neonatal diabetes, limb malformations, disorders of sex development, schizophrenia and several others. Moreover, there is an increased risk for congenital heart disease depending on the inbreeding coefficient (See coefficient of inbreeding) of the offspring, with significant risk accompanied by an F =.125 or higher. Prevalence The general negative outlook and eschewal of inbreeding that is prevalent in the Western world today has roots from over 2000 years ago. Specifically, written documents such as the Bible illustrate that there have been laws and social customs that have called for the abstention from inbreeding. Along with cultural taboos, parental education and awareness of inbreeding consequences have played large roles in minimizing inbreeding frequencies in areas like Europe. That being so, there are less urbanized and less populated regions across the world that have shown continuity in the practice of inbreeding. The continuity of inbreeding is often either by choice or unavoidably due to the limitations of the geographical area. When by choice, the rate of consanguinity is highly dependent on religion and culture. In the Western world, some Anabaptist groups are highly inbred because they originate from small founder populations that have bred as a closed population. Of the practicing regions, Middle Eastern and northern Africa territories show the greatest frequencies of consanguinity. Among these populations with high levels of inbreeding, researchers have found several disorders prevalent among inbred offspring. In Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and in Israel, the offspring of consanguineous relationships have an increased risk of congenital malformations, congenital heart defects, congenital hydrocephalus and neural tube defects. Furthermore, among inbred children in Palestine and Lebanon, there is a positive association between consanguinity and reported cleft lip/palate cases. Historically, populations of Qatar have engaged in consanguineous relationships of all kinds, leading to high risk of inheriting genetic diseases. As of 2014, around 5% of the Qatari population suffered from hereditary hearing loss; most were descendants of a consanguineous relationship. Royalty and nobility Inter-nobility marriage was used as a method of forming political alliances among elites. These ties were often sealed only upon the birth of progeny within the arranged marriage. Thus marriage was seen as a union of lines of nobility and not as a contract between individuals. Royal intermarriage was often practiced among European royal families, usually for interests of state. Over time, due to the relatively limited number of potential consorts, the gene pool of many ruling families grew progressively smaller, until all European royalty was related. This also resulted in many being descended from a certain person through many lines of descent, such as the numerous European royalty and nobility descended from the British Queen Victoria or King Christian IX of Denmark. The House of Habsburg was known for its intermarriages; the Habsburg lip often cited as an ill-effect. The closely related houses of Habsburg, Bourbon, Braganza and Wittelsbach also frequently engaged in first-cousin unions as well as the occasional double-cousin and uncle–niece marriages. In ancient Egypt, royal women were believed to carry the bloodlines and so it was advantageous for a pharaoh to marry his sister or half-sister; in such cases a special combination between endogamy and polygamy is found. Normally, the old ruler's eldest son and daughter (who could be either siblings or half-siblings) became the new rulers. All rulers of the Ptolemaic dynasty uninterruptedly from Ptolemy IV (Ptolemy II married his sister but had no issue) were married to their brothers and sisters, so as to keep the Ptolemaic blood "pure" and to strengthen the line of succession. King Tutankhamun's mother is reported to have been the half-sister to his father, Cleopatra VII (also called Cleopatra VI) and Ptolemy XIII, who married and became co-rulers of ancient Egypt following their father's death, are the most widely known example. See also References External links Dale Vogt, Helen A. Swartz and John Massey, 1993. Inbreeding: Its Meaning, Uses and Effects on Farm Animals. University of Missouri, Extension. Consanguineous marriages with global map Population genetics Breeding Incest Kinship and descent

Ecovillage

An ecovillage is a traditional or intentional community that aims to become more socially, culturally, economically and/or environmentally sustainable. An ecovillage strives to have the least possible negative impact on the natural environment through the intentional physical design and behavioural choices of its inhabitants. It is consciously designed through locally owned, participatory processes to regenerate and restore its social and natural environments. Most range from a population of 50 to 250 individuals, although some are smaller, and traditional ecovillages are often much larger. Larger ecovillages often exist as networks of smaller sub-communities. Some ecovillages have grown through like-minded individuals, families, or other small groups—who are not members, at least at the outset—settling on the ecovillage's periphery and participating de facto in the community. There are currently more than 10,000 ecovillages around the world. Ecovillagers are united by shared ecological, social-economic and cultural-spiritual values. Concretely, ecovillagers seek alternatives to ecologically destructive electrical, water, transportation, and waste-treatment systems, as well as the larger social systems that mirror and support them. Many see the breakdown of traditional forms of community, wasteful consumerist lifestyles, the destruction of natural habitat, urban sprawl, factory farming, and over-reliance on fossil fuels as trends that must be changed to avert ecological disaster and create richer and more fulfilling ways of life. Ecovillages offer small-scale communities with minimal ecological impact or regenerative impacts as an alternative. However, such communities often cooperate with peer villages in networks of their own (see Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) for an example). This model of collective action is similar to that of Ten Thousand Villages, which supports the fair trade of goods worldwide. The concept of the ecovillage has undergone significant development over time, as evidenced by the remarkable growth and evolution of these communities over the past few decades. The various facets of the ecovillage include case studies of community models, discussions on sustainability alignment for diverse needs, examinations of their environmental impact, explorations of governance structures, and considerations of the challenges faced on their path towards a successful ecovillage. Definition Multiple sources define ecovillages as a subtype of intentional communities focusing on sustainability. More pronounced definitions are listed here: In Joubert's view, ecovillages are seen as an ongoing process, rather than a particular outcome. They often start off with a focus on one of the four dimensions of sustainability, e.g. ecology, but evolve into holistic models for restoration. In this view, aiming for sustainability is not enough; it is vital to restore and regenerate the fabric of life and across all four dimensions of sustainability: social, environmental, economic and cultural. Ecovillages have developed in recent years as technology has improved, so they have more sophisticated structures as noted by Baydoun, M. 2013. Generally, the ecovillage concept is not tied to specific sectarian (religious, political, corporate) organizations or belief systems not directly related to environmentalism, such as monasteries, cults, or communes. History The modern-day desire for community was notably characterized by the communal "back to the land" movement of the 1960s and 1970s through communities such as the earliest example that still survives, the Miccosukee Land Co-op co-founded in May 1973 by James Clement van Pelt in Tallahassee, Florida. In the same decades, the imperative for alternatives to radically inefficient energy-use patterns, in particular automobile-enabled suburban sprawl, was brought into focus by recurrent energy crises. The term "eco-village" was introduced by Georgia Tech Professor George Ramsey in a 1978 address, "Passive Energy Applications for the Built Environment", to the First World Energy Conference of the Association of Energy Engineers, to describe small-scale, car-free, close-in developments, including suburban infill, arguing that "the great energy waste in the United States is not in its technology; it is in its lifestyle and concept of living." Ramsey's article includes a sketch for a "self-sufficient pedestrian solar village" by one of his students that looks very similar to eco-villages today. The movement became more focused and organized in the cohousing and related alternative-community movements of the mid-1980s. Then, in 1991, Robert Gilman and Diane Gilman co-authored a germinal study called "Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities" for Gaia Trust, in which the ecological and communitarian themes were brought together. The first Eco-Village in North America began its first stages in 1990. Earthaven Eco-Village in Black Mountain, NC was the first community called an Eco-Village and was designed using permaculture (holistic) principles. The first residents moved onto the vacant land in 1993. As of 2019 Earthaven Eco-Village has over 70 families living off the grid on 368 acres of land. The ecovillage movement began to coalesce at the annual autumn conference of Findhorn, in Scotland, in 1995. The conference was called: "Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities", and conference organizers turned away hundreds of applicants. According to Ross Jackson, "somehow they had struck a chord that resonated far and wide. The word 'ecovillage'... thus became part of the language of the Cultural Creatives." After that conference, many intentional communities, including Findhorn, began calling themselves "ecovillages", giving birth to a new movement. The Global Ecovillage Network, formed by a group of about 25 people from various countries who had attended the Findhorn conference, crystallized the event by linking hundreds of small projects from around the world, that had similar goals but had formerly operated without knowledge of each other. Gaia Trust of Denmark agreed to fund the network for its first five years. Since the 1995 conference, a number of the early members of the Global Ecovillage Network have tried other approaches to ecovillage building in an attempt to build settlements that would be attractive to mainstream culture in order to make sustainable development more generally accepted. One of these with some degree of success is Living Villages and The Wintles where eco-houses are arranged so that social connectivity is maximized and residents have shared food growing areas, woodlands, and animal husbandry for greater sustainability. The most recent worldwide update emerges from the 2022 Annual Report of GEN International, detailing the mapping of 1,043 ecovillage communities on GEN's interactive ecovillage map. GEN collaborated closely with a diverse array of researchers and ecovillage communities spanning the globe to develop the Ecovillage Impact Assessment. Their innovative tool serves as a means for communities, groups, and individuals to accurately report, chart, evaluate, and present their efforts toward fostering participatory cultural, social, ecological, and economic regeneration. Over the course of three years, from February 2021 to April 2024, data from 140 surveys conducted within 75 ecovillages formed the basis of the comprehensive results. Through this assessment ecovillages are empowered to understand their impact and influence their community has had. Case studies Sustainability alignment Ecovillages are defined by their commitment sustainability through a multitude of design, lifestyle, and community objectives. They prioritize environmental stewardship through various methods, including the utilization of renewable energy sources, the minimization of waste through recycling and composting, and the practice of organic agriculture and permaculture. In many cases, these communities strive for self-sufficiency in food production, with the aim of reducing the ecological footprint associated with food transportation. Ecovillage communities place a strong emphasis on the conservation of resources through the application of green building techniques, including passive solar design, natural insulation, and rainwater harvesting. Additionally, they promote alternative modes of transportation, such as cycling and walking, as a means of reducing reliance on fossil fuels. The objective of ecovillages is to cultivate robust social connections and a sense of belonging among residents through the promotion of collaboration, consensus-based decision-making, and shared responsibilities. This approach fosters a supportive environment that enhances both individual and collective resilience. Ecovillages represent an international phenomenon that encompasses cultural diversity, frequently integrating traditional wisdom alongside innovative practices. Many ecovillages espouse multiculturalism, indigenous knowledge, and participation as means of enhancing intergenerational learning. In essence, these communities endeavor to achieve sustainable living through a multitude of diverse efforts, offering valuable insight into the creation of a sustainable relationship between humanity and the natural world. In essence, these communities aim for sustainable living through a multitude of various efforts and offer valuable insight for creating a sustainable relationship between humanity and the natural world. Environmental impact The formation of ecovillages is frequently driven by a concern for environmental stewardship and a commitment to sustainable practices. Ecovillages frequently employ reusable power sources, such as solar and wind energy, and utilize natural materials, including mud, wood, and straw, in their construction. Such technologies as bioclimatic agriculture are employed in this regard. A study on an ecovillage in Ithaca, New York found that the average ecological footprint of a resident in the ecovillage was 70% less than the ecological footprint of most Americans. Ecovillage residents seek a sustainable lifestyle (for example, of voluntary simplicity) for inhabitants with a minimum of trade outside the local area, or ecoregion. Many seek independence from existing infrastructures, although others, particularly in more urban settings, pursue more integration with existing infrastructure. Rural ecovillages are usually based on organic farming, permaculture and other approaches which promote ecosystem function and biodiversity. Ecovillages, whether urban or rural, tend to integrate community and ecological values within a principle-based approach to sustainability, such as permaculture design. In 2019, a study assessed the impact of community sustainability through a life cycle assessment conducted on three ecovillages. The results of this study revealed a substantial reduction in carbon emissions among residents of these ecovillages when compared to the average United States citizen. This study reported that residents had a 63% to 71% decrease in carbon emissions due to living in an ecovillage with sustainable practices and mitigation efforts to environmental impact. Governance Ecovillages, while united by their commitment to sustainability and communal living, often differ in their approaches to governance. Every ecovillage strives to reflect the diverse needs and values of their communities. Ultimately, the choice of governance model within ecovillages aims to demonstrates a balance between fostering community cohesion, promoting sustainability, and accommodating the varied needs and values of their members. Establishing governance is a common method used by ecovillages to align individual actions with community objectives. Most ecovillages maintain a distinct set of policies to govern aspects of what keeps their society functioning. Policies within ecovillages are meant to evolve with new situations prompting revisions to existing guidelines. Ecovillages commonly incorporate elements of consensus decision-making into their governance processes. This approach aims to mitigate hierarchies, power imbalances, and inflexibility within their governments. The governmental framework designed in the Ecovillage Tamera, Portugal promotes inclusivity that actively works to combat hierarchical structures. The Tamera community attributes their success to their Women's Council who confront patriarchal norms and empower women within the governance system. Members of ecovillage communities will select their peers to serve as government members based off established trust within the community, this serves as an active strategy to mitigate the emergence of hierarchies. Through involvement of community members in reviewing and revising existing rules, ecovillages ensure flexibility and adaptability to evolving needs. Active participation in policy formulation fosters a sense of ownership among members regarding community expectations and boundaries. Ecovillage community members express their contentment knowing they had the opportunity to voice their concerns and contribute to the decision-making process. Each ecovillage exhibits a unique approach to how they will develop their governance. Ecovillages acknowledge that there is a delicate balance in maintaining a functioning community that appreciates and considers the perspectives of its members. Through active involvement in the governance processes, ecovillages demonstrate a commitment to inclusivity, adaptability, and collective empowerment, demonstrating the principles of collaborative decision-making and community-driven change. Challenges While ecovillages aim to embody admirable dimensions of sustainability and community, they are not without their challenges. One significant challenge is the initial investment required to establish or transition to an ecovillage lifestyle. The costs of acquiring land, implementing sustainable infrastructure, and maintaining communal facilities can be prohibitive for some individuals or groups making available funds a limiting factor. Conflicts can arise regarding community rules, resource allocation, or individual responsibilities, it can be difficult to maintain cohesion which can be expected in any community type. An explorative study results concluded that the perceived quality of life of residents in eco-developments rated higher perceived quality of life than residents of developments in conventional settings while still noting various challenges they experienced. Another noteworthy challenge can be limited access to resources, like land that is adequate for agriculture, available water or renewable energy potential which can limit the viability of ecovillage initiatives. See also References Kellogg, W. Keating, W. (2011), "Cleveland's Ecovillage: green and affordable housing through a network alliance", Housing Policy Debate, 21 (1), pp. 69–91 Cunningham, Paul A. and Wearing, Stephen L.(2013).The Politics of Consensus: An Exploration of the Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Ireland.[electronic version]. Cosmopolitan Civil Societies. 5(2) pp. 1–28 Further reading Books Christian, D. 2003. Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities New Society Publishers. Dawson, Jonathan (2006) Ecovillages: Angelica Buenaventura for Sustainability. Green Books. Hill, R. and Dunbar, R. 2002. "Social Network Size in Humans." Human Nature, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 53–72. Jackson, H. and Svensson, K. 2002. Ecovillage Living: Restoring the Earth and Her People. Green Books. Walker, Liz. 2005 EcoVillage at Ithaca: Pioneering a Sustainable Culture. New Society Publishers Sunarti, Euis (eds.) 2009. Model of Ecovillage Development: Development of Rural Areas in Order To Improve Quality of Life for Rural Residents, Indonesia. Joubert, Kosha and Dregger, Leila 2015. Ecovillage: 1001 ways to heal the planet . Triarchy Press. Christian, Diana L. (ed.) The Ecovillage Movement Today. Ecovillage Newsletter. Gilman, Robert (ed.) Living Together: Sustainable Community Development. In Context. Genovese, Paolo Vincenzo (2019), Being Light on the Earth. Eco-Village Policy and Practice for a Sustainable World, Libria, Melfi, Vol. I., ISDN 978-88-6764-187-1. Also in eBook. Frederica Miller, Ed. (2018) Ecovillages Around the World: 20 Regenerative Designs for Sustainable Communities - Rochester, Vermont, Findhorn Press, Litfin, Karen T. (2013) Ecovillages: Lessons for Sustainable Community. Polity. External links Global Ecovillage Network eurotopia - Living in Community: European Directory of Communities and Ecovillages Fellowship for Intentional Community: Ecovillage Directory Wanderer's End Tactical & Practical Ecovillage Network of the Americas Vietnamese Eco Village in Saigon Urban studies and planning terminology Environmental design Simple living

Scholarly method

The scholarly method or scholarship is the body of principles and practices used by scholars and academics to make their claims about their subjects of expertise as valid and trustworthy as possible, and to make them known to the scholarly public. It comprises the methods that systemically advance the teaching, research, and practice of a scholarly or academic field of study through rigorous inquiry. Scholarship is creative, can be documented, can be replicated or elaborated, and can be and is peer reviewed through various methods. The scholarly method includes the subcategories of the scientific method, with which scientists bolster their claims, and the historical method, with which historians verify their claims. Methods The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians research primary sources and other evidence, and then write history. The question of the nature, and indeed the possibility, of sound historical method is raised in the philosophy of history, as a question of epistemology. History guidelines commonly used by historians in their work require external criticism, internal criticism, and synthesis. The empirical method is generally taken to mean the collection of data on which to base a hypothesis or derive a conclusion in science. It is part of the scientific method, but is often mistakenly assumed to be synonymous with other methods. The empirical method is not sharply defined and is often contrasted with the precision of experiments, where data emerges from the systematic manipulation of variables. The experimental method investigates causal relationships among variables. An experiment is a cornerstone of the empirical approach to acquiring data about the world and is used in both natural sciences and social sciences. An experiment can be used to help solve practical problems and to support or negate theoretical assumptions. The scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses. See also Academia Academic authorship Academic publishing Discipline (academia) Doctor (title) Ethics Historical revisionism History of scholarship Manual of style Professor Source criticism Urtext edition Wissenschaft References Academia Methodology

Environmental impacts of animal agriculture

The environmental impacts of animal agriculture vary because of the wide variety of agricultural practices employed around the world. Despite this, all agricultural practices have been found to have a variety of effects on the environment to some extent. Animal agriculture, in particular meat production, can cause pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, disease, and significant consumption of land, food, and water. Meat is obtained through a variety of methods, including organic farming, free-range farming, intensive livestock production, and subsistence agriculture. The livestock sector also includes wool, egg and dairy production, the livestock used for tillage, and fish farming. Animal agriculture is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Cows, sheep, and other ruminants digest their food by enteric fermentation, and their burps are the main source of methane emissions from land use, land-use change, and forestry. Together with methane and nitrous oxide from manure, this makes livestock the main source of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. A significant reduction in meat consumption is essential to mitigate climate change, especially as the human population increases by a projected 2.3 billion by the middle of the century. Consumption and production trends Multiple studies have found that increases in meat consumption are currently associated with human population growth and rising individual incomes or GDP, and therefore, the environmental impacts of meat production and consumption will increase unless current behaviours change. Changes in demand for meat will influence how much is produced, thus changing the environmental impact of meat production. It has been estimated that global meat consumption may double from 2000 to 2050, mostly as a consequence of the increasing world population, but also partly because of increased per capita meat consumption (with much of the per capita consumption increase occurring in the developing world). The human population is projected to grow to 9 billion by 2050, and meat production is expected to increase by 40%. Global production and consumption of poultry meat have been growing recently at more than 5% annually. Meat consumption typically increases as people and countries get richer. Trends also vary among livestock sectors. For example, global pork consumption per capita has increased recently (almost entirely due to changes in consumption within China), while global consumption per capita of ruminant meats has been declining. Resource use Food production efficiency About 85% of the world's soybean crop is processed into meal and vegetable oil, and virtually all of that meal is used in animal feed. Approximately 6% of soybeans are used directly as human food, mostly in Asia. For every 100 kilograms of food made for humans from crops, 37 kilograms byproducts unsuitable for direct human consumption are generated. Many countries then repurpose these human-inedible crop byproducts as livestock feed for cattle. Raising animals for human consumption accounts for approximately 40% of total agricultural output in industrialized nations. Moreover, the efficiency of meat production varies depending on the specific production system, as well as the type of feed. It may require anywhere from 0.9 and 7.9 kilograms of grain to produce 1 kilogram of beef, between 0.1 to 4.3 kilograms of grain to produce 1 kilogram of pork, and 0 to 3.5 kilograms of grains to produce 1 kilogram of chicken. FAO estimates, however, that about 2 thirds of the pasture area used by livestock is not convertible to crop-land. Major corporations purchase land in different developing nations in Latin America and Asia to support large-scale production of animal feed crops, mainly corn and soybeans. This practice reduces the amount of land available for growing crops that are fit for human consumption in these countries, putting the local population at risk of food security. According to a study conducted in Jiangsu, China, individuals with higher incomes tend to consume more food than those with lower incomes and larger families. Consequently, it is unlikely that those employed in animal feed production in these regions do not consume the animals that eat the crops they produce. The lack of space for growing crops for consumption, coupled with the need to feed larger families, only exacerbates their food insecurity. According to FAO, crop-residues and by-products account for 24% of the total dry matter intake of the global livestock sector. A 2018 study found that, "Currently, 70% of the feedstock used in the Dutch feed industry originates from the food processing industry." Examples of grain-based waste conversion in the United States include feeding livestock the distillers grains (with solubles) remaining from ethanol production. For the marketing year 2009–2010, dried distillers grains used as livestock feed (and residual) in the US was estimated at 25.5 million metric tons. Examples of waste roughages include straw from barley and wheat crops (edible especially to large-ruminant breeding stock when on maintenance diets), and corn stover. Land use Permanent meadows and pastures, grazed or not, occupy 26% of the Earth's ice-free terrestrial surface. Feed crop production uses about one-third of all arable land. More than one-third of U.S. land is used for pasture, making it the largest land-use type in the contiguous United States.In many countries, livestock graze from the land which mostly cannot be used for growing human-edible crops, as seen by the fact that there is three times as much agricultural land as arable land. A 2023 study found that a vegan diet reduced land use by 75%. Free-range animal production, particularly beef production, has also caused tropical deforestation because it requires land for grazing. The livestock sector is also the primary driver of deforestation in the Amazon, with around 80% of all deforested land being used for cattle farming. Additionally, 91% of deforested land since 1970 has been used for cattle farming. Research has argued that a shift to meat-free diets could provide a safe option to feed a growing population without further deforestation, and for different yields scenarios. However, according to FAO, grazing livestock in drylands “removes vegetation, including dry and flammable plants, and mobilizes stored biomass through depositions, which is partly transferred to the soil, improving fertility. Livestock is key to creating and maintaining specific habitats and green infrastructures, providing resources for other species and dispersing seeds”. Water use Globally, the amount of water used for agricultural purposes exceeds any other industrialized purpose of water consumption. About 80% of water resources globally are used for agricultural ecosystems. In developed countries, up to 60% of total water consumption can be used for irrigation; in developing countries, it can be up to 90%, depending on the region's economic status and climate. According to the projected increase in food production by 2050, water consumption would need to increase by 53% to satisfy the world population's demands for meat and agricultural production. Groundwater depletion is a concern in some areas because of sustainability issues (and in some cases, land subsidence and/or saltwater intrusion). A particularly important North American example of depletion is the High Plains (Ogallala) Aquifer, which underlies about 174,000 square miles in parts of eight states of the USA and supplies 30 percent of the groundwater withdrawn for irrigation there. Some irrigated livestock feed production is not hydrologically sustainable in the long run because of aquifer depletion. Rainfed agriculture, which cannot deplete its water source, produces much of the livestock feed in North America. Corn (maize) is of particular interest, accounting for about 91.8% of the grain fed to US livestock and poultry in 2010. About 14 percent of US corn-for-grain land is irrigated, accounting for about 17% of US corn-for-grain production and 13% of US irrigation water use, but only about 40% of US corn grain is fed to US livestock and poultry. Irrigation accounts for about 37% of US withdrawn freshwater use, and groundwater provides about 42% of US irrigation water. Irrigation water applied in the production of livestock feed and forage has been estimated to account for about 9 percent of withdrawn freshwater use in the United States. Almost one-third of the water used in the western United States goes to crops that feed cattle. This is despite the claim that withdrawn surface water and groundwater used for crop irrigation in the US exceeds that for livestock by about a ratio of 60:1. This excessive use of river water distresses ecosystems and communities, and drives scores of species of fish closer to extinction during times of drought. A 2023 study found that a vegan diet reduced water usage by 54%. A study in 2019 focused on linkages between water usage and animal agricultural practices in China. The results of the study showed that water resources were being used primarily for animal agriculture; the highest categories were animal husbandry, agriculture, slaughtering and processing of meat, fisheries, and other foods. Together they accounted for the consumption of over 2400 billion m3 embodied water, roughly equating to 40% of total embodied water by the whole system. This means that more than one-third of China's entire water consumption is being used for food processing purposes, and mostly for animal agricultural practices. Water pollution Water pollution due to animal waste is a common problem in both developed and developing nations. The USA, Canada, India, Greece, Switzerland and several other countries are experiencing major environmental degradation due to water pollution via animal waste. Concerns about such problems are particularly acute in the case of CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations). In the US, a permit for a CAFO requires the implementation of a plan for the management of manure nutrients, contaminants, wastewater, etc., as applicable, to meet requirements under the Clean Water Act. There were about 19,000 CAFOs in the US as of 2008. In fiscal 2014, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded 26 enforcement actions for various violations by CAFOs. A 2023 study found that a vegan diet reduced water pollution by 75%.Effective use of fertilizer is crucial to accelerate the growth of animal feed production, which in turn increases the amount of feed available for livestock. However, excess fertilizer can enter water bodies via runoff after rainfall, resulting in eutrophication. The addition of nitrogen and phosphorus can cause the rapid growth of algae, also known as an algae bloom. The reduction of oxygen and nutrients in the water caused by the growth of algae ultimately leads to the death of other species in the ecosystem. This ecological harm has consequences not only for the native animals in the affected water body but also for the water supply for people. To dispose of animal waste and other pollutants, animal production farms often spray manure (often contaminated with potentially toxic bacteria) onto empty fields, called "spray-fields", via sprinkler systems. The toxins within these spray-fields oftentimes run into creeks, ponds, lakes, and other bodies of water, contaminating bodies of water. This process has also led to the contamination of drinking water reserves, harming the environment and citizens alike. Air pollution Animal agriculture is a cause of harmful particulate matter pollution in the atmosphere. This type of production chain produces byproducts; endotoxin, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and particulate matter (PM), such as dust, all of which can negatively impact human respiratory health. Furthermore, methane and —the primary greenhouse gas emissions associated with meat production—have also been associated with respiratory diseases like asthma, bronchitis, and COPD. A study found that concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) could increase perceived asthma-like symptoms for residents within 500 meters. Concentrated hog feeding operations release air pollutants from confinement buildings, manure holding pits, and land application of waste. Air pollutants from these operations have caused acute physical symptoms, such as respiratory illnesses, wheezing, increased breath rate, and irritation of the eyes and nose. That prolonged exposure to airborne animal particulate, such as swine dust, induces a large influx of inflammatory cells into the airways. Those in close proximity to CAFOs could be exposed to elevated levels of these byproducts, which may lead to poor health and respiratory outcomes. Additionally, since CAFOs tend to be located in primarily rural and low-income communities, low-income people are disproportionately affected by these environmental health consequences. Especially when modified by high temperatures, air pollution can harm all regions, socioeconomic groups, sexes, and age groups. Approximately seven million people die from air pollution exposure every year. Air pollution often exacerbates respiratory disease by permeating into the lung tissue and damaging the lungs. Despite the wealth of environmental consequences listed above, local US governments tend to support the harmful practices of the animal production industry due to its strong economic benefits. Due to this protective legislature, it is extremely difficult for activists to regulate industry practices and diminish environmental impacts. Climate change aspects Energy consumption An important aspect of energy use in livestock production is the energy consumption that the animals contribute. Feed Conversion Ratio is an animal's ability to convert feed into meat. The Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) is calculated by taking the energy, protein, or mass input of the feed divided by the output of meat provided by the animal. A lower FCR corresponds with a smaller requirement of feed per meat output, and therefore the animal contributes less GHG emissions. Chickens and pigs usually have a lower FCR compared to ruminants. Intensification and other changes in the livestock industries influence energy use, emissions, and other environmental effects of meat production. Manure can also have environmental benefits as a renewable energy source, in digester systems yielding biogas for heating and/or electricity generation. Manure biogas operations can be found in Asia, Europe, North America, and elsewhere. System cost is substantial, relative to US energy values, which may be a deterrent to more widespread use. Additional factors, such as odour control and carbon credits, may improve benefit-to-cost ratios. Manure can be mixed with other organic wastes in anaerobic digesters to take advantage of economies of scale. Digested waste is more uniform in consistency than untreated organic wastes, and can have higher proportions of nutrients that are more available to plants, which enhances the utility of digestate as a fertiliser product. This encourages circularity in meat production, which is typically difficult to achieve due to environmental and food safety concerns. Greenhouse gas emissions Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from cattle The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that in 2015 around 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) were due to cattle, but this is uncertain. Another estimate is 12% of global GHG. More recently Climate Trace estimates 4.5% directly from cattle in 2022. Reducing methane emissions quickly helps limit climate change. Gut flora in cattle include methanogens that produce methane as a byproduct of enteric fermentation, which cattle belch out. Additional methane is produced by anaerobic fermentation of manure in manure lagoons and other manure storage structures. Manure can also release nitrous oxide. Over 20 years atmospheric methane has 81 times the global warming potential of the same amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide. As conditions vary a lot the IPCC would like these taken into account when estimating methane emissions, in other words countries where cattle are significant should use Tier 3 methods in their national greenhouse gas inventories. Although well-managed perennial pastures sequester carbon in the soil, life cycle assessments are required to fully assess pastoral dairy farms in all environments. Mitigation options Mitigation options for reducing methane emission from livestock include a change in diet, that is consuming less meat and dairy. A significant reduction in meat consumption will be essential to mitigate climate change, especially as the human population increases by a projected 2.3 billion by the middle of the century. A 2019 report in The Lancet recommended that global meat consumption be halved to mitigate climate change. A study quantified climate change mitigation potentials of 'high-income' nations shifting diets – away from meat-consumption – and restoration of the spared land, finding that if these were combined they could "reduce annual agricultural production emissions of high-income nations' diets by 61%". In addition to reduced consumption, emissions can also be reduced by changes in practice. One study found that shifting compositions of current feeds, production areas, and informed land restoration could enable greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 34–85% annually (612–1,506 megatons CO2 equivalent per year) without increasing costs or changing diets. Producers can reduce ruminant enteric fermentation using genetic selection, immunization, rumen defaunation, competition of methanogenic archaea with acetogens, introduction of methanotrophic bacteria into the rumen, diet modification and grazing management, among others. The principal mitigation strategies identified for reduction of agricultural nitrous oxide emissions are avoiding over-application of nitrogen fertilizers and adopting suitable manure management practices. Mitigation strategies for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the livestock sector include adopting more efficient production practices to reduce agricultural pressure for deforestation (such as in Latin America), reducing fossil fuel consumption, and increasing carbon sequestration in soils. Methane belching from cattle might be reduced by intensification of farming, selective breeding, immunization against the many methanogens, rumen defaunation (killing the bacteria-killing protozoa), diet modification (e.g. seaweed fortification), decreased antibiotic use, and grazing management. Measures that increase state revenues from meat consumption/production could enable the use of these funds for related research and development and "to cushion social hardships among low-income consumers". Meat and livestock are important sectors of the contemporary socioeconomic system, with livestock value chains employing an estimated >1.3 billion people. Sequestering carbon into soil is currently not feasible to cancel out planet-warming emissions caused by the livestock sector. The global livestock annually emits 135 billion metric tons of carbon, way more than can be returned to the soil. Despite this, the idea of sequestering carbon to the soil is currently advocated by livestock industry as well as grassroots groups. Agricultural subsidies for cattle and their feedstock could be stopped. A more controversial suggestion, advocated by George Monbiot in the documentary "Apocalypse Cow", is to stop farming cattle completely, however farmers often have political power so might be able to resist such a big change. Effects on ecosystems Soils Grazing can have positive or negative effects on rangeland health, depending on management quality, and grazing can have different effects on different soils and different plant communities. Grazing can sometimes reduce, and other times increase, biodiversity of grassland ecosystems. In beef production, cattle ranching helps preserve and improve the natural environment by maintaining habitats that are well suited for grazing animals. Lightly grazed grasslands also tend to have higher biodiversity than overgrazed or non-grazed grasslands. Overgrazing can decrease soil quality by constantly depleting it of necessary nutrients. By the end of 2002, the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) found that 16% of the evaluated 7,437 grazing allotments had failed to meet rangeland health standards because of their excessive grazing use. Overgrazing appears to cause soil erosion in many dry regions of the world. However, on US farmland, soil erosion is much less on land used for livestock grazing than on land used for crop production. According to the US Natural Resources Conservation Service, on 95.1% of US pastureland, sheet and rill erosion are within the estimated soil loss tolerance, and on 99.4% of US pastureland, wind erosion is within the estimated soil loss tolerance. Grazing can affect the sequestration of carbon and nitrogen in the soil. This sequestration helps mitigate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions, and in some cases, increases ecosystem productivity by affecting nutrient cycling. A 2017 meta-study of the scientific literature estimated that the total global soil carbon sequestration potential from grazing management ranges from 0.3–0.8 gigatons CO2eq per year, which is equivalent to 4–11% of total global livestock emissions, but that "Expansion or intensification in the grazing sector as an approach to sequestering more carbon would lead to substantial increases in methane, nitrous oxide and land use change-induced CO2 emissions". Project Drawdown estimates the total carbon sequestration potential of improved managed grazing at 13.72–20.92 gigatons CO2eq between 2020–2050, equal to 0.46–0.70 gigatons CO2eq per year. A 2022 peer-reviewed paper estimated the carbon sequestration potential of improved grazing management at a similar level of 0.15–0.70 gigatons CO2eq per year. A 2021 peer-reviewed paper found that sparsely grazed and natural grasslands account for 80% of the total cumulative carbon sink of the world’s grasslands, whereas managed grasslands have been a net greenhouse gas source over the past decade. Another peer-reviewed paper found that if current pastureland was restored to its former state as wild grasslands, shrublands, and sparse savannas without livestock this could store an estimated 15.2–59.9 gigatons additional carbon. A study found that grazing in US virgin grasslands causes the soil to have lower soil organic carbon but higher soil nitrogen content. In contrast, at the High Plains Grasslands Research Station in Wyoming, the soil in the grazed pastures had more organic carbon and nitrogen in the top 30 cm than the soil in non-grazed pastures. Additionally, in the Piedmont region of the US, well-managed grazing of livestock on previously eroded soil resulted in high rates of beneficial carbon and nitrogen sequestration compared to non-grazed grass. In Canada, a review highlighted that the methane and nitrous oxide emitted from manure management comprised 17% of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, while nitrous oxide emitted from soils after application of manure, accounted for 50% of total emissions. Manure provides environmental benefits when properly managed. Deposition of manure on pastures by grazing animals is an effective way to preserve soil fertility. Many nutrients are recycled in crop cultivation by collecting animal manure from barns and concentrated feeding sites, sometimes after composting. For many areas with high livestock density, manure application substantially replaces the application of synthetic fertilizers on surrounding cropland. Manure is also spread on forage-producing land that is grazed, rather than cropped. Also, small-ruminant flocks in North America (and elsewhere) are sometimes used on fields for removal of various crop residues inedible by humans, converting them to food. Small ruminants, such as sheep and goats, can control some invasive or noxious weeds (such as spotted knapweed, tansy ragwort, leafy spurge, yellow starthistle, tall larkspur, etc.) on rangeland. Small ruminants are also useful for vegetation management in forest plantations and for clearing brush on rights-of-way. Other ruminants, like Nublang cattle, are used in Bhutan to help remove a species of bamboo, Yushania microphylla, which tends to crowd out indigenous plant species. These represent alternatives to herbicide use. Biodiversity Meat production is considered one of the prime factors contributing to the current biodiversity loss crisis. The 2019 IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services found that industrial agriculture and overfishing are the primary drivers of the extinction, with the meat and dairy industries having a substantial impact. The global livestock sector contributes a significant share to anthropogenic GHG emissions, but it can also deliver a significant share of the necessary mitigation effort. FAO estimates that the adoption of already available best practices can reduce emissions by up to 30%. Grazing (especially overgrazing) may detrimentally affect certain wildlife species, e.g. by altering cover and food supplies. The growing demand for meat is contributing to significant biodiversity loss as it is a significant driver of deforestation and habitat destruction; species-rich habitats, such as significant portions of the Amazon region, are being converted to agriculture for meat production. World Resource Institute (WRI) website mentions that "30 percent of global forest cover has been cleared, while another 20 percent has been degraded. Most of the rest has been fragmented, leaving only about 15 percent intact." WRI also states that around the world there is "an estimated 1.5 billion hectares (3.7 billion acres) of once-productive croplands and pasturelands – an area nearly the size of Russia – are degraded. Restoring productivity can improve food supplies, water security, and the ability to fight climate change." Around 25% to nearly 40% of global land surface is being used for livestock farming. A 2022 report from World Animal Protection and the Center for Biological Diversity found that, based on 2018 data, some 235 million pounds (or 117,500 tons) of pesticides are used for animal feed purposes annually in the United States alone, in particular glyphosate and atrazine. The report emphasizes that 100,000 pounds of glyphosate has the potential to harm or kill some 93% of species listed under the Endangered Species Act. Atrazine, which is banned in 35 countries, could harm or kill at least 1,000 listed species. Both groups involved in the report advocate for consumers to reduce their consumption of animal products and to transition towards plant-based diets in order to reduce the growth of factory farming and protect endangered species of wildlife. A 2023 study found that a vegan diet reduced wildlife destruction by 66%. In North America, various studies have found that grazing sometimes improves habitat for elk, blacktailed prairie dogs, sage grouse, and mule deer. A survey of refuge managers on 123 National Wildlife Refuges in the US tallied 86 species of wildlife considered positively affected and 82 considered negatively affected by refuge cattle grazing or haying. The kind of grazing system employed (e.g. rest-rotation, deferred grazing, HILF grazing) is often important in achieving grazing benefits for particular wildlife species. The biologists Rodolfo Dirzo, Gerardo Ceballos, and Paul R. Ehrlich write in an opinion piece for Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B that reductions in meat consumption "can translate not only into less heat, but also more space for biodiversity." They insist that it is the "massive planetary monopoly of industrial meat production that needs to be curbed" while respecting the cultural traditions of indigenous peoples, for whom meat is an important source of protein. Aquatic ecosystems Global agricultural practices are known to be one of the main reasons for environmental degradation. Animal agriculture worldwide encompasses 83% of farmland (but only accounts for 18% of the global calorie intake), and the direct consumption of animals as well as over-harvesting them is causing environmental degradation through habitat alteration, biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution, and trophic interactions. These pressures are enough to drive biodiversity loss in any habitat, however freshwater ecosystems are showing to be more sensitive and less protected than others and show a very high effect on biodiversity loss when faced with these impacts. In the Western United States, many stream and riparian habitats have been negatively affected by livestock grazing. This has resulted in increased phosphates, nitrates, decreased dissolved oxygen, increased temperature, turbidity, and eutrophication events, and reduced species diversity. Livestock management options for riparian protection include salt and mineral placement, limiting seasonal access, use of alternative water sources, provision of "hardened" stream crossings, herding, and fencing. In the Eastern United States, a 1997 study found that waste release from pork farms has also been shown to cause large-scale eutrophication of bodies of water, including the Mississippi River and Atlantic Ocean (Palmquist, et al., 1997). In North Carolina, where the study was done, measures have since been taken to reduce the risk of accidental discharges from manure lagoons, and since then there has been evidence of improved environmental management in US hog production. Implementation of manure and wastewater management planning can help assure low risk of problematic discharge into aquatic systems. In Central-Eastern Argentina, a 2017 study found large quantities of metal pollutants (chromium, copper, arsenic and lead) in their freshwater streams, disrupting the aquatic biota. The level of chromium in the freshwater systems exceeded 181.5× the recommended guidelines necessary for survival of aquatic life, while lead was 41.6×, copper was 57.5×, and arsenic exceeded 12.9×. The results showed excess metal accumulation due to agricultural runoff, the use of pesticides, and poor mitigation efforts to stop the excess runoff. Animal agriculture contributes to global warming, which leads to ocean acidification. This occurs because as carbon emissions increase, a chemical reaction occurs between carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and ocean water, causing seawater acidification. The process is also known as the dissolution of inorganic carbon in seawater. This chemical reaction creates an environment that makes it difficult for calcifying organisms to produce protective shells and causes seagrass overpopulation. A reduction in marine life can have an adverse effect on people’s way of life, since limited sea life may reduce food availability and reduce coastal protection against storms. Effects on antibiotic resistance There are concerns about meat production's potential to spread diseases as an environmental impact. Alternatives to meat production and consumption A study shows that novel foods such as cultured meat and dairy, algae, existing microbial foods, and ground-up insects are shown to have the potential to reduce environmental impacts – by over 80%. Various combinations may further reduce the environmental impacts of these alternatives – for example, a study explored solar-energy-driven production of microbial foods from direct air capture. Alternatives are not only relevant for human consumption but also for pet food and other animal feed. Meat reduction and health With care, meat can be substituted in most diets with a wide variety of foods such as fungi or "meat substitutes". However, substantially reducing meat intake could result in nutritional deficiencies if done inadequately, especially for children, adolescents, and pregnant and lactating women "in low-income countries". A review suggests that the reduction of meat in people's diets should be accompanied by an increase in alternative sources of protein and micronutrients to avoid nutritional deficiencies for healthy diets such as iron and zinc. Meats notably also contain vitamin B12, collagen and creatine. This could be achieved with specific types of foods such as iron-rich beans and a diverse variety of protein-rich foods like red lentils, plant-based protein powders and high-protein wraps, and/or dietary supplements. Dairy and fish and/or specific types of other foods and/or supplements contain omega 3, vitamin K2, vitamin D3, iodine, magnesium and calcium, many of which were generally lower in people consuming types of plant-based diets in studies. Nevertheless, observational studies find beneficial effects from plant-based diets (compared to consumption of meat products) on health and mortality rates. Meat-reduction strategies Strategies for implementing meat-reduction among populations include large-scale education and awareness building to promote more sustainable consumption styles. Other types of policy interventions could accelerate these shifts and might include "restrictions or fiscal mechanisms such as meat taxes". In the case of fiscal mechanisms, these could be based on forms of scientific calculation of external costs (externalities currently not reflected in any way in the monetary price) to make the polluter pay, e.g. for the damage done by excess nitrogen. In the case of restrictions, this could be based on limited domestic supply or Personal (Carbon) Allowances (certificates and credits which would reward sustainable behavior). Relevant to such a strategy, estimating the environmental impacts of food products in a standardized way – as has been done with a dataset of more than 57,000 food products in supermarkets – could also be used to inform consumers or in policy, making consumers more aware of the environmental impacts of animal-based products (or requiring them to take such into consideration). Young adults that are faced with new physical or social environments (for example, moving away from home) are also more likely to make dietary changes and reduce their meat intake. Another strategy includes increasing the prices of meat while also reducing the prices of plant-based products, which could show a significant impact on meat-reduction. A reduction in meat portion sizes could potentially be more beneficial than cutting out meat entirely from ones diet, according to a 2022 study. This study revolved around young Dutch adults, and showed that the adults were more reluctant to cut out meat entirely to make the change to plant-based diets due to habitual behaviours. Increasing and improving plant-based alternatives, as well as the education about plant-based alternatives, proved to be one of the most effective ways to combat these behaviours. The lack of education about plant-based alternatives is a road-block for most people - most adults do not know how to properly cook plant-based meals or know the health risks/benefits associated with a vegetarian diet - which is why education among adults is important in meat-reduction strategies. In the Netherlands, a meat tax of 15% to 30% could show a reduction of meat consumption by 8% to 16%. as well as reducing the amount of livestock by buying out farmers. In 2022, the city of Haarlem, Netherlands announced that advertisements for factory-farmed meat will be banned in public places, starting in 2024. A 2022 review concluded that "low and moderate meat consumption levels are compatible with the climate targets and broader sustainable development, even for 10 billion people". In , the European Commission's Scientific Advice Mechanism published a review of all available evidence and accompanying policy recommendations to promote sustainable food consumption and reducing meat intake. They reported that the evidence supports policy interventions on pricing (including "meat taxes, and pricing products according to their environmental impacts, as well as lower taxes on healthy and sustainable alternatives"), availability and visibility, food composition, labelling and the social environment. They also stated: People choose food not just through rational reflection, but also based on many other factors: food availability, habits and routines, emotional and impulsive reactions, and their financial and social situation. So we should consider ways to unburden the consumer and make sustainable, healthy food an easy and affordable choice. By type of animal Cattle The production of cattle has a significant environmental impact, whether measured in terms of methane emissions, land use, consumption of water, discharge of pollutants, or eutrophication of waterways. Significant numbers of dairy, as well as beef cattle, are confined in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), defined as "new and existing operations which stable or confine and feed or maintain for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period more than the number of animals specified" where "[c]rops, vegetation, forage growth, or post-harvest residues are not sustained in the normal growing season over any portion of the lot or facility." They may be designated as small, medium and large. Such designation of cattle CAFOs is according to cattle type (mature dairy cows, veal calves or other) and cattle numbers, but medium CAFOs are so designated only if they meet certain discharge criteria, and small CAFOs are designated only on a case-by-case basis. A CAFO that discharges pollutants is required to obtain a permit, which requires a plan to manage nutrient runoff, manure, chemicals, contaminants, and other wastewater pursuant to the US Clean Water Act. The regulations involving CAFO permitting have been extensively litigated. Commonly, CAFO wastewater and manure nutrients are applied to land at agronomic rates for use by forages or crops, and it is often assumed that various constituents of wastewater and manure, e.g. organic contaminants and pathogens, will be retained, inactivated or degraded on the land with application at such rates; however, additional evidence is needed to test reliability of such assumptions. Concerns raised by opponents of CAFOs have included risks of contaminated water due to feedlot runoff, soil erosion, human and animal exposure to toxic chemicals, development of antibiotic resistant bacteria and an increase in E. coli contamination. While research suggests some of these impacts can be mitigated by developing wastewater treatment systems and planting cover crops in larger setback zones, the Union of Concerned Scientists released a report in 2008 concluding that CAFOs are generally unsustainable and externalize costs. Another concern is manure, which if not well-managed, can lead to adverse environmental consequences. However, manure also is a valuable source of nutrients and organic matter when used as a fertilizer. Manure was used as a fertilizer on about of US cropland in 2006, with manure from cattle accounting for nearly 70% of manure applications to soybeans and about 80% or more of manure applications to corn, wheat, barley, oats and sorghum. Substitution of manure for synthetic fertilizers in crop production can be environmentally significant, as between 43 and 88 megajoules of fossil fuel energy would be used per kg of nitrogen in manufacture of synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers. Grazing by cattle at low intensities can create a favourable environment for native herbs and forbs by mimicking the native grazers who they displaced; in many world regions, though, cattle are reducing biodiversity due to overgrazing. A survey of refuge managers on 123 National Wildlife Refuges in the US tallied 86 species of wildlife considered positively affected and 82 considered negatively affected by refuge cattle grazing or haying. Proper management of pastures, notably managed intensive rotational grazing and grazing at low intensities can lead to less use of fossil fuel energy, increased recapture of carbon dioxide, fewer ammonia emissions into the atmosphere, reduced soil erosion, better air quality, and less water pollution. Pigs See also Agroecology Animal-free agriculture Animal–industrial complex Carbon tax Meat price Cultured meat Economic vegetarianism Factory farming divestment Environmental impact of agriculture Environmental impact of fishing Environmental vegetarianism Food vs. feed Stranded assets in the agriculture and forestry sector Sustainable agriculture Sustainable diet Veganism Notes References Meat Environmental impact of agriculture Meat Climate change and agriculture Cattle Human impact on the environment

Ephemerality

Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, from digital media to types of streams. "There is no single definition of ephemerality". With respect to unique performances, for example, it has been noted that "[e]phemerality is a quality caused by the ebb and flow of the crowd's concentration on the performance and a reflection of the nostalgic character of specific performances". Because different people may value the passage of time differently, ephemerality may be a relative, perceptual concept: "In brief, what is short-lived may not be the object itself, but the attention we afford it". Ephemerality and nature Geographical features An ephemeral stream is that which only exists following precipitation. They are not the same as intermittent or seasonal waterbodies, which exist for longer periods, but not all year round. Ephemeral streams can be difficult to "conceptually defin[e]"; those that are discontinuous, due to altering between aggradation or degradation, have the appearance of continual change. Furthermore, the characteristics of terrain and rainfall are profound in affecting ephemeral streams. Ephemeral waterbodies experience formative change upon the end of a hydroperiod. "Due to lack of continuous hydrology data, the designation of sites as ephemeral or intermittent is necessarily tenuous". Ephemeral streams feature a low degree of hydrological connectivity. Small wetlands are often ephemeral and ephemeral ecosystems are often aquatic; ephemeral wetlands, streams and ponds are a varied and global occurrence. In northeastern United States, ephemeral freshwater systems are abundant and are "critical to the maintenance of forest biodiversity". Hydroperiod, predation, competition and food availability are among the "highly heterogeneous" elements of these features. In tropical biomes, amphibians often reside in ephemeral habitats during dry seasons; opportunistic species utilise similar and ephemeral habitats for food, sleep or mating. Environments akin to ephemeral ponds can be very significant sites of reproduction for amphibians; many other organism make use of ephemeral ponds, pools and streams to breed. Those which do utilise these sites are significantly constrained by time thus they mature, reproduce or disperse before evaporation. Ephemeral pools lasting only days or weeks are exclusively used for breeding by Fletcher's frog regardless of the precarious survival of offspring. Fletcher's frogs use these sites to exploit them, by-passing predation and competition. Tadpoles, however, are hindered by ephemeral streams, as can surrounding systems. Limited and unpredictable food availability means ephemeral waterbodies may be rife with cannibalism. Specific adaptions to ephemeral pools are abundant. Human alterations to the habitats of ephemeral nectar that flying foxes consume has led to urban migration. Climate change significantly affects ephemeral freshwater systems and changes in climates may be precisely identified by the ecosystems of ephemeral pools. Ephemeral habitat patches have repeatedly been assessed as detrimental to metapopulation persistence, although metapopulations are not always negatively affected by ephemeral landscapes. These patches occur as a result of the habitat's turnover. Ephemeral streams have, relative to their perennial counterparts, lower species richness; the streams are "potentially demanding" for inhabitants, although some species do reside. Ephemeral rivers sometimes form waterholes in geological depressions or areas scoured by erosion, and are common in arid regions of Australia. The ephemerality of a river network is a particularly significant element in the hydrological transmission of waterborne diseases, via a direct and indirect presence in the transmission cycle – the nature of the disease and area covered are important factors as well. Diseases like malaria, dengue fever, chikungunya, zika and schistosomiasis are found in ephemeral waterbodies due to their vectors relation and/or reliance. Examples of ephemeral streams are the Luni river in Rajasthan, India, Ugab River in Southern Africa, and a number of small ephemeral watercourses that drain Talak in northern Niger. Other notable ephemeral rivers include the Todd River and Sandover River in Central Australia as well as the Son River, Batha River, and the Trabancos River. Any endorheic basin, or closed basin, that contains a playa (dry lake) at its drainage lowpoint can become an ephemeral lake. Examples include Lake Carnegie in Western Australia, Lake Cowal in New South Wales, Mystic Lake and Rogers Lake in California, and Sevier Lake in Utah. Even the driest and lowest place in North America, Death Valley (more specifically Badwater Basin), became flooded with a short-lived ephemeral lake in the spring of 2005. Costelloe et al. (2009) describes salt lakes found in the arid zone of Australia as profoundly ephemeral. There are also ephemeral islands such as Banua Wuhu and Home Reef. These islands appear when volcanic activity increases their height above sea level, but disappear over several years due to wave erosion. Bassas da India, on the other hand, is a near-sea level island that appears only at low tide. On account of changing demarcation, shores exist as ephemeral. Only a small amount of southern Costa Rica's secondary forests reach maturity, indicating that they may be "generally ephemeral". Deciduous forests, via the seasonal change of leaves, are subject to natural ephemeral changes. Ephemeral pools located in forests are commonly known as "vernal pools", often lasting in a seasonal manner. Landscapes feature ephemeral changes of both natural and man-made origin. Furrows, haystacks and sheaves are ephemeral aspects of a landscape. Biological processes Plants whose life cycle is significantly less than the time of a growing season are deemed ephemeral. Winter annuals, Epilobium and Senecio vulgaris are examples of ephemeral plants. The conditions for ephemeral plants are markedly present in deserts. Animals can be ephemeral, with brine shrimp and the mayfly being examples. The placenta is considered an ephemeral organ present during gestation and pregnancy. Ephemerality is a component of olfaction, breathing, speech and memory, aligned with permanency in the latter. With regards to witnessing an artwork in a museum, limited research indicates that the ephemerality of solely gazing at the artwork results in greater remembrance compared to the resulting memory from taking a photograph. Psychologists have studied why ephemerality may improve memory retention; social psychologist Karl E. Scheibe, conversely, suggested that ephemeral images are only memorable if repeated. The ephemerality of memory leads objects to assume the function of begeting remembrance on account of their greater stability. Ephemerality and society Ephemeral objects Objects which are ephemeral, per one perspective, are those whose compositional material experience chemical or physical changes and are thus permanently altered; this process occurs in a matter of decades. Furthermore, ephemerality can be perceived as defiance of value or durability; common uses of the term indicate a "complicated relationship between temporality and value". Ephemerality is a matter of varying scale and can affect the entire spectrum of literature, from a "finely bound" Bible to a "hastily printed" handbill: "Paper is the medium of permanence and ephemerality at once". Due to them often outlasting their expressed purpose, these objects can be perceived as temporal and ontological oddities; ephemerality has been described as constitutionally liminal. Ephemerality has been seen as indicative of epochs like the Printing Revolution, a greater expansion thereof, the Baroque era, the Victorian era, the Georgian era, modernity, or the "emergent post-print age". The likes of food, clothes, novels, zines, illnesses, breath, regimes, persons, glass, ash and ephemera have been said to illustrate and/or be affected by ephemerality. The new media of the 20th century conditioned perceptions of ephemerality in the 21st century—the advent of the telegraph, camera, and film projector instilled an understanding of ephemeral media. Scholars such as Charles Baudelaire, Georg Simmel, and Walter Benjamin saw the distinctly and intentionally ephemeral practice of fashion as emblematic of modernity. Scholars have described ephemerality as affixed to the present, a present that is ephemeral insofar as it is contingent. Baudelaire, who considered aesthetics to be centered around an interplay of the perennial and the ephemeral, defined the artistic component of modernity by its ephemeral quality. Sarah Kofman posited that art is utilised to abate the "intolerable nature of all ephemeral things". Ephemerality has been relevant to a considerable amount of art; various artists have drawn upon the matter to explore time, memory, politics, emotions, spirituality and death. The Dada, Fluxus, Surreal, and Futurist movements all incorporated ephemerality as have Kuba, Mono-ha, and ukiyo-e. Perceptions of ephemerality vary between cultures, from melancholy and mitigation to embrace. Performance art has frequently been described as ephemeral in nature; with regards to historical performances, the traces: playbills, scrapbooks of newspaper clippings and material artifacts are themselves ephemeral. Literature is ephemeral, including definitions and "all printed texts". Ephemeral was first used colloquially in reference to printed matters. By 1750, an "expansion of all kinds of ephemeral print" had occurred. Hazlitt contended that such ephemerality was the result of widespread aestheticism, thus the creations were subject to being abruptly disregarded due to the cascading "gaze of fashion". Wallace Stevens adjusted his poetic standards due to a "perception of ephemerality" that living in New York City instigated. Art Spiegelman asserted that the format of comics, even during degradation, defies ephemerality, although they have been deemed as such. Women's writing, the likes of diaries and political pamphlets, have amassed a status as long being ephemeral, acknowledged by some affected in the then-present. The ubiquity of digital media has spurred the opinion that print material is comparatively less ephemeral. Elisa New and Anna Akhmatova varyingly opined that poetry is a means of repealing mortal ephemerality, with Akhamatova invoking the aphorism ("skillfulness takes time and life is short"). Ephemeral objects chiefly disappear; when preserved it is often knowingly, having been "rescued from ephemerality", though this practice is still fraught with uncertainty and an object's ephemerality may only be suspended, thus still capable of being transitory. The legacy of ephemerality often manifests as "traces, glimmers, residues, and specks of things". Literature may contest, document or approximate ephemerality although the immateral nature means that there can only be an approximation: "In other words, there must always be an ephemeral beyond the ephemeral". Film has been used to document and combat ephemeral aspects of human development. Digital media's encompassing archival process means that information of varying importance can either be affixed or ephemeral, the former seen as the more generally common outcome. Digital personas, on account of precariousness and whim, can be entirely ephemeral, without any record. Grey literature has prove particularly vulnerable to the internet's ephemerality. Ephemeral acquired its common meaning of short-living in the mid-19th century and has connotations of passing time, fragility, change, disappearance, transformation, and the "philosophically ultimate vision of our own existence". Sarah Kofman questioned if "the beauty that conceals the evanescent nature of all things were itself ephemeral". Rather than melancholic, Sigmund Freud and Walter Pater viewed ephemerality as valuable; awareness and acceptance were to Freud commendable. Ephemerality as a human condition Multiple scholars have viewed ephemerality as intrinsic to the human condition, a phenomenon of physicality. A significant amount of living is ephemeral, considered by some as a component of everyday life: "we might best understand the ephemeral as a routine and constant force... that establishes the presence of the everyday". Ephemeral aspects are evident in communication, of both digitial and physical origin. In the digital realm, online interactions straddle permanency and ephemerality, new posts proliferate such that participants adopt a social norm that "the discourse will pass and be forgotten as the past". Ephemerality is a technologically and socially reliant concept – relative and historically changing. The rudimentary technology of early radio led to the media broadcast being ephemeral and for a substantial amount of time spoken communication was ephemeral. Written communication, historically and presently, has been influenced by ephemerality. The emergence of new digital media and technology develops what we deem ephemeral, to the point that ephemerality is perhaps an "outdated concept". Within the context of modern media dissemination, YouTube videos, viral emails and photos have been identified as ephemeral; as have means of advertising, both physical and digital and the internet collectively. Ephemeral media has been described as that which is brief in duration and/or circulation, adjacent to "the primary texts of contemporary entertainment culture". YouTube has "become a hugely successful aggregator of ephemeral media". In 2009, Ian Christie considered that a substantial amount of modern media, aligned with "rapid proliferati[on]", "may prove much more ephemeral than the flip-book". Wang Tao, Stevens and Rubem Fonseca evoked ephemerality via female characters; Virginia Woolf used the rainbow as a symbol whereas grass occupies a similar role in the Bible; F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Keats elicited melancholic ephemerality in showcases of consumption. Historically, the ephemerality of dreams was utilised in ample East Asian literature as a metaphor for immaterial reality whereas Baroque writings depicted the matter as analogous to life. Scholar of comparative literature Stuart Lasine noted that writers have frequently invoked ephemerality as a negative aspect of the human condition. Ephemerality was profound to Dōgen and was intertwined with sorrow and regret; he used "the imagery of ephemerality" in a waka concerning death. Ephemerality has received increased attention from modern academics, in fields such as: literary studies, art history, book history, digital media studies, performance studies – "and the 'archival turn' in the humanities as a whole". The ephemerality of dance has engendered concern since at least the sixteenth century. Curators of modern and contemporary art have increasingly expressed a similar interest; curator of said genres Jan Schall described them as varyingly ephemeral. Ephemerality present in digital literature and poetry has seen critical analysis. Russell questioned if scholarly conceptions of "the everyday" was deeply intertwined with ephemerality, despite attention to a relation being thus far faint. Social historians and historians of sound have contended their subject's ephemerality by utilising more material forms; creative soundwork has long been subordinate to these forms on account of its ephemerality. The ephemerality of the internet and features that engender ephemerality, such as link rot, has elicited concern in regards to scholarly practice. Ephemerality has been studied in the context of dancing. Witnessing a dance that will be rendered ephemeral is resultingly commodified and of greater desire to prospecting audiences; the same is true of fairs. Muñoz posited that the physical proximation of dance, which coupled with the "shared rhythm", results in a unified yet ephemeral status of those engaged. La Sylphide sees ephemerality as a notable theme. Professor of Dance Mark Franko contended that the artform is approaching a state of being "post-ephemeral" while Diane Taylor viewed the lasting impact a performance may have as negating notions of ephemerality. The documentation of other ephemeral events: protests, installations, exhibitions, are often meager – public events, of varying size, naturally generate ephemeral material. "[Ephemerality] and disposability" have been perceived as components "of an American ethos"; alternative history novels such as The Man in the High Castle and The Plot Against America depict Americana and the nation itself as ephemeral. Ephemerality has been central to Buddhism; Yogācāra teaches a version of ontology that centers around universal ephemerality. Ephemerality has been identified as relevant to queer cultures; José Esteban Muñoz argued that queerness and ephemerality are intertwined, as the former has been expressed in methods which are prone to fade upon the "touch of those who would erase queer possibility". Freud considered culture as the prevailing element exempt from ephemerality. Scheibe saw the likes of live theater, travel abroad, stand-up comedy, and political pundits as engendering greater ephemerality by reducing attention spans and sense of personal history. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels' perception of ephemerality "represents a thoroughly modern experience". Ephemerality was furthermore prominent in the late 20th century, on account of multiple social features; Reiko Tomii described ephemerality as a "defining issue of the 1960s". In the 21st century, ephemerality "continues to signify concerns about the overflow of information, its evanescence, and questions of what or should be preserved". David Harvey defined postmodernism as "a total acceptance of ephemerality". Architecture of an ephemeral nature appears as increasingly commonplace, on account of global and capricious hyper-mobility and mass displacement. Marc Augé observed ephemerality as key to the likes of airports, malls, supermarkets, office blocks, and hotels thus rendering them, per his definition, "non-places". Architecture scholar Anastasia Karandinou argued that the practice's modern relation to ephemerality correlated with digital media's evolution, which she says has enabled new conceptions of space and everyday thinking. Of an indefinite and contentious nature, the definition of a region is ephemeral. See also Ephemeroptera Vanitas On Transience Liminal space References Further reading Christine Buci-Glucksmann, Esthetique De L'ephemere, Galilee, Concepts in aesthetics Metaphysical properties

Human sexuality

Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied with historical contexts over time, it lacks a precise definition. The biological and physical aspects of sexuality largely concern the human reproductive functions, including the human sexual response cycle. Someone's sexual orientation is their pattern of sexual interest in the opposite and/or same sex. Physical and emotional aspects of sexuality include bonds between individuals that are expressed through profound feelings or physical manifestations of love, trust, and care. Social aspects deal with the effects of human society on one's sexuality, while spirituality concerns an individual's spiritual connection with others. Sexuality also affects and is affected by cultural, political, legal, philosophical, moral, ethical, and religious aspects of life. Interest in sexual activity normally increases when an individual reaches puberty. Although no single theory on the cause of sexual orientation has yet gained widespread support, there is considerably more evidence supporting nonsocial causes of sexual orientation than social ones, especially for males. Hypothesized social causes are supported by only weak evidence, distorted by numerous confounding factors. This is further supported by cross-cultural evidence, because cultures that are tolerant of homosexuality do not have significantly higher rates of it. Evolutionary perspectives on human coupling, reproduction and reproduction strategies, and social learning theory provide further views of sexuality. Sociocultural aspects of sexuality include historical developments and religious beliefs. Some cultures have been described as sexually repressive. The study of sexuality also includes human identity within social groups, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and birth control methods. Development Sexual orientation There is considerably more evidence supporting innate causes of sexual orientation than learned ones, especially for males. This evidence includes the cross-cultural correlation of homosexuality and childhood gender nonconformity, moderate genetic influences found in twin studies, evidence for prenatal hormonal effects on brain organization, the fraternal birth order effect, and the finding that in rare cases where infant males were raised as girls due to physical differences or deformity, they nevertheless turned out attracted to females. Hypothesized social causes are supported by only weak evidence, distorted by numerous confounding factors. Cross-cultural evidence also leans more toward non-social causes. Cultures that are very tolerant of homosexuality do not have significantly higher rates of it. Homosexual behavior is relatively common among boys in British single-sex boarding schools, but adult Britons who attended such schools are no more likely to engage in homosexual behavior than those who did not. In an extreme case, the Sambia people ritually require their boys to engage in homosexual behavior during adolescence before they have any access to females, yet most of these boys become heterosexual. It is not fully understood why genes causing homosexuality persist in the gene pool. One hypothesis involves kin selection, suggesting that homosexuals invest heavily enough in their relatives to offset the cost of not reproducing as much directly. This has not been supported by studies in Western cultures, but several studies in Samoa have found some support for this hypothesis. Another hypothesis involves sexually antagonistic genes, which cause homosexuality when expressed in males but increase reproduction when expressed in females. Studies in both Western and non-Western cultures have found support for this hypothesis. Gender differences Psychological theories exist regarding the development and expression of gender differences in human sexuality. A number of them (including neo-analytic theories, sociobiological theories, social learning theory, social role theory, and script theory) agree in predicting that men should be more approving of casual sex (sex happening outside a stable, committed relationship such as marriage) and should also be more promiscuous (have a higher number of sexual partners) than women. These theories are mostly consistent with observed differences in males' and females' attitudes toward casual sex before marriage in the United States. Other aspects of human sexuality, such as sexual satisfaction, incidence of oral sex, and attitudes toward homosexuality and masturbation, show little to no observed difference between males and females. Observed gender differences regarding the number of sexual partners are modest, with males tending to have slightly more than females. Biological and physiological aspects Like other mammals, humans are primarily grouped into either the male or female sex. The biological aspects of humans' sexuality deal with the reproductive system, the sexual response cycle, and the factors that affect these aspects. They also deal with the influence of biological factors on other aspects of sexuality, such as organic and neurological responses, heredity, hormonal issues, gender issues, and sexual dysfunction. Physical anatomy and reproduction Males and females are anatomically similar; this extends to some degree to the development of the reproductive system. As adults, they have different reproductive mechanisms that enable them to perform sexual acts and to reproduce. Men and women react to sexual stimuli in a similar fashion with minor differences. Women have a monthly reproductive cycle, whereas the male sperm production cycle is more continuous. Brain The hypothalamus is the most important part of the brain for sexual functioning. This is a small area at the base of the brain consisting of several groups of nerve cell bodies that receives input from the limbic system. Studies have shown that within lab animals, the destruction of certain areas of the hypothalamus causes the elimination of sexual behavior. The hypothalamus is important because of its relationship to the pituitary gland, which lies beneath it. The pituitary gland secretes hormones that are produced in the hypothalamus and itself. The four important sexual hormones are oxytocin, prolactin, follicle-stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone. Oxytocin, sometimes referred to as the "love hormone", is released in both sexes during sexual intercourse when an orgasm is achieved. Oxytocin has been suggested as critical to the thoughts and behaviors required to maintain close relationships. The hormone is also released in women when they give birth or are breastfeeding. Prolactin and oxytocin are responsible for inducing milk production in women. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is responsible for ovulation in women, and acts by triggering egg maturity; in men it stimulates sperm production. Luteinizing hormone (LH) triggers ovulation, which is the release of a mature egg. Male anatomy and reproductive system Males have both internal and external genitalia that are responsible for procreation and sexual intercourse. Production of spermatozoa (sperm) is also cyclic, but unlike the female ovulation cycle, the sperm production cycle is constantly producing millions of sperm daily. External male anatomy The external male genitalia are the penis and the scrotum. The penis provides a passageway for sperm and urine. The penis consists of nerves, blood vessels, fibrous tissue, and three parallel cylinders of spongy tissue. Other components of the penis include the shaft, glans, root, cavernous bodies, and spongy body. The three cylindrical bodies of spongy tissue, which are filled with blood vessels, run along the length of the shaft. The two bodies that lie side by side in the upper portion of the penis are the corpora cavernosa (cavernous bodies). The third, called the corpus spongiosum (spongy body), is a tube that lies centrally beneath the others and expands at the end to form the tip of the penis (glans). During arousal, these bodies erect the penis by filling with blood. The raised rim at the border of the shaft and glans is called the corona. The urethra connects the urinary bladder to the penis where urine exits the penis through the urethral meatus. The urethra eliminates urine and acts as a channel for semen and sperm to exit the body during sexual intercourse. The root consists of the expanded ends of the cavernous bodies, which fan out to form the crura and attach to the pubic bone and the expanded end of the spongy body. The bulb of the penis is surrounded by the bulbospongiosus muscle, while the corpora cavernosa are surrounded by the ischiocavernosus muscles. These aid urination and ejaculation. The penis has a foreskin that typically covers the glans; this is sometimes removed by circumcision for medical, religious or cultural reasons. In the scrotum, the testicles are held away from the body, one possible reason for this is so sperm can be produced in an environment slightly lower than normal body temperature. The penis has very little muscular tissue, and this exists in its root. The shaft and glans have no muscle fibers. Unlike most other primates, male humans lack a penile bone. Internal male anatomy Male internal reproductive structures are the testicles, the duct system, the prostate and seminal vesicles, and the Cowper's gland. The testicles (male gonads), are where sperm and male hormones are produced. Millions of sperm are produced daily in several hundred seminiferous tubules. Cells called the Leydig cells lie between the tubules; these produce hormones called androgens; these consist of testosterone and inhibin. The testicles are held by the spermatic cord, which is a tubelike structure containing blood vessels, nerves, the vas deferens, and a muscle that helps to raise and lower the testicles in response to temperature changes and sexual arousal, in which the testicles are drawn closer to the body. Sperm gets transported through a four-part duct system. The first part of this system is the epididymis. The testicles converge to form the seminiferous tubules, coiled tubes at the top and back of each testicle. The second part of the duct system is the vas deferens, a muscular tube that begins at the lower end of the epididymis. The vas deferens passes upward along the side of the testicles to become part of the spermatic cord. The expanded end is the ampulla, which stores sperm before ejaculation. The third part of the duct system is the ejaculatory ducts, which are -long paired tubes that pass through the prostate gland, where semen is produced. The prostate gland is a solid, chestnut-shaped organ that surrounds the first part of the urethra, which carries urine and semen. Similar to the female G-spot, the prostate provides sexual stimulation and can lead to orgasm through anal sex. The prostate gland and the seminal vesicles produce seminal fluid that is mixed with sperm to create semen. The prostate gland lies under the bladder and in front of the rectum. It consists of two main zones: the inner zone that produces secretions to keep the lining of the male urethra moist and the outer zone that produces seminal fluids to facilitate the passage of semen. The seminal vesicles secrete fructose for sperm activation and mobilization, prostaglandins to cause uterine contractions that aid movement through the uterus, and bases that help neutralize the acidity of the vagina. The Cowper's glands, or bulbourethral glands, are two pea-sized structures beneath the prostate. Female anatomy and reproductive system External female anatomy The external female genitalia are the vulva. The mons pubis is a soft layer of fatty tissue overlaying the pubic bone. Following puberty, this area grows in size. It has many nerve endings and is sensitive to stimulation. The labia minora and labia majora are collectively known as the labia or "lips". The labia majora are two elongated folds of skin extending from the mons to the perineum. Its outer surface becomes covered with hair after puberty. In between the labia majora are the labia minora, two hairless folds of skin that meet above the clitoris to form the clitoral hood, which is highly sensitive to touch. The labia minora become engorged with blood during sexual stimulation, causing them to swell and turn red. The labia minora are composed of connective tissues that are richly supplied with blood vessels which cause a pinkish appearance. Near the anus, the labia minora merge with the labia majora. In a sexually unstimulated state, the labia minora protects the vaginal and urethral opening by covering them. At the base of the labia minora are the Bartholin's glands, which add a few drops of an alkaline fluid to the vagina via ducts; this fluid helps to counteract the acidity of the outer vagina since sperm cannot live in an acidic environment. The Skene's glands are possibly responsible for secreting fluid during female ejaculation. The clitoris is developed from the same embryonic tissue as the penis; it or its glans alone consists of as many (or more in some cases) nerve endings as the human penis or glans penis, making it extremely sensitive to touch. The clitoral glans, which is a small, elongated erectile structure, has only one known function—sexual sensations. It is the female's most sensitive erogenous zone and the main source of orgasm in women. Thick secretions called smegma collect around the clitoris. The vaginal opening and the urethral opening are only visible when the labia minora are parted. These openings have many nerve endings that make them sensitive to touch. They are surrounded by a ring of sphincter muscles called the bulbocavernosus muscle. Underneath this muscle and on opposite sides of the vaginal opening are the vestibular bulbs, which help the vagina grip the penis by swelling with blood during arousal. Within the vaginal opening is the hymen, a thin membrane that partially covers the opening in many virgins. Rupture of the hymen has been historically considered the loss of one's virginity, though, by modern standards, loss of virginity is considered to be the first sexual intercourse. The hymen can be ruptured by activities other than sexual intercourse. The urethral opening connects to the bladder with the urethra; it expels urine from the bladder. This is located below the clitoris and above the vaginal opening. The breasts are the subcutaneous tissues on the front thorax of the female body. Though they are not technically part of a woman's sexual anatomy, they do have roles in both sexual pleasure and reproduction. Breasts are modified sweat glands made up of fibrous tissues and fat that provide support and contain nerves, blood vessels, and lymphatic vessels. Their main purpose is to provide milk to a developing infant. Breasts develop during puberty in response to an increase in estrogen. Each adult breast consists of 15 to 20 milk-producing mammary glands, irregularly shaped lobes that include alveolar glands and a lactiferous duct leading to the nipple. The lobes are separated by dense connective tissues that support the glands and attach them to the tissues on the underlying pectoral muscles. Other connective tissue, which forms dense strands called suspensory ligaments, extends inward from the skin of the breast to the pectoral tissue to support the weight of the breast. Heredity and the quantity of fatty tissue determine the size of the breasts. Men typically find female breasts attractive and this holds true for a variety of cultures. In women, stimulation of the nipple seems to result in activation of the brain's genital sensory cortex (the same region of the brain activated by stimulation of the clitoris, vagina, and cervix). This may be why many women find nipple stimulation arousing and why some women are able to orgasm by nipple stimulation alone. Internal female anatomy The female internal reproductive organs are the vagina, uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. The vagina is a sheath-like canal that extends from the vulva to the cervix. It receives the penis during intercourse and serves as a depository for sperm. The vagina is also the birth canal; it can expand to during labor and delivery. The vagina is located between the bladder and the rectum. The vagina is normally collapsed, but during sexual arousal it opens, lengthens, and produces lubrication to allow the insertion of the penis. The vagina has three layered walls; it is a self-cleaning organ with natural bacteria that suppress the production of yeast. The G-spot, named after the Ernst Gräfenberg who first reported it in 1950, may be located in the front wall of the vagina and may cause orgasms. This area may vary in size and location between women; in some it may be absent. Various researchers dispute its structure or existence or regard it as an extension of the clitoris. The uterus or womb is a hollow, muscular organ where a fertilized egg (ovum) will implant itself and grow into a fetus. The uterus lies in the pelvic cavity between the bladder and the bowel, and above the vagina. It is usually positioned in a 90-degree angle tilting forward, although in about 20% of women it tilts backwards. The uterus has three layers; the innermost layer is the endometrium, where the egg is implanted. During ovulation, this thickens for implantation. If implantation does not occur, it is sloughed off during menstruation. The cervix is the narrow end of the uterus. The broad part of the uterus is the fundus. During ovulation, the ovum travels down the fallopian tubes to the uterus. These extend about from both sides of the uterus. Finger-like projections at the ends of the tubes brush the ovaries and receive the ovum once it is released. The ovum then travels for three to four days to the uterus. After sexual intercourse, sperm swim up this funnel from the uterus. The lining of the tube and its secretions sustain the egg and the sperm, encouraging fertilization and nourishing the ovum until it reaches the uterus. If the ovum divides after fertilization, identical twins are produced. If separate eggs are fertilized by different sperm, the mother gives birth to non-identical or fraternal twins. The ovaries (female gonads), develop from the same embryonic tissue as the testicles. The ovaries are suspended by ligaments and are the source where ova are stored and developed before ovulation. The ovaries also produce female hormones progesterone and estrogen. Within the ovaries, each ovum is surrounded by other cells and contained within a capsule called a primary follicle. At puberty, one or more of these follicles are stimulated to mature on a monthly basis. Once matured, these are called Graafian follicles. The female reproductive system does not produce the ova; about 60,000 ova are present at birth, only 400 of which will mature during the woman's lifetime. Ovulation is based on a monthly cycle; the 14th day is the most fertile. On days one to four, menstruation and production of estrogen and progesterone decreases, and the endometrium starts thinning. The endometrium is sloughed off for the next three to six days. Once menstruation ends, the cycle begins again with an FSH surge from the pituitary gland. Days five to thirteen are known as the pre-ovulatory stage. During this stage, the pituitary gland secretes follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). A negative feedback loop is enacted when estrogen is secreted to inhibit the release of FSH. Estrogen thickens the endometrium of the uterus. A surge of luteinizing hormone (LH) triggers ovulation. On day 14, the LH surge causes a Graafian follicle to surface the ovary. The follicle ruptures and the ripe ovum is expelled into the abdominal cavity. The fallopian tubes pick up the ovum with the fimbria. The cervical mucus changes to aid the movement of sperm. On days 15 to 28—the post-ovulatory stage, the Graafian follicle—now called the corpus luteum—secretes estrogen. Production of progesterone increases, inhibiting LH release. The endometrium thickens to prepare for implantation, and the ovum travels down the fallopian tubes to the uterus. If the ovum is not fertilized and does not implant, menstruation begins. Sexual response cycle The sexual response cycle is a model that describes the physiological responses that occur during sexual activity. This model was created by William Masters and Virginia Johnson. According to Masters and Johnson, the human sexual response cycle consists of four phases; excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution, also called the EPOR model. During the excitement phase of the EPOR model, one attains the intrinsic motivation to have sex. The plateau phase is the precursor to orgasm, which may be mostly biological for men and mostly psychological for women. Orgasm is the release of tension, and the resolution period is the unaroused state before the cycle begins again. The male sexual response cycle starts in the excitement phase; two centers in the spine are responsible for erections. Vasoconstriction in the penis begins, the heart rate increases, the scrotum thickens, the spermatic cord shortens, and the testicles become engorged with blood. In the plateau phase, the penis increases in diameter, the testicles become more engorged, and the Cowper's glands secrete pre-seminal fluid. The orgasm phase, during which rhythmic contractions occur every 0.8 seconds, consists of two phases; the emission phase, in which contractions of the vas deferens, prostate, and seminal vesicles encourage ejaculation, which is the second phase of orgasm. Ejaculation is called the expulsion phase; it cannot be reached without an orgasm. In the resolution phase, the male is now in an unaroused state consisting of a refractory (rest) period before the cycle can begin. This rest period may increase with age. The female sexual response begins with the excitement phase, which can last from several minutes to several hours. Characteristics of this phase include increased heart and respiratory rate, and an elevation of blood pressure. Flushed skin or blotches of redness may occur on the chest and back; breasts increase slightly in size and nipples may become hardened and erect. The onset of vasocongestion results in swelling of the clitoris, labia minora, and vagina. The muscle that surrounds the vaginal opening tightens and the uterus elevates and grows in size. The vaginal walls begin to produce a lubricating liquid. The second phase, called the plateau phase, is characterized primarily by the intensification of the changes begun during the excitement phase. The plateau phase extends to the brink of orgasm, which initiates the resolution stage; the reversal of the changes begun during the excitement phase. During the orgasm stage the heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and breathing rates peak. The pelvic muscle near the vagina, the anal sphincter, and the uterus contract. Muscle contractions in the vaginal area create a high level of pleasure, though all orgasms are centered in the clitoris. Sexual dysfunction and sexual problems Sexual disorders, according to the DSM-IV-TR, are disturbances in sexual desire and psycho-physiological changes that characterize the sexual response cycle and cause marked distress and interpersonal difficulty. Sexual dysfunctions are a result of physical or psychological disorders. Physical causes include hormonal imbalance, diabetes, heart disease and more; psychological causes include but are not limited to stress, anxiety, and depression. Sexual dysfunction affects both men and women. There are four major categories of sexual problems in women: desire disorders, arousal disorders, orgasmic disorders, and sexual pain disorders. Sexual desire disorder occurs when an individual lacks sexual desire because of hormonal changes, depression, and pregnancy. Arousal disorder is a female sexual dysfunction leading to a lack of vaginal lubrication. In addition, blood flow problems may affect arousal disorder. Lack of orgasm, also known as anorgasmia, is another sexual dysfunction in women. The last sexual disorder is painful intercourse, which can be caused by factors including pelvic mass, scar tissue, and sexually transmitted infections. Three common sexual disorders for men are sexual desire disorder, ejaculation disorder, and erectile dysfunction. Lack of sexual desire in men may be caused by physical issues like low testosterone or psychological factors such as anxiety and depression. Ejaculation disorders include retrograde ejaculation, retarded ejaculation, and premature ejaculation. Erectile dysfunction is an inability to initiate and maintain an erection during intercourse. Psychological aspects As one form of behavior, the psychological aspects of sexual expression have been studied in the context of emotional involvement, gender identity, intersubjective intimacy, and Darwinian reproductive efficacy. Sexuality in humans generates profound emotional and psychological responses. Some theorists identify sexuality as the central source of human personality. Psychological studies of sexuality focus on psychological influences that affect sexual behavior and experiences. Early psychological analyses were carried out by Sigmund Freud, who believed in a psychoanalytic approach. He also proposed the concepts of psychosexual development and the Oedipus complex, among other theories. Gender identity is a person's sense of their own gender, whether male, female, or non-binary. Gender identity can correlate with assigned sex at birth or can differ from it. All societies have a set of gender categories that can serve as the basis of the formation of a person's social identity in relation to other members of society. Sexual behavior and intimate relationships are strongly influenced by a person's sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex, same sex, or both sexes. Heterosexual people are romantically/sexually attracted to the members of the opposite sex, gay and lesbian people are romantically/sexually attracted to people of the same sex, and those who are bisexual are romantically/sexually attracted to both sexes. The idea that homosexuality results from reversed gender roles is reinforced by the media's portrayal of gay men as feminine and lesbians as masculine. However, a person's conformity or non-conformity to gender stereotypes does not always predict sexual orientation. Society believes that if a man is masculine, he is heterosexual, and if a man is feminine, he is homosexual. There is no strong evidence that a homosexual or bisexual orientation must be associated with atypical gender roles. By the early 21st century, homosexuality was no longer considered to be a pathology. Theories have linked many factors, including genetic, anatomical, birth order, and hormones in the prenatal environment, to homosexuality. Other than the need to procreate, there are many other reasons people have sex. According to one study conducted on college students (Meston & Buss, 2007), the four main reasons for sexual activities are physical attraction, as a means to an end, to increase emotional connection, and to alleviate insecurity. Sexuality and age Child sexuality Until Sigmund Freud published his Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality in 1905, children were often regarded as asexual, having no sexuality until later development. Sigmund Freud was one of the first researchers to take child sexuality seriously. His ideas, such as psychosexual development and the Oedipus conflict, have been much debated but acknowledging the existence of child sexuality was an important development. Freud gave sexual drives an importance and centrality in human life, actions, and behavior; he said sexual drives exist and can be discerned in children from birth. He explains this in his theory of infantile sexuality, and says sexual energy (libido) is the most important motivating force in adult life. Freud wrote about the importance of interpersonal relationships to one's sexual and emotional development. From birth, the mother's connection to the infant affects the infant's later capacity for pleasure and attachment. Freud described two currents of emotional life; an affectionate current, including our bonds with the important people in our lives; and a sensual current, including our wish to gratify sexual impulses. During adolescence, a young person tries to integrate these two emotional currents. Alfred Kinsey also examined child sexuality in his Kinsey Reports. Children are naturally curious about their bodies and sexual functions. For example, they wonder where babies come from, they notice the differences between males and females, and many engage in genital play, which is often mistaken for masturbation. Child sex play, also known as playing doctor, includes exhibiting or inspecting the genitals. Many children take part in some sex play, typically with siblings or friends. Sex play with others usually decreases as children grow, but they may later possess romantic interest in their peers. Curiosity levels remain high during these years, but the main surge in sexual interest occurs in adolescence. Sexuality in late adulthood Adult sexuality originates in childhood. However, like many other human capacities, sexuality is not fixed, but matures and develops. A common stereotype associated with old people is that they tend to lose interest and the ability to engage in sexual acts once they reach late adulthood. This misconception is reinforced by Western popular culture, which often ridicules older adults who try to engage in sexual activities. Age does not necessarily change the need or desire to be sexually expressive or active. A couple in a long-term relationship may find that the frequency of their sexual activity decreases over time and the type of sexual expression may change, but feelings of intimacy may continue to grow and develop over time. Sociocultural aspects Human sexuality can be understood as part of the social life of humans, which is governed by implied rules of behavior and the status quo. This narrows the view to groups within a society. The socio-cultural context of society, including the effects of politics and the mass media, influences and forms social norms. Throughout history, social norms have been changing and continue to change as a result of movements such as the sexual revolution and the rise of feminism. Sex education The age and manner in which children are informed of issues of sexuality is a matter of sex education. The school systems in almost all developed countries have some form of sex education, but the nature of the issues covered varies widely. In some countries, such as Australia and much of Europe, age-appropriate sex education often begins in pre-school, whereas other countries leave sex education to the pre-teenage and teenage years. Sex education covers a range of topics, including the physical, mental, and social aspects of sexual behavior. Communities have differing opinions on the appropriate age for children to learn about sexuality. According to Time magazine and CNN, 74% of teenagers in the United States reported that their major sources of sexual information were their peers and the media, compared to 10% who named their parents or a sex education course. In the United States, some sex education programs encourage abstinence-only, the choice to restrain oneself from sexual activity. In contrast, comprehensive sex education aims to encourage students to take charge of their own sexuality and know how to have safe, healthy, and pleasurable sex if and when they choose to do so. Proponents for an abstinence-only education believe that teaching a comprehensive curriculum would encourage teenagers to have sex, while proponents for comprehensive sex education argue that many teenagers will have sex regardless and should be equipped with knowledge of how to have sex responsibly. According to data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, many teens who intend to be abstinent fail to do so, and when these teenagers do have sex, many do not use safe sex practices such as contraceptives. Sexuality in history Sexuality has been an important, vital part of human existence throughout history. All civilizations have managed sexuality through sexual standards, representations, and behavior. Before the rise of agriculture, groups of hunter-gatherers and nomadic groups inhabited the world. These groups had less restrictive sexual standards that emphasized sexual pleasure and enjoyment, but with definite rules and constraints. Some underlying continuities or key regulatory standards contended with the tension between recognition of pleasure, interest, and the need to procreate for the sake of social order and economic survival. Hunter-gatherers also placed high value on certain types of sexual symbolism. A common tension in hunter-gatherer societies is expressed in their art, which emphasized male sexuality and prowess, but also blurred gender lines in sexual matters. One example of these male-dominated portrayals is the Egyptian creation myth, in which the sun god Atum masturbates in the water, creating the Nile River. In Sumerian myth, the gods' semen filled the Tigris. Once agricultural societies emerged, the sexual framework shifted in ways that persisted for many millennia in much of Asia, Africa, Europe, and parts of the Americas. One common characteristic new to these societies was the collective supervision of sexual behavior due to urbanization and the growth of population and population density. Children would commonly witness parents having sex because many families shared the same sleeping quarters. Due to land ownership, determination of children's paternity became important, and society and family life became patriarchal. These changes in sexual ideology were used to control female sexuality and to differentiate standards by gender. With these ideologies, sexual possessiveness and increases in jealousy emerged. While retaining the precedents of earlier civilizations, each classical civilization established a somewhat distinctive approach to gender, artistic expression of sexual beauty, and to behaviors such as homosexuality. Some of these distinctions are portrayed in sex manuals, which were also common among civilizations in China, Greece, Rome, Persia, and India; each has its own sexual history. Before the High Middle Ages, homosexual acts appear to have been ignored or tolerated by the Christian church. During the 12th century, hostility toward homosexuality began to spread throughout religious and secular institutions. By the end of the 19th century, it was viewed as a pathology. During the beginning of the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, many changes in sexual standards occurred. New artificial birth control devices such as the condom and diaphragm were introduced. Doctors started claiming a new role in sexual matters, urging that their advice was crucial to sexual morality and health. New pornographic industries grew, and Japan adopted its first laws against homosexuality. In Western societies, the definition of homosexuality was constantly changing; Western influence on other cultures became more prevalent. New contacts created serious issues around sexuality and sexual traditions. There were also major shifts in sexual behavior. During this period, puberty began occurring at younger ages, so a new focus on adolescence as a time of sexual confusion and danger emerged. There was a new focus on the purpose of marriage; it was increasing regarded as being for love rather than only for economics and reproduction. Havelock Ellis and Sigmund Freud adopted more accepting stances toward homosexuality; Ellis said homosexuality was inborn and therefore not immoral, not a disease, and that many homosexuals made significant contributions to society. Freud wrote that all human beings as capable of becoming either heterosexual or homosexual; neither orientation was assumed to be innate. According to Freud, a person's orientation depended on the resolution of the Oedipus complex. He said male homosexuality resulted when a young boy had an authoritarian, rejecting mother and turned to his father for love and affection, and later to men in general. He said female homosexuality developed when a girl loved her mother and identified with her father and became fixated at that stage. Alfred Kinsey initiated the modern era of sex research. He collected data from questionnaires given to his students at Indiana University, but then switched to personal interviews about sexual behaviors. Kinsey and his colleagues sampled 5,300 men and 5,940 women. He found that most people masturbated, that many engaged in oral sex, that women are capable of having multiple orgasms, and that many men had had some type of homosexual experience in their lifetimes. Before William Masters, a physician, and Virginia Johnson, a behavioral scientist, the study of anatomy and physiological studies of sex was still limited to experiments with laboratory animals. Masters and Johnson started to directly observe and record the physical responses in humans that are engaged in sexual activity under laboratory settings. They observed 10,000 episodes of sexual acts between 312 men and 382 women. This led to methods of treating clinical problems and abnormalities. Masters and Johnson opened the first sex therapy clinic in 1965. In 1970, they described their therapeutic techniques in their book, Human Sexual Inadequacy. The first edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association, classified homosexuality as a mental illness, and more specifically, a "sociopathic personality disturbance". This definition remained the professional understanding of homosexuality until 1973 when the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from their list of diagnoses for mental disorders. Through her research of heterosexual and homosexual men, Evelyn Hooker revealed that there was no correlation between homosexuality and psychological maladjustment, and her findings played a pivotal role in shifting the scientific community away from the perspective that homosexuality was something that needed to be treated or cured. Sexuality, colonialism, and race European conquerors/colonists discovered that many non-European cultures had expressions of sexuality and gender which differed from European notion of heterosexual cisnormativity. These would include transgender practices. In 1516, Vasco Núñez de Balboa, a Spanish explorer, discovered indigenous people in Central America, among whom several indigenous men who dressed like women and had sex with each other, resulting in him feeding forty of these men to his dogs for having non-gender conforming behaviors and sexuality. In North America and the United States, Europeans have used claims of sexual immorality to justify discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities. Scholars also study the ways in which colonialism has affected sexuality today and argue that due to racism and slavery it has been dramatically changed from the way it had previously been understood. In her book, Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power: Gender, Race, and Morality in Colonial Asia, Laura Stoler investigates how the Dutch colonists used sexual control and gender-specific sexual sanctions to distinguish between the rulers from the ruled and enforce colonial domination onto the people of Indonesia. In America, there are 155 native tribes that are recorded to have embraced two-spirit people within their tribes, but the total number of tribes could be greater than what is documented. Two-spirit people were and still are members of communities who do not fall under Western gender categories of male and female, but rather under a "third gender" category. This system of gender contradicts both the gender binary and the assertion that sex and gender are the same. Instead of conforming to traditional roles of men and women, two-spirit fill a special niche in their communities. For example, two-spirited people are commonly revered for possessing special wisdom and spiritual powers. Two-spirited people also can take part in marriages, either monogamous and polygamous ones. Historically, European colonizers perceived relationships involving two-spirited people as homosexuality, and therefore believed in the moral inferiority of native people. In reaction, colonizers began to impose their own religious and social norms on indigenous communities, diminishing the role of two-spirit people in native cultures. Within reservations, the Religious Crime Code of the 1880s explicitly aimed to "aggressively attack Native sexual and marriage practices". The goal of colonizers was for native peoples to assimilate into Euro-American ideals of family, sexuality, gender expression, and more. The link between constructed sexual meanings and racial ideologies has been studied. According to Joane Nagel, sexual meanings are constructed to maintain racial-ethnic-national boundaries by the denigration of "others" and regulation of sexual behavior within the group. She writes, "both adherence to and deviation from such approved behaviors, define and reinforce racial, ethnic, and nationalist regimes". In the United States people of color face the effects of colonialism in different ways with stereotypes such as the Mammy and Jezebel for Black women; lotus blossom and dragon lady for Asian women; and the spicy Latina. These stereotypes contrast with standards of sexual conservatism, creating a dichotomy that dehumanizes and demonizes the stereotyped groups. An example of a stereotype that lies at the intersection of racism, classism, and misogyny is the archetype of the welfare queen. Cathy Cohen describes how the welfare queen stereotype demonizes poor black single mothers for deviating from conventions surrounding family structure. Reproductive and sexual rights Reproductive and sexual rights encompass the concept of applying human rights to issues related to reproduction and sexuality. This concept is a modern one, and remains controversial since it deals, directly and indirectly, with issues such as contraception, LGBT rights, abortion, sex education, freedom to choose a partner, freedom to decide whether to be sexually active or not, right to bodily integrity, freedom to decide whether or not, and when, to have children. These are all global issues that exist in all cultures to some extent, but manifest differently depending on the specific contexts. According to the Swedish government, "sexual rights include the right of all people to decide over their own bodies and sexuality" and "reproductive rights comprise the right of individuals to decide on the number of children they have and the intervals at which they are born." Such rights are not accepted in all cultures, with practices such criminalization of consensual sexual activities (such as those related to homosexual acts and sexual acts outside marriage), acceptance of forced marriage and child marriage, failure to criminalize all non-consensual sexual encounters (such as marital rape), female genital mutilation, or restricted availability of contraception, being common around the world. Stigma of contraceptives in the U.S. In 1915, Emma Goldman and Margaret Sanger, leaders of the birth control movement, began to spread information regarding contraception in opposition to the laws, such as the Comstock Law, that demonized it. One of their main purposes was to assert that the birth control movement was about empowering women with personal reproductive and economic freedom for those who could not afford to parent a child or simply did not want one. Goldman and Sanger saw it necessary to educate people as contraceptives were quickly being stigmatized as a population control tactic due to being a policy limiting births, disregarding that this limitation did not target ecological, political, or large economic conditions. This stigma targeted lower-class women who had the most need of access to contraception. Birth control finally began to lose stigma in 1936 when the ruling of U.S. v. One Package declared that prescribing contraception to save a person's life or well-being was no longer illegal under the Comstock Law. Although opinions varied on when birth control should be available to women, by 1938, there were 347 birth control clinics in the United States but advertising their services remained illegal. The stigma continued to lose credibility as First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt publicly showed her support for birth control through the four terms her husband served (1933–1945). However, it was not until 1966 that the Federal Government began to fund family planning and subsidized birth control services for lower-class women and families at the order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. This funding continued after 1970 under the Family Planning Services and Population Research Act. Today, all Health Insurance Marketplace plans are required to cover all forms of contraception, including sterilization procedures, as a result of The Affordable Care Act signed by President Barack Obama in 2010. Stigma and activism during the AIDS epidemic In 1981, doctors diagnosed the first reported cases of AIDS in America. The disease disproportionately affected and continues to affect gay and bisexual men, especially black and Latino men. The Reagan administration is criticized for its apathy towards the AIDS epidemic, and audio recordings reveal that Ronald Reagan's press secretary Larry Speakes viewed the epidemic as a joke, mocking AIDS by calling it the "gay plague". The epidemic also carried stigma coming from religious influences. For example, Cardinal Krol voiced that AIDS was "an act of vengeance against the sin of homosexuality", which clarifies the specific meaning behind the pope's mention of "the moral source of AIDS." Activism during the AIDS crisis focused on promoting safe sex practices to raise awareness that the disease could be prevented. The "Safe Sex is Hot Sex" campaign, for example, aimed to promote the use of condoms. Campaigns by the U.S. government, however, diverged from advocacy of safe sex. In 1987, Congress even denied federal funding from awareness campaigns that "[promoted] or [encouraged], directly or indirectly, homosexual activities". Instead, campaigns by the government primarily relied on scare tactics in order to instill fear in men who had sex with other men. In addition to prevention campaigns, activists also sought to counteract narratives that led to the "social death" for people living with AIDS. Gay men from San Francisco and New York City created the Denver Principles, a foundational document that demanded the rights, agency, and dignity of people living with AIDS. In his article "Emergence of Gay Identity and Gay Social Movements in Developing Countries", Matthew Roberts discusses how international AIDS prevention campaigns created opportunities for gay men to interact with other openly gay men from other countries. These interactions allowed western gay "culture" to be introduced to gay men in countries where homosexuality was not an important identifier. Thus, group organizers self-identified as gay more and more, creating the basis for further development of gay consciousness in different countries. Sexual behavior General activities and health In humans, sexual intercourse has been shown to have health benefits, such as an improved sense of smell, reduction in stress and blood pressure, increased immunity, and decreased risk of prostate cancer. Sexual intimacy and orgasms increase levels of oxytocin, which helps people bond and build trust. Some of these benefits, such as stress reduction, also apply to masturbation, as distinct from sexual intercourse with another person. Masturbation is also a healthy element of sexual development in itself. A long-term study of 3,500 people between ages 30 and 101 by clinical neuropsychologist David Weeks, MD, head of old-age psychology at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital in Scotland, said he found that "sex helps you look between four and seven years younger", according to impartial ratings of the subjects' photographs. Exclusive causation, however, is unclear, and the benefits may be indirectly related to sex and directly related to significant reductions in stress, greater contentment, and better sleep that sex promotes. Sexual intercourse can also be a disease vector. There are 19 million new cases of sexually transmitted infections (STI) every year in the U.S., and worldwide there are over 340 million sexually transmitted infections each year. More than half of these occur in adolescents and young adults aged 15–24 years. At least one in four US teenage girls has a sexually transmitted infection. In the U.S., about 30% of 15- to 17-year-olds have had sexual intercourse, but only about 80% of 15- to 19-year-olds report using condoms for their first sexual intercourse. In one study, more than 75% of young women age 18–25 years felt they were at low risk of acquiring an STI. Creating a relationship People both consciously and subconsciously seek to attract others with whom they can form deep relationships. This may be for companionship, procreation, or an intimate relationship. This involves interactive processes whereby people find and attract potential partners and maintain a relationship. These processes, which involve attracting one or more partners and maintaining sexual interest, can include: Flirting, the use of indirect behavior to convey romantic or sexual interest. It can involve verbal or non-verbal cues, such as sexual comments, body language, gazing, or close to another, but non-verbal flirting is more common. Flirting is a socially accepted way of attracting someone. There are different types of flirting, and most people usually have one way of flirting that makes them most comfortable. When flirting, people can be polite, playful, physical, etc. Sometimes it is difficult to know whether or not the person is interested. Non-verbal flirting allows people to test another's interest without fear of direct rejection. Flirting styles vary according to culture. Different cultures have different social etiquette. For example, length of eye contact, or how closely one stands by someone. Seduction, the process whereby one person deliberately entices another to engage in sexual behavior. This behavior is one that the person you are seducing would not usually do, unless sexually aroused. Seduction can be seen as both a positive and a negative. Since the word seduction has a Latin meaning, which is "to lead astray" it can be viewed negatively. Sexual attraction Sexual attraction is attraction on the basis of sexual desire or the quality of arousing such interest. Sexual attractiveness or sex appeal is an individual's ability to attract the sexual or erotic interest of another person and is a factor in sexual selection or mate choice. The attraction can be to the physical or other qualities or traits of a person, or to such qualities in the context in which they appear. The attraction may be to a person's aesthetics or movements or to their voice or smell, besides other factors. The attraction may be enhanced by a person's adornments, clothing, perfume, hair length and style, and anything else which can attract the sexual interest of another person. It can also be influenced by individual genetic, psychological, or cultural factors, or to other, more amorphous qualities of the person. Sexual attraction is also a response to another person that depends on a combination of the person possessing the traits and also on the criteria of the person who is attracted. Though attempts have been made to devise objective criteria of sexual attractiveness and measure it as one of several bodily forms of capital asset (see erotic capital), a person's sexual attractiveness is to a large extent a subjective measure dependent on another person's interest, perception, and sexual orientation. For example, a gay or lesbian person would typically find a person of the same sex to be more attractive than one of the other sex. A bisexual person would find either sex to be attractive. In addition, there are asexual people, who usually do not experience sexual attraction for either sex, though they may have romantic attraction (homoromantic, biromantic or heteroromantic). Interpersonal attraction includes factors such as physical or psychological similarity, familiarity or possessing a preponderance of common or familiar features, similarity, complementarity, reciprocal liking, and reinforcement. The ability of a person's physical and other qualities to create a sexual interest in others is the basis of their use in advertising, music video, pornography, film, and other visual media, as well as in modeling, sex work and other occupations. Legal issues Globally, laws regulate human sexuality in several ways, including criminalizing particular sexual behaviors, granting individuals the privacy or autonomy to make their own sexual decisions, protecting individuals with regard to equality and non-discrimination, recognizing and protecting other individual rights, as well as legislating matters regarding marriage and the family, and creating laws protecting individuals from violence, harassment, and persecution. In the United States, there are two fundamentally different approaches, applied in different states, regarding the way the law is used to attempt to govern a person's sexuality. The "black letter" approach to law focuses on the study of pre-existing legal precedent and attempts to offer a clear framework of rules within which lawyers and others can work. In contrast, the socio-legal approach focuses more broadly on the relationship between the law and society, and offers a more contextualized view of the relationship between legal and social change. Issues regarding human sexuality and human sexual orientation came to the forefront in Western law in the latter half of the twentieth century, as part of the gay liberation movement's encouragement of LGBT individuals to "come out of the closet" and engage with the legal system, primarily through courts. Therefore, many issues regarding human sexuality and the law are found in the opinions of the courts. Sexual privacy While the issue of privacy has been useful to sexual rights claims, some scholars have criticized its usefulness, saying that this perspective is too narrow and restrictive. The law is often slow to intervene in certain forms of coercive behavior that can limit individuals' control over their own sexuality (such as female genital mutilation, forced marriages or lack of access to reproductive health care). Many of these injustices are often perpetuated wholly or in part by private individuals rather than state agents, and as a result, there is an ongoing debate about the extent of state responsibility to prevent harmful practices and to investigate such practices when they do occur. State intervention with regards to sexuality also occurs, and is considered acceptable by some, in certain instances (e.g. same-sex sexual activity or prostitution). The legal systems surrounding prostitution are a topic of debate. Proponents for criminalization argue that sex work is an immoral practice that should not be tolerated, while proponents for decriminalization point out how criminalization does more harm than good. Within the feminist movement, there is also a debate over whether sex work is inherently objectifying and exploitative or whether sex workers have the agency to sell sex as a service. When sex work is criminalized, sex workers do not have support from law enforcement when they fall victim to violence. In a 2003 survey of street-based sex workers in NYC, 80% said they had been threatened with or experienced violence, and many said the police were no help. 27% said they had experienced violence from police officers themselves. Different identities such as being black, transgender, or poor can result in a person being more likely to be criminally profiled by the police. For example, in New York, there is a law against "loitering for the purpose of engaging in prostitution", which has been nicknamed the "walking while trans" law because of how often transgender women are assumed to be sex workers and arrested for simply walking out in public. Religious sexual morality In some religions, sexual behavior is regarded as primarily spiritual. In others it is treated as primarily physical. Some hold that sexual behavior is only spiritual within certain kinds of relationships, when used for specific purposes, or when incorporated into religious ritual. In some religions there are no distinctions between the physical and the spiritual, whereas some religions view human sexuality as a way of completing the gap that exists between the spiritual and the physical. Many religious conservatives, especially those of Abrahamic religions and Christianity in particular, tend to view sexuality in terms of behavior (i.e. homosexuality or heterosexuality is what someone does). These conservatives tend to promote celibacy for gay people, and may also tend to believe that sexuality can be changed through conversion therapy or prayer to become an ex-gay. They may also see homosexuality as a form of mental illness, something that ought to be criminalized, an immoral abomination, caused by ineffective parenting, and view same-sex marriage as a threat to society. On the other hand, most religious liberals define sexuality-related labels in terms of sexual attraction and self-identification. They may also view same-sex activity as morally neutral and as legally acceptable as opposite-sex activity, unrelated to mental illness, genetically or environmentally caused (but not as the result of bad parenting), and fixed. They also tend to be more in favor of same-sex marriage. Judaism According to Judaism, sex between a man and woman within marriage is sacred and should be regularly enjoyed; celibacy is considered sinful. Christianity Early Christianity Desire, including sexual desire and lust, were considered immoral and sinful, according to some authors. Elaine Pagels says, "By the beginning of the fifth century, Augustine had actually declared that spontaneous sexual desire is the proof of—and penalty for—universal original sin", though that this view goes against "most of his Christian predecessors". According to Jennifer Wright Knust, Paul framed desire a force Christians gained control over whereas non-Christians were "enslaved" by it; and he also said the bodies of Christians were members of Christ's body and thus sexual desire must be eschewed. Roman Catholic Church The Roman Catholic Church teaches that sexuality is "noble and worthy" and has a unitive and procreative end. For this reason, sexual activity's ideal should occur in the context of a marriage between a man and a woman, and open to the possibility of life. Pope Francis teaches in Amoris laetitia against "an attitude that would solve everything by applying general rules or deriving undue conclusions from particular theological considerations. and that he also warns that "not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium." and that "We have been called to form consciences, not to replace them." The church has authoritative teachings on sexuality found in the catechism. The church places primacy of conscience especially on the regulation of births. Anglicanism The Anglican Church teaches that human sexuality is a gift from a loving God designed to be between a man and a woman in a monogamous lifetime union of marriage. It also views singleness and dedicated celibacy as Christ-like. It states that people with same sex attraction are loved by God and are welcomed as full members of the Body of Christ, while the Church leadership has a variety of views in regard to homosexual expression and ordination. Some expressions of sexuality are considered sinful including "promiscuity, prostitution, incest, pornography, pedophilia, predatory sexual behavior, and sadomasochism (all of which may be heterosexual and homosexual), adultery, violence against wives, and female circumcision". The Church is concerned with pressures on young people to engage sexually and encourages abstinence. Evangelicalism In matters of sexuality, several Evangelical churches promote the virginity pledge among young Evangelical Christians, who are invited to commit themselves during a public ceremony to sexual abstinence until Christian marriage. This pledge is often symbolized by a purity ring. In evangelical churches, young adults and unmarried couples are encouraged to marry early in order to live a sexuality according to the will of God. Although some churches are discreet on the subject, other evangelical churches in United States and Switzerland speak of a satisfying sexuality as a gift from God and a component of a harmonious Christian marriage, in messages during worship services or conferences. Many evangelical books and websites are specialized on the subject. The perceptions of homosexuality in the Evangelical Churches are varied. They range from liberal through moderate to conservative. The christian marriage is presented by some churches as a protection against sexual misconduct and a compulsory step to obtain a position of responsibility in the church. This concept, however, has been challenged by numerous sex scandals involving married evangelical leaders. Finally, evangelical theologians recalled that celibacy should be more valued in the Church today, since the gift of celibacy was taught and lived by Jesus Christ and Paul of Tarsus. Islam In Islam, desire for sex is considered to be a natural urge that should not be suppressed, although the concept of free sex is not accepted; these urges should be fulfilled responsibly. Marriage is considered to be a good deed; it does not hinder spiritual wayfaring. The term used for marriage within the Quran is . Although Islamic sexuality is restrained via Islamic sexual jurisprudence, it emphasizes sexual pleasure within marriage. It is acceptable for a man to have more than one wife, but he must take care of those wives physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, and spiritually. Muslims believe that sexual intercourse is an act of worship that fulfils emotional and physical needs, and that producing children is one way in which humans can contribute to God's creation, and Islam discourages celibacy once an individual is married. However, homosexuality is strictly forbidden in Islam, and some Muslim lawyers have suggested that gay people should be put to death. Some have argued that Islam has an open and playful approach to sex so long as it is within marriage, free of lewdness, fornication and adultery. Hinduism Hinduism emphasizes that sex is only appropriate between husband and wife, in which satisfying sexual urges through sexual pleasure is an important duty of marriage. Any sex before marriage is considered to interfere with intellectual development, especially between birth and the age of 25, which is said to be brahmacharya and this should be avoided. Kama (sensual pleasures) is one of the four purusharthas or aims of life (dharma, artha, kama, and moksha). The Hindu Kama Sutra deals partially with sexual intercourse; it is not exclusively a sexual or religious work. Sikhism Sikhism views chastity as important, as Sikhs believe that the divine spark of Waheguru is present inside every individual's body, therefore it is important for one to keep clean and pure. Sexual activity is limited to married couples, and extramarital sex is forbidden. Marriage is seen as a commitment to Waheguru and should be viewed as part of spiritual companionship, rather than just sexual intercourse, and monogamy is deeply emphasized in Sikhism. Any other way of living is discouraged, including celibacy and homosexuality. However, in comparison to other religions, the issue of sexuality in Sikhism is not considered one of paramount importance. See also Notes References Further reading Gregersen, E. (1982). Sexual Practices: The Story of Human Sexuality. New York: F. Watts. Lyons, Andrew P. & Harriet D., eds. Sexualities in Anthropology: a reader. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011 Richardson, Niall; Smith, Clarissa & Werndly, Angela (2013) Studying Sexualities: Theories, Representations, Cultures. London: Palgrave Macmillan Soble, Alan (ed.). Sex from Plato to Paglia: A Philosophical Encyclopedia, 2 volumes. Greenwood Press, 2006. Lay summary of primary source appearing from the University of Calgary, in Science, on prolactin release during sexual activity in mice, and its possible relationship to stroke therapy. External links "Examining the Relationship Between Media Use and Aggression, Sexuality, and Body Image", Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 3. Glossary of clinical sexology – Glossario di sessuologia clinica International Encyclopedia of Sexuality full text Janssen, D.F., Growing Up Sexually. Volume I. World Reference Atlas [full text] Masters, William H., Virginia E. Johnson, and Robert C. Kolodny. Crisis: Heterosexual Behavior in the Age of AIDS. New York: Grove Press, 1988. ix, 243 p. National Sexuality Resource Center Durex Global Sex Survey 2005 at data360.org POPLINE is a searchable database of the world's reproductive health literature. The Continuum Complete International Encyclopedia of Sexuality at the Kinsey Institute MRI Video of Human Copulation 1

Human geography

Human geography or anthropogeography is the branch of geography which studies spatial relationships between human communities, cultures, economies, and their interactions with the environment, examples of which include urban sprawl and urban redevelopment. It analyzes spatial interdependencies between social interactions and the environment through qualitative and quantitative methods. This multidisciplinary approach draws from sociology, anthropology, economics, and environmental science, contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the intricate connections that shape lived spaces. History The Royal Geographical Society was founded in England in 1830. The first professor of geography in the United Kingdom was appointed in 1883, and the first major geographical intellect to emerge in the UK was Halford John Mackinder, appointed professor of geography at the London School of Economics in 1922. The National Geographic Society was founded in the United States in 1888 and began publication of the National Geographic magazine which became, and continues to be, a great popularizer of geographic information. The society has long supported geographic research and education on geographical topics. The Association of American Geographers was founded in 1904 and was renamed the American Association of Geographers in 2016 to better reflect the increasingly international character of its membership. One of the first examples of geographic methods being used for purposes other than to describe and theorize the physical properties of the earth is John Snow's map of the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak. Though Snow was primarily a physician and a pioneer of epidemiology rather than a geographer, his map is probably one of the earliest examples of health geography. The now fairly distinct differences between the subfields of physical and human geography developed at a later date. The connection between both physical and human properties of geography is most apparent in the theory of environmental determinism, made popular in the 19th century by Carl Ritter and others, and has close links to the field of evolutionary biology of the time. Environmental determinism is the theory that people's physical, mental and moral habits are directly due to the influence of their natural environment. However, by the mid-19th century, environmental determinism was under attack for lacking methodological rigor associated with modern science, and later as a means to justify racism and imperialism. A similar concern with both human and physical aspects is apparent during the later 19th and first half of the 20th centuries focused on regional geography. The goal of regional geography, through something known as regionalisation, was to delineate space into regions and then understand and describe the unique characteristics of each region through both human and physical aspects. With links to possibilism and cultural ecology some of the same notions of causal effect of the environment on society and culture remain with environmental determinism. By the 1960s, however, the quantitative revolution led to strong criticism of regional geography. Due to a perceived lack of scientific rigor in an overly descriptive nature of the discipline, and a continued separation of geography from its two subfields of physical and human geography and from geology, geographers in the mid-20th century began to apply statistical and mathematical models in order to solve spatial problems. Much of the development during the quantitative revolution is now apparent in the use of geographic information systems; the use of statistics, spatial modeling, and positivist approaches are still important to many branches of human geography. Well-known geographers from this period are Fred K. Schaefer, Waldo Tobler, William Garrison, Peter Haggett, Richard J. Chorley, William Bunge, and Torsten Hägerstrand. From the 1970s, a number of critiques of the positivism now associated with geography emerged. Known under the term 'critical geography,' these critiques signaled another turning point in the discipline. Behavioral geography emerged for some time as a means to understand how people made perceived spaces and places and made locational decisions. The more influential 'radical geography' emerged in the 1970s and 1980s. It draws heavily on Marxist theory and techniques and is associated with geographers such as David Harvey and Richard Peet. Radical geographers seek to say meaningful things about problems recognized through quantitative methods, provide explanations rather than descriptions, put forward alternatives and solutions, and be politically engaged, rather than using the detachment associated with positivists. (The detachment and objectivity of the quantitative revolution was itself critiqued by radical geographers as being a tool of capital). Radical geography and the links to Marxism and related theories remain an important part of contemporary human geography (See: Antipode). Critical geography also saw the introduction of 'humanistic geography', associated with the work of Yi-Fu Tuan, which pushed for a much more qualitative approach in methodology. The changes under critical geography have led to contemporary approaches in the discipline such as feminist geography, new cultural geography, settlement geography, and the engagement with postmodern and post-structural theories and philosophies. Fields The primary fields of study in human geography focus on the core fields of: Cultures Cultural geography is the study of cultural products and norms – their variation across spaces and places, as well as their relations. It focuses on describing and analyzing the ways language, religion, economy, government, and other cultural phenomena vary or remain constant from one place to another and on explaining how humans function spatially. Subfields include: Social geography, Animal geographies, Language geography, Sexuality and space, Children's geographies, and Religion and geography. Development Development geography is the study of the Earth's geography with reference to the standard of living and the quality of life of its human inhabitants, study of the location, distribution and spatial organization of economic activities, across the Earth. The subject matter investigated is strongly influenced by the researcher's methodological approach. Economies Economic geography examines relationships between human economic systems, states, and other factors, and the biophysical environment. Subfields include: Marketing geography and Transportation geography Emotion Food Health Medical or health geography is the application of geographical information, perspectives, and methods to the study of health, disease, and health care. Health geography deals with the spatial relations and patterns between people and the environment. This is a sub-discipline of human geography, researching how and why diseases are spread and contained. Histories Historical geography is the study of the human, physical, fictional, theoretical, and "real" geographies of the past. Historical geography studies a wide variety of issues and topics. A common theme is the study of the geographies of the past and how a place or region changes through time. Many historical geographers study geographical patterns through time, including how people have interacted with their environment, and created the cultural landscape. Politics Political geography is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven outcomes of political processes and the ways in which political processes are themselves affected by spatial structures. Subfields include: Electoral geography, Geopolitics, Strategic geography and Military geography. Population Population geography is the study of ways in which spatial variations in the distribution, composition, migration, and growth of populations are related to their environment or location. Settlement Settlement geography, including urban geography, is the study of urban and rural areas with specific regards to spatial, relational and theoretical aspects of settlement. That is the study of areas which have a concentration of buildings and infrastructure. These are areas where the majority of economic activities are in the secondary sector and tertiary sectors. Urbanism Urban geography is the study of cities, towns, and other areas of relatively dense settlement. Two main interests are site (how a settlement is positioned relative to the physical environment) and situation (how a settlement is positioned relative to other settlements). Another area of interest is the internal organization of urban areas with regard to different demographic groups and the layout of infrastructure. This subdiscipline also draws on ideas from other branches of Human Geography to see their involvement in the processes and patterns evident in an urban area. Subfields include: Economic geography, Population geography, and Settlement geography. These are clearly not the only subfields that could be used to assist in the study of Urban geography, but they are some major players. Philosophical and theoretical approaches Within each of the subfields, various philosophical approaches can be used in research; therefore, an urban geographer could be a Feminist or Marxist geographer, etc. Such approaches are: Animal geographies Behavioral geography Cognitive geography Critical geography Feminist geography Marxist geography Non-representational theory Positivism Postcolonialism Poststructuralist geography Psychoanalytic geography Psychogeography Spatial analysis Time geography List of notable human geographers Journals As with all social sciences, human geographers publish research and other written work in a variety of academic journals. Whilst human geography is interdisciplinary, there are a number of journals that focus on human geography. These include: ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies Antipode Area Dialogues in Human Geography Economic geography Environment and Planning Geoforum Geografiska Annaler GeoHumanities Global Environmental Change: Human and Policy Dimensions Human Geography Migration Letters Progress in Human Geography Southeastern Geographer Social & Cultural Geography Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers See also References Further reading External links Worldmapper – Mapping project using social data sets Anthropology Environmental social science

Anthropometry

Anthropometry (, ) refers to the measurement of the human individual. An early tool of physical anthropology, it has been used for identification, for the purposes of understanding human physical variation, in paleoanthropology and in various attempts to correlate physical with racial and psychological traits. Anthropometry involves the systematic measurement of the physical properties of the human body, primarily dimensional descriptors of body size and shape. Since commonly used methods and approaches in analysing living standards were not helpful enough, the anthropometric history became very useful for historians in answering questions that interested them. Today, anthropometry plays an important role in industrial design, clothing design, ergonomics and architecture where statistical data about the distribution of body dimensions in the population are used to optimize products. Changes in lifestyles, nutrition, and ethnic composition of populations lead to changes in the distribution of body dimensions (e.g. the rise in obesity) and require regular updating of anthropometric data collections. History The history of anthropometry includes and spans various concepts, both scientific and pseudoscientific, such as craniometry, paleoanthropology, biological anthropology, phrenology, physiognomy, forensics, criminology, phylogeography, human origins, and cranio-facial description, as well as correlations between various anthropometrics and personal identity, mental typology, personality, cranial vault and brain size, and other factors. At various times in history, applications of anthropometry have ranged from accurate scientific description and epidemiological analysis to rationales for eugenics and overtly racist social movements. One of its misuses was the discredited pseudoscience, phrenology. Individual variation Auxologic Auxologic is a broad term covering the study of all aspects of human physical growth. Height Human height varies greatly between individuals and across populations for a variety of complex biological, genetic, and environmental factors, among others. Due to methodological and practical problems, its measurement is also subject to considerable error in statistical sampling. The average height in genetically and environmentally homogeneous populations is often proportional across a large number of individuals. Exceptional height variation (around 20% deviation from a population's average) within such a population is sometimes due to gigantism or dwarfism, which are caused by specific genes or endocrine abnormalities. It is important to note that a great degree of variation occurs between even the most 'common' bodies (66% of the population), and as such no person can be considered 'average'. In the most extreme population comparisons, for example, the average female height in Bolivia is while the average male height in the Dinaric Alps is , an average difference of . Similarly, the shortest and tallest of individuals, Chandra Bahadur Dangi and Robert Wadlow, have ranged from , respectively.'The age range where most females stop growing is 15–⁠18 years and the age range where most males stop growing is 18–⁠21 years. Weight Human weight varies extensively both individually and across populations, with the most extreme documented examples of adults being Lucia Zarate who weighed , and Jon Brower Minnoch who weighed , and with population extremes ranging from in Bangladesh to in Micronesia. Organs Adult brain size varies from to in females and to in males, with the average being and , respectively. The right cerebral hemisphere is typically larger than the left, whereas the cerebellar hemispheres are typically of more similar size. Size of the human stomach varies significantly in adults, with one study showing volumes ranging from to and weights ranging from to . Male and female genitalia exhibit considerable individual variation, with penis size differing substantially and vaginal size differing significantly in healthy adults. Aesthetic Human beauty and physical attractiveness have been preoccupations throughout history which often intersect with anthropometric standards. Cosmetology, facial symmetry, and waist–hip ratio are three such examples where measurements are commonly thought to be fundamental. Evolutionary science Anthropometric studies today are conducted to investigate the evolutionary significance of differences in body proportion between populations whose ancestors lived in different environments. Human populations exhibit climatic variation patterns similar to those of other large-bodied mammals, following Bergmann's rule, which states that individuals in cold climates will tend to be larger than ones in warm climates, and Allen's rule, which states that individuals in cold climates will tend to have shorter, stubbier limbs than those in warm climates. On a microevolutionary level, anthropologists use anthropometric variation to reconstruct small-scale population history. For instance, John Relethford's studies of early 20th-century anthropometric data from Ireland show that the geographical patterning of body proportions still exhibits traces of the invasions by the English and Norse centuries ago. Similarly, anthropometric indices, namely comparison of the human stature was used to illustrate anthropometric trends. This study was conducted by Jörg Baten and Sandew Hira and was based on the anthropological founds that human height is predetermined by the quality of the nutrition, which used to be higher in the more developed countries. The research was based on the datasets for Southern Chinese contract migrants who were sent to Suriname and Indonesia and included 13,000 individuals. Measuring instruments 3D body scanners Today anthropometry can be performed with three-dimensional scanners. A global collaborative study to examine the uses of three-dimensional scanners for health care was launched in March 2007. The Body Benchmark Study will investigate the use of three-dimensional scanners to calculate volumes and segmental volumes of an individual body scan. The aim is to establish whether the Body Volume Index has the potential to be used as a long-term computer-based anthropometric measurement for health care. In 2001 the UK conducted the largest sizing survey to date using scanners. Since then several national surveys have followed in the UK's pioneering steps, notably SizeUSA, SizeMexico, and SizeThailand, the latter still ongoing. SizeUK showed that the nation had become taller and heavier but not as much as expected. Since 1951, when the last women's survey had taken place, the average weight for women had gone up from 62 to 65 kg. However, recent research has shown that posture of the participant significantly influences the measurements taken, the precision of 3D body scanner may or may not be high enough for industry tolerances, and measurements taken may or may not be relevant to all applications (e.g. garment construction). Despite these current limitations, 3D Body Scanning has been suggested as a replacement for body measurement prediction technologies which (despite the great appeal) have yet to be as reliable as real human data. Baropodographic Baropodographic devices fall into two main categories: (i) floor-based, and (ii) in-shoe. The underlying technology is diverse, ranging from piezoelectric sensor arrays to light refraction,Gefen A 2007. Pressure-sensing devices for assessment of soft tissue loading under bony prominences: technological concepts and clinical utilization. Wounds 19 350–62.Rosenbaum D, Becker HP 1997. Plantar pressure distribution measurements: technical background and clinical applications. J Foot Ankle Surg 3 1–14. but the ultimate form of the data generated by all modern technologies is either a 2D image or a 2D image time series of the pressures acting under the plantar surface of the foot. From these data other variables may be calculated (see data analysis.) The spatial and temporal resolutions of the images generated by commercial pedobarographic systems range from approximately 3 to 10 mm and 25 to 500 Hz, respectively. Sensor technology limits finer resolution. Such resolutions yield a contact area of approximately 500 sensors (for a typical adult human foot with surface area of approximately 100 cm2). For a stance phase duration of approximately 0.6 seconds during normal walking, approximately 150,000 pressure values, depending on the hardware specifications, are recorded for each step. Neuroimaging Direct measurements involve examinations of brains from corpses, or more recently, imaging techniques such as MRI, which can be used on living persons. Such measurements are used in research on neuroscience and intelligence. Brain volume data and other craniometric data are used in mainstream science to compare modern-day animal species and to analyze the evolution of the human species in archeology. Epidemiology and medical anthropology Anthropometric measurements also have uses in epidemiology and medical anthropology, for example in helping to determine the relationship between various body measurements (height, weight, percentage body fat, etc.) and medical outcomes. Anthropometric measurements are frequently used to diagnose malnutrition in resource-poor clinical settings. Forensics and criminology Forensic anthropologists study the human skeleton in a legal setting. A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification of a decedent through various skeletal analyses that produce a biological profile. Forensic anthropologists utilize the Fordisc program to help in the interpretation of craniofacial measurements in regards to ancestry determination. One part of a biological profile is a person's ancestral affinity. People with significant European or Middle Eastern ancestry generally have little to no prognathism; a relatively long and narrow face; a prominent brow ridge that protrudes forward from the forehead; a narrow, tear-shaped nasal cavity; a "silled" nasal aperture; tower-shaped nasal bones; a triangular-shaped palate; and an angular and sloping eye orbit shape. People with considerable African ancestry typically have a broad and round nasal cavity; no dam or nasal sill; Quonset hut-shaped nasal bones; notable facial projection in the jaw and mouth area (prognathism); a rectangular-shaped palate; and a square or rectangular eye orbit shape. A relatively small prognathism often characterizes people with considerable East Asian ancestry; no nasal sill or dam; an oval-shaped nasal cavity; tent-shaped nasal bones; a horseshoe-shaped palate; and a rounded and non-sloping eye orbit shape. Many of these characteristics are only a matter of frequency among those of particular ancestries: their presence or absence of one or more does not automatically classify an individual into an ancestral group. Ergonomics Ergonomics professionals apply an understanding of human factors to the design of equipment, systems and working methods to improve comfort, health, safety, and productivity. This includes physical ergonomics in relation to human anatomy, physiological and bio mechanical characteristics; cognitive ergonomics in relation to perception, memory, reasoning, motor response including human–computer interaction, mental workloads, decision making, skilled performance, human reliability, work stress, training, and user experiences; organizational ergonomics in relation to metrics of communication, crew resource management, work design, schedules, teamwork, participation, community, cooperative work, new work programs, virtual organizations, and telework; environmental ergonomics in relation to human metrics affected by climate, temperature, pressure, vibration, and light; visual ergonomics; and others. Biometrics Biometrics refers to the identification of humans by their characteristics or traits. Biometrics is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used to identify individuals in groups that are under surveillance. Biometric identifiers are the distinctive, measurable characteristics used to label and describe individuals. Biometric identifiers are often categorized as physiological versus behavioral characteristics. Subclasses include dermatoglyphics and soft biometrics. United States military research The US Military has conducted over 40 anthropometric surveys of U.S. Military personnel between 1945 and 1988, including the 1988 Army Anthropometric Survey (ANSUR) of men and women with its 240 measures. Statistical data from these surveys encompasses over 75,000 individuals. Civilian American and European Surface Anthropometry Resource Project CAESAR began in 1997 as a partnership between government (represented by the US Air Force and NATO) and industry (represented by SAE International) to collect and organize the most extensive sampling of consumer body measurements for comparison. The project collected and organized data on 2,400 U.S. & Canadian and 2,000 European civilians and a database was developed. This database records the anthropometric variability of men and women, aged 18–65, of various weights, ethnic groups, gender, geographic regions, and socio-economic status. The study was conducted from April 1998 to early 2000 and included three scans per person in a standing pose, full-coverage pose and relaxed seating pose. Data collection methods were standardized and documented so that the database can be consistently expanded and updated. High-resolution measurements of body surfaces were made using 3D Surface Anthropometry. This technology can capture hundreds of thousands of points in three dimensions on the human body surface in a few seconds. It has many advantages over the old measurement system using tape measures, anthropometers, and other similar instruments. It provides detail about the surface shape as well as 3D locations of measurements relative to each other and enables easy transfer to Computer-Aided Design (CAD) or Manufacturing (CAM) tools. The resulting scan is independent of the measurer, making it easier to standardize. Automatic landmark recognition (ALR) technology was used to extract anatomical landmarks from the 3D body scans automatically. Eighty landmarks were placed on each subject. More than 100 univariate measures were provided, over 60 from the scan and approximately 40 using traditional measurements. Demographic data such as age, ethnic group, gender, geographic region, education level, and present occupation, family income and more were also captured.Robinette, Kathleen M, Daanen, Hein A M, Precision of the CAESAR scan-extracted measurements, Applied Ergonomics, vol 37, issue 3, May 2007, pp. 259–265. Fashion design Scientists working for private companies and government agencies conduct anthropometric studies to determine a range of sizes for clothing and other items. For just one instance, measurements of the foot are used in the manufacture and sale of footwear: measurement devices may be used either to determine a retail shoe size directly (e.g. the Brannock Device) or to determine the detailed dimensions of the foot for custom manufacture (e.g. ALINEr). See also References Further reading Anthropometric Survey of Army Personnel: Methods and Summary Statistics 1988 ISO 7250: Basic human body measurements for technological design, International Organization for Standardization, 1998. ISO 8559: Garment construction and anthropometric surveys — Body dimensions, International Organization for Standardization, 1989. ISO 15535: General requirements for establishing anthropometric databases, International Organization for Standardization, 2000. ISO 15537: Principles for selecting and using test persons for testing anthropometric aspects of industrial products and designs, International Organization for Standardization, 2003. ISO 20685: 3-D scanning methodologies for internationally compatible anthropometric databases, International Organization for Standardization, 2005. (A classic review of human body sizes.) External links Anthropometry at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Anthropometry and Biomechanics at NASA'' Anthropometry data at faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology Manual for Obtaining Anthropometric Measurements Free Full Text Prepared for the US Access Board: Anthropometry of Wheeled Mobility Project Report Free Full Text Civilian American and European Surface Anthropometry Resource Project—CAESAR at SAE International Articles containing video clips Biological anthropology Biometrics Ergonomics Forensic disciplines Human anatomy Human body Measurement Medical imaging Physiognomy Physiology Racism

Anecdotal evidence

An anecdotal evidence (or anecdata) is a piece of evidence based on descriptions and reports of individual, personal experiences, or observations, collected in a non-systematic manner. The word anecdotal constitutes a variety of forms of evidence. This word refers to personal experiences, self-reported claims, or eyewitness accounts of others, including those from fictional sources, making it a broad category that can lead to confusion due to its varied interpretations. Anecdotal evidence can be true or false but is not usually subjected to the methodology of scholarly method, the scientific method, or the rules of legal, historical, academic, or intellectual rigor, meaning that there are little or no safeguards against fabrication or inaccuracy. However, the use of anecdotal reports in advertising or promotion of a product, service, or idea may be considered a testimonial, which is highly regulated in some jurisdictions. The persuasiveness of anecdotal evidence compared to that of statistical evidence has been a subject of debate; some studies have argued for the presence a generalized tendency to overvalue anecdotal evidence, whereas others have emphasized the types of argument as a prerequisite or rejected the conclusion altogether. Scientific context In science, definitions of anecdotal evidence include: "casual observations or indications rather than rigorous or scientific analysis" "information passed along by word-of-mouth but not documented scientifically" "evidence that comes from an individual experience. This may be the experience of a person with an illness or the experience of a practitioner based on one or more patients outside a formal research study." "the report of an experience by one or more persons that is not objectively documented or an experience or outcome that occurred outside of a controlled environment" Anecdotal evidence may be considered within the scope of scientific method as some anecdotal evidence can be both empirical and verifiable, e.g. in the use of case studies in medicine. Other anecdotal evidence, however, does not qualify as scientific evidence, because its nature prevents it from being investigated by the scientific method, for instance, in that of folklore or in the case of intentionally fictional anecdotes. Where only one or a few anecdotes are presented, there is a chance that they may be unreliable due to cherry-picked or otherwise non-representative samples of typical cases. Similarly, psychologists have found that due to cognitive bias people are more likely to remember notable or unusual examples rather than typical examples. Thus, even when accurate, anecdotal evidence is not necessarily representative of a typical experience. Accurate determination of whether an anecdote is typical requires statistical evidence. Misuse of anecdotal evidence in the form of argument from anecdote is an informal fallacy and is sometimes referred to as the "person who" fallacy ("I know a person who..."; "I know of a case where..." etc.) which places undue weight on experiences of close peers which may not be typical. Anecdotal evidence can have varying degrees of formality. For instance, in medicine, published anecdotal evidence by a trained observer (a doctor) is called a case report, and is subjected to formal peer review. Although such evidence is not seen as conclusive, researchers may sometimes regard it as an invitation to more rigorous scientific study of the phenomenon in question. For instance, one study found that 35 of 47 anecdotal reports of drug side-effects were later sustained as "clearly correct." Anecdotal evidence is considered the least certain type of scientific information. Researchers may use anecdotal evidence for suggesting new hypotheses, but never as validating evidence. If an anecdote illustrates a desired conclusion rather than a logical conclusion, it is considered a faulty or hasty generalization. In any case where some factor affects the probability of an outcome, rather than uniquely determining it, selected individual cases prove nothing; e.g. "my grandfather smoked two packs a day until he died at 90" and "my sister never smoked but died of lung cancer". Anecdotes often refer to the exception, rather than the rule: "Anecdotes are useless precisely because they may point to idiosyncratic responses." In medicine, anecdotal evidence is also subject to placebo effects. Legal In the legal sphere, anecdotal evidence, if it passes certain legal requirements and is admitted as testimony, is a common form of evidence used in a court of law. Often this form of anecdotal evidence is the only evidence presented at trial. Scientific evidence in a court of law is called physical evidence, but this is much rarer. Anecdotal evidence, with a few safeguards, represents the bulk of evidence in court. The legal rigors applied to testimony for it to be considered evidence is that it must be given under oath, that the person is only testifying to their own words and actions, and that someone intentionally lying under oath is subject to perjury. However, these rigors do not make testimony in a court of law equal to scientific evidence as there are far less legal rigors. Testimony about another person's experiences or words is called hearsay and is usually not admissible, though there are certain exceptions. However, any hearsay that is not objected to or thrown out by a judge is considered evidence for a jury. This means that trials contain quite a bit of anecdotal evidence, which is considered as relevant evidence by a jury. Eyewitness testimony (which is a form of anecdotal evidence) is considered the most compelling form of evidence by a jury. See also References Informal fallacies Philosophy of science Skepticism Evidence Testimony Inductive fallacies Pseudoscience Diversionary tactics Misuse of statistics Anecdotes

Normative science

In the applied sciences, normative science is a type of information that is developed, presented, or interpreted based on an assumed, usually unstated, preference for a particular outcome, policy or class of policies or outcomes. Regular or traditional science does not presuppose a policy preference, but normative science, by definition, does. Common examples of such policy preferences are arguments that pristine ecosystems are preferable to human altered ones, that native species are preferable to nonnative species, and that higher biodiversity is preferable to lower biodiversity. In more general philosophical terms, normative science is a form of inquiry, typically involving a community of inquiry and its accumulated body of provisional knowledge, that seeks to discover good ways of achieving recognized aims, ends, goals, objectives, or purposes. Many political debates revolve around arguments over which of the many "good ways" shall be selected. For example, when presented as scientific information, words such as ecosystem health, biological integrity, and environmental degradation are typically examples of normative science because they each presuppose a policy preference and are therefore a type of policy advocacy. See also Descriptive science Environmental policy Fact–value distinction Is–ought problem Normative economics Normative ethics Policy advocacy Truth References Philosophy of science

Nature versus nurture

Nature versus nurture is a long-standing debate in biology and society about the relative influence on human beings of their genetic inheritance (nature) and the environmental conditions of their development (nurture). The alliterative expression "nature and nurture" in English has been in use since at least the Elizabethan period and goes back to medieval French. The complementary combination of the two concepts is an ancient concept. Nature is what people think of as pre-wiring and is influenced by genetic inheritance and other biological factors. Nurture is generally taken as the influence of external factors after conception e.g. the product of exposure, experience and learning on an individual. The phrase in its modern sense was popularized by the Victorian polymath Francis Galton, the modern founder of eugenics and behavioral genetics when he was discussing the influence of heredity and environment on social advancement. Galton was influenced by On the Origin of Species written by his half-cousin, the evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin. The view that humans acquire all or almost all their behavioral traits from "nurture" was termed tabula rasa ('blank tablet, slate') by John Locke in 1690. A blank slate view (sometimes termed blank-slatism) in human developmental psychology, which assumes that human behavioral traits develop almost exclusively from environmental influences, was widely held during much of the 20th century. The debate between "blank-slate" denial of the influence of heritability, and the view admitting both environmental and heritable traits, has often been cast in terms of nature versus nurture. These two conflicting approaches to human development were at the core of an ideological dispute over research agendas throughout the second half of the 20th century. As both "nature" and "nurture" factors were found to contribute substantially, often in an inextricable manner, such views were seen as naive or outdated by most scholars of human development by the 21st century. The strong dichotomy of nature versus nurture has thus been claimed to have limited relevance in some fields of research. Close feedback loops have been found in which nature and nurture influence one another constantly, as seen in self-domestication. In ecology and behavioral genetics, researchers think nurture has an essential influence on the nature of an individual. Similarly in other fields, the dividing line between an inherited and an acquired trait becomes unclear, as in epigenetics or fetal development. History of debate According to Records of the Grand Historian (94 BC) by Sima Qian, during Chen Sheng Wu Guang uprising in 209 B.C., Chen Sheng asked the rhetorical question as a call to war: "Are kings, generals, and ministers merely born into their kind?". Though Chen was obviously negative to the question, the phrase has often been cited as an early quest to the nature versus nurture problem. John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) is often cited as the foundational document of the blank slate view. In the Essay, Locke specifically criticizes René Descartes's claim of an innate idea of God that is universal to humanity. Locke's view was harshly criticized in his own time. Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, complained that by denying the possibility of any innate ideas, Locke "threw all order and virtue out of the world," leading to total moral relativism. By the 19th century, the predominant perspective was contrary to that of Locke's, tending to focus on "instinct." Leda Cosmides and John Tooby noted that William James (1842–1910) argued that humans have more instincts than animals, and that greater freedom of action is the result of having more psychological instincts, not fewer. The question of "innate ideas" or "instincts" were of some importance in the discussion of free will in moral philosophy. In 18th-century philosophy, this was cast in terms of "innate ideas" establishing the presence of a universal virtue, prerequisite for objective morals. In the 20th century, this argument was in a way inverted, since some philosophers (J. L. Mackie) now argued that the evolutionary origins of human behavioral traits forces us to concede that there is no foundation for ethics, while others (Thomas Nagel) treated ethics as a field of cognitively valid statements in complete isolation from evolutionary considerations. Early to mid-20th century In the early 20th century, there was an increased interest in the role of one's environment, as a reaction to the strong focus on pure heredity in the wake of the triumphal success of Darwin's theory of evolution. During this time, the social sciences developed as the project of studying the influence of culture in clean isolation from questions related to "biology. Franz Boas's The Mind of Primitive Man (1911) established a program that would dominate American anthropology for the next 15 years. In this study, he established that in any given population, biology, language, material, and symbolic culture, are autonomous; that each is an equally important dimension of human nature, but that none of these dimensions is reducible to another. Purist behaviorism John B. Watson in the 1920s and 1930s established the school of purist behaviorism that would become dominant over the following decades. Watson is often said to have been convinced of the complete dominance of cultural influence over anything that heredity might contribute. This is based on the following quote which is frequently repeated without context, as the last sentence is frequently omitted, leading to confusion about Watson's position:During the 1940s to 1960s, Ashley Montagu was a notable proponent of this purist form of behaviorism which allowed no contribution from heredity whatsoever: In 1951, Calvin Hall suggested that the dichotomy opposing nature to nurture is ultimately fruitless. In African Genesis (1961) and The Territorial Imperative (1966), Robert Ardrey argues for innate attributes of human nature, especially concerning territoriality. Desmond Morris in The Naked Ape (1967) expresses similar views. Organised opposition to Montagu's kind of purist "blank-slatism" began to pick up in the 1970s, notably led by E. O. Wilson (On Human Nature, 1979). The tool of twin studies was developed as a research design intended to exclude all confounders based on inherited behavioral traits. Such studies are designed to decompose the variability of a given trait in a given population into a genetic and an environmental component. Twin studies established that there was, in many cases, a significant heritable component. These results did not, in any way, point to overwhelming contribution of heritable factors, with heritability typically ranging around 40% to 50%, so that the controversy may not be cast in terms of purist behaviorism vs. purist nativism. Rather, it was purist behaviorism that was gradually replaced by the now-predominant view that both kinds of factors usually contribute to a given trait, anecdotally phrased by Donald Hebb as an answer to the question "which, nature or nurture, contributes more to personality?" by asking in response, "Which contributes more to the area of a rectangle, its length or its width?" In a comparable avenue of research, anthropologist Donald Brown in the 1980s surveyed hundreds of anthropological studies from around the world and collected a set of cultural universals. He identified approximately 150 such features, coming to the conclusion there is indeed a "universal human nature", and that these features point to what that universal human nature is. Determinism At the height of the controversy, during the 1970s to 1980s, the debate was highly ideologised. In Not in Our Genes: Biology, Ideology and Human Nature (1984), Richard Lewontin, Steven Rose and Leon Kamin criticise "genetic determinism" from a Marxist framework, arguing that "Science is the ultimate legitimator of bourgeois ideology ... If biological determinism is a weapon in the struggle between classes, then the universities are weapons factories, and their teaching and research faculties are the engineers, designers, and production workers." The debate thus shifted away from whether heritable traits exist to whether it was politically or ethically permissible to admit their existence. The authors deny this, requesting that evolutionary inclinations be discarded in ethical and political discussions regardless of whether they exist or not. 1990s Heritability studies became much easier to perform, and hence much more numerous, with the advances of genetic studies during the 1990s. By the late 1990s, an overwhelming amount of evidence had accumulated that amounts to a refutation of the extreme forms of "blank-slatism" advocated by Watson or Montagu. This revised state of affairs was summarized in books aimed at a popular audience from the late 1990s. In The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do (1998), Judith Rich Harris was heralded by Steven Pinker as a book that "will come to be seen as a turning point in the history of psychology." However, Harris was criticized for exaggerating the point of "parental upbringing seems to matter less than previously thought" to the implication that "parents do not matter." The situation as it presented itself by the end of the 20th century was summarized in The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (2002) by Steven Pinker. The book became a best-seller, and was instrumental in bringing to the attention of a wider public the paradigm shift away from the behaviourist purism of the 1940s to 1970s that had taken place over the preceding decades. Pinker portrays the adherence to pure blank-slatism as an ideological dogma linked to two other dogmas found in the dominant view of human nature in the 20th century: "noble savage," in the sense that people are born good and corrupted by bad influence; and "ghost in the machine," in the sense that there is a human soul capable of moral choices completely detached from biology. Pinker argues that all three dogmas were held onto for an extended period even in the face of evidence because they were seen as desirable in the sense that if any human trait is purely conditioned by culture, any undesired trait (such as crime or aggression) may be engineered away by purely cultural (political means). Pinker focuses on reasons he assumes were responsible for unduly repressing evidence to the contrary, notably the fear of (imagined or projected) political or ideological consequences. Heritability estimates The term heritability refers only to the degree of genetic variation between people on a trait. It does not refer to the degree to which a trait of a particular individual is due to environmental or genetic factors. The traits of an individual are always a complex interweaving of both. For an individual, even strongly genetically influenced, or "obligate" traits, such as eye color, assume the inputs of a typical environment during ontogenetic development (e.g., certain ranges of temperatures, oxygen levels, etc.). In contrast, the "heritability index" statistically quantifies the extent to which variation between individuals on a trait is due to variation in the genes those individuals carry. In animals where breeding and environments can be controlled experimentally, heritability can be determined relatively easily. Such experiments would be unethical for human research. This problem can be overcome by finding existing populations of humans that reflect the experimental setting the researcher wishes to create. One way to determine the contribution of genes and environment to a trait is to study twins. In one kind of study, identical twins reared apart are compared to randomly selected pairs of people. The twins share identical genes, but different family environments. Twins reared apart are not assigned at random to foster or adoptive parents. In another kind of twin study, identical twins reared together (who share family environment and genes) are compared to fraternal twins reared together (who also share family environment but only share half their genes). Another condition that permits the disassociation of genes and environment is adoption. In one kind of adoption study, biological siblings reared together (who share the same family environment and half their genes) are compared to adoptive siblings (who share their family environment but none of their genes). In many cases, it has been found that genes make a substantial contribution, including psychological traits such as intelligence and personality. Yet heritability may differ in other circumstances, for instance environmental deprivation. Examples of low, medium, and high heritability traits include: Twin and adoption studies have their methodological limits. For example, both are limited to the range of environments and genes which they sample. Almost all of these studies are conducted in Western countries, and therefore cannot necessarily be extrapolated globally to include non-western populations. Additionally, both types of studies depend on particular assumptions, such as the equal environments assumption in the case of twin studies, and the lack of pre-adoptive effects in the case of adoption studies. Since the definition of "nature" in this context is tied to "heritability", the definition of "nurture" has consequently become very wide, including any type of causality that is not heritable. The term has thus moved away from its original connotation of "cultural influences" to include all effects of the environment, including; indeed, a substantial source of environmental input to human nature may arise from stochastic variations in prenatal development and is thus in no sense of the term "cultural". Gene–environment interaction The interactions of genes with environment, called gene–environment interactions, are another component of the nature–nurture debate. A classic example of gene–environment interaction is the ability of a diet low in the amino acid phenylalanine to partially suppress the genetic disease phenylketonuria. Yet another complication to the nature–nurture debate is the existence of gene–environment correlations. These correlations indicate that individuals with certain genotypes are more likely to find themselves in certain environments. Thus, it appears that genes can shape (the selection or creation of) environments. Even using experiments like those described above, it can be very difficult to determine convincingly the relative contribution of genes and environment. The analogy "genetics loads the gun, but environment pulls the trigger" has been attributed to Judith Stern. Heritability refers to the origins of differences between people. Individual development, even of highly heritable traits, such as eye color, depends on a range of environmental factors, from the other genes in the organism, to physical variables such as temperature, oxygen levels etc. during its development or ontogenesis. The variability of trait can be meaningfully spoken of as being due in certain proportions to genetic differences ("nature"), or environments ("nurture"). For highly penetrant Mendelian genetic disorders such as Huntington's disease virtually all the incidence of the disease is due to genetic differences. Huntington's animal models live much longer or shorter lives depending on how they are cared for. At the other extreme, traits such as native language are environmentally determined: linguists have found that any child (if capable of learning a language at all) can learn any human language with equal facility. With virtually all biological and psychological traits, however, genes and environment work in concert, communicating back and forth to create the individual. At a molecular level, genes interact with signals from other genes and from the environment. While there are many thousands of single-gene-locus traits, so-called complex traits are due to the additive effects of many (often hundreds) of small gene effects. A good example of this is height, where variance appears to be spread across many hundreds of loci. Extreme genetic or environmental conditions can predominate in rare circumstances—if a child is born mute due to a genetic mutation, it will not learn to speak any language regardless of the environment; similarly, someone who is practically certain to eventually develop Huntington's disease according to their genotype may die in an unrelated accident (an environmental event) long before the disease will manifest itself. Steven Pinker likewise described several examples:When traits are determined by a complex interaction of genotype and environment it is possible to measure the heritability of a trait within a population. However, many non-scientists who encounter a report of a trait having a certain percentage heritability imagine non-interactional, additive contributions of genes and environment to the trait. As an analogy, some laypeople may think of the degree of a trait being made up of two "buckets," genes and environment, each able to hold a certain capacity of the trait. But even for intermediate heritabilities, a trait is always shaped by both genetic dispositions and the environments in which people develop, merely with greater and lesser plasticities associated with these heritability measures. Heritability measures always refer to the degree of variation between individuals in a population. That is, as these statistics cannot be applied at the level of the individual, it would be incorrect to say that while the heritability index of personality is about 0.6, 60% of one's personality is obtained from one's parents and 40% from the environment. To help to understand this, imagine that all humans were genetic clones. The heritability index for all traits would be zero (all variability between clonal individuals must be due to environmental factors). And, contrary to erroneous interpretations of the heritability index, as societies become more egalitarian (everyone has more similar experiences) the heritability index goes up (as environments become more similar, variability between individuals is due more to genetic factors). One should also take into account the fact that the variables of heritability and environmentality are not precise and vary within a chosen population and across cultures. It would be more accurate to state that the degree of heritability and environmentality is measured in its reference to a particular phenotype in a chosen group of a population in a given period of time. The accuracy of the calculations is further hindered by the number of coefficients taken into consideration, age being one such variable. The display of the influence of heritability and environmentality differs drastically across age groups: the older the studied age is, the more noticeable the heritability factor becomes, the younger the test subjects are, the more likely it is to show signs of strong influence of the environmental factors. For example, one study found no statistically significant difference in self-reported wellbeing between middle-aged monozygotic twins separated at birth and those reared in the same household, suggesting that happiness in middle-aged adults is not based in environmental factors related to family rearing. The same result was also found among middle-aged dizygotic twins. Furthermore, there was significantly more variance in the dizygotic twins' self-reported wellbeing than there was in the monozygotic group. Genetic similarity has thus been estimated to account for around 50% of the variance in adult happiness at a given point in time, and as much as 80% of the variance in long-term happiness stability. Other studies have similarly found the heritability of happiness to be around 0.35–0.50. Some have pointed out that environmental inputs affect the expression of genes. This is one explanation of how environment can influence the extent to which a genetic disposition will actually manifest. Obligate vs. facultative adaptations Traits may be considered to be adaptations (such as the umbilical cord), byproducts of adaptations (the belly button) or due to random variation (convex or concave belly button shape). An alternative to contrasting nature and nurture focuses on "obligate vs. facultative" adaptations. Adaptations may be generally more obligate (robust in the face of typical environmental variation) or more facultative (sensitive to typical environmental variation). For example, the rewarding sweet taste of sugar and the pain of bodily injury are obligate psychological adaptations—typical environmental variability during development does not much affect their operation. On the other hand, facultative adaptations are somewhat like "if-then" statements. An example of a facultative psychological adaptation may be adult attachment style. The attachment style of adults, (for example, a "secure attachment style," the propensity to develop close, trusting bonds with others) is proposed to be conditional on whether an individual's early childhood caregivers could be trusted to provide reliable assistance and attention. An example of a facultative physiological adaptation is tanning of skin on exposure to sunlight (to prevent skin damage). Facultative social adaptation have also been proposed. For example, whether a society is warlike or peaceful has been proposed to be conditional on how much collective threat that society is experiencing. Advanced techniques Quantitative studies of heritable traits throw light on the question. Developmental genetic analysis examines the effects of genes over the course of a human lifespan. Early studies of intelligence, which mostly examined young children, found that heritability measured 40–50%. Subsequent developmental genetic analyses found that variance attributable to additive environmental effects is less apparent in older individuals, with estimated heritability of IQ increasing in adulthood. Multivariate genetic analysis examines the genetic contribution to several traits that vary together. For example, multivariate genetic analysis has demonstrated that the genetic determinants of all specific cognitive abilities (e.g., memory, spatial reasoning, processing speed) overlap greatly, such that the genes associated with any specific cognitive ability will affect all others. Similarly, multivariate genetic analysis has found that genes that affect scholastic achievement completely overlap with the genes that affect cognitive ability. Extremes analysis examines the link between normal and pathological traits. For example, it is hypothesized that a given behavioral disorder may represent an extreme of a continuous distribution of a normal behavior and hence an extreme of a continuous distribution of genetic and environmental variation. Depression, phobias, and reading disabilities have been examined in this context. For a few highly heritable traits, studies have identified loci associated with variance in that trait, for instance in some individuals with schizophrenia. The budding field of epigenetics has conducted research showing that hereditable conditions like schizophrenia, which have an 80% hereditability with only 10% of those who have inherited the trait actually displaying Schizophrenic traits. New research is showing that gene expression can happen in adults due to environmental stimuli. For example, people with schizophrenic gene have a genetic predisposition for this illness but the gene lays dormant in most people. However, if introduced to chronic stress or introducing some amphetamines it caused the methyl groups to stick to hippocampi histones. Intelligence Heritability of intelligence Cognitive functions have a significant genetic component. A 2015 meta-analysis of over 14 million twin pairs found that genetics explained 57% of the variability in cognitive functions. Evidence from behavioral genetic research suggests that family environmental factors may have an effect upon childhood IQ, accounting for up to a quarter of the variance. The American Psychological Association's report "Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns" (1995) states that there is no doubt that normal child development requires a certain minimum level of responsible care. Here, environment is playing a role in what is believed to be fully genetic (intelligence) but it was found that severely deprived, neglectful, or abusive environments have highly negative effects on many aspects of children's intellect development. Beyond that minimum, however, the role of family experience is in serious dispute. On the other hand, by late adolescence this correlation disappears, such that adoptive siblings no longer have similar IQ scores. Moreover, adoption studies indicate that, by adulthood, adoptive siblings are no more similar in IQ than strangers (IQ correlation near zero), while full siblings show an IQ correlation of 0.6. Twin studies reinforce this pattern: monozygotic (identical) twins raised separately are highly similar in IQ (0.74), more so than dizygotic (fraternal) twins raised together (0.6) and much more than adoptive siblings (≈0.0). Recent adoption studies also found that supportive parents can have a positive effect on the development of their children. Environmental role on IQ Other studies have focused on environmental factors that may affect IQ. For example, research has shown that factors such as access to education, nutrition, and social support can have a significant impact on IQ. Furthermore, research has suggested that certain experiences during early childhood, such as exposure to lead or other environmental toxins, can have a negative impact on IQ. Studies have consistently shown that environmental factors can have a significant impact on IQ. Access to quality education has been found to have a positive effect on IQ, with one study indicating that access to quality preschool education had a lasting impact on IQ scores up to age 35. Malnutrition in early childhood has been linked to lower IQ scores later in life, while supplementation with certain nutrients such as iron and iodine has been shown to improve IQ scores. Social support is also an important environmental factor that positively affects IQ, with one study indicating that children who received high levels of emotional support from their mothers had higher IQ scores than those who received low levels of emotional support. Personality traits Personality is a frequently cited example of a heritable trait that has been studied in twins and adoptees using behavioral genetic study designs. The most famous categorical organization of heritable personality traits were defined in the 1970s by two research teams led by Paul Costa & Robert R. McCrae and Warren Norman & Lewis Goldberg in which they had people rate their personalities on 1000+ dimensions they then narrowed these down into "The Big Five" factors of personality—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Studies have found that extraversion has a genetic component, with estimates of heritability ranging from 30% to 50%. However, environmental factors such as parenting style, cultural values, and life experiences can also shape a person's level of extraversion. Likewise, neuroticism has a genetic component, with estimates of heritability ranging from 30% to 50%. Environmental factors such as adverse childhood experiences, chronic stress, and cultural values can also influence a person's level of neuroticism. The close genetic relationship between positive personality traits and, for example, our happiness traits are the mirror images of comorbidity in psychopathology. These personality factors were consistent across cultures, and many studies have also tested the heritability of these traits. Personal agency also factors into this debate. While genetic and environmental factors can shape personality, individuals also have agency in shaping their own personality through their choices, behaviors, and attitudes. For example, one study found that college students who participated in study abroad programs scored higher on measures of openness to experience compared to those who did not participate. Another study found that individuals who lived in diverse neighborhoods were more likely to score higher on openness to experience compared to those who lived in more homogenous neighborhoods. Identical twins reared apart are far more similar in personality than randomly selected pairs of people. Likewise, identical twins are more similar than fraternal twins. Also, biological siblings are more similar in personality than adoptive siblings. Each observation suggests that personality is heritable to a certain extent. A supporting article had focused on the heritability of personality (which is estimated to be around 50% for subjective well-being) in which a study was conducted using a representative sample of 973 twin pairs to test the heritable differences in subjective well-being which were found to be fully accounted for by the genetic model of the Five-Factor Model's personality domains. However, these same study designs allow for the examination of environment as well as genes. Adoption studies also directly measure the strength of shared family effects. Adopted siblings share only family environment. Most adoption studies indicate that by adulthood the personalities of adopted siblings are little or no more similar than random pairs of strangers. This would mean that shared family effects on personality are zero by adulthood. In the case of personality traits, non-shared environmental effects are often found to out-weigh shared environmental effects. That is, environmental effects that are typically thought to be life-shaping (such as family life) may have less of an impact than non-shared effects, which are harder to identify. One possible source of non-shared effects is the environment of pre-natal development. Random variations in the genetic program of development may be a substantial source of non-shared environment. These results suggest that "nurture" may not be the predominant factor in "environment". Environment and our situations, do in fact impact our lives, but not the way in which we would typically react to these environmental factors. We are preset with personality traits that are the basis for how we would react to situations. An example would be how extraverted prisoners become less happy than introverted prisoners and would react to their incarceration more negatively due to their preset extraverted personality. Behavioral genes are somewhat proven to exist when we take a look at fraternal twins. When fraternal twins are reared apart, they show the same similarities in behavior and response as if they have been reared together. Genetics The relationship between personality and people's own well-being is influenced and mediated by genes. There has been found to be a stable set point for happiness that is characteristic of the individual (largely determined by the individual's genes). Happiness fluctuates around that setpoint (again, genetically determined) based on whether good things or bad things are happening to us ("nurture"), but only fluctuates in small magnitude in a normal human. The midpoint of these fluctuations is determined by the "great genetic lottery" that people are born with, which leads them to conclude that how happy they may feel at the moment or over time is simply due to the luck of the draw, or gene. This fluctuation was also not due to educational attainment, which only accounted for less than 2% of the variance in well-being for women, and less than 1% of the variance for men. They consider that the individualities measured together with personality tests remain steady throughout an individual's lifespan. They further believe that human beings may refine their forms or personality but can never change them entirely. Darwin's Theory of Evolution steered naturalists such as George Williams and William Hamilton to the concept of personality evolution. They suggested that physical organs and also personality is a product of natural selection. With the advent of gene sequencing, it has become possible to search for and identify specific gene polymorphisms that affect traits such as IQ and personality. These techniques work by tracking the association of differences in a trait of interest with differences in specific molecular markers or functional variants. An example of a visible human trait for which the precise genetic basis of differences are relatively well known is eye color. In contrast to views developed in 1960s that gender identity is primarily learned (which led to a protocol of surgical sex changes in male infants with injured or malformed genitals, such as David Reimer), genomics has provided solid evidence that both sex and gender identities are primarily influenced by genes: See also References Further reading Articles Books External links Meta-analysis of twin correlations and heritability 20th-century controversies Human behavior Human development Personality theories Race and intelligence controversy Biology controversies Dilemmas Human genetics Psychology controversies Evolutionary psychology

Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of energy sources

Greenhouse gas emissions are one of the environmental impacts of electricity generation. Measurement of life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions involves calculating the global warming potential (GWP) of energy sources through life-cycle assessment. These are usually sources of only electrical energy but sometimes sources of heat are evaluated. The findings are presented in units of global warming potential per unit of electrical energy generated by that source. The scale uses the global warming potential unit, the carbon dioxide equivalent (e), and the unit of electrical energy, the kilowatt hour (kWh). The goal of such assessments is to cover the full life of the source, from material and fuel mining through construction to operation and waste management. In 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change harmonized the carbon dioxide equivalent (e) findings of the major electricity generating sources in use worldwide. This was done by analyzing the findings of hundreds of individual scientific papers assessing each energy source. Coal is by far the worst emitter, followed by natural gas, with solar, wind and nuclear all low-carbon. Hydropower, biomass, geothermal and ocean power may generally be low-carbon, but poor design or other factors could result in higher emissions from individual power stations. For all technologies, advances in efficiency, and therefore reductions in e since the time of publication, have not been included. For example, the total life cycle emissions from wind power may have lessened since publication. Similarly, due to the time frame over which the studies were conducted, nuclear Generation II reactor's e results are presented and not the global warming potential of Generation III reactors. Other limitations of the data include: a) missing life cycle phases, and, b) uncertainty as to where to define the cut-off point in the global warming potential of an energy source. The latter is important in assessing a combined electrical grid in the real world, rather than the established practice of simply assessing the energy source in isolation. Global warming potential of selected electricity sources 1 see also environmental impact of reservoirs#Greenhouse gases. List of acronyms: PC — pulverized coal CCS — carbon capture and storage IGCC — integrated gasification combined cycle SC — supercritical NGCC — natural gas combined cycle CSP — concentrated solar power PV — photovoltaic power Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage whether bioenergy with carbon capture and storage can be carbon neutral or carbon negative is being researched and is controversial. Studies after the 2014 IPCC report Individual studies show a wide range of estimates for fuel sources arising from the different methodologies used. Those on the low end tend to leave parts of the life cycle out of their analysis, while those on the high end often make unrealistic assumptions about the amount of energy used in some parts of the life cycle. Since the 2014 IPCC study some geothermal has been found to emit such as some geothermal power in Italy: further research is ongoing in the 2020s. Ocean energy technologies (tidal and wave) are relatively new, and few studies have been conducted on them. A major issue of the available studies is that they seem to underestimate the impacts of maintenance, which could be significant. An assessment of around 180 ocean technologies found that the GWP of ocean technologies varies between 15 and 105 g/kWh of eq, with an average of 53 g/kWh eq. In a tentative preliminary study, published in 2020, the environmental impact of subsea tidal kite technologies the GWP varied between 15 and 37, with a median value of 23.8 g/kWh), which is slightly higher than that reported in the 2014 IPCC GWP study mentioned earlier (5.6 to 28, with a mean value of 17 g/kWh eq). In 2021 UNECE published a lifecycle analysis of environmental impact of electricity generation technologies, accounting for the following impacts: resource use (minerals, metals); land use; resource use (fossils); water use; particulate matter; photochemical ozone formation; ozone depletion; human toxicity (non-cancer); ionising radiation; human toxicity (cancer); eutrophication (terrestrial, marine, freshwater); ecotoxicity (freshwater); acidification; climate change, with the latter summarized in the table above. In June 2022, Électricité de France publishes a detailed Life-cycle assessment study, following the norm ISO 14040, showing the 2019 French nuclear infrastructure produces less than 4 g/kWh eq. Cutoff points of calculations and estimates of how long plants last Because most emissions from wind, solar and nuclear are not during operation, if they are operated for longer and generate more electricity over their lifetime then emissions per unit energy will be less. Therefore, their lifetimes are relevant. Wind farms are estimated to last 30 years: after that the carbon emissions from repowering would need to be taken into account. Solar panels from the 2010s may have a similar lifetime: however how long 2020s solar panels (such as perovskite) will last is not yet known. Some nuclear plants can be used for 80 years, but others may have to be retired earlier for safety reasons. more than half the world's nuclear plants are expected to request license extensions, and there have been calls for these extensions to be better scrutinised under the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context. Some coal-fired power stations may operate for 50 years but others may be shut down after 20 years, or less. According to one 2019 study considering the time value of GHG emissions with techno-economic assessment considerably increases the life cycle emissions from carbon intensive fuels such as coal. Lifecycle emissions from heating For residential heating in almost all countries emissions from natural gas furnaces are more than from heat pumps. But in some countries, such as the UK, there is an ongoing debate in the 2020s about whether it is better to replace the natural gas used in residential central heating with hydrogen, or whether to use heat pumps or in some cases more district heating. Fossil gas bridge fuel controversy whether natural gas should be used as a "bridge" from coal and oil to low carbon energy, is being debated for coal-reliant economies, such as India, China and Germany. Germany, as part of its Energiewende transformation, declares preservation of coal-based power until 2038 but immediate shutdown of nuclear power plants, which further increased its dependency on fossil gas. Missing life cycle phases Although the life cycle assessments of each energy source should attempt to cover the full life cycle of the source from cradle-to-grave, they are generally limited to the construction and operation phase. The most rigorously studied phases are those of material and fuel mining, construction, operation, and waste management. However, missing life cycle phases exist for a number of energy sources. At times, assessments variably and sometimes inconsistently include the global warming potential that results from decommissioning the energy supplying facility, once it has reached its designed life-span. This includes the global warming potential of the process to return the power-supply site to greenfield status. For example, the process of hydroelectric dam removal is usually excluded as it is a rare practice with little practical data available. Dam removal however is becoming increasingly common as dams age. Larger dams, such as the Hoover Dam and the Three Gorges Dam, are intended to last "forever" with the aid of maintenance, a period that is not quantified. Therefore, decommissioning estimates are generally omitted for some energy sources, while other energy sources include a decommissioning phase in their assessments. Along with the other prominent values of the paper, the median value presented of 12 g -eq/kWhe for nuclear fission, found in the 2012 Yale University nuclear power review, a paper which also serves as the origin of the 2014 IPCC's nuclear value, does however include the contribution of facility decommissioning with an "Added facility decommissioning" global warming potential in the full nuclear life cycle assessment. Thermal power plants, even if low carbon power biomass, nuclear or geothermal energy stations, directly add heat energy to the earth's global energy balance. As for wind turbines, they may change both horizontal and vertical atmospheric circulation. But, although both these may slightly change the local temperature, any difference they might make to the global temperature is undetectable against the far larger temperature change caused by greenhouse gases. See also Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage Carbon capture and storage Carbon footprint Climate change mitigation Efficient energy use Low-carbon economy Nuclear power proposed as renewable energy References External links National Renewable Energy Laboratory. LCA emissions of all present day energy sources. Wise uranium calculator Scientific comparisons Nuclear power Greenhouse gas emissions Energy

Reflexivity (social theory)

In epistemology, and more specifically, the sociology of knowledge, reflexivity refers to circular relationships between cause and effect, especially as embedded in human belief structures. A reflexive relationship is multi-directional when the causes and the effects affect the reflexive agent in a layered or complex sociological relationship. The complexity of this relationship can be furthered when epistemology includes religion. Within sociology more broadly—the field of origin—reflexivity means an act of self-reference where existence engenders examination, by which the thinking action "bends back on", refers to, and affects the entity instigating the action or examination. It commonly refers to the capacity of an agent to recognise forces of socialisation and alter their place in the social structure. A low level of reflexivity would result in individuals shaped largely by their environment (or "society"). A high level of social reflexivity would be defined by individuals shaping their own norms, tastes, politics, desires, and so on. This is similar to the notion of autonomy. (See also structure and agency and social mobility.) Within economics, reflexivity refers to the self-reinforcing effect of market sentiment, whereby rising prices attract buyers whose actions drive prices higher still until the process becomes unsustainable. This is an instance of a positive feedback loop. The same process can operate in reverse leading to a catastrophic collapse in prices. Overview In social theory, reflexivity may occur when theories in a discipline should apply equally to the discipline itself; for example, in the case that the theories of knowledge construction in the field of sociology of scientific knowledge should apply equally to knowledge construction by sociology of scientific knowledge practitioners, or when the subject matter of a discipline should apply equally to the individual practitioners of that discipline (e.g., when psychological theory should explain the psychological processes of psychologists). More broadly, reflexivity is considered to occur when the observations of observers in the social system affect the very situations they are observing, or when theory being formulated is disseminated to and affects the behaviour of the individuals or systems the theory is meant to be objectively modelling. Thus, for example, an anthropologist living in an isolated village may affect the village and the behaviour of its citizens under study. The observations are not independent of the participation of the observer. Reflexivity is, therefore, a methodological issue in the social sciences analogous to the observer effect. Within that part of recent sociology of science that has been called the strong programme, reflexivity is suggested as a methodological norm or principle, meaning that a full theoretical account of the social construction of, say, scientific, religious or ethical knowledge systems, should itself be explainable by the same principles and methods as used for accounting for these other knowledge systems. This points to a general feature of naturalised epistemologies, that such theories of knowledge allow for specific fields of research to elucidate other fields as part of an overall self-reflective process: any particular field of research occupied with aspects of knowledge processes in general (e.g., history of science, cognitive science, sociology of science, psychology of perception, semiotics, logic, neuroscience) may reflexively study other such fields yielding to an overall improved reflection on the conditions for creating knowledge. Reflexivity includes both a subjective process of self-consciousness inquiry and the study of social behaviour with reference to theories about social relationships. History The principle of reflexivity was perhaps first enunciated by the sociologists William I. Thomas and Dorothy Swaine Thomas, in their 1928 book The child in America: "If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences". The theory was later termed the "Thomas theorem". Sociologist Robert K. Merton (1948, 1949) built on the Thomas principle to define the notion of a self-fulfilling prophecy: that once a prediction or prophecy is made, actors may accommodate their behaviours and actions so that a statement that would have been false becomes true or, conversely, a statement that would have been true becomes false - as a consequence of the prediction or prophecy being made. The prophecy has a constitutive impact on the outcome or result, changing the outcome from what would otherwise have happened. Reflexivity was taken up as an issue in science in general by Karl Popper (1957), who in his book The poverty of historicism highlighted the influence of a prediction upon the event predicted, calling this the 'Oedipus effect' in reference to the Greek tale in which the sequence of events fulfilling the Oracle's prophecy is greatly influenced by the prophecy itself. Popper initially considered such self-fulfilling prophecy a distinguishing feature of social science, but later came to see that in the natural sciences, particularly biology and even molecular biology, something equivalent to expectation comes into play and can act to bring about that which has been expected. It was also taken up by Ernest Nagel (1961). Reflexivity presents a problem for science because if a prediction can lead to changes in the system that the prediction is made in relation to, it becomes difficult to assess scientific hypotheses by comparing the predictions they entail with the events that actually occur. The problem is even more difficult in the social sciences. Reflexivity has been taken up as the issue of "reflexive prediction" in economic science by Grunberg and Modigliani (1954) and Herbert A. Simon (1954), has been debated as a major issue in relation to the Lucas critique, and has been raised as a methodological issue in economic science arising from the issue of reflexivity in the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) literature. Reflexivity has emerged as both an issue and a solution in modern approaches to the problem of structure and agency, for example in the work of Anthony Giddens in his structuration theory and Pierre Bourdieu in his genetic structuralism. Giddens, for example, noted that constitutive reflexivity is possible in any social system, and that this presents a distinct methodological problem for the social sciences. Giddens accentuated this theme with his notion of "reflexive modernity" – the argument that, over time, society is becoming increasingly more self-aware, reflective, and hence reflexive. Bourdieu argued that the social scientist is inherently laden with biases, and only by becoming reflexively aware of those biases can the social scientists free themselves from them and aspire to the practice of an objective science. For Bourdieu, therefore, reflexivity is part of the solution, not the problem. Michel Foucault's The order of things can be said to touch on the issue of Reflexivity. Foucault examines the history of Western thought since the Renaissance and argues that each historical epoch (he identifies three and proposes a fourth) has an episteme, or "a historical a priori", that structures and organises knowledge. Foucault argues that the concept of man emerged in the early 19th century, what he calls the "Age of Man", with the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. He finishes the book by posing the problem of the age of man and our pursuit of knowledge- where "man is both knowing subject and the object of his own study"; thus, Foucault argues that the social sciences, far from being objective, produce truth in their own mutually exclusive discourses. In economics Economic philosopher George Soros, influenced by ideas put forward by his tutor, Karl Popper (1957), has been an active promoter of the relevance of reflexivity to economics, first propounding it publicly in his 1987 book The alchemy of finance. He regards his insights into market behaviour from applying the principle as a major factor in the success of his financial career. Reflexivity is inconsistent with general equilibrium theory, which stipulates that markets move towards equilibrium and that non-equilibrium fluctuations are merely random noise that will soon be corrected. In equilibrium theory, prices in the long run at equilibrium reflect the underlying economic fundamentals, which are unaffected by prices. Reflexivity asserts that prices do in fact influence the fundamentals and that these newly influenced sets of fundamentals then proceed to change expectations, thus influencing prices; the process continues in a self-reinforcing pattern. Because the pattern is self-reinforcing, markets tend towards disequilibrium. Sooner or later they reach a point where the sentiment is reversed and negative expectations become self-reinforcing in the downward direction, thereby explaining the familiar pattern of boom and bust cycles. An example Soros cites is the procyclical nature of lending, that is, the willingness of banks to ease lending standards for real estate loans when prices are rising, then raising standards when real estate prices are falling, reinforcing the boom and bust cycle. He further suggests that property price inflation is essentially a reflexive phenomenon: house prices are influenced by the sums that banks are prepared to advance for their purchase, and these sums are determined by the banks' estimation of the prices that the property would command. Soros has often claimed that his grasp of the principle of reflexivity is what has given him his "edge" and that it is the major factor contributing to his successes as a trader. For several decades there was little sign of the principle being accepted in mainstream economic circles, but there has been an increase of interest following the crash of 2008, with academic journals, economists, and investors discussing his theories. Economist and former columnist of the Financial Times, Anatole Kaletsky, argued that Soros' concept of reflexivity is useful in understanding China's economy and how the Chinese government manages it. In 2009, Soros funded the launch of the Institute for New Economic Thinking with the hope that it would develop reflexivity further. The Institute works with several types of heterodox economics, particularly the post-Keynesian branch. In sociology Margaret Archer has written extensively on laypeople's reflexivity. For her, human reflexivity is a mediating mechanism between structural properties, or the individual's social context, and action, or the individual's ultimate concerns. Reflexive activity, according to Archer, increasingly takes the place of habitual action in late modernity since routine forms prove ineffective in dealing with the complexity of modern life trajectories. While Archer emphasises the agentic aspect of reflexivity, reflexive orientations can themselves be seen as being "socially and temporally embedded". For example, Elster points out that reflexivity cannot be understood without taking into account the fact that it draws on background configurations (e.g., shared meanings, as well as past social engagement and lived experiences of the social world) to be operative. In anthropology In anthropology, reflexivity has come to have two distinct meanings, one that refers to the researcher's awareness of an analytic focus on his or her relationship to the field of study, and the other that attends to the ways that cultural practices involve consciousness and commentary on themselves. The first sense of reflexivity in anthropology is part of social science's more general self-critique in the wake of theories by Michel Foucault and others about the relationship of power and knowledge production. Reflexivity about the research process became an important part of the critique of the colonial roots and scientistic methods of anthropology in the "writing cultures" movement associated with James Clifford and George Marcus, as well as many other anthropologists. Rooted in literary criticism and philosophical analysis of the relationship among the anthropologists, the people represented in texts, and their textual representations, this approach has fundamentally changed ethical and methodological approaches in anthropology. As with the feminist and anti-colonial critiques that provide some of reflexive anthropology's inspiration, the reflexive understanding of the academic and political power of representations, analysis of the process of "writing culture" has become a necessary part of understanding the situation of the ethnographer in the fieldwork situation. Objectification of people and cultures and analysis of them only as objects of study has been largely rejected in favor of developing more collaborative approaches that respect local people's values and goals. Nonetheless, many anthropologists have accused the "writing cultures" approach of muddying the scientific aspects of anthropology with too much introspection about fieldwork relationships, and reflexive anthropology have been heavily attacked by more positivist anthropologists. Considerable debate continues in anthropology over the role of postmodernism and reflexivity, but most anthropologists accept the value of the critical perspective, and generally only argue about the relevance of critical models that seem to lead anthropology away from its earlier core foci. The second kind of reflexivity studied by anthropologists involves varieties of self-reference in which people and cultural practices call attention to themselves. One important origin for this approach is Roman Jakobson in his studies of deixis and the poetic function in language, but the work of Mikhail Bakhtin on carnival has also been important. Within anthropology, Gregory Bateson developed ideas about meta-messages (subtext) as part of communication, while Clifford Geertz's studies of ritual events such as the Balinese cock-fight point to their role as foci for public reflection on the social order. Studies of play and tricksters further expanded ideas about reflexive cultural practices. Reflexivity has been most intensively explored in studies of performance, public events, rituals, and linguistic forms but can be seen any time acts, things, or people are held up and commented upon or otherwise set apart for consideration. In researching cultural practices, reflexivity plays an important role, but because of its complexity and subtlety, it often goes under-investigated or involves highly specialised analyses. One use of studying reflexivity is in connection to authenticity. Cultural traditions are often imagined as perpetuated as stable ideals by uncreative actors. Innovation may or may not change tradition, but since reflexivity is intrinsic to many cultural activities, reflexivity is part of tradition and not inauthentic. The study of reflexivity shows that people have both self-awareness and creativity in culture. They can play with, comment upon, debate, modify, and objectify culture through manipulating many different features in recognised ways. This leads to the metaculture of conventions about managing and reflecting upon culture. In international relations In international relations, the question of reflexivity was first raised in the context of the so-called ‘Third Debate’ of the late 1980s. This debate marked a break with the positivist orthodoxy of the discipline. The post-positivist theoretical restructuring was seen to introduce reflexivity as a cornerstone of critical scholarship. For Mark Neufeld, reflexivity in International Relations was characterized by 1) self-awareness of underlying premises, 2) an acknowledgment of the political-normative dimension of theoretical paradigms, and 3) the affirmation that judgement about the merits of paradigms is possible despite the impossibility of neutral or apolitical knowledge production. Since the nineties, reflexivity has become an explicit concern of constructivist, poststructuralist, feminist, and other critical approaches to International Relations. In The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations, Patrick Thaddeus Jackson identified reflexivity of one of the four main methodologies into which contemporary International Relations research can be divided, alongside neopositivism, critical realism, and analyticism. Reflexivity and the status of the social sciences Flanagan has argued that reflexivity complicates all three of the traditional roles that are typically played by a classical science: explanation, prediction and control. The fact that individuals and social collectivities are capable of self-inquiry and adaptation is a key characteristic of real-world social systems, differentiating the social sciences from the physical sciences. Reflexivity, therefore, raises real issues regarding the extent to which the social sciences may ever be viewed as "hard" sciences analogous to classical physics, and raises questions about the nature of the social sciences. Methods for the implementation of reflexivity A new generation of scholars has gone beyond (meta-)theoretical discussion to develop concrete research practices for the implementation of reflexivity. These scholars have addressed the ‘how to’ question by turning reflexivity from an informal process into a formal research practice. While most research focuses on how scholars can become more reflexive toward their positionality and situatedness, some have sought to build reflexive methods in relation to other processes of knowledge production, such as the use of language. The latter has been advanced by the work of Professor Audrey Alejandro in a trilogy on reflexive methods. The first article of the trilogy develops what is referred to as Reflexive Discourse Analysis, a critical methodology for the implementation of reflexivity that integrates discourse theory. The second article further expands the methodological tools for practicing reflexivity by introducing a three-stage research method for problematizing linguistic categories. The final piece of the trilogy adds a further method for linguistic reflexivity, namely the Reflexive Review. This method provides four steps that aim to add a linguistic and reflexive dimension to the practice of writing a literature review. See also References Further reading Bryant, C. G. A. (2002). "George Soros's theory of reflexivity: a comparison with the theories of Giddens and Beck and a consideration of its practical value", Economy and society, 31 (1), pp. 112–131. Flanagan, O. J. (1981). "Psychology, progress, and the problem of reflexivity: a study in the epistemological foundations of psychology", Journal of the history of the behavioral sciences, 17, pp. 375–386. Gay, D. (2009). Reflexivity and development economics. London: Palgrave Macmillan Grunberg, E. and F. Modigliani (1954). "The predictability of social events", Journal of political economy, 62 (6), pp. 465–478. Merton, R. K. (1948). "The self-fulfilling prophecy", Antioch Review, 8, pp. 193–210. Merton, R. K. (1949/1957), Social theory and social structure. Rev. ed. The Free Press, Glencoe, IL. Nagel, E. (1961), The structure of science: problems in the logic of scientific explanation, Harcourt, New York. Popper, K. (1957), The poverty of historicism, Harper and Row, New York. Simon, H. (1954). "Bandwagon and underdog effects of election predictions", Public opinion quarterly, 18, pp. 245–253. Soros, G (1987) The alchemy of finance (Simon & Schuster, 1988) (paperback: Wiley, 2003; ) Soros, G (2008) The new paradigm for financial markets: the credit crisis of 2008 and what it means (PublicAffairs, 2008) Soros, G (2006) The age of fallibility: consequences of the war on terror (PublicAffairs, 2006) Soros, G The bubble of American supremacy: correcting the misuse of American power (PublicAffairs, 2003) (paperback; PublicAffairs, 2004; ) Soros, G George Soros on globalization (PublicAffairs, 2002) (paperback; PublicAffairs, 2005; ) Soros, G (2000) Open society: reforming global capitalism (PublicAffairs, 2001) Thomas, W. I. (1923), The unadjusted girl : with cases and standpoint for behavior analysis, Little, Brown, Boston, MA. Thomas, W. I. and D. S. Thomas (1928), The child in America : behavior problems and programs, Knopf, New York. Tsekeris, C. (2013). "Toward a chaos-friendly reflexivity", Entelequia, 16, pp. 71–89. Woolgar, S. (1988). Knowledge and reflexivity: new frontiers in the sociology of knowledge. London and Beverly Hills: Sage. Sociological terminology Sociological theories George Soros Self-reference

Natural farming

Natural farming (自然農法, shizen nōhō), also referred to as "the Fukuoka Method", "the natural way of farming", or "do-nothing farming", is an ecological farming approach established by Masanobu Fukuoka (1913–2008). Fukuoka, a Japanese farmer and philosopher, introduced the term in his 1975 book The One-Straw Revolution. The title refers not to lack of effort, but to the avoidance of manufactured inputs and equipment. Natural farming is related to fertility farming, organic farming, sustainable agriculture, agroecology, agroforestry, ecoagriculture and permaculture, but should be distinguished from biodynamic agriculture. The system works along with the natural biodiversity of each farmed area, encouraging the complexity of living organisms—both plant and animal—that shape each particular ecosystem to thrive along with food plants. Fukuoka saw farming both as a means of producing food and as an aesthetic or spiritual approach to life, the ultimate goal of which was, "the cultivation and perfection of human beings". He suggested that farmers could benefit from closely observing local conditions. Natural farming is a closed system, one that demands no human-supplied inputs and mimics nature. Fukuoka's natural farming practice rejected the use of modern technology, and after twenty-five years, his farm demonstrated consistently comparable yields to that of the most technologically advanced farms in Japan, doing so without the pollution, soil loss, energy consumption, and environmental degradation inherent in these modern types of farming. One of the main prompts of natural farming, is to ask why we should apply modern technology to the process of growing food, if nature is capable of achieving similar yields without the negative side-effects of these technologies. Such ideas radically challenged conventions that are core to modern agro-industries; instead of promoting importation of nutrients and chemicals, he suggested an approach that takes advantage of the local environment. Although natural farming is sometimes considered a subset of organic farming, it differs greatly from conventional organic farming, which Fukuoka considered to be another modern technique that disturbs nature. Fukuoka claimed that his approach prevents water pollution, biodiversity loss and soil erosion, while providing ample amounts of food, and there is a growing body of scientific work in fields like agroecology and regenerative agriculture, that lend support to these claims. Masanobu Fukuoka's principles In principle, practitioners of natural farming maintain that it is not a technique but a view, or a way of seeing ourselves as a part of nature, rather than separate from or above it. Accordingly, the methods themselves vary widely depending on culture and local conditions. Rather than offering a structured method, Fukuoka distilled the natural farming mindset into five principles: No tillage No fertilizer No pesticides or herbicides No weeding No pruning Though many of his plant varieties and practices relate specifically to Japan and even to local conditions in subtropical western Shikoku, his philosophy and the governing principles of his farming systems have been applied widely around the world, from Africa to the temperate northern hemisphere. Principally, natural farming minimises human labour and adopts, as closely as practical, nature's production of foods such as rice, barley, daikon or citrus in biodiverse agricultural ecosystems. Without plowing, seeds germinate well on the surface if site conditions meet the needs of the seeds placed there. Fukuoka used the presence of spiders in his fields as a key performance indicator of sustainability. Fukuoka specifies that the ground remain covered by weeds, white clover, alfalfa, herbaceous legumes, and sometimes deliberately sown herbaceous plants. Ground cover is present along with grain, vegetable crops and orchards. Chickens run free in orchards and ducks and carp populate rice fields. Periodically ground layer plants including weeds may be cut and left on the surface, returning their nutrients to the soil, while suppressing weed growth. This also facilitates the sowing of seeds in the same area because the dense ground layer hides the seeds from animals such as birds. For summer rice and winter barley grain crops, ground cover enhances nitrogen fixation. Straw from the previous crop mulches the topsoil. Each grain crop is sown before the previous one is harvested by broadcasting the seed among the standing crop. Later, this method was reduced to a single direct seeding of clover, barley and rice over the standing heads of rice. The result is a denser crop of smaller, but highly productive and stronger plants. Fukuoka's practice and philosophy emphasised small scale operation and challenged the need for mechanised farming techniques for high productivity, efficiency and economies of scale. While his family's farm was larger than the Japanese average, he used one field of grain crops as a small-scale example of his system. Yoshikazu Kawaguchi Widely regarded as the leading practitioner of the second-generation of natural farmers, Yoshikazu Kawaguchi is the instigator of Akame Natural Farm School, and a related network of volunteer-based "no-tuition" natural farming schools in Japan that numbers 40 locations and more than 900 concurrent students. Although Kawaguchi's practice is based on Fukuoka's principles, his methods differ notably from those of Fukuoka. He re-states the core values of natural farming as: Do not plow the fields Weeds and insects are not your enemies There is no need to add fertilizers Adjust the foods you grow based on your local climate and conditions Kawaguchi's recognition outside of Japan has become wider after his appearance as the central character in the documentary Final Straw: Food, Earth, Happiness, through which his interviews were translated into several languages. He is the author of several books in Japan, though none have been officially translated into English. Since 2016, Kawaguchi is no longer directly instructing at the Akame school which he founded. He is still actively teaching however, holding open farm days at his own natural farm in Nara prefecture. No-till Natural farming recognizes soils as a fundamental natural asset. Ancient soils possess physical and chemical attributes that render them capable of generating and supporting life abundance. It can be argued that tilling actually degrades the delicate balance of a climax soil: Tilling may destroy crucial physical characteristics of a soil such as water suction, its ability to send moisture upwards, even during dry spells. The effect is due to pressure differences between soil areas. Furthermore, tilling most certainly destroys soil horizons and hence disrupts the established flow of nutrients. A study suggests that reduced tillage preserves the crop residues on the top of the soil, allowing organic matter to be formed more easily and hence increasing the total organic carbon and nitrogen when compared to conventional tillage. The increases in organic carbon and nitrogen increase aerobic, facultative anaerobic and anaerobic bacteria populations. Tilling over-pumps oxygen to local soil residents, such as bacteria and fungi. As a result, the chemistry of the soil changes. Biological decomposition accelerates and the microbiota mass increases at the expense of other organic matter, adversely affecting most plants, including trees and vegetables. For plants to thrive a certain quantity of organic matter (around 5%) must be present in the soil. Tilling uproots all the plants in the area, turning their roots into food for bacteria and fungi. This damages their ability to aerate the soil. Living roots drill millions of tiny holes in the soil and thus provide oxygen. They also create room for beneficial insects and annelids (the phylum of worms). Some types of roots contribute directly to soil fertility by funding a mutualistic relationship with certain kinds of bacteria (most famously the rhizobium) that can fix nitrogen. Fukuoka advocated avoiding any change in the natural landscape. This idea differs significantly from some recent permaculture practice that focuses on permaculture design, which may involve the change in landscape. For example, Sepp Holzer, an Austrian permaculture farmer, advocates the creation of terraces on slopes to control soil erosion. Fukuoka avoided the creation of terraces in his farm, even though terraces were common in China and Japan in his time. Instead, he prevented soil erosion by simply growing trees and shrubs on slopes. Other forms of natural farming Although the term "natural farming" came into common use in the English language during the 1980s with the translation of the book One Straw Revolution, the natural farming mindset itself has a long history throughout the world, spanning from historical Native American practices to modern day urban farms. Some variants, and their particularities include: Fertility farming In 1951, Newman Turner advocated the practice of "fertility farming", a system featuring the use of a cover crop, no tillage, no chemical fertilizers, no pesticides, no weeding and no composting. Although Turner was a commercial farmer and did not practice random seeding of seed balls, his "fertility farming" principles share similarities with Fukuoka's system of natural farming. Turner also advocated a "natural method" of animal husbandry. Native American Recent research in the field of traditional ecological knowledge finds that for over one hundred centuries, Native American tribes worked the land in strikingly similar ways to today's natural farmers. Author and researcher M. Kat Anderson writes that "According to contemporary Native Americans, it is only through interaction and relationships with native plants that mutual respect is established." Nature Farming (Mokichi Okada) Japanese farmer and philosopher Mokichi Okada, conceived of a "no fertilizer" farming system in the 1930s that predated Fukuoka. Okada used the same Chinese characters as Fukuoka's "natural farming" however, they are translated into English slightly differently, as nature farming. Agriculture researcher Hu-lian Xu claims that "nature farming" is the correct literal translation of the Japanese term. Rishi Kheti In India, natural farming of Masanobu Fukuoka was called "Rishi Kheti" by practitioners like Partap Aggarwal. The Rishi Kheti use cow products like buttermilk, milk, curd and its waste urine for preparing growth promoters. The Rishi Kheti is considered to be non-violent farming without any usage of chemical fertilizer and pesticides. They obtain high quality natural or organic produce having medicinal values. Today still a small number of farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu use this farming method in India. Zero Budget Farming Zero Budget Farming is a variation on natural farming developed in, and primarily practiced in southern India. It is also called spiritual farming. The method involves mulching, intercropping, and the use of several preparations which include cow dung. These preparations, generated on-site, are central to the practice, and said to promote microbe and earthworm activity in the soil. Indian agriculturist Subhash Palekar has researched and written extensively on this method. See also Agrarianism Agroecology Biomimicry Conservation agriculture Ecoagriculture Ethnobotany Forest gardening Green manure (plants) Holzer Permaculture Hydroculture Korean natural farming No-dig gardening No-till farming Seed saving References External links Final Straw: Food, Earth, Happiness documentary exploring the natural farming philosophy in Korea, Japan, and USA (2015) The Natural Farming Center of Greece Environmental conservation Organic farming Agriculture and the environment Permaculture concepts Agroforestry

Urban planning

Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning in specific contexts, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportation, communications, and distribution networks, and their accessibility. Traditionally, urban planning followed a top-down approach in master planning the physical layout of human settlements. The primary concern was the public welfare, which included considerations of efficiency, sanitation, protection and use of the environment, as well as effects of the master plans on the social and economic activities. Over time, urban planning has adopted a focus on the social and environmental bottom lines that focus on planning as a tool to improve the health and well-being of people, maintaining sustainability standards. Similarly, in the early 21st century, Jane Jacobs's writings on legal and political perspectives to emphasize the interests of residents, businesses and communities effectively influenced urban planners to take into broader consideration of resident experiences and needs while planning. Urban planning answers questions about how people will live, work, and play in a given area and thus, guides orderly development in urban, suburban and rural areas. Although predominantly concerned with the planning of settlements and communities, urban planners are also responsible for planning the efficient transportation of goods, resources, people, and waste; the distribution of basic necessities such as water and electricity; a sense of inclusion and opportunity for people of all kinds, culture and needs; economic growth or business development; improving health and conserving areas of natural environmental significance that actively contributes to reduction in emissions as well as protecting heritage structures and built environments. Since most urban planning teams consist of highly educated individuals that work for city governments, recent debates focus on how to involve more community members in city planning processes. Urban planning is an interdisciplinary field that includes civil engineering, architecture, human geography, politics, social science and design sciences. Practitioners of urban planning are concerned with research and analysis, strategic thinking, engineering architecture, urban design, public consultation, policy recommendations, implementation and management. It is closely related to the field of urban design and some urban planners provide designs for streets, parks, buildings and other urban areas. Urban planners work with the cognate fields of civil engineering, landscape architecture, architecture, and public administration to achieve strategic, policy and sustainability goals. Early urban planners were often members of these cognate fields though today, urban planning is a separate, independent professional discipline. The discipline of urban planning is the broader category that includes different sub-fields such as land-use planning, zoning, economic development, environmental planning, and transportation planning. Creating the plans requires a thorough understanding of penal codes and zonal codes of planning. Another important aspect of urban planning is that the range of urban planning projects include the large-scale master planning of empty sites or Greenfield projects as well as small-scale interventions and refurbishments of existing structures, buildings and public spaces. Pierre Charles L'Enfant in Washington, D.C., Daniel Burnham in Chicago, Lúcio Costa in Brasília and Georges-Eugene Haussmann in Paris planned cities from scratch, and Robert Moses and Le Corbusier refurbished and transformed cities and neighborhoods to meet their ideas of urban planning. History There is evidence of urban planning and designed communities dating back to the Mesopotamian, Indus Valley, Minoan, and Egyptian civilizations in the third millennium BCE. Archaeologists studying the ruins of cities in these areas find paved streets that were laid out at right angles in a grid pattern. The idea of a planned out urban area evolved as different civilizations adopted it. Beginning in the 8th century BCE, Greek city states primarily used orthogonal (or grid-like) plans. Hippodamus of Miletus (498–408 BC), the ancient Greek architect and urban planner, is considered to be "the father of European urban planning", and the namesake of the "Hippodamian plan" (grid plan) of city layout. The ancient Romans also used orthogonal plans for their cities. City planning in the Roman world was developed for military defense and public convenience. The spread of the Roman Empire subsequently spread the ideas of urban planning. As the Roman Empire declined, these ideas slowly disappeared. However, many cities in Europe still held onto the planned Roman city center. Cities in Europe from the 9th to 14th centuries, often grew organically and sometimes chaotically. But in the following centuries with the coming of the Renaissance many new cities were enlarged with newly planned extensions. From the 15th century on, much more is recorded of urban design and the people that were involved. In this period, theoretical treatises on architecture and urban planning start to appear in which theoretical questions around planning the main lines, ensuring plans meet the needs of the given population and so forth are addressed and designs of towns and cities are described and depicted. During the Enlightenment period, several European rulers ambitiously attempted to redesign capital cities. During the Second French Empire, Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, under the direction of Napoleon III, redesigned the city of Paris into a more modern capital, with long, straight, wide boulevards. Planning and architecture went through a paradigm shift at the turn of the 20th century. The industrialized cities of the 19th century grew at a tremendous rate. The evils of urban life for the working poor were becoming increasingly evident as a matter of public concern. The laissez-faire style of government management of the economy, in fashion for most of the Victorian era, was starting to give way to a New Liberalism that championed intervention on the part of the poor and disadvantaged. Around 1900, theorists began developing urban planning models to mitigate the consequences of the industrial age, by providing citizens, especially factory workers, with healthier environments. The following century would therefore be globally dominated by a central planning approach to urban planning, not representing an increment in the overall quality of the urban realm. At the beginning of the 20th century, urban planning began to be recognized as a separate profession. The Town and Country Planning Association was founded in 1899 and the first academic course in Great Britain on urban planning was offered by the University of Liverpool in 1909. In the 1920s, the ideas of modernism and uniformity began to surface in urban planning, and lasted until the 1970s. In 1933, Le Corbusier presented the Radiant City, a city that grows up in the form of towers, as a solution to the problem of pollution and over-crowding. But many planners started to believe that the ideas of modernism in urban planning led to higher crime rates and social problems. In the second half of the 20th century, urban planners gradually shifted their focus to individualism and diversity in urban centers. 21st century practices Urban planners studying the effects of increasing congestion in urban areas began to address the externalities, the negative impacts caused by induced demand from larger highway systems in western countries such as in the United States. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs predicted in 2018 that around 2.5 billion more people occupy urban areas by 2050 according to population elements of global migration. New planning theories have adopted non-traditional concepts such as Blue Zones and Innovation Districts to incorporate geographic areas within the city that allow for novel business development and the prioritization of infrastructure that would assist with improving the quality of life of citizens by extending their potential lifespan. Planning practices have incorporated policy changes to help address anthropogenic (human caused) climate change. London began to charge a congestion charge for cars trying to access already crowded places in the city. Cities nowadays stress the importance of public transit and cycling by adopting such policies. Theories Planning theory is the body of scientific concepts, definitions, behavioral relationships, and assumptions that define the body of knowledge of urban planning. There are eight procedural theories of planning that remain the principal theories of planning procedure today: the rational-comprehensive approach, the incremental approach, the transactive approach, the communicative approach, the advocacy approach, the equity approach, the radical approach, and the humanist or phenomenological approach. Some other conceptual planning theories include Ebenezer Howard's The Three Magnets theory that he envisioned for the future of British settlement, also his Garden Cities, the Concentric Model Zone also called the Burgess Model by sociologist Ernest Burgess, the Radburn Superblock that encourages pedestrian movement, the Sector Model and the Multiple Nuclei Model among others. Participatory urban planning Participatory planning is an urban planning approach that involves the entire community in the planning process. Participatory planning in the United States emerged during the 1960s and 1970s. Technical aspects Technical aspects of urban planning involve the application of scientific, technical processes, considerations and features that are involved in planning for land use, urban design, natural resources, transportation, and infrastructure. Urban planning includes techniques such as: predicting population growth, zoning, geographic mapping and analysis, analyzing park space, surveying the water supply, identifying transportation patterns, recognizing food supply demands, allocating healthcare and social services, and analyzing the impact of land use. In order to predict how cities will develop and estimate the effects of their interventions, planners use various models. These models can be used to indicate relationships and patterns in demographic, geographic, and economic data. They might deal with short-term issues such as how people move through cities, or long-term issues such as land use and growth. One such model is the Geographic Information System (GIS) that is used to create a model of the existing planning and then to project future impacts on the society, economy and environment. Building codes and other regulations dovetail with urban planning by governing how cities are constructed and used from the individual level. Enforcement methodologies include governmental zoning, planning permissions, and building codes, as well as private easements and restrictive covenants. With recent advances in information and communication technologies and the Internet of Things, an increasing number of cities are adopting technologies such as crowdsorced mobile phone sensing and machine learning to collect data and extract useful information to help make informed urban planning decisions. Urban planners An urban planner is a professional who works in the field of urban planning for the purpose of optimizing the effectiveness of a community's land use and infrastructure. They formulate plans for the development and management of urban and suburban areas. They typically analyze land use compatibility as well as economic, environmental, and social trends. In developing any plan for a community (whether commercial, residential, agricultural, natural or recreational), urban planners must consider a wide array of issues including sustainability, existing and potential pollution, transport including potential congestion, crime, land values, economic development, social equity, zoning codes, and other legislation. The importance of the urban planner is increasing in the 21st century, as modern society begins to face issues of increased population growth, climate change and unsustainable development. An urban planner could be considered a green collar professional. Some researchers suggest that urban planners, globally, work in different "planning cultures", adapted to their cities and cultures. However, professionals have identified skills, abilities, and basic knowledge sets that are common to urban planners across regional and national boundaries. Criticisms and debates The school of neoclassical economics argues that planning is unnecessary, or even harmful, as it market efficiency allows for effective land use. A pluralist strain of political thinking argues in a similar vein that the government should not intrude in the political competition between different interest groups which decides how land is used. The traditional justification for urban planning has in response been that the planner does to the city what the engineer or architect does to the home, that is, make it more amenable to the needs and preferences of its inhabitants. The widely adopted consensus-building model of planning, which seeks to accommodate different preferences within the community has been criticized for being based upon, rather than challenging, the power structures of the community. Instead, agonism has been proposed as a framework for urban planning decision-making. Another debate within the urban planning field is about who is included and excluded in the urban planning decision-making process. Most urban planning processes use a top-down approach which fails to include the residents of the places where urban planners and city officials are working. Sherry Arnstein's "ladder of citizen participation" is often used by many urban planners and city governments to determine the degree of inclusivity or exclusivity of their urban planning. One main source of engagement between city officials and residents are city council meetings that are open to the residents and that welcome public comments. Additionally, in US there are some federal requirements for citizen participation in government-funded infrastructure projects. Participatory urban planning has been criticized for contributing to the housing crisis in parts of the world. See also Air pollution Aire de mise en valeur de l'architecture et du paysage Behavioral urbanism Bicycle-friendly Blue space Circulation planning Curb cut effect Cycling infrastructure Development studies Domestic travel restrictions Epidemiology Hazard mitigation Index of urban planning articles Land recycling List of planned cities List of planning journals List of urban planners List of urban plans List of urban theorists Living street Low emission zone NIMBY New Urbanism Noise pollution Permeability Planning cultures Regional planning Road traffic safety Rural development Smart city Street reclamation Stroad Universal design Urban design Urban density Urban economics Urban planning education Urban green space Urban history Urban informatics Urban planning in communist countries Urban studies Urban theory Urban vitality YIMBY Walkability Walking audit References Further reading Knox, P. L. (2020) Better by Design?: Architecture, Urban Planning, and the Good City. Blacksburg: Virginia Tech Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21061/better-by-design External links American Planning Association Library guides for urban planning

Ecosystem model

An ecosystem model is an abstract, usually mathematical, representation of an ecological system (ranging in scale from an individual population, to an ecological community, or even an entire biome), which is studied to better understand the real system. Using data gathered from the field, ecological relationships—such as the relation of sunlight and water availability to photosynthetic rate, or that between predator and prey populations—are derived, and these are combined to form ecosystem models. These model systems are then studied in order to make predictions about the dynamics of the real system. Often, the study of inaccuracies in the model (when compared to empirical observations) will lead to the generation of hypotheses about possible ecological relations that are not yet known or well understood. Models enable researchers to simulate large-scale experiments that would be too costly or unethical to perform on a real ecosystem. They also enable the simulation of ecological processes over very long periods of time (i.e. simulating a process that takes centuries in reality, can be done in a matter of minutes in a computer model). Ecosystem models have applications in a wide variety of disciplines, such as natural resource management, ecotoxicology and environmental health, agriculture, and wildlife conservation. Ecological modelling has even been applied to archaeology with varying degrees of success, for example, combining with archaeological models to explain the diversity and mobility of stone tools. Types of models There are two major types of ecological models, which are generally applied to different types of problems: (1) analytic models and (2) simulation / computational models. Analytic models are typically relatively simple (often linear) systems, that can be accurately described by a set of mathematical equations whose behavior is well-known. Simulation models on the other hand, use numerical techniques to solve problems for which analytic solutions are impractical or impossible. Simulation models tend to be more widely used, and are generally considered more ecologically realistic, while analytic models are valued for their mathematical elegance and explanatory power. Ecopath is a powerful software system which uses simulation and computational methods to model marine ecosystems. It is widely used by marine and fisheries scientists as a tool for modelling and visualising the complex relationships that exist in real world marine ecosystems. Model design The process of model design begins with a specification of the problem to be solved, and the objectives for the model. Ecological systems are composed of an enormous number of biotic and abiotic factors that interact with each other in ways that are often unpredictable, or so complex as to be impossible to incorporate into a computable model. Because of this complexity, ecosystem models typically simplify the systems they are studying to a limited number of components that are well understood, and deemed relevant to the problem that the model is intended to solve. The process of simplification typically reduces an ecosystem to a small number of state variables and mathematical functions that describe the nature of the relationships between them. The number of ecosystem components that are incorporated into the model is limited by aggregating similar processes and entities into functional groups that are treated as a unit. After establishing the components to be modeled and the relationships between them, another important factor in ecosystem model structure is the representation of space used. Historically, models have often ignored the confounding issue of space. However, for many ecological problems spatial dynamics are an important part of the problem, with different spatial environments leading to very different outcomes. Spatially explicit models (also called "spatially distributed" or "landscape" models) attempt to incorporate a heterogeneous spatial environment into the model. A spatial model is one that has one or more state variables that are a function of space, or can be related to other spatial variables. Validation After construction, models are validated to ensure that the results are acceptably accurate or realistic. One method is to test the model with multiple sets of data that are independent of the actual system being studied. This is important since certain inputs can cause a faulty model to output correct results. Another method of validation is to compare the model's output with data collected from field observations. Researchers frequently specify beforehand how much of a disparity they are willing to accept between parameters output by a model and those computed from field data. Examples The Lotka–Volterra equations One of the earliest, and most well-known, ecological models is the predator-prey model of Alfred J. Lotka (1925) and Vito Volterra (1926). This model takes the form of a pair of ordinary differential equations, one representing a prey species, the other its predator. where, Volterra originally devised the model to explain fluctuations in fish and shark populations observed in the Adriatic Sea after the First World War (when fishing was curtailed). However, the equations have subsequently been applied more generally. Although simple, they illustrate some of the salient features of ecological models: modelled biological populations experience growth, interact with other populations (as either predators, prey or competitors) and suffer mortality. A credible, simple alternative to the Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model and its common prey dependent generalizations is the ratio dependent or Arditi-Ginzburg model. The two are the extremes of the spectrum of predator interference models. According to the authors of the alternative view, the data show that true interactions in nature are so far from the Lotka-Volterra extreme on the interference spectrum that the model can simply be discounted as wrong. They are much closer to the ratio dependent extreme, so if a simple model is needed one can use the Arditi-Ginzburg model as the first approximation. Others The theoretical ecologist Robert Ulanowicz has used information theory tools to describe the structure of ecosystems, emphasizing mutual information (correlations) in studied systems. Drawing on this methodology and prior observations of complex ecosystems, Ulanowicz depicts approaches to determining the stress levels on ecosystems and predicting system reactions to defined types of alteration in their settings (such as increased or reduced energy flow, and eutrophication. Conway's Game of Life and its variations model ecosystems where proximity of the members of a population are factors in population growth. See also Compartmental models in epidemiology Dynamic global vegetation model Ecological forecasting Gordon Arthur Riley Land Surface Model (LSM version 1.0) Liebig's law of the minimum Mathematical biology Population dynamics Population ecology Rapoport's rule Scientific modelling System dynamics References Further reading External links Ecological modelling resources (ecobas.org) Exposure Assessment Models United States Environmental Protection Agency Ecotoxicology & Models (ecotoxmodels.org) Biological systems Environmental terminology Fisheries science Habitat Mathematical and theoretical biology Population models Systems ecology

Triple bottom line

The triple bottom line (or otherwise noted as TBL or 3BL) is an accounting framework with three parts: social, environmental (or ecological) and economic. Some organizations have adopted the TBL framework to evaluate their performance in a broader perspective to create greater business value. Business writer John Elkington claims to have coined the phrase in 1994. Background In traditional business accounting and common usage, the "bottom line" refers to either the "profit" or "loss", which is usually recorded at the very bottom line on a statement of revenue and expenses. Over the last 50 years, environmentalists and social justice advocates have struggled to bring a broader definition of bottom line into public consciousness by introducing full cost accounting. For example, if a corporation shows a monetary profit, but their asbestos mine causes thousands of deaths from asbestosis, and their copper mine pollutes a river, and the government ends up spending taxpayer money on health care and river clean-up, how can we capture a fuller societal cost benefit analysis? The triple bottom line adds two more "bottom lines": social and environmental (ecological) concerns. With the ratification of the United Nations and ICLEI TBL standard for urban and community accounting in early 2007, this became the dominant approach to public sector full cost accounting. Similar UN standards apply to natural capital and human capital measurement to assist in measurements required by TBL, e.g. the EcoBudget standard for reporting ecological footprint. Use of the TBL is fairly widespread in South African media, as found in a 1990–2008 study of worldwide national newspapers. An example of an organization seeking a triple bottom line would be a social enterprise run as a non-profit, but earning income by offering opportunities for handicapped people who have been labelled "unemployable", to earn a living by recycling. The organization earns a profit, which is invested back into the community. The social benefit is the meaningful employment of disadvantaged citizens, and the reduction in the society's welfare or disability costs. The environmental benefit comes from the recycling accomplished. In the private sector, a commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) implies an obligation to public reporting about the business's substantial impact for the better of the environment and people. Triple bottom line is one framework for reporting this material impact. This is distinct from the more limited changes required to deal only with ecological issues. The triple bottom line has also been extended to encompass four pillars, known as the quadruple bottom line (QBL). The fourth pillar denotes a future-oriented approach (future generations, intergenerational equity, etc.). It is a long-term outlook that sets sustainable development and sustainability concerns apart from previous social, environmental, and economic considerations. The challenges of putting the TBL into practice relate to the measurement of social and ecological categories. Despite this, the TBL framework enables organizations to take a longer-term perspective and thus evaluate the future consequences of decisions. Definition Sustainable development was defined by the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations in 1987. Triple bottom line (TBL) accounting expands the traditional reporting framework to take into account social and environmental performance in addition to financial performance. In 1981, Freer Spreckley first articulated the triple bottom line framework in a publication called Social Audit - A Management Tool for Co-operative Working. In this work, he argued that enterprises should measure and report on financial performance, social wealth creation, and environmental responsibility. The phrase "triple bottom line" was articulated more fully by John Elkington in his 1997 book Cannibals with Forks: the Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business, where he adopted a question asked by the Polish poet Stanisław Lec, "Is it progress if a cannibal uses a fork?" as the opening line of his foreword. Elkington suggests that it can be, particularly in the case of "sustainable capitalism", wherein competing corporate entities seek to maintain their relative position by addressing people and planet issues as well as profit maximisation. A Triple Bottom Line Investing group advocating and publicizing these principles was founded in 1998 by Robert J. Rubinstein. For reporting their efforts companies may demonstrate their commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) through the following: Top-level involvement (CEO, Board of Directors) Policy Investments Programs Signatories to voluntary standards Principles (UN Global Compact-Ceres Principles) Reporting (Global Reporting Initiative) The concept of TBL demands that a company's responsibility lies with stakeholders rather than shareholders. In this case, "stakeholders" refers to anyone who is influenced, either directly or indirectly, by the actions of the firm. Examples of stakeholders include employees, customers, suppliers, local residents, government agencies, and creditors. According to the stakeholder theory, the business entity should be used as a vehicle for coordinating stakeholder interests, instead of maximizing shareholder (owner) profit. A growing number of financial institutions incorporate a triple bottom line approach in their work. It is at the core of the business of banks in the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, for example. The Detroit-based Avalon International Breads interprets the triple bottom line as consisting of "Earth", "Community", and "Employees". The three bottom lines The triple bottom line consists of social equity, economic, and environmental factors. The phrase, "people, planet, and profit" to describe the triple bottom line and the goal of sustainability, was coined by John Elkington in 1994 while at SustainAbility, and was later used as the title of the Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell's first sustainability report in 1997. As a result, one country in which the 3P concept took deep root was The Netherlands. People, the social equity bottom line The people, social equity, or human capital bottom line pertains to fair and beneficial business practices toward labour and the community and region in which a corporation conducts its business. A TBL company conceives a reciprocal social structure in which the well-being of corporate, labour and other stakeholder interests are interdependent. An enterprise dedicated to the triple bottom line seeks to provide benefit to many constituencies and not to exploit or endanger any group of them. The "up streaming" of a portion of profit from the marketing of finished goods back to the original producer of raw materials, for example, a farmer in fair trade agricultural practice, is a common feature. In concrete terms, a TBL business would not use child labour and monitor all contracted companies for child labour exploitation, would pay fair salaries to its workers, would maintain a safe work environment and tolerable working hours, and would not otherwise exploit a community or its labour force. A TBL business also typically seeks to "give back" by contributing to the strength and growth of its community with such things as health care and education. Quantifying this bottom line is relatively new, problematic and often subjective. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has developed guidelines to enable corporations and NGOs alike to comparably report on the social impact of a business. Planet, the environmental bottom line The planet, environmental bottom line, or natural capital bottom line refers to sustainable environmental practices. A TBL company endeavors to benefit the natural order as much as possible or at the least do no harm and minimize environmental impact. A TBL endeavour reduces its ecological footprint by, among other things, carefully managing its consumption of energy and non-renewables and reducing manufacturing waste as well as rendering waste less toxic before disposing of it in a safe and legal manner. "Cradle to grave" is uppermost in the thoughts of TBL manufacturing businesses, which typically conduct a life cycle assessment of products to determine what the true environmental cost is from the growth and harvesting of raw materials to manufacture to distribution to eventual disposal by the end user. Currently, the cost of disposing of non-degradable or toxic products is born financially and environmentally by future generations, the governments, and residents near the disposal site and elsewhere. In TBL thinking, an enterprise which produces and markets a product which will create a waste problem should not be given a free ride by society. It would be more equitable for the business which manufactures and sells a problematic product to bear part of the cost of its ultimate disposal. Ecologically destructive practices, such as overfishing or other endangering depletions of resources are avoided by TBL companies. Often environmental sustainability is the more profitable course for a business in the long run. Arguments that it costs more to be environmentally sound are often specious when the course of the business is analyzed over a period of time. Generally, sustainability reporting metrics are better quantified and standardized for environmental issues than for social ones. A number of respected reporting institutes and registries exist including the Global Reporting Initiative, CERES, Institute for Sustainability and others. The ecological bottom line is akin to the concept of eco-capitalism. Profit, the economic bottom line The profit or economic bottom line deals with the economic value created by the organization after deducting the cost of all inputs, including the cost of the capital tied up. It therefore differs from traditional accounting definitions of profit. In the original concept, within a sustainability framework, the "profit" aspect needs to be seen as the real economic benefit enjoyed by the host society. It is the real economic impact the organization has on its economic environment. This is often confused to be limited to the internal profit made by a company or organization (which nevertheless remains an essential starting point for the computation). Therefore, an original TBL approach cannot be interpreted as simply traditional corporate accounting profit plus social and environmental impacts unless the "profits" of other entities are included as a social benefit. Subsequent development Following the initial publication of the triple bottom line concept, students and practitioners have sought greater detail in how the pillars can be evaluated. The people concept, for example, can be viewed into three dimensions – organisational needs, individual needs, and community issues. Equally, profit is a function of both a healthy sales stream, which needs a high focus on customer service, coupled with the adoption of a strategy to develop new customers to replace those that die away, and planet can be divided into a multitude of subdivisions, although reduce, reuse and recycle is a succinct way of steering through this division. The initial understanding is now supplanted by thinking beyond TBL: added to the TBL concept of economics, ethics and environment is the idea of thinking of the environment as a mantel that the other pillars hold up, and add to Economics and Ethics, the notions of Energy, and Health or the 4 E's. Supporting arguments The following business-based arguments support the concept of TBL: Reaching untapped market potential: TBL companies can find financially profitable niches which were missed when money alone was the driving factor. Examples include: Adding ecotourism or geotourism to an already rich tourism market such as the Dominican Republic Developing profitable methods to assist existing NGOs with their missions such as fundraising, reaching clients, or creating networking opportunities with multiple NGOs Providing products or services which benefit underserved populations and/or the environment which are also financially profitable. Adapting to new business sectors: While the number of social enterprises is growing, and with the entry of the B Corp movement, there is more demand from consumers and investors for an accounting for social and environmental impact. For example, Fair Trade and Ethical Trade companies require ethical and sustainable practices from all of their suppliers and service providers. Government fiscal policies usually claim to be concerned with identifying social and natural deficits on a less formal basis. However, such choices may be guided more by ideology than by economics. The primary benefit of embedding one approach to measurement of these deficits would be first to direct monetary policy to reduce them, and eventually achieve a global monetary reform by which they could be systematically and globally reduced in some uniform way. The argument is that the Earth's carrying capacity is at risk, and that in order to avoid catastrophic breakdown of climate or ecosystems, there is need for comprehensive reform of global financial institutions similar in scale to what was undertaken at Bretton Woods in 1944. With the emergence of an externally consistent green economics and agreement on definitions of potentially contentious terms such as full-cost accounting, natural capital and social capital, the prospect of formal metrics for ecological and social loss or risk has grown less remote since the 1990s. In the United Kingdom in particular, the London Health Observatory has undertaken a formal programme to address social deficits via a fuller understanding of what "social capital" is, how it functions in a real community (that being the City of London), and how losses of it tend to require both financial capital and significant political and social attention from volunteers and professionals to help resolve. The data they rely on is extensive, building on decades of statistics of the Greater London Council since World War II. Similar studies have been undertaken in North America. Studies of the value of Earth have tried to determine what might constitute an ecological or natural life deficit. The Kyoto Protocol relies on some measures of this sort, and actually relies on some value of life calculations that, among other things, are explicit about the ratio of the price of a human life between developed and developing nations (about 15 to 1). While the motive of this number was to simply assign responsibility for a cleanup, such stark honesty opens not just an economic but political door to some kind of negotiation — presumably to reduce that ratio in time to something seen as more equitable. As it is, people in developed nations can be said to benefit 15 times more from ecological devastation than in developing nations, in pure financial terms. According to the IPCC, they are thus obliged to pay 15 times more per life to avoid a loss of each such life to climate change — the Kyoto Protocol seeks to implement exactly this formula, and is therefore sometimes cited as a first step towards getting nations to accept formal liability for damage inflicted on ecosystems shared globally. Advocacy for triple bottom line reforms is common in Green Parties. Some of the measures undertaken in the European Union towards the Euro currency integration standardize the reporting of ecological and social losses in such a way as to seem to endorse in principle the notion of unified accounts, or unit of account, for these deficits. To address financial bottom line profitability concerns, some argue that focusing on the TBL will indeed increase profit for the shareholders in the long run. In practice, John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, uses Whole Foods' Community Giving Days as an example. On days when Whole Foods donates 5% of their sales to charity, this action benefits the community, creates goodwill with customers, and energizes employees, which may lead to increased, sustainable profitability in the long-run. Furthermore, planning a sustainability strategy with the triple bottom line in mind could save companies a lot of money if a disaster were to strike. For example, when BP spilled "two hundred million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico", it cost the company "billions". This company focused mostly on the financial and economic costs of this disaster, instead of the company’s environmental bottom line, furthering damage to the company and its reputation. Adoption Timothy Slater and Tanya Hall identified General Electric (GE), Unilever, Procter and Gamble, 3M and a private company, Cascade Engineering, as examples of businesses using TBL. GE referred to TBL benefits associated with their electron beam emitting technology investment in 2008. Danish company Novo Nordisk's consolidated financial statements for 2019 were supplemented by a "consolidated social statement" and a "consolidated environmental statement". Criticism While many people agree with the importance of good social conditions and preservation of the environment, there are also many who disagree with the triple bottom line as the way to enhance these conditions. The following are the reasons why: Reductive method: Concurrently the environment comes to be treated as an externality or background feature, an externality that tends not to have the human dimension build into its definition. Thus, in many writings, even in those critical of the triple-bottom-line approach, the social becomes a congeries of miscellaneous considerations left over from the other two prime categories. Alternative approaches, such as Circles of Sustainability, that treat the economic as a social domain, alongside and in relation to the ecological, the political and the cultural are now being considered as more appropriate for understanding institutions, cities and regions. Inertia: The difficulty of achieving global agreement on simultaneous policy may render such measures at best advisory, and thus unenforceable. For example, people may be unwilling to undergo a depression or even sustained recession to replenish lost ecosystems. Application: According to Fred Robins' The Challenge of TBL: A Responsibility to Whom? one of the major weaknesses of the TBL framework is its ability to be applied in the practical world. Equating ecology with environment: TBL is seen to be disregarding ecological sustainability with environmental effects, where in reality both economic and social viability is dependent on environmental well-being. While greenwashing is not new, its use has increased over recent years to meet consumer demand for environmentally friendly goods and services. The problem is compounded by lax enforcement by regulatory agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission in the United States, the Competition Bureau in Canada, and the Committee of Advertising Practice and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice in the United Kingdom. Critics of the practice suggest that the rise of greenwashing, paired with ineffective regulation, contributes to consumer skepticism of all green claims, and diminishes the power of the consumer in driving companies toward greener solutions for manufacturing processes and business operation. Time dimension: While the triple bottom line incorporates the social, economical and environmental (People, Planet, Profit) dimensions of sustainable development, it does not explicitly address the fourth dimension: time. The time dimension focuses on preserving current value in all three other dimensions for later. This means assessment of short term, longer term and long term consequences of any action. "One problem with the triple bottom line is that the three separate accounts cannot easily be added up. It is difficult to measure the planet and people accounts in the same terms as profits—that is, in terms of cash." This has led to TBL being augmented with cost-benefit analysis in Triple Bottom Line Cost Benefit Analysis (TBL-CBA). Performance/eco-efficiency: According to Rambaud, A. & Richard, J., "the TBL model [...] is based on the concept of ‘eco-efficiency’. In his seminal book, Elkington [...] gives a fundamental role to eco-efficiency in constructing the TBL model. According to him, the development of the concept of eco-efficiency allowed the development of the TBL model, a framework that he believes can save businesspeople from ecological communism". Eco-efficiency is equivalent to weak sustainability and corresponds to a relative measure of socio-environmental impacts compared to value creation. In this, eco-efficiency differs from eco-effectiveness, which is concerned with the absolute measurement of these impacts. A company can therefore increase its socio-environmental impacts and increase its eco-efficiency, if at the same time it increases its value creation even more. The TBL is thus the dedicated reporting system structuring this notion of performance at the expense of eco-effectiveness. Yet eco-efficiency is at the heart of rebound effects and cannot be a credible basis for ecosystem management in particular. Elkington himself has called for a rethink on TBL and a "product recall" on use of the concept. He argues that the original idea was to encourage businesses to manage the wider economic, social and environmental impacts of their operations, but its practical use as an accounting tool has now undermined its value. More precisely, he explains "It [Triple Bottom Line] was supposed to provoke deeper thinking about capitalism and its future, but many early adopters understood the concept as a balancing act, adopting a trade-off mentality. [...] Such experimentation [de la TBL] is clearly vital — and typically sparks a proliferation of potential solutions. But the bewildering range of options now on offer can provide business with an alibi for inaction. Worse, we have conspicuously failed to benchmark progress across these options, on the basis of their real-world impact and performance". In short, the criticisms can be summarised as: attempting to divert the attention of regulators and deflating pressure for regulatory change; seeking to persuade critics, such as non-government organisations, that they are both well-intentioned and have changed their ways; seeking to expand market share at the expense of those rivals not involved in greenwashing; this is especially attractive if little or no additional expenditure is required to change performance; alternatively, a company can engage in greenwashing in an attempt to narrow the perceived 'green' advantage of a rival; reducing staff turnover and making it easier to attract staff in the first place; making the company seem attractive for potential investors, especially those interested in ethical investment or socially responsive investment; inability to add up the three accounts unless tools such as cost-benefit analysis or eco-efficiency (weak sustainability performance) are added to put social and environmental externalities in monetary terms. In response to these limitations, the concept of the "Triple Depreciation Line" (also called "CARE - Comprehensive Accounting in Respect of Ecology - model") has been proposed Legislation A focus on people, planet and profit has led to legislation changes around the world, often through social enterprise or social investment or through the introduction of a new legal form, the Community Interest Company. In the United States, the BCorp movement has been part of a call for legislation change to allow and encourage a focus on social and environmental impact, with BCorp a legal form for a company focused on "stakeholders, not just shareholders". In Western Australia, the triple bottom line was adopted as a part of the State Sustainability Strategy, and accepted by the Government of Western Australia but its status was increasingly marginalised by subsequent premiers Alan Carpenter and Colin Barnett. See also B Corporation (certification) Bottom of the pyramid Circles of Sustainability Community interest company Conscious business Double bottom line, a similar concept predating the UN standard EC3 Global Eco-capitalism Grassroots Business Fund Impact investing Low-profit limited liability company Permaculture ethics Social entrepreneurship Triple top line Value network Value network analysis References Further reading Social Audit - A Management Tool for Co-operative Working 1981 by Freer Spreckley The Gaia Atlas of Green Economics (Gaia Future Series) [Paperback], by Paul Ekins, Anchor Books Harvard Business Review on Corporate Responsibility by Harvard Business School Press The Soul of a Business: Managing for Profit and the Common Good by Tom Chappell Capitalism at the Crossroads: The Unlimited Business Opportunities in Solving the World's Most Difficult Problems by Professor Stuart L. Hart The Triple Bottom Line: How Today's Best-Run Companies Are Achieving Economic, Social and Environmental Success—and How You Can Too by Andrew W. Savitz and Karl Weber The Sustainability Advantage: Seven Business Case Benefits of a Triple Bottom Line (Conscientious Commerce) by Bob Willard, New Society Publishers External links Explainer: what is the triple bottom line? - The Conversation The Triple Bottom Line: What Is It and How Does It Work? - Indiana Business Review Balancing Act - A Triple Bottom Line Analysis of the Australian Economy Citizens for Corporate Redesign (Minnesota) Triple Pundit - Blog on Triple Bottom Line (United States) Corporate Responsibility (United Kingdom) TBL Accounting without boundaries - Australian corporate and government experiences Welfare economics Sustainable business Corporate social responsibility Accounting terminology Accountability 1994 introductions Sustainability advocates Sustainability Sustainable development

Systems science

Systems science, also referred to as systems research, or, simply, systems, is a transdisciplinary field that is concerned with understanding simple and complex systems in nature and society, which leads to the advancements of formal, natural, social, and applied attributions throughout engineering, technology and science, itself. To systems scientists, the world can be understood as a system of systems. The field aims to develop transdisciplinary foundations that are applicable in a variety of areas, such as psychology, biology, medicine, communication, business, technology, computer science, engineering, and social sciences. Themes commonly stressed in system science are (a) holistic view, (b) interaction between a system and its embedding environment, and (c) complex (often subtle) trajectories of dynamic behavior that sometimes are stable (and thus reinforcing), while at various 'boundary conditions' can become wildly unstable (and thus destructive). Concerns about Earth-scale biosphere/geosphere dynamics is an example of the nature of problems to which systems science seeks to contribute meaningful insights. Associated fields The systems sciences are a broad array of fields. One way of conceiving of these is in three groups: fields that have developed systems ideas primarily through theory; those that have done so primarily through practical engagements with problem situations; and those that have applied ideas for other disciplines. Theoretical fields Chaos and dynamical systems Complexity Control theory Affect control theory Control engineering Control systems Cybernetics Autopoiesis Conversation Theory Engineering Cybernetics Perceptual Control Theory Management Cybernetics Second-Order Cybernetics Cyber-Physical Systems Artificial Intelligence Synthetic Intelligence Information theory General systems theory Systems theory in anthropology Biochemical systems theory Ecological systems theory Developmental systems theory General systems theory Living systems theory LTI system theory Social systems Sociotechnical systems theory Mathematical system theory World-systems theory Hierarchy Theory Practical fields Critical systems thinking Operations research and management science Soft systems methodology The soft systems methodology was developed in England by academics at the University of Lancaster Systems Department through a ten-year action research programme. The main contributor is Peter Checkland (born 18 December 1930, in Birmingham, UK), a British management scientist and emeritus professor of systems at Lancaster University. Systems analysis Systems analysis branch of systems science that analyzes systems, the interactions within those systems, or interaction with its environment, often prior to their automation as computer models. Systems analysis is closely associated with the RAND corporation. Systemic design Systemic design integrates methodologies from systems thinking with advanced design practices to address complex, multi-stakeholder situations. Systems dynamics System dynamics is an approach to understanding the behavior of complex systems over time. It offers "simulation technique for modeling business and social systems", which deals with internal feedback loops and time delays that affect the behavior of the entire system. What makes using system dynamics different from other approaches to studying complex systems is the use of feedback loops and stocks and flows. Systems engineering Systems engineering (SE) is an interdisciplinary field of engineering, that focuses on the development and organization of complex systems. It is the "art and science of creating whole solutions to complex problems", for example: signal processing systems, control systems and communication system, or other forms of high-level modelling and design in specific fields of engineering. Systems Science is foundational to the Embedded Software Development that is founded in the embedded requirements of Systems Engineering. Aerospace systems Biological systems engineering Earth systems engineering and management Electronic systems Enterprise systems engineering Software systems Systems analysis Applications in other disciplines Earth system science Climate systems Systems geology Systems biology Computational systems biology Synthetic biology Systems immunology Systems neuroscience Systems chemistry Systems ecology Ecosystem ecology Agroecology Systems psychology Ergonomics Family systems theory Systemic therapy See also Antireductionism Evolutionary prototyping Holism Cybernetics System engineering System Dynamics Systemics System equivalence Systems theory Tektology World-systems theory Complex Systems References Further reading B. A. Bayraktar, Education in Systems Science, 1979, 369 pp. Kenneth D. Bailey, "Fifty Years of Systems Science:Further Reflections", Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 22, 2005, pp. 355–361. Robert L. Flood, Ewart R Carson, Dealing with Complexity: An Introduction to the Theory and Application of Systems Science (2nd Edition), 1993. George J. Klir, Facets of Systems Science (2nd Edition), Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2001. Ervin László, Systems Science and World Order: Selected Studies, 1983. G. E. Mobus & M. C. Kalton, Principles of Systems Science, 2015, New York:Springer. Anatol Rapoport (ed.), General Systems: Yearbook of the Society for the Advancement of General Systems Theory, Society for General Systems Research, Vol 1., 1956. Li D. Xu, "The contributions of Systems Science to Information Systems Research", Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 17, 2000, pp. 105–116. Graeme Donald Snooks, "A general theory of complex living systems: Exploring the demand side of dynamics", Complexity, vol. 13, no. 6, July/August 2008. John N. Warfield, "A proposal for Systems Science", Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 20, 2003, pp. 507–520. Michael C. Jackson, Critical Systems Thinking and the Management of Complexity, 2019 , Wiley. External links Principia Cybernetica Web Institute of System Science Knowledge (ISSK.org) International Society for the System Sciences American Society for Cybernetics UK Systems Society Cybernetics Society Formal sciences

Gaia philosophy

Gaia philosophy (named after Gaia, Greek goddess of the Earth) is a broadly inclusive term for relating concepts about, humanity as an effect of the life of this planet. The Gaia hypothesis holds that all organisms on a life-giving planet regulate the biosphere in such a way as to promote its habitability. Gaia concepts draw a connection between the survivability of a species (hence its evolutionary course) and its usefulness to the survival of other species. While there were a number of precursors to Gaia hypothesis, the first scientific form of this idea was proposed as the Gaia hypothesis by James Lovelock, a UK chemist, in 1970. The Gaia hypothesis deals with the concept of biological homeostasis, and claims the resident life forms of a host planet coupled with their environment have acted and act like a single, self-regulating system. This system includes the near-surface rocks, the soil, and the atmosphere. Gaia hypothesis criticism]]). These theories are, however, significant in green politics. Predecessors to the Gaia theory There are some mystical, scientific and religious predecessors to the Gaia philosophy, which had a Gaia-like conceptual basis. Many religious mythologies had a view of Earth as being a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts (e.g. some Native American religions and various forms of shamanism). Isaac Newton wrote of the earth, "Thus this Earth resembles a great animal or rather inanimate vegetable, draws in æthereall breath for its dayly refreshment & vitall ferment & transpires again with gross exhalations, And according to the condition of all other things living ought to have its times of beginning youth old age & perishing." Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a paleontologist and geologist, believed that evolution fractally unfolded from cell to organism to planet to solar system and ultimately the whole universe, as we humans see it from our limited perspective. Teilhard later influenced Thomas Berry and many Catholic humanist thinkers of the 20th century. Lewis Thomas believed that Earth should be viewed as a single cell; he derived this view from Johannes Kepler's view of Earth as a single round organism. Buckminster Fuller is generally credited with making the idea respectable in Western scientific circles in the 20th century. Building to some degree on his observations and artifacts, e.g. the Dymaxion map of the Earth he created, others began to ask if there was a way to make the Gaia theory scientifically sound. In 1931, L.G.M. Baas Becking delivered an inaugural lecture about Gaia in the sense of life and earth. Oberon Zell-Ravenheart in 1970 in an article in Green Egg Magazine, independently articulated the Gaia Thesis. Many believe that these ideas cannot be considered scientific hypotheses; by definition a scientific hypothesis must make testable predictions. As the above claims are not currently testable, they are outside the bounds of current science. This does not mean that these ideas are not theoretically testable. As one can postulate tests that could be applied, given enough time and space, then these ideas should be seen as scientific hypotheses. These are conjectures and perhaps can only be considered as social and maybe political philosophy; they may have implications for theology, or thealogy as Zell-Ravenheart and Isaac Bonewits put it. Range of views According to James Kirchner there is a spectrum of Gaia hypotheses, ranging from the undeniable to radical. At one end is the undeniable statement that the organisms on the Earth have radically altered its composition. A stronger position is that the Earth's biosphere effectively acts as if it is a self-organizing system which works in such a way as to keep its systems in some kind of equilibrium that is conducive to life. Today many scientists consider that such a view (and any stronger views) are unlikely to be correct. An even stronger claim is that all lifeforms are part of a single planetary being, called Gaia. In this view, the atmosphere, the seas, the terrestrial crust would be the result of interventions carried out by Gaia, through the coevolving diversity of living organisms. The most extreme form of Gaia theory is that the entire Earth is a single unified organism with a highly intelligent mind that arose as an emergent property of the whole biosphere. In this view, the Earth's biosphere is consciously manipulating the climate in order to make conditions more conducive to life. Scientists contend that there is no evidence at all to support this last point of view, and it has come about because many people do not understand the concept of homeostasis. Many non-scientists instinctively and incorrectly see homeostasis as a process that requires conscious control. The more speculative versions of Gaia, including versions in which it is believed that the Earth is actually conscious, sentient, and highly intelligent, are usually considered outside the bounds of what is usually considered science. Gaia in biology and science Buckminster Fuller has been credited as the first to incorporate scientific ideas into a Gaia theory, which he did with his Dymaxion map of the Earth. The first scientifically rigorous theory was the Gaia hypothesis by James Lovelock, a UK chemist. A variant of this hypothesis was developed by Lynn Margulis, a microbiologist, in 1979. Her version is sometimes called the "Gaia Theory" (note uppercase-T). Her model is more limited in scope than the one that Lovelock proposed. Whether this sort of system is present on Earth is still open to debate. Some relatively simple homeostatic mechanisms are generally accepted. For example, when atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rise, plants are able to grow better and thus remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Other biological effects and feedbacks exist, but the extent to which these mechanisms have stabilized and modified the Earth's overall climate is largely not known. The Gaia hypothesis is sometimes viewed from significantly different philosophical perspectives. Some environmentalists view it as an almost conscious process, in which the Earth's ecosystem is literally viewed as a single unified organism. Some evolutionary biologists, on the other hand, view it as an undirected emergent property of the ecosystem: as each individual species pursues its own self-interest, their combined actions tend to have counterbalancing effects on environmental change. Proponents of this view sometimes point to examples of life's actions in the past that have resulted in dramatic change rather than stable equilibrium, such as the conversion of the Earth's atmosphere from a reducing environment to an oxygen-rich one. Depending on how strongly the case is stated, the hypothesis conflicts with mainstream neo-Darwinism. Most biologists would accept Daisyworld-style homeostasis as possible, but would certainly not accept the idea that this equates to the whole biosphere acting as one organism. A very small number of scientists, and a much larger number of environmental activists, claim that Earth's biosphere is consciously manipulating the climate in order to make conditions more conducive to life. Scientists contend that there is no evidence to support this belief. Gaia in the social sciences and politics A social science view of Gaia theory is the role of humans as a keystone species who may be able to accomplish global homeostasis. Whilst a few social scientists who draw inspiration from 'organic' views of society have embraced Gaia philosophy as a way to explain the human-nature interconnections, most professional social scientists are more involved in reflecting upon the way Gaia philosophy is used and engaged with within sub-sections of society. Alan Marshall, in the Department of Social Sciences at Mahidol University, for example, reflects upon the way Gaia philosophy has been used and advocated in various societal settings by environmentalists, spiritualists, managers, economists, and scientists and engineers. As Marshall explains, most social scientists had already given up on systems ideas of society in the 1960s before Gaia philosophy was born under James Lovelock's ideas since such ideas were interpreted as supporting conservatism and traditionalism. Gaia theory also influenced the dynamics of green politics. Gaia in religion Rosemary Radford Ruether, the American feminist scholar and theologian, wrote a book called Gaia and God: An Ecofeminist Theology of Earth Healing. A book edited by Allan Hunt Badiner called Dharma Gaia explores the ground where Buddhism and ecology meet through writings by the Dalai Lama, Gary Snyder, Thich Nhat Hanh, Allen Ginsberg, David Abram, Joanna Macy, Robert Aitken, and 25 other Buddhists and ecologists. Gaianism, an earth-centered philosophical, holistic, and spiritual belief that shares expressions with earth religions and paganism while not identifying exclusively with any specific religion, sprang from the gaia hypothesis. Criticism One of the most problematic issues with referring to Gaia as an organism is its apparent failure to meet the biological criterion of being able to reproduce. Richard Dawkins has asserted that the planet is not the offspring of any parents and is unable to reproduce. See also Arcology Climate engineering Environmental philosophy Gaia (mythology) Gaia hypothesis (James Lovelock's ideas) Gardening James Kirchner Guy Murchie Keystone species Odic force Pachamama Places to intervene in a system Pantheism Technogaianism Teleology Urban ecology Steven M. Greer - Categorises entire planets to be individual conscious organisms Superorganism Edward Goldsmith Books on Gaia Toby Tyrrell (2013), On Gaia: A Critical Investigation of the Relationship between Life and Earth Anne Primavesi (2008), Gaia and Climate Change: A Theology of Gift Events Mary Midgley (2007), Earthy realism: the meaning of Gaia Pepper Lewis (2005), Gaia Speaks Stephen Henry Schneider (2004), Scientists debate gaia: the next century Tyler Volk (2003), Gaia's Body: Toward a Physiology of Earth Anne Primavesi (2003), Gaia's gift: earth, ourselves, and God after Copernicus Alan Marshall (2002), The Unity of Nature, Imperial College Press. Francesca Ciancimino Howell (2002), Making Magic with Gaia: Practices to Heal Ourselves and Our Planet Mary Midgley (2001), Gaia: the next big idea Anne Primavesi (2000), Sacred Gaia: holistic theology and earth system science George Ronald Williams (1996), The molecular biology of Gaia Peter Bunyard (1996), Gaia in Action: Science of the Living Earth Norman Myers (1993), Gaia An Atlas of Planet Management Lawrence E. Joseph (1991), Gaia: the growth of an idea Allan Hunt Badiner (1990), Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology References Environmentalism Matriarchy Nature and religion Environment and religion ru:Философия Гайи

Anthropocene

The Anthropocene was a rejected proposal for a geological epoch following the Holocene, dating from the commencement of significant human impact on Earth up to the present day. This impact affects Earth's oceans, geology, geomorphology, landscape, limnology, hydrology, ecosystems and climate. The effects of human activities on Earth can be seen for example in biodiversity loss and climate change. Various start dates for the Anthropocene have been proposed, ranging from the beginning of the Neolithic Revolution (12,000–15,000 years ago), to as recently as the 1960s. The biologist Eugene F. Stoermer is credited with first coining and using the term anthropocene informally in the 1980s; Paul J. Crutzen re-invented and popularized the term. However, in 2024 the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) rejected the Anthropocene Epoch proposal for inclusion in the Geologic Time Scale sparking significant disagreement from scientists working in the field. The Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) of the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS) of the ICS voted in April 2016 to proceed towards a formal golden spike (GSSP) proposal to define the Anthropocene epoch in the geologic time scale. The group presented the proposal to the International Geological Congress in August 2016. In May 2019, the AWG voted in favour of submitting a formal proposal to the ICS by 2021. The proposal located potential stratigraphic markers to the mid-20th century. This time period coincides with the start of the Great Acceleration, a post-World War II time period during which global population growth, pollution and exploitation of natural resources have all increased at a dramatic rate. The Atomic Age also started around the mid-20th century, when the risks of nuclear wars, nuclear terrorism and nuclear accidents increased. Twelve candidate sites were selected for the GSSP; the sediments of Crawford Lake, Canada were finally proposed, in July 2023, to mark the lower boundary of the Anthropocene, starting with the Crawfordian stage/age in 1950. In March 2024, after 15 years of deliberation, the Anthropocene Epoch proposal of the AWG was voted down by a wide margin by the SQS, owing largely to its shallow sedimentary record and extremely recent proposed start date. The ICS and the IUGS later formally confirmed, by a near unanimous vote, the rejection of the AWG's Anthropocene Epoch proposal for inclusion in the Geologic Time Scale. The IUGS statement on the rejection concluded: "Despite its rejection as a formal unit of the Geologic Time Scale, Anthropocene will nevertheless continue to be used not only by Earth and environmental scientists, but also by social scientists, politicians and economists, as well as by the public at large. It will remain an invaluable descriptor of human impact on the Earth system." Development of the concept An early concept for the Anthropocene was the Noosphere by Vladimir Vernadsky, who in 1938 wrote of "scientific thought as a geological force". Scientists in the Soviet Union appear to have used the term Anthropocene as early as the 1960s to refer to the Quaternary, the most recent geological period. Ecologist Eugene F. Stoermer subsequently used Anthropocene with a different sense in the 1980s and the term was widely popularised in 2000 by atmospheric chemist Paul J. Crutzen, who regards the influence of human behavior on Earth's atmosphere in recent centuries as so significant as to constitute a new geological epoch. The term Anthropocene is informally used in scientific contexts. The Geological Society of America entitled its 2011 annual meeting: Archean to Anthropocene: The past is the key to the future. The new epoch has no agreed start-date, but one proposal, based on atmospheric evidence, is to fix the start with the Industrial Revolution 1780, with the invention of the steam engine. Other scientists link the new term to earlier events, such as the rise of agriculture and the Neolithic Revolution (around 12,000 years BP). Evidence of relative human impact – such as the growing human influence on land use, ecosystems, biodiversity, and species extinction – is substantial; scientists think that human impact has significantly changed (or halted) the growth of biodiversity. Those arguing for earlier dates posit that the proposed Anthropocene may have begun as early as 14,000–15,000 years BP, based on geologic evidence; this has led other scientists to suggest that "the onset of the Anthropocene should be extended back many thousand years"; this would make the Anthropocene essentially synonymous with the current term, Holocene. Anthropocene Working Group In 2008, the Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological Society of London considered a proposal to make the Anthropocene a formal unit of geological epoch divisions. A majority of the commission decided the proposal had merit and should be examined further. Independent working groups of scientists from various geological societies began to determine whether the Anthropocene will be formally accepted into the Geological Time Scale. In January 2015, 26 of the 38 members of the International Anthropocene Working Group published a paper suggesting the Trinity test on 16 July 1945 as the starting point of the proposed new epoch. However, a significant minority supported one of several alternative dates. A March 2015 report suggested either 1610 or 1964 as the beginning of the Anthropocene. Other scholars pointed to the diachronous character of the physical strata of the Anthropocene, arguing that onset and impact are spread out over time, not reducible to a single instant or date of start. A January 2016 report on the climatic, biological, and geochemical signatures of human activity in sediments and ice cores suggested the era since the mid-20th century should be recognised as a geological epoch distinct from the Holocene. The Anthropocene Working Group met in Oslo in April 2016 to consolidate evidence supporting the argument for the Anthropocene as a true geologic epoch. Evidence was evaluated and the group voted to recommend Anthropocene as the new geological epoch in August 2016. In April 2019, the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) announced that they would vote on a formal proposal to the International Commission on Stratigraphy, to continue the process started at the 2016 meeting. In May 2019, 29 members of the 34 person AWG panel voted in favour of an official proposal to be made by 2021. The AWG also voted with 29 votes in favour of a starting date in the mid 20th century. Ten candidate sites for a Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point have been identified, one of which will be chosen to be included in the final proposal. Possible markers include microplastics, heavy metals, or radioactive nuclei left by tests from thermonuclear weapons. In November 2021, an alternative proposal that the Anthropocene is a geological event, not an epoch, was published and later expanded in 2022. This challenged the assumption underlying the case for the Anthropocene epoch - the idea that it is possible to accurately assign a precise date of start to highly diachronous processes of human-influenced Earth system change. The argument indicated that finding a single GSSP would be impractical, given human-induced changes in the Earth system occurred at different periods, in different places, and spread under different rates. Under this model, the Anthropocene would have many events marking human-induced impacts on the planet, including the mass extinction of large vertebrates, the development of early farming, land clearance in the Americas, global-scale industrial transformation during the Industrial Revolution, and the start of the Atomic Age. The authors are members of the AWG who had voted against the official proposal of a starting date in the mid-20th century, and sought to reconcile some of the previous models (including Ruddiman and Maslin proposals). They cited Crutzen's original concept, arguing that the Anthropocene is much better and more usefully conceived of as an unfolding geological event, like other major transformations in Earth's history such as the Great Oxidation Event. In July 2023, the AWG chose Crawford Lake in Ontario, Canada as a site representing the beginning of the proposed new epoch. The sediment in that lake shows a spike in levels of plutonium from hydrogen bomb tests, a key marker the group chose to place the start of the Anthropocene in the 1950s, along with other elevated markers including carbon particles and nitrates from the burning of fossil fuels and widespread application of chemical fertilizers respectively. Had it been approved, the official declaration of the new Anthropocene epoch would have taken place in August 2024, and its first age may have been named Crawfordian after the lake. Rejection in 2024 vote by IUGS In March 2024, the New York Times reported on the results of an internal vote held by the IUGS: After nearly 15 years of debate, the proposal to ratify the Anthropocene had been defeated by a 12-to-4 margin, with 2 abstentions. These results were not out of a dismissal of human impact on the planet, but rather an inability to constrain the Anthropocene in a geological context. This is because the widely-adopted 1950 start date was found to be prone to recency bias. It also overshadowed earlier examples of human impacts, many of which happened in different parts of the world at different times. Although the proposal could be raised again, this would require the entire process of debate to start from the beginning. The results of the vote were officially confirmed by the IUGS and upheld as definitive later that month. Proposed starting point Industrial Revolution Crutzen proposed the Industrial Revolution as the start of Anthropocene. Lovelock proposes that the Anthropocene began with the first application of the Newcomen atmospheric engine in 1712. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change takes the pre-industrial era (chosen as the year 1750) as the baseline related to changes in long-lived, well mixed greenhouse gases. Although it is apparent that the Industrial Revolution ushered in an unprecedented global human impact on the planet, much of Earth's landscape already had been profoundly modified by human activities. The human impact on Earth has grown progressively, with few substantial slowdowns. A 2024 scientific perspective paper authored by a group of scientists led by William J. Ripple proposed the start of the Anthropocene around 1850, stating it is a "compelling choice . . . from a population, fossil fuel, greenhouse gasses, temperature, and land use perspective." Mid 20th century (Great Acceleration) In May 2019 the twenty-nine members of the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) proposed a start date for the Epoch in the mid-20th century, as that period saw "a rapidly rising human population accelerated the pace of industrial production, the use of agricultural chemicals and other human activities. At the same time, the first atomic-bomb blasts littered the globe with radioactive debris that became embedded in sediments and glacial ice, becoming part of the geologic record." The official start-dates, according to the panel, would coincide with either the radionuclides released into the atmosphere from bomb detonations in 1945, or with the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963. First atomic bomb (1945) The peak in radionuclides fallout consequential to atomic bomb testing during the 1950s is another possible date for the beginning of the Anthropocene (the detonation of the first atomic bomb in 1945 or the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963). Etymology The name Anthropocene is a combination of anthropo- from the Ancient Greek meaning 'human' and -cene from meaning 'new' or 'recent'. As early as 1873, the Italian geologist Antonio Stoppani acknowledged the increasing power and effect of humanity on the Earth's systems and referred to an 'anthropozoic era'. Nature of human effects Biodiversity loss The human impact on biodiversity forms one of the primary attributes of the Anthropocene. Humankind has entered what is sometimes called the Earth's sixth major extinction. Most experts agree that human activities have accelerated the rate of species extinction. The exact rate remains controversial – perhaps 100 to 1000 times the normal background rate of extinction. Anthropogenic extinctions started as humans migrated out of Africa over 60,000 years ago. Increases in global rates of extinction have been elevated above background rates since at least 1500, and appear to have accelerated in the 19th century and further since. Rapid economic growth is considered a primary driver of the contemporary displacement and eradication of other species. According to the 2021 Economics of Biodiversity review, written by Partha Dasgupta and published by the UK government, "biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history." A 2022 scientific review published in Biological Reviews confirms that an anthropogenic sixth mass extinction event is currently underway. A 2022 study published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, which surveyed more than 3,000 experts, states that the extinction crisis could be worse than previously thought, and estimates that roughly 30% of species "have been globally threatened or driven extinct since the year 1500." According to a 2023 study published in Biological Reviews some 48% of 70,000 monitored species are experiencing population declines from human activity, whereas only 3% have increasing populations. Biogeography and nocturnality Studies of urban evolution give an indication of how species may respond to stressors such as temperature change and toxicity. Species display varying abilities to respond to altered environments through both phenotypic plasticity and genetic evolution. Researchers have documented the movement of many species into regions formerly too cold for them, often at rates faster than initially expected. Permanent changes in the distribution of organisms from human influence will become identifiable in the geologic record. This has occurred in part as a result of changing climate, but also in response to farming and fishing, and to the accidental introduction of non-native species to new areas through global travel. The ecosystem of the entire Black Sea may have changed during the last 2000 years as a result of nutrient and silica input from eroding deforested lands along the Danube River. Researchers have found that the growth of the human population and expansion of human activity has resulted in many species of animals that are normally active during the day, such as elephants, tigers and boars, becoming nocturnal to avoid contact with humans, who are largely diurnal. Climate change One geological symptom resulting from human activity is increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide content. This signal in the Earth's climate system is especially significant because it is occurring much faster, and to a greater extent, than previously. Most of this increase is due to the combustion of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas. Geomorphology Changes in drainage patterns traceable to human activity will persist over geologic time in large parts of the continents where the geologic regime is erosional. This involves, for example, the paths of roads and highways defined by their grading and drainage control. Direct changes to the form of the Earth's surface by human activities (quarrying and landscaping, for example) also record human impacts. It has been suggested that the deposition of calthemite formations exemplify a natural process which has not previously occurred prior to the human modification of the Earth's surface, and which therefore represents a unique process of the Anthropocene. Calthemite is a secondary deposit, derived from concrete, lime, mortar or other calcareous material outside the cave environment. Calthemites grow on or under man-made structures (including mines and tunnels) and mimic the shapes and forms of cave speleothems, such as stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone etc. Stratigraphy Sedimentological record Human activities like deforestation and road construction are believed to have elevated average total sediment fluxes across the Earth's surface. However, construction of dams on many rivers around the world means the rates of sediment deposition in any given place do not always appear to increase in the Anthropocene. For instance, many river deltas around the world are actually currently starved of sediment by such dams, and are subsiding and failing to keep up with sea level rise, rather than growing. Fossil record Increases in erosion due to farming and other operations will be reflected by changes in sediment composition and increases in deposition rates elsewhere. In land areas with a depositional regime, engineered structures will tend to be buried and preserved, along with litter and debris. Litter and debris thrown from boats or carried by rivers and creeks will accumulate in the marine environment, particularly in coastal areas, but also in mid-ocean garbage patches. Such human-created artifacts preserved in stratigraphy are known as "technofossils". Changes in biodiversity will also be reflected in the fossil record, as will species introductions. An example cited is the domestic chicken, originally the red junglefowl Gallus gallus, native to south-east Asia but has since become the world's most common bird through human breeding and consumption, with over 60 billion consumed annually and whose bones would become fossilised in landfill sites. Hence, landfills are important resources to find "technofossils". Trace elements In terms of trace elements, there are distinct signatures left by modern societies. For example, in the Upper Fremont Glacier in Wyoming, there is a layer of chlorine present in ice cores from 1960's atomic weapon testing programs, as well as a layer of mercury associated with coal plants in the 1980s. From the late 1940s, nuclear tests have led to local nuclear fallout and severe contamination of test sites both on land and in the surrounding marine environment. Some of the radionuclides that were released during the tests are Cs, Sr, Pu, Pu, Am, and I. These have been found to have had significant impact on the environment and on human beings. In particular, Cs and Sr have been found to have been released into the marine environment and led to bioaccumulation over a period through food chain cycles. The carbon isotope C, commonly released during nuclear tests, has also been found to be integrated into the atmospheric CO, and infiltrating the biosphere, through ocean-atmosphere gas exchange. Increase in thyroid cancer rates around the world is also surmised to be correlated with increasing proportions of the I radionuclide. The highest global concentration of radionuclides was estimated to have been in 1965, one of the dates which has been proposed as a possible benchmark for the start of the formally defined Anthropocene. Human burning of fossil fuels has also left distinctly elevated concentrations of black carbon, inorganic ash, and spherical carbonaceous particles in recent sediments across the world. Concentrations of these components increases markedly and almost simultaneously around the world beginning around 1950. Anthropocene markers A marker that accounts for a substantial global impact of humans on the total environment, comparable in scale to those associated with significant perturbations of the geological past, is needed in place of minor changes in atmosphere composition. A useful candidate for holding markers in the geologic time record is the pedosphere. Soils retain information about their climatic and geochemical history with features lasting for centuries or millennia. Human activity is now firmly established as the sixth factor of soil formation. Humanity affects pedogenesis directly by, for example, land levelling, trenching and embankment building, landscape-scale control of fire by early humans, organic matter enrichment from additions of manure or other waste, organic matter impoverishment due to continued cultivation and compaction from overgrazing. Human activity also affects pedogenesis indirectly by drift of eroded materials or pollutants. Anthropogenic soils are those markedly affected by human activities, such as repeated ploughing, the addition of fertilisers, contamination, sealing, or enrichment with artefacts (in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources they are classified as Anthrosols and Technosols). An example from archaeology would be dark earth phenomena when long-term human habitation enriches the soil with black carbon. Anthropogenic soils are recalcitrant repositories of artefacts and properties that testify to the dominance of the human impact, and hence appear to be reliable markers for the Anthropocene. Some anthropogenic soils may be viewed as the 'golden spikes' of geologists (Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point), which are locations where there are strata successions with clear evidences of a worldwide event, including the appearance of distinctive fossils. Drilling for fossil fuels has also created holes and tubes which are expected to be detectable for millions of years. The astrobiologist David Grinspoon has proposed that the site of the Apollo 11 Lunar landing, with the disturbances and artifacts that are so uniquely characteristic of our species' technological activity and which will survive over geological time spans could be considered as the 'golden spike' of the Anthropocene. An October 2020 study coordinated by University of Colorado at Boulder found that distinct physical, chemical and biological changes to Earth's rock layers began around the year 1950. The research revealed that since about 1950, humans have doubled the amount of fixed nitrogen on the planet through industrial production for agriculture, created a hole in the ozone layer through the industrial scale release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), released enough greenhouse gasses from fossil fuels to cause planetary level climate change, created tens of thousands of synthetic mineral-like compounds that do not naturally occur on Earth, and caused almost one-fifth of river sediment worldwide to no longer reach the ocean due to dams, reservoirs and diversions. Humans have produced so many millions of tons of plastic each year since the early 1950s that microplastics are "forming a near-ubiquitous and unambiguous marker of Anthropocene". The study highlights a strong correlation between global human population size and growth, global productivity and global energy use and that the "extraordinary outburst of consumption and productivity demonstrates how the Earth System has departed from its Holocene state since c. 1950 CE, forcing abrupt physical, chemical and biological changes to the Earth's stratigraphic record that can be used to justify the proposal for naming a new epoch—the Anthropocene." A December 2020 study published in Nature found that the total anthropogenic mass, or human-made materials, outweighs all the biomass on earth, and highlighted that "this quantification of the human enterprise gives a mass-based quantitative and symbolic characterization of the human-induced epoch of the Anthropocene." Debates Although the validity of Anthropocene as a scientific term remains disputed, its underlying premise, i.e., that humans have become a geological force, or rather, the dominant force shaping the Earth's climate, has found traction among academics and the public. In an opinion piece for Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Rodolfo Dirzo, Gerardo Ceballos, and Paul R. Ehrlich write that the term is "increasingly penetrating the lexicon of not only the academic socio-sphere, but also society more generally", and is now included as an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary. The University of Cambridge, as another example, offers a degree in Anthropocene Studies. In the public sphere, the term Anthropocene has become increasingly ubiquitous in activist, pundit, and political discourses. Some who are critical of the term Anthropocene nevertheless concede that "For all its problems, [it] carries power." The popularity and currency of the word has led scholars to label the term a "charismatic meta-category" or "charismatic mega-concept." The term, regardless, has been subject to a variety of criticisms from social scientists, philosophers, Indigenous scholars, and others. The anthropologist John Hartigan has argued that due to its status as a charismatic meta-category, the term Anthropocene marginalizes competing, but less visible, concepts such as that of "multispecies." The more salient charge is that the ready acceptance of Anthropocene is due to its conceptual proximity to the status quo – that is, to notions of human individuality and centrality. Other scholars appreciate the way in which the term Anthropocene recognizes humanity as a geological force, but take issue with the indiscriminate way in which it does. Not all humans are equally responsible for the climate crisis. To that end, scholars such as the feminist theorist Donna Haraway and sociologist Jason Moore, have suggested naming the Epoch instead as the Capitalocene. Such implies capitalism as the fundamental reason for the ecological crisis, rather than just humans in general. However, according to philosopher Steven Best, humans have created "hierarchical and growth-addicted societies" and have demonstrated "ecocidal proclivities" long before the emergence of capitalism. Hartigan, Bould, and Haraway all critique what Anthropocene does as a term; however, Hartigan and Bould differ from Haraway in that they criticize the utility or validity of a geological framing of the climate crisis, whereas Haraway embraces it. In addition to "Capitalocene," other terms have also been proposed by scholars to trace the roots of the Epoch to causes other than the human species broadly. Janae Davis, for example, has suggested the "Plantationocene" as a more appropriate term to call attention to the role that plantation agriculture has played in the formation of the Epoch, alongside Kathryn Yusoff's argument that racism as a whole is foundational to the Epoch. The Plantationocene concept traces "the ways that plantation logics organize modern economies, environments, bodies, and social relations." In a similar vein, Indigenous studies scholars such as Métis geographer Zoe Todd have argued that the Epoch must be dated back to the colonization of the Americas, as this "names the problem of colonialism as responsible for contemporary environmental crisis." Potawatomi philosopher Kyle Powys Whyte has further argued that the Anthropocene has been apparent to Indigenous peoples in the Americas since the inception of colonialism because of "colonialism's role in environmental change." Other critiques of Anthropocene have focused on the genealogy of the concept. Todd also provides a phenomenological account, which draws on the work of the philosopher Sara Ahmed, writing: "When discourses and responses to the Anthropocene are being generated within institutions and disciplines which are embedded in broader systems that act as de facto 'white public space,' the academy and its power dynamics must be challenged." Other aspects which constitute current understandings of the concept of the Anthropocene such as the ontological split between nature and society, the assumption of the centrality and individuality of the human, and the framing of environmental discourse in largely scientific terms have been criticized by scholars as concepts rooted in colonialism and which reinforce systems of postcolonial domination. To that end, Todd makes the case that the concept of Anthropocene must be indigenized and decolonized if it is to become a vehicle of justice as opposed to white thought and domination. The scholar Daniel Wildcat, a Yuchi member of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma, for example, has emphasized spiritual connection to the land as a crucial tenet for any ecological movement. Similarly, in her study of the Ladakhi people in northern India, the anthropologist Karine Gagné, detailed their understanding of the relation between nonhuman and human agency as one that is deeply intimate and mutual. For the Ladakhi, the nonhuman alters the epistemic, ethical, and affective development of humans – it provides a way of "being in the world." The Ladakhi, who live in the Himalayas, for example, have seen the retreat of the glaciers not just as a physical loss, but also as the loss of entities which generate knowledge, compel ethical reflections, and foster intimacy. Other scholars have similarly emphasized the need to return to notions of relatedness and interdependence with nature. The writer Jenny Odell has written about what Robin Wall Kimmerer calls "species loneliness," the loneliness which occurs from the separation of the human and the nonhuman, and the anthropologist Radhika Govindrajan has theorized on the ethics of care, or relatedness, which govern relations between humans and animals. Scholars are divided on whether to do away with the term Anthropocene or co-opt it. More recently, eco-philosopher David Abram, in a book chapter titled 'Interbreathing in the Humilocene', has proposed adoption of the term ‘Humilocene’ (the Epoch of Humility), which emphasizes an ethical imperative and ecocultural direction that human societies should take. The term plays with the etymological roots of the term ‘human’, thus connecting it back with terms such as humility, humus (the soil), and even a corrective sense of humiliation that some human societies should feel given their collective destructive impact on the earth. "Early anthropocene" model William Ruddiman has argued that the Anthropocene began approximately 8,000 years ago with the development of farming and sedentary cultures. At that point, humans were dispersed across all continents except Antarctica, and the Neolithic Revolution was ongoing. During this period, humans developed agriculture and animal husbandry to supplement or replace hunter-gatherer subsistence. Such innovations were followed by a wave of extinctions, beginning with large mammals and terrestrial birds. This wave was driven by both the direct activity of humans (e.g. hunting) and the indirect consequences of land-use change for agriculture. Landscape-scale burning by prehistoric hunter-gathers may have been an additional early source of anthropogenic atmospheric carbon. Ruddiman also claims that the greenhouse gas emissions in-part responsible for the Anthropocene began 8,000 years ago when ancient farmers cleared forests to grow crops. Ruddiman's work has been challenged with data from an earlier interglaciation ("Stage 11", approximately 400,000 years ago) which suggests that 16,000 more years must elapse before the current Holocene interglaciation comes to an end, and thus the early anthropogenic hypothesis is invalid. Also, the argument that "something" is needed to explain the differences in the Holocene is challenged by more recent research showing that all interglacials are different. Homogenocene Homogenocene (from old Greek: homo-, same; geno-, kind; kainos-, new;) is a more specific term used to define our current epoch, in which biodiversity is diminishing and biogeography and ecosystems around the globe seem more and more similar to one another mainly due to invasive species that have been introduced around the globe either on purpose (crops, livestock) or inadvertently. This is due to the newfound globalism that humans participate in, as species traveling across the world to another region was not as easily possible in any point of time in history as it is today. The term Homogenocene was first used by Michael Samways in his editorial article in the Journal of Insect Conservation from 1999 titled "Translocating fauna to foreign lands: Here comes the Homogenocene." The term was used again by John L. Curnutt in the year 2000 in Ecology, in a short list titled "A Guide to the Homogenocene", which reviewed Alien species in North America and Hawaii: impacts on natural ecosystems by George Cox. Charles C. Mann, in his acclaimed book 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, gives a bird's-eye view of the mechanisms and ongoing implications of the homogenocene. Society and culture Humanities The concept of the Anthropocene has also been approached via humanities such as philosophy, literature and art. In the scholarly world, it has been the subject of increasing attention through special journals, conferences, and disciplinary reports. The Anthropocene, its attendant timescale, and ecological implications prompt questions about death and the end of civilisation, memory and archives, the scope and methods of humanistic inquiry, and emotional responses to the "end of nature". Some scholars have posited that the realities of the Anthropocene, including "human-induced biodiversity loss, exponential increases in per-capita resource consumption, and global climate change," have made the goal of environmental sustainability largely unattainable and obsolete. Historians have actively engaged the Anthropocene. In 2000, the same year that Paul Crutzen coined the term, world historian John McNeill published Something New Under the Sun, tracing the rise of human societies' unprecedented impact on the planet in the twentieth century. In 2001, historian of science Naomi Oreskes revealed the systematic efforts to undermine trust in climate change science and went on to detail the corporate interests delaying action on the environmental challenge. Both McNeill and Oreskes became members of the Anthropocene Working Group because of their work correlating human activities and planetary transformation. Popular culture In 2019, the English musician Nick Mulvey released a music video on YouTube named "In the Anthropocene". In cooperation with Sharp's Brewery, the song was recorded on 105 vinyl records made of washed-up plastic from the Cornish coast. The Anthropocene Reviewed is a podcast and book by author John Green, where he "reviews different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale". Photographer Edward Burtynsky created "The Anthropocene Project" with Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier, which is a collection of photographs, exhibitions, a film, and a book. His photographs focus on landscape photography that captures the effects human beings have had on the earth. In 2015, the American death metal band Cattle Decapitation released its seventh studio album titled The Anthropocene Extinction. In 2020, Canadian musician Grimes released her fifth studio album titled Miss Anthropocene. The name is also a pun on the feminine title "Miss" and the words "misanthrope" and "Anthropocene." See also References External links The Anthropocene epoch: have we entered a new phase of planetary history?, The Guardian, 2019 Drawing A Line In The Mud: Scientists Debate When 'Age Of Humans' Began. NPR. 17 March 2021. (lecture given by Professor Will Steffen in Melbourne, Australia) 8 billion humans: How population growth and climate change are connected as the 'Anthropocene engine' transforms the planet. The Conversation. 3 November 2022. Holocene Human impact on the environment Human ecology 1960s neologisms Events in the geological history of Earth

Value (ethics and social sciences)

In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of some thing or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live (normative ethics in ethics), or to describe the significance of different actions. Value systems are proscriptive and prescriptive beliefs; they affect the ethical behavior of a person or are the basis of their intentional activities. Often primary values are strong and secondary values are suitable for changes. What makes an action valuable may in turn depend on the ethical values of the objects it increases, decreases, or alters. An object with "ethic value" may be termed an "ethic or philosophic good" (noun sense). Values can be defined as broad preferences concerning appropriate courses of actions or outcomes. As such, values reflect a person's sense of right and wrong or what "ought" to be. "Equal rights for all", "Excellence deserves admiration", and "People should be treated with respect and dignity" are representatives of values. Values tend to influence attitudes and behavior and these types include ethical/moral values, doctrinal/ideological (religious, political) values, social values, and aesthetic values. It is debated whether some values that are not clearly physiologically determined, such as altruism, are intrinsic, and whether some, such as acquisitiveness, should be classified as vices or virtues. Fields of study Ethical issues that value may be regarded as a study under ethics, which, in turn, may be grouped as philosophy. Similarly, ethical value may be regarded as a subgroup of a broader field of philosophic value sometimes referred to as axiology. Ethical value denotes something's degree of importance, with the aim of determining what action or life is best to do, or at least attempt to describe the value of different actions. The study of ethical value is also included in value theory. In addition, values have been studied in various disciplines: anthropology, behavioral economics, business ethics, corporate governance, moral philosophy, political sciences, social psychology, sociology and theology. Similar concepts Ethical value is sometimes used synonymously with goodness. However, "goodness" has many other meanings and may be regarded as more ambiguous. Social value is a concept used in the public sector to cover the social, environmental and economic impacts of individual and collective actions. Types of value Personal versus cultural Personal values exist in relation to cultural values, either in agreement with or divergence from prevailing norms. A culture is a social system that shares a set of common values, in which such values permit social expectations and collective understandings of the good, beautiful and constructive. Without normative personal values, there would be no cultural reference against which to measure the virtue of individual values and so cultural identity would disintegrate. Relative or absolute Relative values differ between people, and on a larger scale, between people of different cultures. On the other hand, there are theories of the existence of absolute values, which can also be termed noumenal values (and not to be confused with mathematical absolute value). An absolute value can be described as philosophically absolute and independent of individual and cultural views, as well as independent of whether it is known or apprehended or not. Ludwig Wittgenstein was pessimistic about the idea that an elucidation would ever happen regarding the absolute values of actions or objects; "we can speak as much as we want about "life" and "its meaning", and believe that what we say is important. But these are no more than expressions and can never be facts, resulting from a tendency of the mind and not the heart or the will". Intrinsic or extrinsic Philosophic value may be split into instrumental value and intrinsic values. An instrumental value is worth having as a means towards getting something else that is good (e.g., a radio is instrumentally good in order to hear music). An intrinsically valuable thing is worth for itself, not as a means to something else. It is giving value intrinsic and extrinsic properties. An ethic good with instrumental value may be termed an ethic mean, and an ethic good with intrinsic value may be termed an end-in-itself. An object may be both a mean and end-in-itself. Summation Intrinsic and instrumental goods are not mutually exclusive categories. Some objects are both good in themselves, and also good for getting other objects that are good. "Understanding science" may be such a good, being both worthwhile in and of itself, and as a means of achieving other goods. In these cases, the sum of instrumental (specifically the all instrumental value) and intrinsic value of an object may be used when putting that object in value systems, which is a set of consistent values and measures. Universal values S. H. Schwartz, along with a number of psychology colleagues, has carried out empirical research investigating whether there are universal values, and what those values are. Schwartz defined 'values' as "conceptions of the desirable that influence the way people select action and evaluate events". He hypothesised that universal values would relate to three different types of human need: biological needs, social co-ordination needs, and needs related to the welfare and survival of groups Intensity The intensity of philosophic value is the degree it is generated or carried out, and may be regarded as the prevalence of the good, the object having the value. It should not be confused with the amount of value per object, although the latter may vary too, e.g. because of instrumental value conditionality. For example, taking a fictional life-stance of accepting waffle-eating as being the end-in-itself, the intensity may be the speed that waffles are eaten, and is zero when no waffles are eaten, e.g. if no waffles are present. Still, each waffle that had been present would still have value, no matter if it was being eaten or not, independent on intensity. Instrumental value conditionality in this case could be exampled by every waffle not present, making them less valued by being far away rather than easily accessible. In many life stances it is the product of value and intensity that is ultimately desirable, i.e. not only to generate value, but to generate it in large degree. Maximizing life-stances have the highest possible intensity as an imperative. Positive and negative value There may be a distinction between positive and negative philosophic or ethic value. While positive ethic value generally correlates with something that is pursued or maximized, negative ethic value correlates with something that is avoided or minimized. Protected value A protected value (also sacred value) is one that an individual is unwilling to trade off no matter what the benefits of doing so may be. For example, some people may be unwilling to kill another person, even if it means saving many other individuals. Protected values tend to be "intrinsically good", and most people can in fact imagine a scenario when trading off their most precious values would be necessary. If such trade-offs happen between two competing protected values such as killing a person and defending your family they are called tragic trade-offs. Protected values have been found to be play a role in protracted conflicts (e.g., the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) because they can hinder businesslike (''utilitarian'') negotiations. A series of experimental studies directed by Scott Atran and Ángel Gómez among combatants on the ISIS front line in Iraq and with ordinary citizens in Western Europe suggest that commitment to sacred values motivate the most "devoted actors" to make the costliest sacrifices, including willingness to fight and die, as well as a readiness to forsake close kin and comrades for those values if necessary. From the perspective of utilitarianism, protected values are biases when they prevent utility from being maximized across individuals. According to Jonathan Baron and Mark Spranca, protected values arise from norms as described in theories of deontological ethics (the latter often being referred to in context with Immanuel Kant). The protectedness implies that people are concerned with their participation in transactions rather than just the consequences of it. Economic versus philosophic value Philosophical value is distinguished from economic value, since it is independent from some other desired condition or commodity. The economic value of an object may rise when the exchangeable desired condition or commodity, e.g. money, become high in supply, and vice versa when supply of money becomes low. Nevertheless, economic value may be regarded as a result of philosophical value. In the subjective theory of value, the personal philosophic value a person puts in possessing something is reflected in what economic value this person puts on it. The limit where a person considers to purchase something may be regarded as the point where the personal philosophic value of possessing something exceeds the personal philosophic value of what is given up in exchange for it, e.g. money. In this light, everything can be said to have a "personal economic value" in contrast to its "societal economic value." Personal values Personal values provide an internal reference for what is good, beneficial, important, useful, beautiful, desirable and constructive. Values are one of the factors that generate behavior (besides needs, interests and habits) and influence the choices made by an individual. Values may help common human problems for survival by comparative rankings of value, the results of which provide answers to questions of why people do what they do and in what order they choose to do them. Moral, religious, and personal values, when held rigidly, may also give rise to conflicts that result from a clash between differing world views. Over time the public expression of personal values that groups of people find important in their day-to-day lives, lay the foundations of law, custom and tradition. Recent research has thereby stressed the implicit nature of value communication. Consumer behavior research proposes there are six internal values and three external values. They are known as List of Values (LOV) in management studies. They are self respect, warm relationships, sense of accomplishment, self-fulfillment, fun and enjoyment, excitement, sense of belonging, being well respected, and security. From a functional aspect these values are categorized into three and they are interpersonal relationship area, personal factors, and non-personal factors. From an ethnocentric perspective, it could be assumed that a same set of values will not reflect equally between two groups of people from two countries. Though the core values are related, the processing of values can differ based on the cultural identity of an individual. Individual differences Schwartz proposed a theory of individual values based on surveys data. His model groups values in terms of growth versus protection, and personal versus social focus. Values are then associated with openness to change (which Schwartz views as related to personal growth), self-enhancement (which Schwartz views as mostly to do with self-protection), conservation (which Schwartz views as mostly related to social-protection), and self-transcendence (which Schwartz views as a form of social growth). Within this Schwartz places 10 universal values: self-direction, stimulation and hedonism (related to openness growth), achievement and power (related to self enhancement), security, conformity and tradition (related to conservation), and humility, benevolence and universalism (relate to self-transcendence). Personality traits using the big 5 measure correlate with Schwartz's value construct. Openness and extraversion correlates with the values related to openness-to-change (openness especially with self-direction, extraversion especially with stimulation); agreeableness correlates with self-transcendence values (especially benevolence); extraversion is correlated with self-enhancement and negatively with traditional values. Conscientiousness correlates with achievement, conformity and security. Men are found to value achievement, self-direction, hedonism, and stimulation more than women, while women value benevolence, universality and tradition higher. The order of Schwartz's traits are substantially stability amongst adults over time. Migrants values change when they move to a new country, but the order of preferences is still quite stable. Motherhood causes women to shift their values towards stability and away from openness-to-change but not fathers. Moral foundations theory Moral foundation theory identifies five forms of moral foundation: harm/care, fairness/reciprocity, in-group/loyalty, authority/respect, and purity/sanctity. The first two are often termed individualizing foundations, with the remaining three being binding foundations. The moral foundations were found to be correlated with the theory of basic human values. The strong correlations are between conservatives values and binding foundations. Cultural values Individual cultures emphasize values which their members broadly share. Values of a society can often be identified by examining the level of honor and respect received by various groups and ideas. Values clarification differs from cognitive moral education:Respect Value clarification consists of "helping people clarify what their lives are for and what is worth working for. It encourages students to define their own values and to understand others' values." Cognitive moral education builds on the belief that students should learn to value things like democracy and justice as their moral reasoning develops. Values relate to the norms of a culture, but they are more global and intellectual than norms. Norms provide rules for behavior in specific situations, while values identify what should be judged as good or evil. While norms are standards, patterns, rules and guides of expected behavior, values are abstract concepts of what is important and worthwhile. Flying the national flag on a holiday is a norm, but it reflects the value of patriotism. Wearing dark clothing and appearing solemn are normative behaviors to manifest respect at a funeral. Different cultures represent values differently and to different levels of emphasis. "Over the last three decades, traditional-age college students have shown an increased interest in personal well-being and a decreased interest in the welfare of others." Values seemed to have changed, affecting the beliefs, and attitudes of the students. Members take part in a culture even if each member's personal values do not entirely agree with some of the normative values sanctioned in that culture. This reflects an individual's ability to synthesize and extract aspects valuable to them from the multiple subcultures they belong to. If a group member expresses a value that seriously conflicts with the group's norms, the group's authority may carry out various ways of encouraging conformity or stigmatizing the non-conforming behavior of that member. For example, imprisonment can result from conflict with social norms that the state has established as law. Furthermore, cultural values can be expressed at a global level through institutions participating in the global economy. For example, values important to global governance can include leadership, legitimacy, and efficiency. Within our current global governance architecture, leadership is expressed through the G20, legitimacy through the United Nations, and efficiency through member-driven international organizations. The expertise provided by international organizations and civil society depends on the incorporation of flexibility in the rules, to preserve the expression of identity in a globalized world. Nonetheless, in warlike economic competition, differing views may contradict each other, particularly in the field of culture. Thus audiences in Europe may regard a movie as an artistic creation and grant it benefits from special treatment, while audiences in the United States may see it as mere entertainment, whatever its artistic merits. EU policies based on the notion of "cultural exception" can become juxtaposed with the liberal policy of "cultural specificity" in English-speaking countries. Indeed, international law traditionally treats films as property and the content of television programs as a service. Consequently, cultural interventionist policies can find themselves opposed to the Anglo-Saxon liberal position, causing failures in international negotiations. Development and transmission Values are generally received through cultural means, especially diffusion and transmission or socialization from parents to children. Parents in different cultures have different values. For example, parents in a hunter–gatherer society or surviving through subsistence agriculture value practical survival skills from a young age. Many such cultures begin teaching babies to use sharp tools, including knives, before their first birthdays. Italian parents value social and emotional abilities and having an even temperament. Spanish parents want their children to be sociable. Swedish parents value security and happiness. Dutch parents value independence, long attention spans, and predictable schedules. American parents are unusual for strongly valuing intellectual ability, especially in a narrow "book learning" sense. The Kipsigis people of Kenya value children who are not only smart, but who employ that intelligence in a responsible and helpful way, which they call ng'om. Luos of Kenya value education and pride which they call "nyadhi". Factors that influence the development of cultural values are summarized below. The Inglehart–Welzel cultural map of the world is a two-dimensional cultural map showing the cultural values of the countries of the world along two dimensions: The traditional versus secular-rational values reflect the transition from a religious understanding of the world to a dominance of science and bureaucracy. The second dimension named survival values versus self-expression values represents the transition from industrial society to post-industrial society. Cultures can be distinguished as tight and loose in relation to how much they adhere to social norms and tolerates deviance. Tight cultures are more restrictive, with stricter disciplinary measures for norm violations while loose cultures have weaker social norms and a higher tolerance for deviant behavior. A history of threats, such as natural disasters, high population density, or vulnerability to infectious diseases, is associated with greater tightness. It has been suggested that tightness allows cultures to coordinate more effectively to survive threats. Studies in evolutionary psychology have led to similar findings. The so-called regality theory finds that war and other perceived collective dangers have a profound influence on both the psychology of individuals and on the social structure and cultural values. A dangerous environment leads to a hierarchical, authoritarian, and warlike culture, while a safe and peaceful environment fosters an egalitarian and tolerant culture. Value system A value system is a set of consistent values used for the purpose of ethical or ideological integrity. Consistency As a member of a society, group or community, an individual can hold both a personal value system and a communal value system at the same time. In this case, the two value systems (one personal and one communal) are externally consistent provided they bear no contradictions or situational exceptions between them. A value system in its own right is internally consistent when its values do not contradict each other and its exceptions are or could be abstract enough to be used in all situations and consistently applied. Conversely, a value system by itself is internally inconsistent if: its values contradict each other and its exceptions are highly situational and inconsistently applied. Value exceptions Abstract exceptions serve to reinforce the ranking of values. Their definitions are generalized enough to be relevant to any and all situations. Situational exceptions, on the other hand, are ad hoc and pertain only to specific situations. The presence of a type of exception determines one of two more kinds of value systems: An idealized value system is a listing of values that lacks exceptions. It is, therefore, absolute and can be codified as a strict set of proscriptions on behavior. Those who hold to their idealized value system and claim no exceptions (other than the default) are called absolutists. A realized value system contains exceptions to resolve contradictions between values in practical circumstances. This type is what people tend to use in daily life. The difference between these two types of systems can be seen when people state that they hold one value system yet in practice deviate from it, thus holding a different value system. For example, a religion lists an absolute set of values while the practice of that religion may include exceptions. Implicit exceptions bring about a third type of value system called a formal value system. Whether idealized or realized, this type contains an implicit exception associated with each value: "as long as no higher-priority value is violated". For instance, a person might feel that lying is wrong. Since preserving a life is probably more highly valued than adhering to the principle that lying is wrong, lying to save someone's life is acceptable. Perhaps too simplistic in practice, such a hierarchical structure may warrant explicit exceptions. Conflict Although sharing a set of common values, like hockey is better than baseball or ice cream is better than fruit, two different parties might not rank those values equally. Also, two parties might disagree as to certain actions are right or wrong, both in theory and in practice, and find themselves in an ideological or physical conflict. Ethonomics, the discipline of rigorously examining and comparing value systems, enables us to understand politics and motivations more fully in order to resolve conflicts. An example conflict would be a value system based on individualism pitted against a value system based on collectivism. A rational value system organized to resolve the conflict between two such value systems might take the form below. Added exceptions can become recursive and often convoluted. Individuals may act freely unless their actions harm others or interfere with others' freedom or with functions of society that individuals need, provided those functions do not themselves interfere with these proscribed individual rights and were agreed to by a majority of the individuals. A society (or more specifically the system of order that enables the workings of a society) exists for the purpose of benefiting the lives of the individuals who are members of that society. The functions of a society in providing such benefits would be those agreed to by the majority of individuals in the society. A society may require contributions from its members in order for them to benefit from the services provided by the society. The failure of individuals to make such required contributions could be considered a reason to deny those benefits to them, although a society could elect to consider hardship situations in determining how much should be contributed. A society may restrict behavior of individuals who are members of the society only for the purpose of performing its designated functions agreed to by the majority of individuals in the society, only insofar as they violate the aforementioned values. This means that a society may abrogate the rights of any of its members who fails to uphold the aforementioned values. See also Attitude (psychology) Axiological ethics Axiology Clyde Kluckhohn and his value orientation theory Hofstede's Framework for Assessing Culture Instrumental and intrinsic value Intercultural communication Meaning of life Paideia Rokeach Value Survey Spiral Dynamics The Right and the Good Value judgment World Values Survey Western values References Further reading see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290349218_The_political_algebra_of_global_value_change_General_models_and_implications_for_the_Muslim_world External links Concepts in ethics Concepts in metaphysics Codes of conduct Moral psychology Motivation Social philosophy Social psychology Social systems

Self-preservation

Self-preservation is a behavior or set of behaviors that ensures the survival of an organism. It is thought to be universal among all living organisms. For sentient organisms, pain and fear are integral parts of this mechanism. Pain motivates the individual to withdraw from damaging situations, to protect a damaged body part while it heals, and to avoid similar experiences in the future. Most pain resolves promptly once the painful stimulus is removed and the body has healed, but sometimes pain persists despite removal of the stimulus and apparent healing of the body; and sometimes pain arises in the absence of any detectable stimulus, damage or disease. Fear causes the organism to seek safety and may cause a release of adrenaline, which has the effect of increased strength and heightened senses such as hearing, smell, and sight. Self-preservation may also be interpreted figuratively, in regard to the coping mechanisms one needs to prevent emotional trauma from distorting the mind (see Defence mechanisms). Even the most simple of living organisms (for example, the single-celled bacteria) are typically under intense selective pressure to evolve a response that would help avoid a damaging environment, if such an environment exists. Organisms also evolve while adaptingeven thrivingin a benign environment (for example, a marine sponge modifies its structure in response to current changes, in order to better absorb and process nutrients). Self-preservation is therefore an almost universal hallmark of life. However, when introduced to a novel threat, many species will have a self-preservation response either too specialised, or not specialised enough, to cope with that particular threat. An example is the dodo, which evolved in the absence of natural predators and hence lacked an appropriate, general self-preservation response to heavy predation by humans and rats, showing no fear of them. Self-preservation is essentially the process of an organism preventing itself from being harmed or killed and is considered a basic instinct in most organisms. Most call it a "survival instinct". Self-preservation is thought to be tied to an organism's reproductive fitness and can be more or less present according to perceived reproduction potential. If perceived reproductive potential is low enough, self-destructive behavior (i.e., the opposite) is not uncommon in social species. Self-preservation is also thought by some to be the basis of rational and logical thought and behavior. Overview An organism's fitness is measured by its ability to pass on its genes. The most straightforward way to accomplish this is to survive to a reproductive age, mate, and then have offspring. These offspring will hold at least a portion of their parent's genes, up to all of the parent's genes in asexual organisms. But in order for this to happen, an organism must first survive long enough to reproduce, and this would mainly consist of adopting selfish behaviors that would allow organisms to maximize their own chances for survival. Self-destructive behavior Animals in a social group (of kin) often work cooperatively in order to survive, but when one member perceives itself as a burden for an extended period of time, it may commit self-destructive behavior. This allows its relatives to have a better chance at survival, and if enough close relatives survive, then its genes get indirectly passed on. This behavior works in the exact opposite direction of the survival instinct and could be considered a highly altruistic behavior evolved from a cooperative group. Self-destructive behavior is not the same as risk-taking behavior (see below in Social implications), although risk-taking behavior could turn into destructive behavior. Social implications The desire for self-preservation has led to countless laws and regulations surrounding a culture of safety in society. Seat belt laws, speed limits, texting regulations, and the "stranger danger" campaign are examples of societal guides and regulations to enhance survival, and these laws are heavily influenced by the pursuit of self-preservation. Economic impacts Self-preservation urges animals to collect energy and resources required to prolong life as well as resources that increase chances of survival. Basic needs are available to most humans (roughly 7 out of 8 people), and usually rather cheaply. The instinct that drives humans to gather resources now drives them to over-consumption or to patterns of collection and possession that essentially make hoarding resources the priority. Cellular self preservation Self-preservation is not just limited to individual organisms; this can be scaled up or down to other levels of life. Narula and Young indicate that cardiac myocytes have an acute sense of self-preservation. They are able to duck, dart, and dodge foreign substances that may harm the cell. In addition, when a myocardiac arresta heart attackoccurs, it is actually the cardiac myocytes entering a state of hibernation in an attempt to wait out a lack of resources. While this is ultimately deadly to the organism, it prolongs the cell's survival as long as possible for hopeful resuscitation. Group self preservation When scaled in the opposite direction, Hughes-Jones makes the argument that "social groups that fight each other are self‐sustaining, self‐replicating wholes containing interdependent parts" indicating that the group as a whole can have self-preservation with the individuals acting as the cells. He makes an analogy between the survival practices such as hygiene and the ritual nature within small human groups or the nations that engage in religious warfare with the complex survival mechanisms of multi-cellular organisms that evolved from the cooperative association of single cell organisms in order to better protect themselves. See also Antipredator adaptation Collective intelligence Conatus Dear enemy recognition Death – result of failure to survive Outline of death – topic tree of the subjects related to the end of life Fight-or-flight response Outline of self Self-defense Will to live References Ethology Self-care Evolutionary biology Survival

World Values Survey

The World Values Survey (WVS) is a global research project that explores people's values and beliefs, how they change over time, and what social and political impact they have. Since 1981 a worldwide network of social scientists have conducted representative national surveys as part of WVS in almost 100 countries. The WVS measures, monitors and analyzes: support for democracy, tolerance of foreigners and ethnic minorities, support for gender equality, the role of religion and changing levels of religiosity, the impact of globalization, attitudes toward the environment, work, family, politics, national identity, culture, diversity, insecurity, and subjective well-being. Romano Prodi, former Prime Minister of Italy and the tenth President of the European Commission, said about WVS work: The growing globalization of the world makes it increasingly important to understand ... diversity. People with varying beliefs and values can live together and work together productively, but for this to happen it is crucial to understand and appreciate their distinctive worldviews. Insights The WVS has over the years demonstrated that people's beliefs play a key role in economic development, the emergence and flourishing of democratic institutions, the rise of gender equality, and the extent to which societies have effective government. Inglehart–Welzel cultural map Analysis of WVS data made by political scientists Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel asserts that there are two major dimensions of cross cultural variation in the world: Traditional values versus secular-rational values and Survival values versus self-expression values. The global cultural map shows how scores of societies are located on these two dimensions. Moving upward on this map reflects the shift from Traditional values to Secular-rational and moving rightward reflects the shift from Survival values to Self-expression values. Traditional values emphasize the importance of religion, parent-child ties, deference to authority and traditional family values. People who embrace these values also reject divorce, abortion, euthanasia and suicide. These societies have high levels of national pride and a nationalistic outlook. Secular-rational values have the opposite preferences to the traditional values. These societies place less emphasis on religion, traditional family values and authority. Divorce, abortion, euthanasia and suicide are seen as relatively acceptable. Survival values place emphasis on economic and physical security. It is linked with a relatively ethnocentric outlook and low levels of trust and tolerance. Self-expression values give high priority to environmental protection, growing tolerance of foreigners, gays and lesbians and gender equality, and rising demands for participation in decision-making in economic and political life. Christian Welzel introduced the concepts of emancipative values and secular values. He provided measurements for those values using World Values Survey data. Emancipative values are an updated version of self-expression values. Secular values are an updated version of traditional versus secular rational values. The survival versus self-expression values and the traditional versus secular rational values were factors extracted with an orthogonal technique of factor analysis, which forbids the two scales from correlating with each other. The emancipative and secular values are measured in such a way as to represent the data as faithfully as possible even if this results in a correlation between the scales. The secular and emancipative values indices are positively correlated with each other. Culture variations A somewhat simplified analysis is that following an increase in standards of living, and a transit from development country via industrialization to post-industrial knowledge society, a country tends to move diagonally in the direction from lower-left corner (poor) to upper-right corner (rich), indicating a transit in both dimensions. However, the attitudes among the population are also highly correlated with the philosophical, political and religious ideas that have been dominating in the country. Secular-rational values and materialism were formulated by philosophers and the left-wing politics side in the French Revolution, and can consequently be observed especially in countries with a long history of social democratic or socialistic policy, and in countries where a large portion of the population have studied philosophy and science at universities. Survival values are characteristic for eastern-world countries and self-expression values for western-world countries. In a liberal post-industrial economy, an increasing share of the population has grown up taking survival and freedom of thought for granted, resulting in that self-expression is highly valued. Examples Societies that have high scores in Traditional and Survival values: Zimbabwe, Morocco, Jordan, Bangladesh. Societies with high scores in Traditional and Self-expression values: Most of Latin America, Ireland. Societies with high scores in Secular-rational and Survival values: Russia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Estonia. Societies with high scores in Secular-rational and Self-expression values: Japan, Nordic countries, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, Czechia, Slovenia, France. Gender values Findings from the WVS indicate that support for gender equality is not just a consequence of democratization. It is part of a broader cultural change that is transforming industrialized societies with mass demands for increasingly democratic institutions. Although a majority of the world's population still believes that men make better political leaders than women, this view is fading in advanced industrialized societies, and also among young people in less prosperous countries. World Values Survey data is used by the United Nation Development Programme in order to calculate the gender social norms index. The index measures attitudes toward gender equality worldwide and was introduced in the Human Development Report starting from 2019. The index has four components, measuring gender attitudes in politics, education and economy as well as social norms related to domestic violence. Religion The data from the World Values Survey cover several important aspects of people's religious orientation. One of them tracks how involved people are in religious services and how much importance they attach to their religious beliefs. In the data from 2000, 98% of the public in Indonesia said that religion was very important in their lives while in China only three percent considered religion very important. Another aspect concerns people's attitudes towards the relation between religion and politics and whether they approve of religious spokesmen who try to influence government decisions and people's voting preferences. In a factor analysis of the latest wave (6) of World Values Survey data, Arno Tausch (Corvinus University of Budapest) found that family values in the tradition of Joseph Schumpeter and religious values in the research tradition of Robert Barro can be an important positive asset for society. Negative phenomena, like the distrust in the state of law; the shadow economy; the distance from altruistic values; a growing fatigue of democracy; and the lack of entrepreneurial spirit are all correlated with the loss of religiosity. Tausch based his results on a factor analysis with promax rotation of 78 variables from 45 countries with complete data, and also calculated performance indices for the 45 countries with complete data and the nine main global religious denominations. On this account, Judaism and also Protestantism emerge as most closely combining religion and the traditions of the Enlightenment. Happiness and life satisfaction The WVS has shown that from 1981 to 2007 happiness rose in 45 of the 52 countries for which long-term data are available. Since 1981, economic development, democratization, and rising social tolerance have increased the extent to which people perceive that they have free choice, which in turn has led to higher levels of happiness around the world, which supports the human development theory. Findings Some of the survey's basic findings are: Much of the variation in human values between societies boils down to two broad dimensions: a first dimension of “traditional vs. secular-rational values” and a second dimension of “survival vs. self-expression values.” On the first dimension, traditional values emphasize religiosity, national pride, respect for authority, obedience and marriage. Secular-rational values emphasize the opposite on each of these accounts. On the second dimension, survival values involve a priority of security over liberty, non-acceptance of homosexuality, abstinence from political action, distrust in outsiders and a weak sense of happiness. Self-expression values imply the opposite on all these accounts. Following the 'revised theory of modernization,' values change in predictable ways with certain aspects of modernity. People's priorities shift from traditional to secular-rational values as their sense of existential security increases (or backwards from secular-rational values to traditional values as their sense of existential security decreases). The largest increase in existential security occurs with the transition from agrarian to industrial societies. Consequently, the largest shift from traditional towards secular-rational values happens in this phase. People's priorities shift from survival to self-expression values as their sense of individual agency increases (or backwards from self-expression values to survival as the sense of individual agency decreases). The largest increase in individual agency occurs with the transition from industrial to knowledge societies. Consequently, the largest shift from survival to self-expression values happens in this phase. The value differences between societies around the world show a pronounced culture zone pattern. The strongest emphasis on traditional values and survival values is found in the Islamic societies of the Middle East. By contrast, the strongest emphasis on secular-rational values and self-expression values is found in the Protestant societies of Northern Europe. These culture zone differences reflect different historical pathways of how entire groups of societies entered modernity. These pathways account for people's different senses of existential security and individual agency, which in turn account for their different emphases on secular-rational values and self-expression values. Values also differ within societies along such cleavage lines as gender, generation, ethnicity, religious denomination, education, income and so forth. Generally speaking, groups whose living conditions provide people with a stronger sense of existential security and individual agency nurture a stronger emphasis on secular-rational values and self-expression values. However, the within-societal differences in people's values are dwarfed by a factor five to ten by the between-societal differences. On a global scale, basic living conditions differ still much more between than within societies, and so do the experiences of existential security and individual agency that shape people's values. A specific subset of self-expression values—emancipative values—combines an emphasis on freedom of choice and equality of opportunities. Emancipative values, thus, involve priorities for lifestyle liberty, gender equality, personal autonomy and the voice of the people. Emancipative values constitute the key cultural component of a broader process of human empowerment. Once set in motion, this process empowers people to exercise freedoms in their course of actions. If set in motion, human empowerment advances on three levels. On the socio-economic level, human empowerment advances as growing action resources increase people's capabilities to exercise freedoms. On the socio-cultural level, human empowerment advances as rising emancipative values increase people's aspirations to exercise freedoms. On the legal-institutional level, human empowerment advances as widened democratic rights increase people's entitlements to exercise freedoms. Human empowerment is an entity of empowering capabilities, aspirations, and entitlements. As an entity, human empowerment tends to advance in virtuous spirals or to recede in vicious spirals on each of its three levels. As the cultural component of human empowerment, emancipative values are highly consequential in manifold ways. For one, emancipative values establish a civic form of modern individualism that favours out-group trust and cosmopolitan orientations towards others. Emancipative values encourage nonviolent protest, even against the risk of repression. Thus, emancipative values provide social capital that activates societies, makes publics more self-expressive, and vitalizes civil society. Emancipative values advance entire societies' civic agency. If emancipative values grow strong in countries that are democratic, they help to prevent movements away from democracy. If emancipative values grow strong in countries that are undemocratic, they help to trigger movements towards democracy. Emancipative values exert these effects because they encourage mass actions that put power holders under pressures to sustain, substantiate or establish democracy, depending on what the current challenge for democracy is. Objective factors that have been found to favour democracy (including economic prosperity, income equality, ethnic homogeneity, world market integration, global media exposure, closeness to democratic neighbours, a Protestant heritage, social capital and so forth) exert an influence on democracy mostly insofar as these factors favour emancipative values. Emancipative values do not strengthen people's desire for democracy, for the desire for democracy is universal at this point in history. But emancipative values do change the nature of the desire for democracy. And they do so in a double way. For one, emancipative values make people's understanding of democracy more liberal: people with stronger emancipative values emphasize the empowering features of democracy rather than bread-and-butter and law-and-order issues. Next, emancipative values make people assess the level of their country's democracy more critically: people with stronger emancipative values rather underrate than overrate their country's democratic performance. Together, then, emancipative values generate a critical-liberal desire for democracy. The critical-liberal desire for democracy is a formidable force of democratic reforms. And, it is the best available predictor of a country's effective level of democracy and of other indicators of good governance. Neither democratic traditions nor cognitive mobilization account for the strong positive impact of emancipative values on the critical-liberal desire for democracy. Emancipative values constitute the single most important factor in advancing the empowerment of women. Economic, religious, and institutional factors that have been found to advance women's empowerment, do so for the most part because they nurture emancipative values. Emancipative values change people's life strategy from an emphasis on securing a decent subsistence level to enhancing human agency. As the shift from subsistence to agency affects entire societies, the overall level of subjective well-being rises. The emancipative consequences of the human empowerment process are not a culture-specific peculiarity of the 'West.' The same empowerment processes that advance emancipative values and a critical-liberal desire for democracy in the 'West,' do the same in the 'East' and in other culture zones. The social dominance of Islam and individual identification as Muslim both weaken emancipative values. But among young Muslims with high education, and especially among young Muslim women with high education, the Muslim/Non-Muslim gap over emancipative values closes. A 2013 analysis noted the number of people in various countries responding that they would prefer not to have neighbors of the different race ranged from below 5% in many countries to 51.4% in Jordan, with wide variation in Europe. According to the 2017-2020 world values survey, 95% of Chinese respondents have significant confidence in their government, compared with the world average of 45% government satisfaction. History The World Values Surveys were designed to test the hypothesis that economic and technological changes are transforming the basic values and motivations of the publics of industrialized societies. The surveys build on the European Values Study (EVS) first carried out in 1981. The EVS was conducted under the aegis of Jan Kerkhofs and Ruud de Moor and continues to be based in the Netherlands at the Tilburg University. The 1981 study was largely limited to developed societies, but interest in this project spread so widely that surveys were carried out in more than twenty countries, located on all six inhabited continents. Ronald Inglehart of the University of Michigan played a leading role in extending these surveys to be carried out in countries around the world. Today the network includes hundreds of social scientist from more than 100 countries. The surveys are repeated in waves with intervals of 5 to 10 years. The waves have been carried out in the years listed in this table: Findings from the first wave of surveys pointed to the conclusion that intergenerational changes were taking place in basic values relating to politics, economic life, religion, gender roles, family norms and sexual norms. The values of younger generations differed consistently from those prevailing among older generations, particularly in societies that had experienced rapid economic growth. To examine whether changes were actually taking place in these values and to analyze the underlying causes, a second wave of WVS surveys was carried out in 1990–91. Because these changes seem to be linked with economic and technological development, it was important to include societies across the entire range of development, from low income societies to rich societies. A third wave of surveys was carried out in 1995–97, this time in 55 societies and with increased attention being given to analysing the cultural conditions for democracy. A fourth wave of surveys was carried out in 1999–2001 in 65 societies. A key goal was to obtain better coverage of African and Islamic societies, which had been under-represented in previous surveys. A fifth wave was carried out in 2005–07 and a sixth wave was carried out during 2011–12. Due to the European origin of the project, the early waves of the WVS were eurocentric in emphasis, with little representation in Africa and South-East Asia. To expand, the WVS adopted a decentralised structure, in which social scientists from countries throughout the world participated in the design, execution and analysis of the data, and in publication of findings. In return for providing the data from a survey in their own society, each group obtained immediate access to the data from all participating societies enabling them to analyse social change in a broader perspective. The WVS network has produced over 300 publications in 20 languages and secondary users have produced several thousand additional publications. The database of the WVS has been published on the internet with free access. The official archive of the World Values Survey is located in [ASEP/JDS] Madrid, Spain. Methodology The World Values Survey uses the sample survey as its mode of data collection, a systematic and standardized approach to collect information through interviewing representative national samples of individuals. The basic stages of a sample survey are Questionnaire design; Sampling; Data collection and Analysis. Questionnaire design For each wave, suggestions for questions are solicited by social scientists from all over the world and a final master questionnaire is developed in English. Since the start in 1981 each successive wave has covered a broader range of societies than the previous one. Analysis of the data from each wave has indicated that certain questions tapped interesting and important concepts while others were of little value. This has led to the more useful questions or themes being replicated in future waves while the less useful ones have been dropped making room for new questions. The questionnaire is translated into the various national languages and in many cases independently translated back to English to check the accuracy of the translation. In most countries, the translated questionnaire is pre-tested to help identify questions for which the translation is problematic. In some cases certain problematic questions are omitted from the national questionnaire. Sampling Samples are drawn from the entire population of 18 years and older. The minimum sample is 1000. In most countries, no upper age limit is imposed and some form of stratified random sampling is used to obtain representative national samples. In the first stages, a random selection of sampling points is made based on the given society statistical regions, districts, census units, election sections, electoral roll or polling place and central population registers. In most countries the population size and/or degree of urbanization of these Primary Sampling Units are taken into account. In some countries, individuals are drawn from national registers. Data collection and field work Following the sampling, each country is left with a representative national sample of its public. These persons are then interviewed during a limited time frame decided by the executive committee of the World Values Survey using the uniformly structured questionnaires. The survey is carried out by professional organizations using face-to-face interviews or phone interviews for remote areas. Each country has a Principal Investigator (social scientists working in academic institutions) who is responsible for conducting the survey in accordance with the fixed rules and procedures. During the field work, the agency has to report in writing according to a specific check-list. Internal consistency checks are made between the sampling design and the outcome and rigorous data cleaning procedures are followed at the WVS data archive. No country is included in a wave before full documentation has been delivered. This means a data set with the completed methodological questionnaire. and a report of country-specific information (for example important political events during the fieldwork, problems particular to the country). Once all the surveys are completed, the Principal Investigator has access to all surveys and data. Analysis The World Values Survey group works with leading social scientists, recruited from each society studied. They represent a wide range of cultures and perspectives which makes it possible to draw on the insights of well-informed insiders in interpreting the findings. It also helps disseminate social science techniques to new countries. Each research team that has contributed to the survey analyses the findings according to its hypotheses. Because all researchers obtain data from all of the participating societies, they are also able to compare the values and beliefs of the people of their own society with those from scores of other societies and to test alternative hypotheses. In addition, the participants are invited to international meetings at which they can compare findings and interpretations with other members of the WVS network. The findings are then disseminated through international conferences and joint publications. Usage The World Values Survey data has been downloaded by over 100,000 researchers, journalists, policy-makers and others. The data is available on the WVS website which contains tools developed for online analysis. Governance and funding The World Values Survey is organised as a network of social scientists coordinated by a central body - the World Values Survey Association. It is established as a non-profit organization seated in Stockholm, Sweden, with a constitution and mission statement. The project is guided by an executive committee representing all regions of the world. The committee is also supported by a Scientific Advisory Committee, a Secretariat and an Archive. The WVS Executive Committee provides leadership and strategic planning for the association. It is responsible for the recruitment of new members, the organization of meetings and workshops, data processing and distribution, capacity building and the promotion of publications and dissemination of results. The WVS Executive Committee also raises funds for central functions and assists member groups in their fundraising. Each national team is responsible for its own expenses and most surveys are financed by local sources. However, central funding has been obtained in cases where local funding is not possible. Presently, the activities of the WVS Secretariat and WVS Executive Committee are funded by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation. Other funding has been obtained from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the Volkswagen Foundation, he German Science Foundation (DFG) and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Media coverage The World Values Survey data has been used in a large number of scholarly publications and the findings have been reported in media such as BBC News, Bloomberg Businessweek, China Daily, Chinadialogue.net, CNN, Der Spiegel, Der Standard, Rzeczpospolita, Gazeta Wyborcza, Le Monde, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Newsweek, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Time, The Economist, The Guardian, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Washington Post, and the World Development Report. World Values Paper Series: World Values Research World Values Research (WVR), registered as , is the official online paper series of the World Values Survey Association. The series is edited by the executive committee of the Association. WVR publishes research papers of high scientific standards based on evidence from World Values Surveys data. Papers in WVR follow good academic practice and abide to ethical norms in line with the mission of the World Values Survey Association. Publication of submitted papers is pending on an internal review by the executive committee of the World Values Survey Association. WVR papers present original research based on data from the World Values Surveys, providing new evidence and novel insights of theoretical relevance to the theme of human values. An archive of published WVR papers is available on the project's website. See also Afrobarometer Eurobarometer Latin American Public Opinion Project Broad measures of economic progress Happiness economics Post-materialism World Social Capital Monitor Notes Bibliography . . . . . . . see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290349218_The_political_algebra_of_global_value_change_General_models_and_implications_for_the_Muslim_world . . . . . . . External links 1981 establishments Belief Epistemology Global ethics Political science Social statistics data Statistical data sets Surveys (human research) Value (ethics)

Environmental movement

The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. Environmentalists advocate the just and sustainable management of resources and stewardship of the environment through changes in public policy and individual behavior. In its recognition of humanity as a participant in (not an enemy of) ecosystems, the movement is centered on ecology, health, as well as human rights. The environmental movement is an international movement, represented by a range of environmental organizations, from enterprises to grassroots and varies from country to country. Due to its large membership, varying and strong beliefs, and occasionally speculative nature, the environmental movement is not always united in its goals. At its broadest, the movement includes private citizens, professionals, religious devotees, politicians, scientists, nonprofit organizations, and individual advocates like former Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson and Rachel Carson in the 20th century. History Early awareness The origins of the environmental movement lay in response to increasing levels of smoke pollution in the atmosphere during the Industrial Revolution. The emergence of great factories and the concomitant immense growth in coal consumption gave rise to an unprecedented level of air pollution in industrial centers; after 1900 the large volume of industrial chemical discharges added to the growing load of untreated human waste. Under increasing political pressure from the urban middle-class, the first large-scale, modern environmental laws came in the form of Britain's Alkali Acts, passed in 1863, to regulate the deleterious air pollution (gaseous hydrochloric acid) given off by the Leblanc process, used to produce soda ash. Early interest in the environment was a feature of the Romantic movement in the early 19th century. The poet William Wordsworth had travelled extensively in England's Lake District and wrote that it is a "sort of national property in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy". Conservation movement The modern conservation movement was first manifested in the forests of India, with the practical application of scientific conservation principles. The conservation ethic that began to evolve included three core principles: human activity damaged the environment, there was a civic duty to maintain the environment for future generations, and scientific, empirically based methods should be applied to ensure this duty was carried out. James Ranald Martin was prominent in promoting this ideology, publishing many medico-topographical reports that demonstrated the scale of damage wrought through large-scale deforestation and desiccation, and lobbying extensively for the institutionalization of forest conservation activities in British India through the establishment of Forest Departments. The Madras Board of Revenue started local conservation efforts in 1842, headed by Alexander Gibson, a professional botanist who systematically adopted a forest conservation programme based on scientific principles. This was the first case of state management of forests in the world. Eventually, the government under Governor-General Lord Dalhousie introduced the first permanent and large-scale forest conservation programme in the world in 1855, a model that soon spread to other colonies, as well as the United States. In 1860, the Department banned the use of shifting cultivation. Hugh Cleghorn's 1861 manual, The forests and gardens of South India, became the definitive work on the subject and was widely used by forest assistants in the subcontinent. Dietrich Brandis joined the British service in 1856 as superintendent of the teak forests of Pegu division in eastern Burma. During that time Burma's teak forests were controlled by militant Karen tribals. He introduced the "taungya" system, in which Karen villagers provided labour for clearing, planting, and weeding teak plantations. Also, he formulated new forest legislation and helped establish research and training institutions. Brandis as well as founded the Imperial Forestry School at Dehradun. Formation of environmental protection societies The late 19th century saw the formation of the first wildlife conservation societies. The zoologist Alfred Newton published a series of investigations into the Desirability of establishing a 'Close-time' for the preservation of indigenous animals between 1872 and 1903. His advocacy for legislation to protect animals from hunting during the mating season led to the formation of the Plumage League (later the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) in 1889. The society acted as a protest group campaigning against the use of great crested grebe and kittiwake skins and feathers in fur clothing. The Society attracted growing support from the suburban middle-classes, and influenced the passage of the Sea Birds Preservation Act in 1869 as the first nature protection law in the world. For most of the century from 1850 to 1950, however, the primary environmental cause was the mitigation of air pollution. The Coal Smoke Abatement Society was formed in 1898 making it one of the oldest environmental NGOs. It was founded by artist Sir William Blake Richmond, frustrated with the pall cast by coal smoke. Although there were earlier pieces of legislation, the Public Health Act 1875 required all furnaces and fireplaces to consume their own smoke. Systematic and general efforts on behalf of the environment only began in the late 19th century; it grew out of the amenity movement in Britain in the 1870s, which was a reaction to industrialization, the growth of cities, and worsening air and water pollution. Starting with the formation of the Commons Preservation Society in 1865, the movement championed rural preservation against the encroachments of industrialisation. Robert Hunter, solicitor for the society, worked with Hardwicke Rawnsley, Octavia Hill, and John Ruskin to lead a successful campaign to prevent the construction of railways to carry slate from the quarries, which would have ruined the unspoilt valleys of Newlands and Ennerdale. This success led to the formation of the Lake District Defence Society (later to become The Friends of the Lake District). In 1893 Hill, Hunter and Rawnsley agreed to set up a national body to coordinate environmental conservation efforts across the country; the "National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty" was formally inaugurated in 1894. The organisation obtained secure footing through the 1907 National Trust Bill, which gave the trust the status of a statutory corporation. and the bill was passed in August 1907. An early "Back-to-Nature" movement, which anticipated the romantic ideal of modern environmentalism, was advocated by intellectuals such as John Ruskin, William Morris, and Edward Carpenter, who were all against consumerism, pollution and other activities that were harmful to the natural world. The movement was a reaction to the urban conditions of the industrial towns, where sanitation was awful, pollution levels intolerable and housing terribly cramped. Idealists championed the rural life as a mythical Utopia and advocated a return to it. John Ruskin argued that people should return to a "small piece of English ground, beautiful, peaceful, and fruitful. We will have no steam engines upon it ... we will have plenty of flowers and vegetables ... we will have some music and poetry; the children will learn to dance to it and sing it." Practical ventures in the establishment of small cooperative farms were even attempted and old rural traditions, without the "taint of manufacture or the canker of artificiality", were enthusiastically revived, including the Morris dance and the maypole. The movement in the United States began in the late 19th century, out of concerns for protecting the natural resources of the West, with individuals such as John Muir and Henry David Thoreau making key philosophical contributions. Thoreau was interested in peoples' relationship with nature and studied this by living close to nature in a simple life. He published his experiences in the book Walden, which argues that people should become intimately close with nature. Muir came to believe in nature's inherent right, especially after spending time hiking in Yosemite Valley and studying both the ecology and geology. He successfully lobbied congress to form Yosemite National Park and went on to set up the Sierra Club in 1892. The conservationist principles as well as the belief in an inherent right of nature were to become the bedrock of modern environmentalism. However, the early movement in the U.S. developed with a contradiction; preservationists like John Muir wanted land and nature set aside for its own sake, and conservationists, such as Gifford Pinchot (appointed as the first Chief of the US Forest Service from 1905 to 1910), wanted to manage natural resources for human use. 20th century In the 20th century, environmental ideas continued to grow in popularity and recognition. Efforts were beginning to be made to save wildlife, particularly the American bison. The death of the last passenger pigeon as well as the endangerment of the American bison helped to focus the minds of conservationists and popularize their concerns. In 1916, the National Park Service was founded by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. Pioneers of the movement called for more efficient and professional management of natural resources. They fought for reform because they believed the destruction of forests, fertile soil, minerals, wildlife, and water resources would lead to the downfall of society. The group that has been the most active in recent years is the climate movement. The U.S. movement began to take off after World War II, as people began to recognize the costs of environmental negligence, disease, and the expansion of air and water pollution through the occurrence of several environmental disasters that occurred post-World War II. Aldo Leopold published A Sand County Almanac in 1949. He believed in a land ethic that recognized that maintaining the "beauty, integrity, and health of natural systems" as a moral and ethical imperative. Another major literary force in the promotion of the environmental movement was Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring about declining bird populations due to DDT, an insecticide, pollutant, and man's attempts to control nature through the use of synthetic substances. Her core message for her readers was to identify the complex and fragile ecosystem and the threats facing the population. In 1958, Carson started to work on her last book, with an idea that nature needs human protection. Her influence was radioactive fallout, smog, food additives, and pesticide use. Carson's main focus was on pesticides, which led her to identify nature as fragile. She believed the use of technology dangerous to humans and other species. Both of these books helped bring the issues into the public eye Rachel Carson's Silent Spring sold over two million copies and is linked to a nationwide ban on DDT and the creation of the EPA. Beginning in 1969 and continuing into the 1970s, Illinois-based environmental activist James F. Phillips engaged in numerous covert anti-pollution campaigns using the pseudonym "the Fox." His activities included plugging illegal sewage outfall pipes and dumping toxic wastewater produced by a US Steel factory inside the company's Chicago corporate office. Phillips' "ecotage" campaigns attracted considerable media attention and subsequently inspired other direct action protests against environmental destruction. The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970. Its founder, former Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, was inspired to create this day of environmental education and awareness after seeing the oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara in 1969. Greenpeace was created in 1971 as an organization that believed that political advocacy and legislation were ineffective or inefficient solutions and supported non-violent action. 1980 saw the creation of Earth First!, a group with an ecocentric view of the world – believing in equality between the rights of humans to flourish, the rights of all other species to flourish and the rights of life-sustaining systems to flourish. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, several events illustrated the magnitude of environmental damage caused by humans. In 1954, a hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll exposed the 23-man crew of the Japanese fishing vessel Lucky Dragon 5 to radioactive fallout. The incident is known as Castle Bravo, the largest thermonuclear device ever detonated by the United States and the first in a series of high-yield thermonuclear weapon design tests. In 1967 the oil tanker ran aground off the coast of Cornwall, and in 1969 oil spilled from an offshore well in California's Santa Barbara Channel. In 1971, the conclusion of a lawsuit in Japan drew international attention to the effects of decades of mercury poisoning on the people of Minamata. At the same time, emerging scientific research drew new attention to existing and hypothetical threats to the environment and humanity. Among them were Paul R. Ehrlich, whose book The Population Bomb (1968) revived Malthusian concerns about the impact of exponential population growth. Biologist Barry Commoner generated a debate about growth, affluence and "flawed technology." Additionally, an association of scientists and political leaders known as the Club of Rome published their report The Limits to Growth in 1972, and drew attention to the growing pressure on natural resources from human activities. Meanwhile, technological accomplishments such as nuclear proliferation and photos of the Earth from outer space provided both new insights and new reasons for concern over Earth's seemingly small and unique place in the universe. In 1972, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, and for the first time united the representatives of multiple governments in discussion relating to the state of the global environment. This conference led directly to the creation of government environmental agencies and the UN Environment Program. By the mid-1970s anti-nuclear activism had moved beyond local protests and politics to gain a wider appeal and influence. Although it lacked a single co-ordinating organization the anti-nuclear movement's efforts gained a great deal of attention, especially in the United Kingdom and United States. In the aftermath of the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, many mass demonstrations took place. The largest one was held in New York City in September 1979 and involved 200,000 people. Since the 1970s, public awareness, environmental sciences, ecology, and technology have advanced to include modern focus points like ozone depletion, global climate change, acid rain, mutation breeding, genetically modified crops and genetically modified livestock. With mutation breeding, crop cultivars were created by exposing seeds to chemicals or radiation. Many of these cultivars are still being used today. Genetically modified plants and animals are said by some environmentalists to be inherently bad because they are unnatural. Others point out the possible benefits of GM crops such as water conservation through corn modified to be less "thirsty" and decreased pesticide use through insect – resistant crops. They also point out that some genetically modified livestock have accelerated growth which means there are shorter production cycles which again results in a more efficient use of feed. Besides genetically modified crops and livestock, synthetic biology is also on the rise and environmentalists argue that these also contain risks, if these organisms were ever to end up in nature. This, as unlike with genetically modified organisms, synthetic biology even uses base pairs that do not exist in nature. 21st century In 2022, Global Witness reported that, in the preceding decade, more than 1,700 land and environmental defenders were killed, about one every two days. Brazil, Colombia, Philippines, and Mexico were the deadliest countries. In 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency announced on Jan 10. that the first $100 million in federal environmental justice will open up to community organizations, local governments and other qualified applicants in the coming weeks. United States Beginning in the conservation movement at the beginning of the 20th century, the contemporary environmental movement's roots can be traced back to Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring, Murray Bookchin's 1962 book Our Synthetic Environment, and Paul R. Ehrlich's 1968 The Population Bomb. American environmentalists have campaigned against nuclear weapons and nuclear power in the 1960s and 1970s, acid rain in the 1980s, ozone depletion and deforestation in the 1990s, and most recently climate change and global warming. The United States passed many pieces of environmental legislation in the 1970s, such as the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. These remain as the foundations for current environmental standards. Timeline of US environmental history 1832 – Hot Springs Reservation 1864 – Yosemite Valley 1872 – Yellowstone National Park 1892 – Sierra Club 1916 – National Park Service Organic Act 1916 – National Audubon Society 1949 – UN Scientific Conference on the Conservation and Utilization of Resources 1961 – World Wildlife Foundation 1964 – Land and Water Conservation Act 1964 – National Wilderness Preservation System 1968 – National Trails System Act 1968 – National Wild and Scenic Rivers System/Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 1969 – National Environmental Policy Act 1970 – First Earth Day- 22 April 1970 – Clean Air Act 1970 – Environmental Protection Agency 1971 – Greenpeace 1972 – Clean Water Act 1973 – Endangered Species Act 1980 – Earth First! 1992 – UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro 1997 – Kyoto Protocol commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 2017 – First National CleanUp Day 2022 – Inflation Reduction Act Latin America After the International Environmental Conference in Stockholm in 1972 Latin American officials returned with a high hope of growth and protection of the fairly untouched natural resources. Governments spent millions of dollars, and created departments and pollution standards. However, the outcomes have not always been what officials had initially hoped. Activists blame this on growing urban populations and industrial growth. Many Latin American countries have had a large inflow of immigrants that are living in substandard housing. Enforcement of the pollution standards is lax and penalties are minimal; in Venezuela, the largest penalty for violating an environmental law is 50,000 bolivar fine ($3,400) and three days in jail. In the 1970s or 1980s, many Latin American countries were transitioning from military dictatorships to democratic governments. Brazil In 1992, Brazil came under scrutiny with the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil has a history of little environmental awareness. It has the highest biodiversity in the world and also the highest amount of habitat destruction. One-third of the world's forests lie in Brazil. It is home to the largest river, The Amazon, and the largest rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest. People have raised funds to create state parks and increase the consciousness of people who have destroyed forests and polluted waterways. From 1973 to the 1990s, and then in the 2000s, indigenous communities and rubber tappers also carried out blockades that protected much rainforest. It is home to several organizations that have fronted the environmental movement. The Blue Wave Foundation was created in 1989 and has partnered with advertising companies to promote national education campaigns to keep Brazil's beaches clean. Funatura was created in 1986 and is a wildlife sanctuary program. Pro-Natura International is a private environmental organization created in 1986. From the late 2000s onwards community resistance saw the formerly pro-mining southeastern state of Minas Gerais cancel a number of projects that threatened to destroy forests. In northern Brazil’s Pará state the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (Landless Workers Movement) and others campaigned and took part in occupations and blockades against the environmentally harmful Carajás iron ore mine. Europe In 1952 the Great London Smog episode killed thousands of people and led the UK to create the first Clean Air Act in 1956. In 1957 the first major nuclear accident occurred in Windscale in northern England. The supertanker Torrey Canyon ran aground off the coast of Cornwall in 1967, causing the first major oil leak that killed marine life along the coast. In 1972, in Stockholm, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment created the UN Environment Programme. The EU's environmental policy was formally founded by a European Council declaration and the first five-year environment programme was adopted. The main idea of the declaration was that prevention is better than the cure and the polluter should pay. In the 1980s the green parties that were created a decade before began to have some political success. In 1986, there was a nuclear accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine. A large-scale environmental campaign was staged in Ukraine in 1986. The end of the 1980s and start of the 1990s saw the fall of communism across central and Eastern Europe, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the Union of East and West Germany. In 1992 there was a UN summit held in Rio de Janeiro where Agenda 21 was adopted. The Kyoto Protocol was created in 1997, setting specific targets and deadlines to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol has 192 signatories, including the European Union, Cook Islands, Niue, and all UN member states except Andorra, Canada, South Sudan, and the United States. In the 1990s blockades were held in Germany, the UK, France and the Netherlands to protect forests and other areas from clearing for road construction. In the early 2000s, activists believed that environmental policy concerns were overshadowed by energy security, globalism, and terrorism. Since that time major movements concerning issues such as climate change, fracking and other issues have arisen. Asia Middle East The environmental movement is reaching the less developed world with different degrees of success. The Arab world, including the Middle East and North Africa, has different adaptations of the environmental movement. Countries on the Persian Gulf have high incomes and rely heavily on the large amount of energy resources in the area. Each country in the Arab world has varying combinations of low or high amounts of natural resources and low or high amounts of labor. The League of Arab States has one specialized sub-committee, of 12 standing specialized subcommittees in the Foreign Affairs Ministerial Committees, which deals with Environmental Issues. Countries in the League of Arab States have demonstrated an interest in environmental issues, on paper some environmental activists have doubts about the level of commitment to environmental issues; being a part of the world community may have obliged these countries to portray concern for the environment. The initial level of environmental awareness may be the creation of a ministry of the environment. The year of establishment of a ministry is also indicative of the level of engagement. Saudi Arabia was the first to establish environmental law in 1992 followed by Egypt in 1994. Somalia is the only country without environmental law. In 2010 the Environmental Performance Index listed Algeria as the top Arab country at 42 of 163; Morocco was at 52 and Syria at 56. The Environmental Performance Index measures the ability of a country to actively manage and protect its environment and the health of its citizens. A weighted index is created by giving 50% weight for environmental health objective (health) and 50% for ecosystem vitality (ecosystem); values range from 0–100. No Arab countries were in the top quartile, and 7 countries were in the lowest quartile. South Korea and Taiwan South Korea and Taiwan experienced similar growth in industrialization from 1965 to 1990 with few environmental controls. South Korea's Han River and Nakdong River were so polluted by unchecked dumping of industrial waste that they were close to being classified as biologically dead. Taiwan's formula for balanced growth was to prevent industrial concentration and encourage manufacturers to set up in the countryside. This led to 20% of the farmland being polluted by industrial waste and 30% of the rice grown on the island was contaminated with heavy metals. Both countries had spontaneous environmental movements drawing participants from different classes. Their demands were linked with issues of employment, occupational health, and agricultural crisis. They were also quite militant; the people learned that protesting can bring results. The polluting factories were forced to make immediate improvements to the conditions or pay compensation to victims. Some were even forced to shut down or move locations. The people were able to force the government to come out with new restrictive rules on toxins, industrial waste, and air pollution. All of these new regulations caused the migration of those polluting industries from Taiwan and South Korea to China and other countries in Southeast Asia with more relaxed environmental laws. China China's environmental movement is characterized by the rise of environmental NGOs, policy advocacy, spontaneous alliances, and protests that often only occur at the local level. Environmental protests in China are increasingly expanding their scope of concerns, calling for broader participation "in the name of the public." The Chinese have realized the ability of riots and protests to have success and had led to an increase in disputes in China by 30% since 2005 to more than 50,000 events. Protests cover topics such as environmental issues, land loss, income, and political issues. They have also grown in size from about 10 people or fewer in the mid-1990s to 52 people per incident in 2004. China has more relaxed environmental laws than other countries in Asia, so many polluting factories have relocated to China, causing pollution in China. Water pollution, water scarcity, soil pollution, soil degradation, and desertification are issues currently in discussion in China. The groundwater table of the North China Plain is dropping by 1.5 m (5 ft) per year. This groundwater table occurs in the region of China that produces 40% of the country's grain. The Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims works to confront legal issues associated with environmental justice by hearing court cases that expose the narratives of victims of environmental pollution. As China continues domestic economic reforms and integration into global markets, there emerge new linkages between China's domestic environmental degradation and global ecological crisis. Comparing the experience of China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan reveals that the impact of environmental activism is heavily modified by domestic political context, particularly the level of integration of mass-based protests and policy advocacy NGOs. Hinted by the history of neighboring Japan and South Korea, the possible convergence of NGOs and anti-pollution protests will have significant implications for Chinese environmental politics in the coming years. India Environmental and public health is an ongoing struggle within India. The first seed of an environmental movement in India was the foundation in 1964 of Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh, a labour cooperative started by Chandi Prasad Bhatt. It was inaugurated by Sucheta Kriplani and founded on land donated by Shyma Devi. This initiative was eventually followed up with the Chipko movement starting in 1974. The most severe single event underpinning the movement was the Bhopal gas leakage on 3 December 1984. 40 tons of methyl isocyanate was released, immediately killing 2,259 people and ultimately affecting 700,000 citizens. India has a national campaign against Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola plants due to their practices of drawing groundwater and contaminating fields with sludge. The movement is characterized by local struggles against intensive aquaculture farms. The most influential part of the environmental movement in India is the anti-dam movement. Dam creation has been thought of as a way for India to catch up with the West by connecting to the power grid with giant dams, coal or oil-powered plants, or nuclear plants. Jhola Aandolan a mass movement is conducting as fighting against polyethylene carry bags uses and promoting cloth/jute/paper carry bags to protect the environment and nature. Activists in the Indian environmental movement consider global warming, sea levels rising, and glaciers retreating decreasing the amount of water flowing into streams to be the biggest challenges for them to face in the early twenty-first century. Eco Revolution movement has been started by Eco Needs Foundation in 2008 from Aurangabad Maharashtra that seeks the participation of children, youth, researchers, spiritual and political leaders to organise awareness programmes and conferences. Child activists against air pollution in India and greenhouse gas emissions by India include Licypriya Kangujam. From the mid to late 2010s a coalition of urban and Indigenous communities came together to protect Aarey, a forest located in the suburbs of Mumbai. Farming and indigenous communities have also opposed pollution and clearing caused by mining in states such as Goa, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh. Bangladesh Mithun Roy Chowdhury, President, Save Nature & Wildlife (SNW), Bangladesh, insisted that the people of Bangladesh raise their voice against Tipaimukh Dam, being constructed by the Government of India. He said the Tipaimukh Dam project will be another "death trap for Bangladesh like the Farakka Barrage," which would lead to an environmental disaster for 50 million people in the Meghna River basin. He said that this project will start desertification in Bangladesh. Bangladesh was ranked the most polluted country in the world due to defective automobiles, particularly diesel-powered vehicles, and hazardous gases from industry. The air is a hazard to Bangladesh's human health, ecology, and economic progress. Africa South Africa In 2022, a court in South Africa has confirmed the constitutional right of the country's citizens to an environment that isn't harmful to their health, which includes the right to clean air. The case is referred to "Deadly Air" case. The area includes one of South Africa's largest cities, Ekurhuleni, and a large portion of the Mpumalanga province. Oceania Australia New Zealand Scope of the movement Environmental science is the study of the interactions among the physical, chemical, and biological components of the environment. Ecology, or ecological science, is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of living organisms and how these properties are affected by interactions between the organisms and their environment. Primary focus points The environmental movement is broad in scope and can include any topic related to the environment, conservation, and biology, as well as the preservation of landscapes, flora, and fauna for a variety of purposes and uses. See List of environmental issues. When an act of violence is committed against someone or some institution in the name of environmental defense it is referred to as eco-terrorism. The conservation movement seeks to protect natural areas for sustainable consumption, as well as traditional (hunting, fishing, trapping) and spiritual use. Environmental conservation is the process in which one is involved in conserving the natural aspects of the environment. Whether through reforestation, recycling, or pollution control, environmental conservation sustains the natural quality of life. Environmental health movement dates at least to Progressive Era, and focuses on urban standards like clean water, efficient sewage handling, and stable population growth. Environmental health could also deal with nutrition, preventive medicine, aging, and other concerns specific to human well-being. Environmental health is also seen as an indicator for the state of the environment, or an early warning system for what may happen to humans Environmental justice is a movement that began in the U.S. in the 1980s and seeks an end to environmental racism and to prevent low-income and minority communities from an unbalanced exposure to highways, garbage dumps, and factories. The Environmental Justice movement seeks to link "social" and "ecological" environmental concerns, while at the same time preventing de facto racism, and classism. This makes it particularly adequate for the construction of labor-environmental alliances. Ecology movement could involve the Gaia Theory, as well as Value of Earth and other interactions between humans, science, and responsibility. Bright green environmentalism is a currently popular sub-movement, which emphasizes the idea that through technology, good design and more thoughtful use of energy and resources, people can live responsible, sustainable lives while enjoying prosperity. Light green, and dark green environmentalism are yet other sub-movements, respectively distinguished by seeing environmentalism as a lifestyle choice (light greens), and promoting reduction in human numbers and/or a relinquishment of technology (dark greens) Deep Ecology is an ideological spinoff of the ecology movement that views the diversity and integrity of the planetary ecosystem, in and for itself, as its primary value. The anti-nuclear movement opposes the use of various nuclear technologies. The initial anti-nuclear objective was nuclear disarmament and later the focus began to shift to other issues, mainly opposition to the use of nuclear power. There have been many large anti-nuclear demonstrations and protests. Major anti-nuclear groups include Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service. The pro-nuclear movement consists of people, including former opponents of nuclear energy, who calculate that the threat to humanity from climate change is far worse than any risk associated with nuclear energy. Environmental law and theory Property rights Many environmental lawsuits question the legal rights of property owners, and whether the general public has a right to intervene with detrimental practices occurring on someone else's land. Environmental law organizations exist all across the world, such as the Environmental Law and Policy Center in the midwestern United States. Citizens' rights One of the earliest lawsuits to establish that citizens may sue for environmental and aesthetic harms was Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference v. Federal Power Commission, decided in 1965 by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The case helped halt the construction of a power plant on Storm King Mountain in New York State. See also United States environmental law and David Sive, an attorney who was involved in the case. Nature's rights Christopher D. Stone's 1972 essay, "Should trees have standing?" addressed the question of whether natural objects themselves should have legal rights. In the essay, Stone suggests that his argument is valid because many current rightsholders (women, children) were once seen as objects. Environmental reactivism Numerous criticisms and ethical ambiguities have led to growing concerns about technology, including the use of potentially harmful pesticides, water additives like fluoride, and the extremely dangerous ethanol-processing plants. When residents living near proposed developments organize opposition they are sometimes called "NIMBYS", short for "not in my back yard". Just Stop Oil, an environmentalist activist group, as well as and other activists are clarifying the issue of climate change and how it is impacting the way of life for humans. King Charles used events to engage with business and community leaders about environmental issues. Environmentalism today Today, the sciences of ecology and environmental science, in addition to any aesthetic goals, provide the basis of unity to some of the serious environmentalists. As more information is gathered in scientific fields, more scientific issues like biodiversity, as opposed to mere aesthetics, are a concern to environmentalists. Conservation biology is a rapidly developing field. In recent years, the environmental movement has increasingly focused on global warming as one of the top issues. As concerns about climate change moved more into the mainstream, from the connections drawn between global warming and Hurricane Katrina to Al Gore's 2006 documentary film An Inconvenient Truth, more and more environmental groups refocused their efforts. In the United States, 2007 witnessed the largest grassroots environmental demonstration in years, Step It Up 2007, with rallies in over 1,400 communities and all 50 states for real global warming solutions. Publicity and widespread organising of school strike for the climate began after Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg staged a protest in August 2018 outside the Swedish Riksdag (parliament). The September 2019 climate strikes were likely the largest climate strikes in world history. In 2019, a survey found that climate breakdown is viewed as the most important issue facing the world in seven out of the eight countries surveyed. Many religious organizations and individual churches now have programs and activities dedicated to environmental issues. The religious movement is often supported by interpretation of scriptures. Most major religious groups are represented including Jewish, Islamic, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, Zoroastrian, Christian and Catholic. Radical environmentalism Radical environmentalism emerged from an ecocentrism-based frustration with the co-option of mainstream environmentalism. The radical environmental movement aspires to what scholar Christopher Manes calls "a new kind of environmental activism: iconoclastic, uncompromising, discontented with traditional conservation policy, at times illegal ..." Radical environmentalism presupposes a need to reconsider Western ideas of religion and philosophy (including capitalism, patriarchy and globalization) sometimes through "resacralising" and reconnecting with nature. Greenpeace represents an organization with a radical approach, but has contributed in serious ways towards understanding of critical issues, and has a science-oriented core with radicalism as a means to media exposure. Groups like Earth First! take a much more radical posture. Some radical environmentalist groups, like Earth First! and the Earth Liberation Front, illegally sabotage or destroy infrastructural capital. Criticisms Conservative critics of the movement characterize it as radical and misguided. Especially critics of the United States Endangered Species Act, which has come under scrutiny lately, and the Clean Air Act, which they said conflict with private property rights, corporate profits and the nation's overall economic growth. Critics also challenge the scientific evidence for global warming. They argue that the environmental movement has diverted attention from more pressing issues. Western environmental activists have also been criticized for performative activism, eco-colonialism, and enacting white savior tropes, especially celebrities who promote conservation in developing countries. Deforestation, air pollution, and endangered species have all been appearing as controversial issues in Western literature for hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of years. See also Anti-consumerism Chemical Leasing Carbon Neutrality Car-free movement Earth Science Earth Strike Ecofascism Ecological economics Ecological modernization Ecopsychology Ecosia Eco-socialism Environmental justice Environmental philosophy Environmental organizations Family planning Free-market environmentalism Green anarchism Green movement Green seniors Green syndicalism Holistic management National Cleanup Day Natural environment Political ecology Positive environmentalism Sexecology Social ecology Substitute good Sustainability Sustainability and systemic change resistance Technogaianism Timeline of environmental events Voluntary Human Extinction Movement List of women climate scientists and activists References Further reading Brinkley, Douglas. Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening (2022) excerpt Gottlieb, Robert. Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental Movement. (Island Press, 1993(). ISBN 978-1559638326 Guha, Ramachandra. Environmentalism: A Global History, (Longman, 1999) Kennedy, Emily Huddart. Eco-Types: Five Ways of Caring about the Environment (Princeton UP, 2013) Finds five responses: Eco-Engaged (highly engaged moralistic liberals); Self-Effacing (concerned, but doubt they can do much); Optimists (conservatives comfortable with today's environment); Fatalists (pessimists); and the Indifferent (who just don't care)., Longman. Hawken, Paul. Blessed Unrest, (Penguin., 2007) Martin, Laura. 2022. Wild by Design: The Rise of Ecological Restoration. (Harvard UP, 2022) ISBN 9780674979420 Kamieniecki, Sheldon, ed. Environmental Politics in the International Arena: Movements, Parties, Organizations, and Policy, (SUNY Press, 1993) Kennedy, Emily Huddart. Eco-Types: Five Ways of Caring about the Environment (Princeton UP, 2013) Finds five responses: Eco-Engaged (highly engaged moralistic liberals); Self-Effacing (concerned, but doubt they can do much); Optimists (conservatives comfortable with today's environment); Fatalists (pessimists); and the Indifferent (who just don't care). Kline, Benjamin. First Along the River: A brief history of the U.S. environmental movement (4th ed. 2011) McCormick, John. 1995. The Global Environmental Movement, London: John Wiley. Rosier, Paul C. Environmental Justice in North America (Routledge, 2024) online book review Shabecoff, Philip. A Fierce Green Fire: The American Environmental Movement, (Island Press, 2003) Taylor, Dorceta. The Rise of the American Conservation Movement. (Duke UP, 2016.), ISBN 978-0-8223-6198-5 Wapner, Paul. Environmental Activism and World Civil Politics(SUNY Press, 1996) Environmental movements Environmentalism Environmental social science concepts

Politicisation

Politicisation (also politicization; see English spelling differences) is a concept in political science and theory used to explain how ideas, entities or collections of facts are given a political tone or character, and are consequently assigned to the ideas and strategies of a particular group or party, thus becoming the subject of contestation. Politicisation has been described as compromising objectivity, and is linked with political polarisation. Conversely, it can have a democratising effect and enhance political choice, and has been shown to improve the responsiveness of supranational institutions such as the European Union. The politicisation of a group is more likely to occur when justifications for political violence are considered acceptable within a society, or in the absence of norms condemning violence. Depoliticisation, the reverse process, is when issues are no longer the subject of political contestation. It is characterised by governance through consensus-building and pragmatic compromise. It occurs when subjects are left to experts, such as technocratic or bureaucratic institutions, or left to individuals and free markets, through liberalisation or deregulation. It is often connected with multi-level governance. The concept has been used to explain the "democratic gap" between politicians and citizens who lack choice, agency and opportunities for deliberation. In the 21st century, depoliticisation has been linked to disillusionment with neoliberalism. Depoliticisation has negative consequences for regime legitimacy, and produces anti-political sentiment associated with populism, which can result in "repoliticisation" (politicisation following depoliticisation). Current studies of politicisation are separated into various subfields. It is primarily examined on three separate levels: within national political systems, within the European Union and within international institutions. Academic approaches vary greatly and are frequently disconnected. It has been studied from subdisciplines such as comparative politics, political sociology, European studies and legal theory. The politicisation of science occurs when actors stress the inherent uncertainty of scientific method to challenge scientific consensus, undermining the positive impact of science on political debate by causing citizens to dismiss scientific evidence. Definitions The dominant academic framework for understanding politicisation is the systems model, which sees politics as an arena or sphere. In this perspective, politicisation is the process by which issues or phenomena enter the sphere of "the political", a space of controversy and conflict. Alternatively, in the behaviouralist approach to political science, which sees politics as action or conflict, politicisation is conceptualised as the process by which an issue or phenomenon becomes significantly more visible in the collective consciousness, causing political mobilisation. In the systems model, depoliticisation is seen as "arena-shifting": removing issues from the political sphere by placing them outside the direct control or influence of political institutions, such as legislatures and elected politicians, thereby denying or minimising their political nature. In the behaviouralist model, depoliticisation indicates the reduction of popular interest in an issue, a weakening of participation in the public sphere and the utilisation of power to prevent opposition. Theory Comparative politics (national level) Majoritarian institutions, such as parliaments (legislatures) and political parties, are associated with politicisation because they represent popular sovereignty and their agents are subject to short-term political considerations, particularly the need to compete for votes ("vote-seeking") by utilising populist rhetoric and policies. Non-majoritarian institutions, such as constitutional courts, central banks and international organisations, are neither directly elected nor directly managed by elected officials, and are connected with depoliticisation as they tend towards moderation and compromise. Declines in voter turnout, political mobilisation and political party membership, trends present in most OECD countries from the 1960s onwards, reflect depoliticisation. A number of causes for this shift have been suggested. The growth of big tent political parties (parties which aim to appeal to a broad spectrum of voters) resulted in reduced polarisation and centralised decision-making, with increased compromise and bargaining. In postwar Europe, the development of neo-corporatism led to political bargaining between powerful employers' organizations, trade unions and the government in a system known as tripartism, within which cartel parties could successfully prevent competition from newer parties. Globally during the late 20th century, central banks and constitutional courts became increasingly important. Robert Dahl argued that these processes risked producing alienation because they created a professionalised form of politics that was "anti-ideological" and "too remote and bureaucratized". Other contemporary scholars saw depoliticisation as a positive indication of dealignment and democratic maturity, as political competition came to be dominated by issues rather than cleavages. In the early 21st century, theorists such as Colin Crouch and Chantal Mouffe argued that low participation was not the result of satisfaction with political systems, but the consequence of low confidence in institutions and political representatives; in 2007, Colin Hay explicitly linked these studies with the concept of politicisation. Since the 1990s, a process of "repoliticisation" has occurred on the national level, marked by the growth of right-wing populist parties in Europe, increased polarisation in American politics and higher voter turnout. The divide between the winners and losers of globalisation and neoliberalism is hypothesised to have played a major role in this process, having replaced class conflict as the primary source of politicisation. Sources of conflict along this line include an "integration–demarcation" cleavage (between the losers of globalisation, who favour protectionism and nationalism, and the winners of globalisation, who prefer increased competition, open borders and internationalism); and a similar "cosmopolitan–communitarian" cleavage (which places additional emphasis on a cultural divide between supporters of universal norms and those who believe in cultural particularism). Disillusionment with neoliberal policies has also been cited as a factor behind the processes of depoliticisation and repoliticisation, particularly through the lens of public choice theory. In 2001, Peter Burnham argued that in the UK the New Labour administration of Tony Blair used depoliticisation as a governing strategy, presenting contentious neoliberal reforms as non-negotiable "constraints" in order to lower political expectations, thus creating apathy and submission among the electorate and facilitating the emergence of "anti-politics". Neo-Marxist, radical democratic and anti-capitalist critiques aim to repoliticise what they describe as neoliberal society, arguing that Marx's theory of alienation can be used to explain depoliticisation. European studies (European Union) In post-functionalist theory, the politicisation of the EU is seen as a threat to integration because it constrains executive decision makers in member states due to domestic partisanship, fear of referendum defeat and the electoral repercussions of European policies, ultimately preventing political compromise on the European level. The EU has experienced politicisation over time however it has been at an increased rate since the early 2000's due to the series of crises. At a national level within its member states, a rise in populism has contributed to volatile party politics and the election of anti-EU representatives. Due to the EU's increasing involvement and influence in controversial policy issues as it strives for further integration, there is a rise in the contestational nature of interactions between EU agents. After dissatisfaction with governance, rising populist challengers have grown the cleavages in electoral divides. International relations (international level) Government agencies Politicisation of science Climate science COVID-19 pandemic During the COVID-19 pandemic, the politicisation of investigations into the origin of COVID-19 led to geopolitical tension between the United States and China, the growth of anti-Asian rhetoric and the bullying of scientists. Some scientists said that politicisation could obstruct global efforts to suppress the virus and prepare for future pandemics. Political scientists Giuliano Bobba and Nicolas Hubé have argued that the pandemic strengthened populist politicians by providing an opportunity for them to promote policies such as tighter border controls, anti-elitism and restriction of public freedoms. See also Political polarisation References Notes Citations Bibliography Political science Political terminology Comparative politics Politics

The Moral Landscape

The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values is a 2010 book by Sam Harris, in which he promotes a science of morality and argues that many thinkers have long confused the relationship between morality, facts, and science. He aims to carve a third path between secularists who say morality is subjective (moral relativists) and religionists who say that morality is dictated by God and scripture. Harris contends that the only viable moral framework is one where "morally good" things pertain to increases in the "well-being of conscious creatures". He then argues that, problems with philosophy of science and reason in general notwithstanding, moral questions have objectively right and wrong answers grounded in empirical facts about what causes people to flourish. Challenging the traditional philosophical notion that an "ought" cannot follow from an "is" (Hume's law), Harris argues that moral questions are best pursued using not just philosophy, but the methods of science, because science can tell us which values lead to human flourishing. It is in this sense that Harris advocates that scientists begin conversations about a normative science of morality. Publication of the book followed Harris's 2009 receipt of a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles with a similarly titled thesis: The Moral Landscape: How Science Could Determine Human Values. Synopsis Harris's case starts with two premises: "(1) some people have better lives than others, and (2) these differences are related, in some lawful and not entirely arbitrary way, to states of the human brain and to states of the world". The idea is that a person is simply describing material facts (many about their brain) when they describe possible "better" and "worse" lives for themselves. Granting this, Harris says we must conclude that there are facts about which courses of action will allow one to pursue a better life. Harris emphasizes the importance of admitting that such facts exist, because he says this logic also applies to groups of people. He suggests there are better and worse ways for societies to pursue better lives. Just as for an individual, there may be multiple different paths and "peaks" to flourishing for societies—and many more ways to fail. Harris then makes a case that science can usefully define morality using facts about people's well-being. His arguments acknowledge that problems with this scientific definition of morality seem to be problems shared by all science, or reason and words in general. Harris also spends some time describing how science might engage nuances and challenges of identifying the best ways for individuals and groups to improve their lives. Many of these issues are covered below. Philosophical case Although Harris's book discusses the challenges that a science of morality must face, he also mentions that his scientific argument is indeed philosophical. Furthermore, he says that this is the case for almost all scientific investigation. He mentions that modern science amounts to careful practice of accepted first philosophical principles like empiricism and physicalism. He also suggests that science has already very much settled on values in answering the question "what should I believe, and why should I believe it?". Harris says it should not be surprising that normative ethical sciences are, or would be, similarly founded on bedrock assumptions (basic norms). Harris says: The way he thinks science might engage moral issues draws on various philosophical positions like ethical realism (there are moral facts), and ethical naturalism (these facts relate to the physical world). Harris says a science of morality may resemble utilitarianism, but that the science is, importantly, more open-ended because it involves an evolving definition of well-being. Rather than committing to reductive materialism, then, Harris recognizes the arguments of revisionists that psychological definitions themselves are contingent on research and discoveries. Harris adds that any science of morality must consider everything from emotions and thoughts to the actual actions and their consequences. For Harris, moral propositions, and explicit values in general, are concerned with the flourishing of conscious creatures in a society. He argues, "Social morality exists to sustain cooperative social relationships, and morality can be objectively evaluated by that standard." Harris sees some philosophers' talk of strictly private morality as akin to unproductive discussion of a private, personal physics. "If philosophers want to only talk about some bizarrely unnatural private morality, they are just changing the subject". Harris also discusses how interchangeability of perspective might emerge as an important part of moral reasoning. He alludes to an "unpleasant surprise principle", where someone realizes they have been supporting an ineffective moral norm (e.g. reported cases of Jew-hunting Nazis discovering that they themselves were of Jewish descent). Science and moral truths Harris identifies three projects for science as it relates to morality: (1) explaining why humans do what they do in the name of morality (e.g., traditional evolutionary psychology), (2) determining which patterns of thought and behavior humans should follow (the science of morality), and (3) generally persuading humans to change their ways. Harris says the first project focuses only on describing what is, whereas (2) and (3) focus on what should and could be, respectively. His point is that this second, prescriptive project should be the focus of a science of morality. He also says we should not fear an "Orwellian future" with scientists at every door: vital progress in the science of morality could be shared in much the same way as advances in medicine. Harris says it is important to delineate project (1) from project (2), lest we commit a moralistic fallacy. He also highlights the importance of distinguishing between (2)—asking what is right—from (3)—trying to change behavior. He says we must realize that the nuances of human motivation are a challenge in themselves; people often fail to do what they "ought" to do, even to be successfully selfish: there is every reason to believe that discovering what is best for society would not change every member's habits overnight. Harris does not imagine that people, even scientists, have always made the right moral decisions; indeed it is precisely his argument that many of them are wrong about moral facts. This is due to the many real challenges of good science in general, including human cognitive limitations and biases (e.g., loss aversion can sway human decisions on important issues like medicine). He mentions the research of Paul Slovic and others to describe just a few of these mental heuristics that can keep us from reasoning properly. Although he mentions that training might temper the influence of these biases, Harris worries about research showing that incompetence and ignorance in a domain leads to confidence (the Dunning–Kruger effect). Harris explains that debates and disagreement are a part of the scientific method, and that one side can be wrong. He also says that the debates still available to science illustrate how much work can still be done, and how much conversation must continue. Harris's positive beliefs The book is full of issues Harris thinks are far from being morally gray areas. For instance, he references one poll that found that 36% of British Muslims think apostates should be put to death for their unbelief, and says that these people are "morally confused". He also suggests it is obvious that loneliness, helplessness, and poverty are bad, but that that is by no means as far as positive psychology has taken and will take us. In one section, "The illusion of free will", Harris argues that there is a wealth of evidence in psychology (e.g. the illusion of introspection) or specifically related to the neuroscience of free will that suggests that metaphysically free will does not exist. This, he thinks, is intuitive; "trains of thought...convey the apparent reality of choices, freely made. But from a deeper perspective...thoughts simply arise (what else could they do?)". He adds, "The illusion of free will is itself an illusion". The implications of free will's nonexistence may be a working determinism, and Harris warns us not to confuse this with fatalism. One implication of a determined will, Harris says, is that it becomes unreasonable to punish people out of retribution—only behaviour modification and the deterrence of others still seem to be potentially valid reasons to punish. This, especially because behaviour modification is a sort of cure for the evil behaviours; Harris provides a thought experiment: Harris acknowledges a hierarchy of moral consideration (e.g., humans are more important than bacteria or mice). He says it follows that there could, in principle, be a species compared to which we are relatively unimportant (although he doubts such a species exists). Harris supports the development of lie detection technology and believes it would be, on the whole, beneficial for humanity. Religion: good or bad? Consistent with Harris's definition of morality, he says we must ask whether religion increases human flourishing today (regardless of whether it increased it in the distant past). He argues that religions may be practiced largely because they fit well with human cognitive tendencies (e.g. animism). In Harris's view, religion and religious dogma is an impediment to reason, and he takes Francis Collins as an example. Harris criticizes the tactics of secularists like Chris Mooney, who argue that science is not fundamentally (and certainly not superficially) in conflict with religion. Harris sees this as a patronizing attempt to pacify more devout theists. He claims that society can move away from deep dependence on religion just as it has from witchcraft, which he says was once just as deeply ingrained. Promotion In advance of publication, four personal and professional acquaintances of the author offered their praise for the book, including biologist and science popularizer Richard Dawkins, novelist Ian McEwan, psycholinguist Steven Pinker, and theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss. They each serve on the Advisory Board of Harris's Project Reason, and their praise appears as blurbs (released by the book's publisher on Harris's website and reproduced on the book's dust jacket). Dawkins said, McEwan wrote, "Harris breathes intellectual fire into an ancient debate. Reading this thrilling, audacious book, you feel the ground shifting beneath your feet. Reason has never had a more passionate advocate." Pinker said that Harris offers "a tremendously appealing vision, and one that no thinking person can afford to ignore." Krauss wrote that Harris "has the rare ability to frame arguments that are not only stimulating, they are downright nourishing, even if you don't always agree with him!" Krauss predicted that "readers are bound to come away with previously firm convictions about the world challenged, and a vital new awareness about the nature and value of science and reason in our lives." Reception The Moral Landscape reached 9th in The New York Times Best Seller list for Hardcover Non-Fiction in October 2010. Reviews and criticism ECSU Associate Professor of Philosophy James W. Diller and Andrew E. Nuzzolilli wrote a generally favorable review in a journal of the Association for Behavior Analysis International: In his review for Barnes & Noble, Cal State Associate Professor of Philosophy Troy Jollimore wrote that the book "has some good, reasonable, and at times persuasive things to say" to people who are unfamiliar with moral skepticism, but "has little to say to those people who actually do know what the arguments are, and it will not help others become much better informed." Jollimore also worried that Harris wrongly presents complex issues as having simple solutions. Kwame Anthony Appiah wrote in The New York Times "when [Harris] stays closest to neuroscience, he says much that is interesting and important", but criticized Harris for failing to articulate "his central claim" and to identify how science has "revealed" that human well-being has an objective component. Appiah argued that Harris "ends up endorsing ... something very like utilitarianism, a philosophical position that is now more than two centuries old, ... that faces a battery of familiar problems", which Harris merely "push[es] ... aside." Harris responded to Appiah in the afterword of the paperback version, claiming that all of Appiah's criticisms are addressed in the chapter "Good and Evil". Cognitive anthropologist Scott Atran criticized Harris for failing to engage with the philosophical literature on ethics and the problems in attempting to scientifically quantify human well-being, noting that Critiquing the book, Kenan Malik wrote: David Sexton of the London Evening Standard described Harris's claim to provide a science of morality as "the most extraordinarily overweening claim and evidently flawed. Science does not generate its own moral values; it can be used for good or ill and has been. Harris cannot stand outside culture, and the 'better future' he prophesies is itself a cultural projection." John Horgan, journalist for the Scientific American blog and author of The End of Science, wrote, "Harris further shows his arrogance when he claims that neuroscience, his own field, is best positioned to help us achieve a universal morality. ... Neuroscience can't even tell me how I can know the big, black, hairy thing on my couch is my dog Merlin. And we're going to trust neuroscience to tell us how we should resolve debates over the morality of abortion, euthanasia and armed intervention in other nations' affairs?" Russell Blackford wrote, "The Moral Landscape is an ambitious work that will gladden the hearts, and strengthen the spines, of many secular thinkers" but that he nonetheless had "serious reservations" about the book. The philosopher Simon Blackburn, reviewing the book, described Harris as "a knockabout atheist" who "joins the prodigious ranks of those whose claim to have transcended philosophy is just an instance of their doing it very badly", pointing out that "if Bentham's hedonist is in one brain state and Aristotle's active subject is in another, as no doubt they would be, it is a moral, not an empirical, problem to say which is to be preferred." And H. Allen Orr in The New York Review of Books wrote, "despite Harris's bravado about 'how science can determine human values,' The Moral Landscape delivers nothing of the kind." Steve Isaacson wrote Mining The Moral Landscape: Why Science Does Not (and cannot) Determine Human Values. Isaacson concludes, "The largest objection to Harris' argument is still Moore's open-question argument. Harris dismisses the argument as a word game easily avoided, but he never explains the game nor how to avoid it. He just ignores it." American novelist Marilynne Robinson, writing in The Wall Street Journal, asserted that Harris fails to "articulate a positive morality of his own" but, had he done so, would have found himself in the company of the "Unitarians, busily cooperating on schemes to enhance the world's well being, as they have been doing for generations." At the Moving Naturalism Forward workshop, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Weinberg described how in his youth he had been a utilitarian but had been dissuaded of the notion that "the fundamental principle that guides our actions should be the greatest happiness for the greatest number" by reading Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Weinberg added, "Now, Sam Harris is aware of this kind of counter argument [to utilitarianism], and says it's not happiness, it's human welfare. Well, as you make things vaguer and vaguer, of course, it becomes harder and harder to say it doesn't fit your own moral feelings, but it also becomes less and less useful as a means of making moral judgements. You could take that to the extreme and make up some nonsense word and say that's the important thing and no one could refute it, but it wouldn't be very helpful. I regard human welfare and the way Sam Harris refers to it as sort of halfway in that direction to absolute nonsense." Response to critics from Harris A few months after the book's release, Harris wrote a follow-up at The Huffington Post responding to his critics. On August 31, 2013, in response to the negative reviews of his book, Harris issued a public challenge for anyone to write an essay of less than 1,000 words rebutting the book's "central argument". The submissions were vetted by Russell Blackford, with the author of the essay judged best to receive $2,000, or $20,000 if they succeeded in changing Harris's mind. Four hundred twenty-four essays were received by the deadline. On March 11, 2014, Blackford announced the winning essay was by philosophy instructor Ryan Born. References 2010 non-fiction books English-language books Ethics books Philosophy of science literature Contemporary philosophical literature Books by Sam Harris Free Press (publisher) books Thought experiments in ethics Moral psychology books

Balance of nature

The balance of nature, also known as ecological balance, is a theory that proposes that ecological systems are usually in a stable equilibrium or homeostasis, which is to say that a small change (the size of a particular population, for example) will be corrected by some negative feedback that will bring the parameter back to its original "point of balance" with the rest of the system. The balance is sometimes depicted as easily disturbed and delicate, while other times it is inversely portrayed as powerful enough to correct any imbalances by itself. The concept has been described as "normative", as well as teleological, as it makes a claim about how nature should be: nature is balanced because "it is supposed to be balanced". The theory has been employed to describe how populations depend on each other, for example in predator-prey systems, or relationships between herbivores and their food source. It is also sometimes applied to the relationship between the Earth's ecosystem, the composition of the atmosphere, and weather. The theory has been discredited by scientists working in ecology, as it has been found that constant disturbances leading to chaotic and dynamic changes are the norm in nature. During the later half of the 20th century, it was superseded by catastrophe theory, chaos theory, and thermodynamics. Nevertheless, the idea maintains popularity amongst conservationists, environmentalists and the general public. History of the theory The concept that nature maintains its condition is of ancient provenance. Herodotus asserted that predators never excessively consume prey populations and described this balance as "wonderful". Two of Plato's dialogues, the Timaeus and Protagoras myths, support the balance of nature concept. Cicero advanced the theory of "a balance of nature generated by different reproductive rates and traits among species, as well as interactions among species". The balance of nature concept once ruled ecological research and governed the management of natural resources. This led to a doctrine popular among some conservationists that nature was best left to its own devices, and that human intervention into it was by definition unacceptable. The theory was a central theme in the 1962 book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, widely-considered to be the most important environmental book of the 20th century. The controversial Gaia hypothesis was developed in the 1970s by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis. It asserts that living beings interact with Earth to form a complex system which self-regulates to maintain the balance of nature. The validity of a balance of nature was already questioned in the early 1900s, but the general abandonment of the theory by scientists working in ecology only happened in the last quarter of that century, when studies showed that it did not match what could be observed among plant and animal populations. Predator-prey interactions Predator-prey populations tend to show chaotic behavior within limits, where the sizes of populations change in a way that may appear random but is, in fact, obeying deterministic laws based only on the relationship between a population and its food source illustrated by the Lotka–Volterra equation. An experimental example of this was shown in an eight-year study on small Baltic Sea creatures such as plankton, which were isolated from the rest of the ocean. Each member of the food web was shown to take turns multiplying and declining, even though the scientists kept the outside conditions constant. An article in the journal Nature stated: "Advanced mathematical techniques proved the indisputable presence of chaos in this food web ... short-term prediction is possible, but long-term prediction is not." Human intervention Although some conservationist organizations argue that human activity is incompatible with a balanced ecosystem, there are numerous examples in history showing that several modern-day habitats originate from human activity: some of Latin America's rain forests owe their existence to humans planting and transplanting them, while the abundance of grazing animals in the Serengeti plain of Africa is thought by some ecologists to be partly due to human-set fires that created savanna habitats. One of the best-known and often misunderstood examples of ecosystem balance being enhanced by human activity is the Australian Aboriginal practice of fire-stick farming. This uses low-intensity fire when there is sufficient humidity to limit its action, to reduce the quantity of ground-level combustible material, to lessen the intensity and devastation of forest fires caused by lightning at the end of the dry season. Several plant species are adapted to fire, some even requiring its extreme heat to germinate their seeds. Continued popularity of the theory Despite being discredited among ecologists, the theory is widely held to be true by the general public, conservationists and environmentalists, with one author calling it an "enduring myth". Environmental and conservation organizations such as the WWF, Sierra Club and Canadian Wildlife Federation continue to promote the theory, as do animal rights organizations such as PETA. Kim Cuddington considers the balance of nature to be a "foundational metaphor in ecology", which is still in active use by ecologists. She argues that many ecologists see nature as a "beneficent force" and that they also view the universe as being innately predictable; Cuddington asserts that the balance of nature acts as a "shorthand for the paradigm expressing this worldview". Douglas Allchin and Alexander J. Werth assert that although "ecologists formally eschew the concept of balance of nature, it remains a widely adopted preconception and a feature of language that seems not to disappear entirely." At least in Midwestern America, the balance of nature idea was shown to be widely held by both science majors and the general student population. In a study at the University of Patras, educational sciences students were asked to reason about the future of ecosystems which suffered human-driven disturbances. Subjects agreed that it was very likely for the ecosystems to fully recover their initial state, referring to either a 'recovery process' which restores the initial 'balance', or specific 'recovery mechanisms' as an ecosystem's inherent characteristic. In a 2017 study, Ampatzidis and Ergazaki discuss the learning objectives and design criteria that a learning environment for non-biology major students should meet to support them challenge the balance of nature concept. In a 2018 study, the same authors report on the theoretical output of a design research study, which concerns the design of a learning environment for helping students challenge their beliefs regarding the balance of nature and reach an up-to-date understanding about ecosystems' contingency. In popular culture In Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea fantasy series, using magic means to "respect and preserve the immanent metaphysical balance of nature." The balance of nature (referred to as "the circle of life") is a major theme of the 1994 film, The Lion King. In one scene, the character Mufasa describes to his son Simba how everything exists in a state of delicate balance. The character Agent Smith, in the 1999 film The Matrix, describes humanity as a virus, claiming that humans fail to reach an equilibrium with their surrounding environment; unlike other mammals. The disruption of the balance of nature is a common theme in Hayao Miyazaki's films: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, released in 1984, is set in a post-apocalyptic world where humans have upset the balance of nature through war; the 1997 film Princess Mononoke, depicts irresponsible activities by humans as having damaged the balance of nature; in the 2008 film Ponyo, the titular character disturbs the balance of nature when she seeks to become human. The titular character of the 2014 film Godzilla fights other sea monsters known as "MUTOs" in a bid to restore the balance of nature. In the 2018 film Avengers: Infinity War, the villain Thanos seeks to restore the balance of nature by eliminating half of the beings in the universe. See also Ecological footprint Social metabolism References Nature Ecology Obsolete scientific theories Teleology

Thermoeconomics

Thermoeconomics, also referred to as biophysical economics, is a school of heterodox economics that applies the laws of statistical mechanics to economic theory. Thermoeconomics can be thought of as the statistical physics of economic value and is a subfield of econophysics. It is the study of the ways and means by which human societies procure and use energy and other biological and physical resources to produce, distribute, consume and exchange goods and services, while generating various types of waste and environmental impacts. Biophysical economics builds on both social sciences and natural sciences to overcome some of the most fundamental limitations and blind spots of conventional economics. It makes it possible to understand some key requirements and framework conditions for economic growth, as well as related constraints and boundaries. Thermodynamics "Rien ne se perd, rien ne se crée, tout se transforme" "Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed." -Antoine Lavoisier, one of the fathers of chemistryThermoeconomists maintain that human economic systems can be modeled as thermodynamic systems. Thermoeconomists argue that economic systems always involve matter, energy, entropy, and information. Then, based on this premise, theoretical economic analogs of the first and second laws of thermodynamics are developed. The global economy is viewed as an open system. Moreover, many economic activities result in the formation of structures. Thermoeconomics applies the statistical mechanics of non-equilibrium thermodynamics to model these activities. In thermodynamic terminology, human economic activity may be described as a dissipative system, which flourishes by consuming free energy in transformations and exchange of resources, goods, and services. Energy Return on Investment Thermoeconomics is based on the proposition that the role of energy in biological evolution should be defined and understood not through the second law of thermodynamics but in terms of such economic criteria as productivity, efficiency, and especially the costs and benefits (or profitability) of the various mechanisms for capturing and utilizing available energy to build biomass and do work. Peak oil Political Implications "[T]he escalation of social protest and political instability around the world is causally related to the unstoppable thermodynamics of global hydrocarbon energy decline and its interconnected environmental and economic consequences." Energy Backed Credit Under this analysis, a reduction of GDP in advanced economies is now likely: when we can no longer access consumption via adding credit, and with a shift towards lower quality and more costly energy and resources. The 20th  century experienced increasing energy quality and decreasing energy prices. The 21st century will be a story of decreasing energy quality and increasing energy cost. See also Econophysics Ecodynamics Kinetic exchange models of markets Systems ecology Ecological economics Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen Energy quality Limits to growth Myron Tribus References Further reading Chen, Jing (2015). The Unity of Science and Economics: A New Foundation of Economic Theory: Springer. Charles A.S. Hall, Kent Klitgaard (2018). Energy and the Wealth of Nations: An Introduction to Biophysical Economics: Springer. Jean-Marc Jancovici, Christopher Blain (2020). World Without End. Europe Comics N.J. Hagens (2019). Economics for the future – Beyond the superorganism. Science Direct. Nafeez Ahmed (2017). Failing States, Collapsing Systems: BioPhysical Triggers of Political Violence. Springer Briefs in Energy Smil, Vaclav (2018). Energy and Civilization: A History. MIT Press External links Yuri Yegorov, article Econo-physics: A Perspective of Matching Two Sciences, Evol. Inst. Econ. Rev. 4(1): 143–170 (2007) Borisas Cimbleris (1998): Economy and Thermodynamics Schwartzman, David. (2007). "The Limits to Entropy: the Continuing Misuse of Thermodynamics in Environmental and Marxist theory", In Press, Science & Society. Saslow, Wayne M. (1999). "An Economic Analogy to Thermodynamics" American Association of Physics Teachers. Biophysical Economics Institute Schools of economic thought Industrial ecology Ecological economics

Green job

Green jobs (green-collar jobs, sustainability jobs, eco jobs or environmental jobs) are, according to the United Nations Environment Program, "work in agricultural, manufacturing, research and development (R&D), administrative, and service activities that contribute(s) substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality. Specifically, but not exclusively, this includes jobs that help to protect ecosystems and biodiversity; reduce energy, materials, and water consumption through high efficiency strategies; de-carbonize the economy; and minimize or altogether avoid generation of all forms of waste and pollution." The environmental sector has the dual benefit of mitigating environmental challenges as well as helping economic growth. Green jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, are classified as, "jobs in business that produce goods or services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources" or "jobs in which workers' duties involve making their establishment's production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources". The Bureau of Labor Statistics categorizes green jobs into the following: water conservation, sustainable forestry, biofuels, geothermal energy, environmental remediation, sustainability, energy auditors, recycling, electric vehicles, solar power, and wind energy. These definitions include jobs which seek to use or develop renewable forms of energy (i.e. wind, hydropower, geothermal, landfill gas and municipal solid waste) as well as increase their efficiency. Under the green jobs domain education, training, and public awareness are also included. These jobs seek to enforce regulations, support education, and increase public influence for the benefit of the environment. By role This list is not exhaustive, it lists some of the more common environmental jobs and also some of the jobs which have see the fastest recent growth. Agricultural scientist Specialise in agricultural productivity. They study commercial plants, animals and cultivation techniques in order to improve the productivity and sustainability of farms and agricultural industries and Agricultural scientists have a higher-than-average proportion of full-time jobs and earnings are above average. Climate change scientist Research and present data on the structure and dynamics of our climate system. Currently there is scientific consensus from a number of American scientific societies that the Earth's temperature is warming. Conservation officer Advance and ensure protection of the natural environment and resources via educating communities and encouraging involvement, and awareness. The growth of these jobs along with forester jobs in the US is predicted to be around 6 per cent (in line with average occupation growth) from 2016 to 2026 Ecologist Investigate ecosystems as a whole i.e. they investigate both the living and non-living components of the environment. They study the various animals and plants that live within an ecosystem and the relationship between the two. Electric car engineer Use science and maths to design and develop electric automobile technology. They then undertake evaluations with respect to measure the safety, efficiency, cost, reliability, and safety of these aforementioned designs. An Electric Car Engineer is just one of a number of possible jobs in the electric vehicle industry and this type of Engineer will work in teams with other types of Engineers to produce electric automobiles. Environmental engineer Examine and mitigate the effects of human and other activities on both the natural and built environment. This could include reducing pollution and protecting the air, water, soil, and humans from actions which may harm either them or the environment. According to CNBC, in 2018 across the world, this was one of the fastest growing environmental jobs. The University of Portland recently reported that they will add a clean energy technology minor to enable their environmental engineering graduates ‘compete in an expanding environmental job market’. Environmental scientist They examine the environment (for example by sampling the land, water, air or other natural resources) and develop policies and plans designed to prevent, control or reduce the harmful effects of human activity on the environment. Also one of the fastest growing environmental jobs in the world in 2018 according to CNBC. Environmental consultant Analyse and provide advice on policies and processes which guide the design, implementation and modification of either commercial or government environmental operations and programs. Environmental consultants are often employed to ensure environmental legislation is being adhered to during construction projects. Listed as one of the top ten fastest growing green jobs in Australia in 2018. Environmental health officer Measure risk and develop, oversee, implement and monitor legislation which governs public health for both the built and natural environment. Environmental health officers carry out these aforementioned duties to promote good human health and best practices environmentally. and. Also one of the fastest growing environmental jobs in Australia in 2018. Environmental manager Supervise the environmental performance of private companies and public institutions. They also formulate, execute and oversee environmental strategies that encourage sustainable development. An environmental manager can be employed by a single company to ensure any negative environmental impacts caused by their operation are minimised. Forestry manager / forester In a nutshell they are responsible for the cultivation of forests. Map out and lead the planting, growth, harvesting and conservation of forests for wood production. To ensure balance and sustainable development Foresters may become involved the production of multipurpose forests, sustainable forest management and the reforestation of native woodlands. The growth of these jobs along with conservation officer jobs in the US is predicted to be around 6 per cent (in line with average occupation growth) from 2016 to 2026 According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, forests provide more than 86 million green jobs and support the livelihoods of many more people. An estimated 880 million people worldwide spend part of their time collecting fuelwood or producing charcoal, many of them women. Human populations tend to be low in areas of low-income countries with high forest cover and high forest biodiversity, but poverty rates in these areas tend to be high. Some 252 million people living in forests and savannahs have incomes of less than USD 1.25 per day. Green building designers Design buildings (they can be homes, offices, schools, hospitals, or any other type of building) that in their design, construction or operation, reduce or eliminate negative impacts, and can create positive impacts, on our climate and natural environment. They also try to reduce negative environmental impacts in terms of reducing the contributions to landfill. Marine biologist Analyse the interplay of marine life (animals and plants) with coastal areas and the atmosphere. and Crucial today is their role in measuring the impact of climate change on our oceans and how much ocean acidification is present and potentially damaging our coral reef ecosystems. Recycling worker In a typical recycling plant (MRF), the workers are sort labourers, equipment operators, managers (various levels) and maintenance mechanics. Also included are drivers who collect the recyclate from residential, commercial, and non-hazardous industrial sources. Sort labourers 'clean' the stream at various stages of the mechanized sortation process to prevent equipment stoppages and produce bales acceptable to the remanufacturing sector depending on the commodity (metal, paper, cardboard, plastics, etc.). Equipment operators operate heavy equipment designed to help with processes around the plant. Typical equipment includes skid-steers (For cleaning up and moving large amounts of material to bale), forklifts (to move bales and containers of material to places within the plant collected from the sortation process). Managers typically manage the operations/sales and human resources of the MRF so the sortation process requiring sorters and equipment operators runs properly day to day. Maintenance mechanics work to ensure all equipment works properly (such as unjamming a conveyor or fixing electronic equipment associated with the sortation process). Renewable energy engineer Study how to best supply energy from renewable or sustainable sources of energy, such as wind energy, solar power wave energy and biofuels. They focus on ways of producing energy that are deemed to be safer for the environment. An energy engineer was listed as one of the fastest growing jobs in Australia in 2018. Solar photovoltaic (PV) installers Assemble and carry out the installation of solar panels on rooftops or other areas such as ground mounted solar panels. A growing industry for example, has seen job creation and on the job training by a non-profit called GRID Alternatives. Urban grower / urban farmer Responsible for growing food in a city or heavily populated town. Green roof tops can provide locally sourced foods that help protect the environment by reducing the use of pesticides, fossil fuels, and other resources which are often used to grow and transport food to market from larger commercial farms. Water quality scientist Ensure that minimum standards of water quality are met and that these standards ensure human safety and minimise harm to the natural environment. Water quality scientists ensure that these global standards and other compliance requirements are met in three areas - groundwater, surface water (lakes, rivers, ponds, etc.), and drinking water. "The fact that water is the lifeblood of our planet means that there are thousands of opportunities for environmental workers in this area". Wind energy technician Wind technicians install, inspect, maintain, operate and repair wind turbines. Wind technicians have the knowledge to identify and fix issues that could cause the turbine to be break or fail to operate as it should. Globally one of the fastest growing environmental jobs in 2017. The U.S. Department of Energy is working with six leading wind turbine manufacturers towards achieving 20 per cent wind power in the United States by 2030. However, the dropping number of students in power engineering programs in recent years means that, the labour requirements needed to facilitate this aim won't be met, unless this trend is reversed. By country Eco-innovation drives the creation of environmental jobs worldwide. It simultaneously increases labour productivity and wages while increasing energy and environmental production efficiency. Australia In 2018 Australia generated 21 per cent of its total power from renewables and this sector accounted for more than 20,000 jobs. Brazil According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in 2016, Brazil has 934,000 renewable energy jobs, the second highest in the world. While Brazil is the global leader in liquid biofuels with a total of 845,000 jobs, it also has 41,000 jobs in solar, 36,000 jobs in wind, and 12,000 jobs in small hydro power. A report produced by IRENA in 2018 showed Brazil to have the largest liquid biofuel workforce, an 893,000 workers in the overall renewable energy industry. In 2011, green employment accounted for 3.1 million jobs or 2.4 per cent of total employment in 2010 and 3.4 million jobs or 2.6 per cent of total US employment. China China currently produces the most Photovoltaic equipment worldwide and is the world's largest installation market. With respect to employment China accounted for about two thirds of PV employment worldwide, or some 2.2 million jobs in 2018. With respect to total jobs in the renewable energy sector as a whole the number for China was 3.8 million in 2017. Germany Was the leading installer of PV Capacity Installations. until overtaken by China, The United States, India and Japan. In 2018 Germany had 332,000 workers in the renewable energy sector overall. Japan The Thought Leadership Series by the Copenhagen Climate Council published a report in 2009, stating that Japanese solar PV manufacturers represent 26 per cent of the global market and that the solar industry is able to operate without dependence on subsidies. According to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency, Japanese solar PV jobs increased by 28 per cent in 2014. In 2016, Japan was listed as the third largest employer of solar PV jobs with 377,100 workers, based on direct and indirect labour. In terms of renewable energy, Japan employs 3,000 jobs in liquid biofuels, 5,000 jobs in wind power, 700 jobs in solar cooling and heating, and 2,000 jobs in geothermal energy. In 2018 Japan's slowing economy meant that employment in the solar PV industry fell from 302,000 in 2016 to an estimated 272,000 jobs in 2017. United States In 2010 Green Goods and Services survey found there are 3.1 million Green Goods and Services (GGS) jobs in the United States which accounts for 2.4 per cent of all United States salary and wage employment. The private sector had 2.3 million GGS jobs, and the public sector had 860,000 GGS jobs. From 2010 the data indicates that green jobs are continuing to grow rapidly in the United States. The US is currently undergoing an energy revolution from coal fire power plants to renewable energy. The majority of these additions are coming from three main resources: solar (9.5 GW), natural gas (8 GW), and wind (6.8 GW). Together, these three sources make up 93 per cent of total additions. The shift from fossil fuels to renewables will be mirrored by US employment as workers turn away from jobs like coal mining and towards green jobs. This is made evident by a report published by the Bureau of Land Management published 17 April 2017 that states wind turbine service technicians are currently and projected to continue to be the fastest growing profession in the United States between 2017 and 2024 with projected growth of 108.0 per cent Reagan administration 1981-1989 President Reagan said, "Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do." As governor of California, Reagan advocated on behalf of the environment; a large portion of Californian constituents were pro-environment. It states in the book The Enduring Wilderness, "President Ronald Reagan signed more wilderness laws than any other president - forty-three laws designating 10.6 million acres of wilderness in thirty-one states." President Reagan also set a new precedent as president by leasing over twenty million acres of national land for coal, oil, and gas development. Bush administration 2001-2009 The Business Energy Investment Tax credit is a federal policy introduced in 2005 under the Bush administration to promote implementation of green energy sources through a 30 per cent federal tax return in both residential and commercial projects. Individuals and companies were able to apply credit for investments in green energy technologies including solar, fuel cell and wind energy technology The ITC has been extended multiple times, most recently in 2015 through a multi-year extension that will maintain the 30 per cent return up until 2019, afterward decreasing to 26 per cent until 2020 and 22 per cent until 2021. After 2021, commercial credits would reduce to 10 per cent and 0 per cent for residential projects. The Solar Energy Industries Association has attributed stability in the growth of solar energy industries in the U.S. to the implementation of the ITC since 2006 Since the implementation of the ITC, the U.S. solar industry has experienced growth in implementation of solar technology, mainly due to the rapidly decreasing overhead costs as the solar industry was spurred to production and development through the ITC. The solar industry is projected to employ over 420,000 individuals by 2020- nearly double of the 260,000 solar workers in 2016- and contribute $30 billion to the United States economy annually. Obama administration 2009-2017 President Obama campaigned under the promise of creating 5 million new green jobs in the United States. President Obamas plan included the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) proposed a cap and trade system which would bring in revenue that would be used to invest in clean energy technology creating 5 million new jobs The bill was passed through the house but never made it to the senate floor and therefore was never written into law. Secondly, due to the 2013 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act the federal government "discontinued measuring all green jobs" which makes tracking job growth extremely difficult. Although it is unclear if President Obama met his 5 million jobs goal, there was significant growth under his administration. As of March 2016 according to a nonpartisan group, Environmental Entrepreneurs, there were 2.5 million jobs in clean energy with 77,088 jobs solely in the wind industry. During this period of time employment in the solar field was also on the rise. According to the 2015 National Solar Census 2015 marked the third consecutive year in which solar growth was at 20 per cent. Additionally, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), passed in early 2009, includes provisions for new jobs in industries such as energy, utilities, construction, and manufacturing with a focus toward energy efficiency and more environmentally-friendly practices. In March 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama appointed Van Jones as Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). Following Jones' resignation in September 2009, no further candidates appear to have been appointed to this position. Trump administration 2017–2021 On 23 January 2017 President Trump signed an executive order, "Presidential Memorandum Regarding the Hiring Freeze", regarding a hiring freeze on government positions across the executive branch. Trump placed a hold on grants distributed through the EPA that could amount to $4 billion per year. The measure was recanted days later, but Trump has proclaimed his intent to "drastically cut the EPA". Myron Ebell, a former member of the Trump transition team, when asked about United States Environmental Protection Agency cuts in an interview with Associated Press, responded "Let's aim [to cut] for half and see how it works out, and then maybe we'll want to go further." In the 2018 "Make America Great Again Blueprint", the Trump administration projected EPA funding cuts of 31 per cent and discontinued funding for the Clean Power Plan, international climate change programs, and climate change research and partnership programs. Policy United Nations UNEP Green Jobs Initiative In 2008 the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and the International Employers Organization (IEO) jointly launched the Green Jobs Initiative. The purpose is to bring a just transition to a green economy by providing space for workers, employers, and governments to negotiate on policy effective in providing equitable opportunity to green jobs. Just transition United States Consolidated Appropriations Act 2010 $8 million was invested to produce and measure data on green-collar Jobs and green economic activity through the Department of Labor, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Federal agencies (Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy and Commerce, Employment and Training Administration). Methods on the approach target business that produce green goods and services and include special employer surveys, aggregate data gathering on employment and wages, and tabulations that distinguish between occupation and industry. Data collection and upkeep on Green Goods and Services (GGS) jobs has been discontinued due to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act in 2013. All "measuring green jobs" programs in the US government were eliminated by this Act. USA Green Jobs Act 2007 The Green Jobs Act of 2007 (H.R. 2847), introduced by Reps. Hilda Solis (D-CA) and John Tierney (D-MA), "authorized up to $125 million in funding to establish national and state job training programs, administered by the U.S. Department of Labor, to help address job shortages that are impairing growth in green industries, such as energy efficient buildings and construction, renewable electric power, energy efficient vehicles, and biofuels development." The Energy Independence and Security Act passed in December 2007 incorporates the Green Jobs Act of 2007. Pathways out of Poverty Pathways out of Poverty (POP) is a national workforce training program that was established on 14 August 2009 by the Obama administration and funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. POP targets individuals living below or near the poverty level to provide them with skills needed to enter the green job market, focusing on the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries. The training programs focus on teaching basic literacy and job readiness skills. Some of the programs also provide supportive assistance with childcare and transportation to overcome barriers to employment. MillionTrees NYC Training Program (MTTP) provides job training opportunities specifically to low-income, job insecure 18-24 year-olds who have a high school degree or GED. In 2009, secure full-time salaries of twice the New York State minimum wage of $7.25 were provided to graduates of MTTP by a grant from the US Forest Service. Out of the 16 employed graduates that were interviewed for a study by USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, 75 per cent were male, 25 per cent were female, 81 per cent were black, 19 per cent were brown, 75 per cent had a high school diploma, 19 per cent had a GED, and 6 per cent went to some high school. Most employees with personal support who graduate from MTTP stay in their green job; not all employees have personal support networks. Demographics According to the Green Equity Toolkit by Race Forward, green jobs are disproportionately occupied by white men. Historically, the environmental movement has been white, middle- and upper-class. In 1990, minorities consisted of 1.9 per cent (14 out of the 745) of workers for four of the largest environmental organizations (Natural Resources Defense Council, Friends of the Earth, Audubon Society, and Sierra Club); out of sixty-three mainstream environmental organizations, 32 per cent had no minorities staffed, 22 per cent had no board members of colour, 19 per cent had no volunteers of colour, 16 per cent had no members of colour. According to a journal in the Ecology Law Quarterly published in 1992, white people disproportionately occupy green jobs since said jobs address environmental concerns not confronted by low-income people and people of colour. Environmental lawyers (who are disproportionately white, middle- and upper-class) focus on environmental issues based on aesthetics, recreation, and protecting natural lands outside of their communities; they often do not face environmental problems in their communities. Low-income communities and people of colour who face environmental problems, such as pollution, do not often have access or will to seek green jobs due to the immediate health hazards in their communities. Instead of green jobs, they often engage in grassroots environmental activism to prevent mortality in their communities from toxicities, such as superfund sites, landfills, incinerators and other health hazards. A report published in 2014 titled, The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations, states there has been increasing racial diversity over the past 50 years, but at a disproportionately slow rate. People of colour consist of 38 per cent of the US population and do not exceed 16 per cent of the staff of the environmental organizations studied (191 conservation and preservation organizations, 74 government environmental agencies, 28 environmental grant-making foundations). Employed ethnic minorities disproportionately occupy lower-ranked positions in environmental organizations and fewer than 13 per cent occupy leadership positions. A small number of environmental organizations have a diversity manager, diversity committee, or collaborate with low-income or ethnic organizations. Environmental organizations rarely recruit from minority-serving institutions, minority professional gatherings, and other pipelines with talented minorities. Minority interns to environmental organizations are hired less often than their white counterparts. Promotions often go to white females in environmental organizations. Green jobs and workforce education The National Council for Workforce Education and AED published a report, "Going Green: The Vital Role of Community Colleges in Building a Sustainable Future and Green Workforce" that examines how workforce education and community colleges contribute to the overall efforts in the move toward renewable and clean energy. The report gives examples of initiatives currently in effect nationally as well as offering information as to how to implement programs. The nuclear power industry is also growing and contributing to the green job sector. The World Nuclear Association released a report in July 2020 titled "Employment in the Nuclear and Wind Electricity Generating Sectors". Overall, the report found that a 100 GWe nuclear fleet will employ perhaps more than three times as many workers as a wind fleet of the same capacity. These statistics highlight growing opportunities for green jobs in the nuclear industry. Green jobs are attractive options as they directly address the climate crisis while also providing competitive pay and good benefits. Nuclear power specifically has the potential of creating thousands of high skilled, long term, local jobs. In response to high unemployment and a distressed economy workers need skills that are relevant to their specific geographical locations. "Instead of making green jobs we need to make jobs green" says Ken Warden, an administrator in workforce education. There are many different solar industry jobs. The SEIA maintains a resource for those looking for solar jobs. A 2016 study indicates that the declining coal industry could protect their workers by retraining them for the solar industry. There are also some indications that the solar industry "welcomes coal workers with open arms". For the forest sector, the Team of Specialists (ToS) from the Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) mapped out potential green jobs in the forest sector. The ToS identified 19 fields of activities with 30 examples of forestry jobs listed. See also Career-oriented social networking market Corporate social responsibility (CSR) Ethical job Environmental Job Green-collar worker The Green Collar Economy Voluntary ecological year Sources References External links Green jobs the key to a sustainable economy (European Parliament) NOW on PBS—Green Jobs: Hope or Hype? An interview with environmental activist Van Jones, founder of "Green for All". United Nations Environment Program, The UNEP- ILO- IEO – ITUC Green Jobs Initiative United Nations Environment Program, Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World , September 2008. Bryan Walsh, "What Is a Green-Collar Job, Exactly?", Time, 26 May 2008. Paul Glover, Deep Green Jobs, Greenplanners, 2012. Innovative ideas and startup thinking, Green jobs in engineering Green Jobs Board, Global Green Jobs crowdsourced sustainability employment Further reading Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook Eco Canada Canadian Environmental Job Posting Trends 2018 RMIT University Environment Profession Career Profiles Research 2017 Employment classifications Green politics

Philosophy of education

The philosophy of education is the branch of applied philosophy that investigates the nature of education as well as its aims and problems. It also examines the concepts and presuppositions of education theories. It is an interdisciplinary field that draws inspiration from various disciplines both within and outside philosophy, like ethics, political philosophy, psychology, and sociology. Many of its theories focus specifically on education in schools but it also encompasses other forms of education. Its theories are often divided into descriptive theories, which provide a value-neutral description of what education is, and normative theories, which investigate how education should be practiced. A great variety of topics is discussed in the philosophy of education. Some studies provide a conceptual analysis of the fundamental concepts of education. Others center around the aims or purpose of education, like passing on knowledge and the development of the abilities of good reasoning, judging, and acting. An influential discussion concerning the epistemic aims of education is whether education should focus mainly on the transmission of true beliefs or rather on the abilities to reason and arrive at new knowledge. In this context, many theorists emphasize the importance of critical thinking in contrast to indoctrination. Another debate about the aims of education is whether the primary beneficiary is the student or the society to which the student belongs. Many of the more specific discussions in the philosophy of education concern the contents of the curriculum. This involves the questions of whether, when, and in what detail a certain topic, like sex education or religion, should be taught. Other debates focus on the specific contents and methods used in moral, art, and science education. Some philosophers investigate the relation between education and power, often specifically regarding the power used by modern states to compel children to attend school. A different issue is the problem of the equality of education and factors threatening it, like discrimination and unequal distribution of wealth. Some philosophers of education promote a quantitative approach to educational research, which follows the example of the natural sciences by using wide experimental studies. Others prefer a qualitative approach, which is closer to the methodology of the social sciences and tends to give more prominence to individual case studies. Various schools of philosophy have developed their own perspective on the main issues of education. Existentialists emphasize the role of authenticity while pragmatists give particular prominence to active learning and discovery. Feminists and postmodernists often try to uncover and challenge biases and forms of discrimination present in current educational practices. Other philosophical movements include perennialism, classical education, essentialism, critical pedagogy, and progressivism. The history of the philosophy of education started in ancient philosophy but only emerged as a systematic branch of philosophy in the latter half of the 20th century. Definition The philosophy of education is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, aims, and problems of education. As the philosophical study of education, it investigates its topic similar to how other discipline-specific branches of philosophy, like the philosophy of science or the philosophy of law, study their topics. A central task for the philosophy of education is to make explicit the various fundamental assumptions and disagreements at work in its field and to evaluate the arguments raised for and against the different positions. The issue of education has a great many manifestations in various fields. Because of this, both the breadth and the influence of the philosophy of education are significant and wide-ranging, touching many other branches of philosophy, such as ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophy of mind. Its theories are often formulated from the perspective of these other philosophical disciplines. But due to its interdisciplinary nature, it also attracts contributions from scholars belonging to fields outside the domain of philosophy. While there is wide agreement on the general topics discussed in the philosophy of education, it has proven difficult to give a precise definition of it. The philosophy of education belongs mainly to applied philosophy. According to some definitions, it can be characterized as an offshoot of ethics. But not everyone agrees with this characterization since the philosophy of education has a more theoretical side as well, which includes the examination of the fundamental concepts and theories of education as well as their philosophical implications. These two sides are sometimes referred to as the outward and the inward looking nature of the philosophy of education. Its topics can range from very general questions, like the nature of the knowledge worth teaching, to more specific issues, like how to teach art or whether public schools should implement standardized curricula and testing. The problem of education was already an important topic in ancient philosophy and has remained so to the present day. But it only emerged as a distinct branch of philosophy in the latter half of the 20th century, when it became the subject of a systematic study and analysis. The term "education" can refer either to the process of educating or to the field of study investigating education as this process. This ambiguity is also reflected on the level of the philosophy of education, which encompasses the study of the philosophical presuppositions and issues both of education as a process and as a discipline. Many works in the philosophy of education focus explicitly or implicitly on the education happening in schools. But in its widest sense, education takes place in various other fields as well, such as at home, in libraries, in museums, or in the public media. Different types of education can be distinguished, such as formal and informal education or private and public education. Subdivisions Different subdivisions of the philosophy of education have been suggested. One categorization distinguishes between descriptive and normative issues. Descriptive theories aim to describe what education is and how to understand its related concepts. This includes also epistemological questions, which ask not whether a theory about education is true or false, but how one can arrive at the knowledge to answer such questions. Normative theories, on the other hand, try to give an account of how education should be practiced or what is the right form of education. Some normative theories are built on a wider ethical framework of what is right or good and then arrive at their educational normative theories by applying this framework to the practice of education. But the descriptive and the normative approaches are intertwined and cannot always be clearly separated since descriptive findings often directly imply various normative attitudes. Another categorization divides topics in the philosophy of education into the nature and aims of education on the one hand, and the methods and circumstances of education on the other hand. The latter section may again be divided into concrete normative theories and the study of the conceptual and methodological presuppositions of these theories. Other classifications additionally include areas for topics such as the role of reasoning and morality as well as issues pertaining to social and political topics and the curriculum. The theories within the philosophy of education can also be subdivided based on the school of philosophy they belong to. Various schools of philosophy, such as existentialism, pragmatism, Marxism, postmodernism, and feminism, have developed their own perspective on the main issues of education. They often include normative theories about how education should or should not be practiced and are in most cases controversial. Another approach is to simply list all topics discussed in the philosophy of education. Among them are the issues and presuppositions concerning sex education, science education, aesthetic education, religious education, moral education, multicultural education, professional education, theories of teaching and learning, the measurement of learning, knowledge and its value, cultivating reason, epistemic and moral aims of education, authority, fallibilism, and fallibility. Finally, yet another way that philosophy of education is often tacitly divided is in terms of western versus non-western and “global south” perspectives. For many generations, philosophy of education has maintained a relatively ethnocentric orientation, with little attention paid to ideas from outside Europe and North America, but this is starting to change in the 21st century due to decolonization and related movements. Main topics Fundamental concepts of education The starting point of many philosophical inquiries into a field is the examination and clarification of the fundamental concepts used in this field, often in the form of conceptual analysis. This approach is particularly prominent in the analytic tradition. It aims to make ambiguities explicit and to uncover various implicit and potentially false assumptions associated with these terms. Theorists in this field often emphasize the importance of this form of investigation since all subsequent work on more specific issues already has to assume at least implicitly what their central terms mean to demarcate their field. For example, in order to study what constitutes good education, one has to have a notion of what the term "education" means and how to achieve, measure, and evaluate it. Definitions of education can be divided into thin and thick definitions. Thin definitions are neutral and descriptive. They usually emphasize the role of the transmission of knowledge and understanding in education. Thick definitions include additional normative components, for example, by stating that the process in question has to have certain positive results to be called education. According to one thick definition, education means that the person educated has acquired knowledge and intellectual skills, values these factors, and has thus changed for the better. These characteristics can then be used to distinguish education from other closely related terms, such as "indoctrination". Other fundamental notions in the philosophy of education include the concepts of teaching, learning, student, schooling, and rearing. Aims of education A central question in the philosophy of education concerns the aims of education, i.e. the question of why people should be educated and what goals should be pursued in the process of education. This issue is highly relevant for evaluating educational practices and products by assessing how well they manage to realize these goals. There is a lot of disagreement and various theories have been proposed concerning the aims of education. Prominent suggestions include that education should foster knowledge, curiosity, creativity, rationality, and critical thinking while also promoting the tendency to think, feel, and act morally. The individual should thereby develop as a person, and achieve self-actualization by realizing their potential. Some theorists emphasize the cultivation of liberal ideals, such as freedom, autonomy, and open-mindedness, while others stress the importance of docility, obedience to authority, and ideological purity, sometimes also with a focus on piety and religious faith. Many suggestions concern the social domain, such as fostering a sense of community and solidarity and thus turning the individual into a productive member of society while protecting them from the potentially negative influences of society. The discussion of these positions and the arguments cited for and against them often include references to various disciplines in their justifications, such as ethics, psychology, anthropology, and sociology. There is wide consensus concerning certain general aims of education, like that it should foster all students, help them in the development of their ability to reason, and guide them in how to judge and act. But these general characteristics are usually too vague to be of much help and there are many disagreements about the more specific suggestions of what education should aim for. Some attempts have been made to provide an overarching framework of these different aims. According to one approach, education should at its core help the individual lead a good life. All the different more specific goals are aims of education to the extent that they serve this ultimate purpose. On this view, it may be argued that fostering rationality and autonomy in the students are aims of education to the extent that increased rationality and autonomy will result in the student leading a better life. The different theories of the aims of education are sometimes divided into goods-based, skills-based, and character-based accounts. Goods-based accounts hold that the ultimate aim of education is to produce some form of epistemic good, such as truth, knowledge, and understanding. Skills-based accounts, on the other hand, see the development of certain skills, like rationality as well as critical and independent thinking as the goal of education. For character-based accounts, the character traits or virtues of the learner play the central role, often with an emphasis on moral and civic traits like kindness, justice, and honesty. Epistemic Many theories emphasize the epistemic aims of education. According to the epistemic approach, the central aim of education has to do with knowledge, for example, to pass on knowledge accumulated in the societal effort from one generation to the next. This process may be seen both as the development of the student's mind as well as the transmission of a valuable heritage. Such an approach is sometimes rejected by pragmatists, who emphasize experimentation and critical thinking over the transmission of knowledge. Others have argued that this constitutes a false dichotomy: that the transmission of knowledge and the development of a rational and critical mind are intertwined aims of education that depend on and support each other. In this sense, education aims also at fostering the ability to acquire new knowledge. This includes both instilling true beliefs in the students as well as teaching the methods and forms of evidence responsible for verifying existing beliefs and arriving at new knowledge. It promotes the epistemic autonomy of students and may help them challenge unwarranted claims by epistemic authorities. In its widest sense, the epistemic approach includes various related goals, such as imparting true beliefs or knowledge to the students as well as teaching dispositions and abilities, such as rationality, critical thinking, understanding, and other intellectual virtues. Critical thinking and indoctrination Critical thinking is often cited as one of the central aims of education. There is no generally accepted definition of critical thinking. But there is wide agreement that it is reasonable, reflective, careful, and focused on determining what to believe or how to act. It has clarity and rationality as its standards and includes a metacognitive component monitoring not just the solution of the problem at hand but also ensuring that it complies with its own standards in the process. In this sense, education is not just about conveying many true beliefs to the students. Instead, the students' ability to arrive at conclusions by themselves and the disposition to question pre-existing beliefs should also be fostered, often with the goal of benefitting not just the student but society at large. But not everyone agrees with the positive role ascribed to critical thinking in education. Objections are often based on disagreements about what it means to reason well. Some critics argue that there is no universally correct form of reasoning. According to them, education should focus more on teaching subject-specific skills and less on imparting a universal method of thinking. Other objections focus on the allegation that critical thinking is not as neutral, universal, and presuppositionless as some of its proponents claim. On this view, it involves various implicit biases, like egocentrism or distanced objectivity, and culture-specific values arising from its roots in the philosophical movement of the European Enlightenment. The problem of critical thinking is closely connected to that of indoctrination. Many theorists hold that indoctrination is in important ways different from education and should be avoided in education. But others contend that indoctrination should be part of education or even that there is no difference between the two. These different positions depend a lot on how "indoctrination" is to be defined. Most definitions of indoctrination agree that its goal is to get the student to accept and embrace certain beliefs. It has this in common with most forms of education but differs from it in other ways. According to one definition, the belief acquisition in indoctrination happens without regard for the evidential support of these beliefs, i.e. without presenting proper arguments and reasons for adopting them. According to another, the beliefs are instilled in such a way as to discourage the student to question or assess for themselves the believed contents. In this sense, the goals of indoctrination are exactly opposite to other aims of education, such as rationality and critical thinking. In this sense, education tries to impart not just beliefs but also make the students more open-minded and conscious of human fallibility. An intimately related issue is whether the aim of education is to mold the mind of the pupil or to liberate it by strengthening its capacity for critical and independent inquiry. An important consequence of this debate concerns the problem of testimony, i.e to what extent students should trust the claims of teachers and books. It has been argued that this issue depends a lot on the age and the intellectual development of the student. In the earlier stages of education, a high level of trust on the side of the students may be necessary. But the more their intellectual capacities develop, the more they should use them when trying to assess the plausibility of claims and the reasons for and against them. In this regard, it has been argued that, especially for young children, weaker forms of indoctrination may be necessary while they still lack the intellectual capacities to evaluate the reasons for and against certain claims and thus to critically assess them. In this sense, one can distinguish unavoidable or acceptable forms of indoctrination from their avoidable or unacceptable counterparts. But this distinction is not always affirmed and some theorists contend that all forms of indoctrination are bad or unacceptable. Individual and society A recurrent source of disagreement about the aims of education concerns the question of who is the primary beneficiary of education: the individual educated or the society having this individual as its member. In many cases, the interests of both are aligned. On the one hand, many new opportunities in life open to the individual through education, especially concerning their career. On the other hand, education makes it more likely that the person becomes a good, law-abiding, and productive member of society. But this issue becomes more problematic in cases where the interests of the individual and society conflict with each other. This poses the question of whether individual autonomy should take precedence over communal welfare. According to comprehensive liberals, for example, education should emphasize the self-directedness of the students. On this view, it is up to the student to choose their own path in life. The role of education is to provide them with the necessary resources but it does not direct the student with respect to what constitutes an ethically good path in life. This position is usually rejected by communitarians, who stress the importance of social cohesion by being part of the community and sharing a common good. Curriculum An important and controversial issue in the philosophy of education concerns the contents of the curriculum, i.e. the question of what should be taught to students. This includes both the selection of subjects to be taught and the consideration of arguments for and against the inclusion of a particular topic. This issue is intimately tied to the aims of education: one may argue that a certain subject should be included in the curriculum because it serves one of the aims of education. While many positions about what subjects to include in the curriculum are controversial, some particular issues stand out where these controversies go beyond the academic discourse to a wide public discourse, like questions about sexual and religious education. Controversies in sex education involve both biological aspects, such as the functioning of sex organs, and social aspects, such as sexual practices and gender identities. Disagreements in this area concern which aspects are taught and in which detail as well as to which age groups these teachings should be directed. Debates on religious education include questions like whether religion should be taught as a distinct subject and, if so, whether it should be compulsory. Other questions include which religion or religions should be taught and to what degree religious views should influence other topics, such as ethics or sex education. Another prominent topic in this field concerns the subject of moral education. This field is sometimes referred to as "educational ethics". Disagreements in this field concern which moral beliefs and values should be taught to the students. This way, many of the disagreements in moral philosophy are reflected in the field of moral education. Some theorists in the Kantian tradition emphasize the importance of moral reasoning and enabling children to become morally autonomous agents who can tell right from wrong. Theorists in the Aristotelian tradition, on the other hand, focus more on moral habituation through the development of virtues that concern both perception, affect, and judgment in regard to moral situations. A related issue, heavily discussed in ancient philosophy, is the extent to which morality can be taught at all instead of just being an inborn disposition. Various discussions also concern the role of art and aesthetics in public education. It has been argued that the creativity learned in these areas can be applied to various other fields and may thereby benefit the student in various ways. It has been argued that aesthetic education also has indirect effects on various other issues, such as shaping the student's sensibilities in the fields of morality and politics as well as heightening their awareness of self and others. Some researchers reject the possibility of objectivity in general. They use this claim to argue against universal forms of education, which they see as hiding particular worldviews, beliefs, and interests under a false cover. This is sometimes utilized to advance an approach focused on more diversity, for example, by giving more prominence in education to the great variety of cultures, customs, languages, and lifestyles without giving preference to any of them. Different approaches to solving these disputes are employed. In some cases, psychology in the field of child development, learning, and motivation can provide important general insights. More specific questions about the curriculum of a particular subject, such as mathematics, are often strongly influenced by the philosophy of this specific discipline, such as the philosophy of mathematics. Power The problem of power is another issue in the philosophy of education. Of specific interest on this topic is that the modern states compel children to attend school, so-called compulsory education. The children and their parents usually have few to no ways of opting out or changing the established curriculum. An important question in this respect is why or whether modern states are justified to use this form of power. For example, various liberationist movements belonging to the fields of deschooling and unschooling reject this power and argue that the children's welfare is best served in the absence of compulsory schooling in general. This is sometimes based on the idea that the best form of learning does not happen while studying but instead occurs as a side-effect while doing something else. This position is often rejected by pointing out that it is based on overly optimistic presuppositions about the children's natural and unguided development of rationality. While some objections focus on compulsory education in general, a less radical and more common criticism concerns specific compulsory topics in the curriculum, for example, in relation to sexuality or religion. Another contemporary debate in the United States concerns the practice of standardized testing: it has been argued that this discriminates against certain racial, cultural, or religious minorities since the standardized test may implicitly assume various presuppositions not shared by these minorities. Other issues in relation to power concern the authority and responsibility teachers have towards their students. Postmodern theorists often see established educational practices as instruments of power used by elites in society to further their own interests. Important aspects in this regard are the unequal power relation between the state and its institutions in contrast to the individual as well as the control that can thus be employed due to the close connection between power and knowledge, specifically the knowledge passed on through education. Equality A recurrent demand on public education is that all students should be treated equally and in a fair manner. One reason for this demand is that education plays a central role for the child's path and prospects in life, which should not be limited by unfair or arbitrary external circumstances. But there are various disagreements about how this demand is best understood and whether it is applicable in all cases. An initial problem concerns what is meant by "equality". In the field of education, it is often understood as equality of opportunity. In this sense, the demand for equality implies that education should open the same opportunities to everyone. This means, among other things, that students from higher social classes should not enjoy a competitive advantage over others. One difficulty with this demand, when understood in a wide sense, is that there are many sources of educational inequality and it is not always in the best interest to eliminate all of them. For example, parents who are concerned with their young children's education may read them bedtime stories early on and thereby provide them with a certain advantage over other children who do not enjoy this privilege. But disallowing such practices to level the field would have serious negative side-effects. A weaker position on this issue does not demand full equality but holds instead that educational policies should ensure that certain factors, like race, native language, and disabilities, do not pose obstacles to the equality of opportunity. A closely related topic is whether all students, both high and low performers, should be treated equally. According to some, more resources should be dedicated to low performers, to help them get to an average level, while others recommend a preferential treatment for high performers in order to help them fully develop their exceptional abilities and thereby benefit society at large. A similar problem is the issue of specialization. It concerns the question of whether all students should follow the same curriculum or to what extent they should specialize early on in specific fields according to their interests and skills. Marxist critiques of the school systems in capitalist societies often focus on the inequality they cause by sorting students for different economic positions. While overtly this process happens based on individual effort and desert, they argue that this just masks and reinforces the underlying influence of the preexisting social class structure. This is sometimes integrated into a wider Marxist perspective on society which holds that education in capitalist societies plays the role of upholding this inequality and thereby reproduces the capitalist relations of production. Other criticisms of the dominant paradigms in education are often voiced by feminist and postmodern theorists. They usually point to alleged biases and forms of discrimination present in current practices that should be eliminated. Feminists often hold that traditional education is overly man-oriented and thereby oppresses women in some form. This bias was present to severe degrees in earlier forms of education and a lot of progress has been made towards more gender-equal forms of education. Nonetheless, feminists often contend that certain problems still persist in contemporary education. Some argue, for example, that this manifests itself in the prominence given to cognitive development in education, which is said to be associated primarily with masculinity in contrast to a more feminine approach based on emotion and intuition. A related criticism holds that there is an overemphasis on abilities belonging to the public sphere, like reason and objectivity, in contrast to equally important characteristics belonging to the private sphere, like compassion and empathy. Epistemology The philosophy of education is also interested in the epistemology of education. This term is often used to talk about the epistemic aims of education, i.e. questions like whether educators should aim at transmitting justified true beliefs rather than merely true beliefs or should additionally foster other epistemic virtues like critical thinking. In a different sense, the epistemology of education concerns the issue of how we arrive at knowledge on educational matters. This is especially relevant in the field of educational research, which is an active field of investigation with many studies being published on a regular basis. It is also quite influential in regard to educational policy and practice. Epistemological questions in this field concern the objectivity of its insights. An important methodological divide in this area, often referred to as the "paradigm wars", is between the quantitative or statistical approach in contrast to the qualitative or ethnographical approach. The quantitative approach usually focuses on wide experimental studies and employs statistical methods to uncover the general causal factors responsible for educational phenomena. It has been criticized based on the claim that its method, which is inspired by the natural sciences, is inappropriate for understanding the complex cultural and motivational patterns investigated by the social sciences. The qualitative approach, on the other hand, gives more weight to particular case studies for reaching its conclusions. Its opponents hold that this approach lacks the methodological rigor to arrive at well-warranted knowledge. The mixed-method research is a recent contemporary approach in which the methods of both camps are combined. The question of the most promising approach is relevant to how funding budgets are spent on research, which in its turn has important implications for policymaking. Others One question concerns how the learners are to be conceptualized. John Locke sees the mind as a blank slate or a tabula rasa that passively absorbs information and is filled with contents through experience. This view contrasts with a more pragmatist perspective, which in its emphasis on practice sees students not as passive absorbers but as active learners that should be encouraged to discover and learn things by themselves. Another disputed topic is the role of testing in public education. Some theorists have argued that it is counterproductive since it puts undue pressure on the students. But testing also plays various critical roles, such as providing feedback on the learning progress both to the student, their parents, and their teachers. Concrete discussions on the role of testing often focus less on whether it should be done at all and more on how much importance should be ascribed to the test results. This also includes questions about the form of testing, for example, whether it should be standardized. Standardized tests present the same questions and scoring system to all students taking the test and are often motivated by a desire for objective and fair evaluations both of students and schools. Opponents have argued that this approach tends to favor certain social groups over others and severely limits the creativity and effectiveness of teachers. Philosophical movements Existentialist The existentialist sees the world as one's personal subjectivity, where goodness, truth, and reality are individually defined. Reality is a world of existing, truth subjectively chosen, and goodness a matter of freedom. The subject matter of existentialist classrooms should be a matter of personal choice. Teachers view the individual as an entity within a social context in which the learner must confront others' views to clarify his or her own. Character development emphasizes individual responsibility for decisions. Real answers come from within the individual, not from outside authority. Examining life through authentic thinking involves students in genuine learning experiences. Existentialists are opposed to thinking about students as objects to be measured, tracked, or standardized. Such educators want the educational experience to focus on creating opportunities for self-direction and self-actualization. They start with the student, rather than on curriculum content. Perennialism Perennialists believe that one should teach the things that one deems to be of everlasting importance to all people everywhere. They believe that the most important topics develop a person. Since details of fact change constantly, these cannot be the most important. Therefore, one should teach principles, not facts. Since people are human, one should teach first about humans, not machines or techniques. Since people are people first, and workers second if at all, one should teach liberal topics first, not vocational topics. The focus is primarily on teaching reasoning and wisdom rather than facts, the liberal arts rather than vocational training. Classical education The Classical education movement advocates a form of education based in the traditions of Western culture, with a particular focus on education as understood and taught in the Middle Ages. The term "classical education" has been used in English for several centuries, with each era modifying the definition and adding its own selection of topics. By the end of the 18th century, in addition to the trivium and quadrivium of the Middle Ages, the definition of a classical education embraced study of literature, poetry, drama, philosophy, history, art, and languages. In the 20th and 21st centuries it is used to refer to a broad-based study of the liberal arts and sciences, as opposed to a practical or pre-professional program. Classical Education can be described as rigorous and systematic, separating children and their learning into three rigid categories, Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric. Essentialism According to educational essentialism, there are certain essential facts about the world that every student needs to learn and master. It is a form of traditional education that relies on long-standing and established subjects and teaching methods. Essentialists usually focus on subjects like reading, writing, mathematics, and science, usually starting with very basic skills while progressively increasing complexity. They prefer a teacher-centered approach, meaning that the teacher acts as the authority figure guiding the learning activity while students are expected to follow their lead. Social reconstructionism and critical pedagogy Critical pedagogy is an "educational movement, guided by passion and principle, to help students develop consciousness of freedom, recognize authoritarian tendencies, and connect knowledge to power and the ability to take constructive action." Based in Marxist theory, critical pedagogy draws on radical democracy, anarchism, feminism, and other movements for social justice. Democratic education Democratic education is a theory of learning and school governance in which students and staff participate freely and equally in a school democracy. In a democratic school, there is typically shared decision-making among students and staff on matters concerning living, working, and learning together. Progressivism Educational progressivism is the belief that education must be based on the principle that humans are social animals who learn best in real-life activities with other people. Progressivists, like proponents of most educational theories, claim to rely on the best available scientific theories of learning. Most progressive educators believe that children learn as if they were scientists, following a process similar to John Dewey's model of learning known as "the pattern of inquiry": 1) Become aware of the problem. 2) Define the problem. 3) Propose hypotheses to solve it. 4) Evaluate the consequences of the hypotheses from one's past experience. 5) Test the likeliest solution. Unschooling Unschooling is a range of educational philosophies and practices centered on allowing children to learn through their natural life experiences, including child directed play, game play, household responsibilities, work experience, and social interaction, rather than through a more traditional school curriculum. Unschooling encourages exploration of activities led by the children themselves, facilitated by the adults. Unschooling differs from conventional schooling principally in the thesis that standard curricula and conventional grading methods, as well as other features of traditional schooling, are counterproductive to the goal of maximizing the education of each child. Contemplative education Contemplative education focuses on bringing introspective practices such as mindfulness and yoga into curricular and pedagogical processes for diverse aims grounded in secular, spiritual, religious and post-secular perspectives. Contemplative approaches may be used in the classroom, especially in tertiary or (often in modified form) in secondary education. Parker Palmer is a recent pioneer in contemplative methods. The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society founded a branch focusing on education, The Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education. Contemplative methods may also be used by teachers in their preparation; Waldorf education was one of the pioneers of the latter approach. In this case, inspiration for enriching the content, format, or teaching methods may be sought through various practices, such as consciously reviewing the previous day's activities; actively holding the students in consciousness; and contemplating inspiring pedagogical texts. Zigler suggested that only through focusing on their own spiritual development could teachers positively impact the spiritual development of students. History Ancient Plato Plato's educational philosophy was grounded in a vision of an ideal Republic wherein the individual was best served by being subordinated to a just society due to a shift in emphasis that departed from his predecessors. The mind and body were to be considered separate entities. In the dialogues of Phaedo, written in his "middle period" (360 BCE), Plato expressed his distinctive views about the nature of knowledge, reality, and the soul:When the soul and body are united, then nature orders the soul to rule and govern, and the body to obey and serve. Now which of these two functions is akin to the divine? and which to the mortal? Does not the divine appear ... to be that which naturally orders and rules, and the mortal to be that which is subject and servant?On this premise, Plato advocated removing children from their mothers' care and raising them as wards of the state, with great care being taken to differentiate children suitable to the various castes, the highest receiving the most education, so that they could act as guardians of the city and care for the less able. Education would be holistic, including facts, skills, physical discipline, and music and art, which he considered the highest form of endeavor. Plato believed that talent was distributed non-genetically and thus must be found in children born in any social class. He built on this by insisting that those suitably gifted were to be trained by the state so that they might be qualified to assume the role of a ruling class. What this established was essentially a system of selective public education premised on the assumption that an educated minority of the population were, by virtue of their education (and inborn educability), sufficient for healthy governance. Plato's writings contain some of the following ideas: Elementary education would be confined to the guardian class till the age of 18, followed by two years of compulsory military training and then by higher education for those who qualified. While elementary education made the soul responsive to the environment, higher education helped the soul to search for truth which illuminated it. Both boys and girls receive the same kind of education. Elementary education consisted of music and gymnastics, designed to train and blend gentle and fierce qualities in the individual and create a harmonious person. At the age of 20, a selection was made. The best students would take an advanced course in mathematics, geometry, astronomy and harmonics. The first course in the scheme of higher education would last for ten years. It would be for those who had a flair for science. At the age of 30 there would be another selection; those who qualified would study dialectics and metaphysics, logic and philosophy for the next five years. After accepting junior positions in the army for 15 years, a man would have completed his theoretical and practical education by the age of 50. Aristotle Only fragments of Aristotle's treatise On Education are still in existence. We thus know of his philosophy of education primarily through brief passages in other works. Aristotle considered human nature, habit and reason to be equally important forces to be cultivated in education. Thus, for example, he considered repetition to be a key tool to develop good habits. The teacher was to lead the student systematically; this differs, for example, from Socrates' emphasis on questioning his listeners to bring out their own ideas (though the comparison is perhaps incongruous since Socrates was dealing with adults). Aristotle placed great emphasis on balancing the theoretical and practical aspects of subjects taught. Subjects he explicitly mentions as being important included reading, writing and mathematics; music; physical education; literature and history; and a wide range of sciences. He also mentioned the importance of play. One of education's primary missions for Aristotle, perhaps its most important, was to produce good and virtuous citizens for the polis. All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth. Medieval Ibn Sina In the medieval Islamic world, an elementary school was known as a maktab, which dates back to at least the 10th century. Like madrasahs (which referred to higher education), a maktab was often attached to a mosque. In the 11th century, Ibn Sina (known as Avicenna in the West), wrote a chapter dealing with the maktab entitled "The Role of the Teacher in the Training and Upbringing of Children", as a guide to teachers working at maktab schools. He wrote that children can learn better if taught in classes instead of individual tuition from private tutors, and he gave a number of reasons for why this is the case, citing the value of competition and emulation among pupils as well as the usefulness of group discussions and debates. Ibn Sina described the curriculum of a maktab school in some detail, describing the curricula for two stages of education in a maktab school. Ibn Sina wrote that children should be sent to a maktab school from the age of 6 and be taught primary education until they reach the age of 14. During which time, he wrote that they should be taught the Qur'an, Islamic metaphysics, language, literature, Islamic ethics, and manual skills (which could refer to a variety of practical skills). Ibn Sina refers to the secondary education stage of maktab schooling as the period of specialization, when pupils should begin to acquire manual skills, regardless of their social status. He writes that children after the age of 14 should be given a choice to choose and specialize in subjects they have an interest in, whether it was reading, manual skills, literature, preaching, medicine, geometry, trade and commerce, craftsmanship, or any other subject or profession they would be interested in pursuing for a future career. He wrote that this was a transitional stage and that there needs to be flexibility regarding the age in which pupils graduate, as the student's emotional development and chosen subjects need to be taken into account. The empiricist theory of 'tabula rasa' was also developed by Ibn Sina. He argued that the "human intellect at birth is rather like a tabula rasa, a pure potentiality that is actualized through education and comes to know" and that knowledge is attained through "empirical familiarity with objects in this world from which one abstracts universal concepts" which is developed through a "syllogistic method of reasoning; observations lead to prepositional statements, which when compounded lead to further abstract concepts." He further argued that the intellect itself "possesses levels of development from the material intellect (al-‘aql al-hayulani), that potentiality that can acquire knowledge to the active intellect (al-‘aql al-fa‘il), the state of the human intellect in conjunction with the perfect source of knowledge." Ibn Tufail In the 12th century, the Andalusian-Arabian philosopher and novelist Ibn Tufail (known as "Abubacer" or "Ebn Tophail" in the West) demonstrated the empiricist theory of 'tabula rasa' as a thought experiment through his Arabic philosophical novel, Hayy ibn Yaqzan, in which he depicted the development of the mind of a feral child "from a tabula rasa to that of an adult, in complete isolation from society" on a desert island, through experience alone. Some scholars have argued that the Latin translation of his philosophical novel, Philosophus Autodidactus, published by Edward Pococke the Younger in 1671, had an influence on John Locke's formulation of tabula rasa in "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding". Modern Michel de Montaigne Child education was among the psychological topics that Michel de Montaigne wrote about. His essays On the Education of Children, On Pedantry, and On Experience explain the views he had on child education. Some of his views on child education are still relevant today. Montaigne's views on the education of children were opposed to the common educational practices of his day. He found fault both with what was taught and how it was taught. Much of the education during Montaigne's time was focused on the reading of the classics and learning through books.Montaigne disagreed with learning strictly through books. He believed it was necessary to educate children in a variety of ways. He also disagreed with the way information was being presented to students. It was being presented in a way that encouraged students to take the information that was taught to them as absolute truth. Students were denied the chance to question the information. Therefore, students could not truly learn. Montaigne believed that, to learn truly, a student had to take the information and make it their own. At the foundation Montaigne believed that the selection of a good tutor was important for the student to become well educated. Education by a tutor was to be conducted at the pace of the student.He believed that a tutor should be in dialogue with the student, letting the student speak first. The tutor also should allow for discussions and debates to be had. Such a dialogue was intended to create an environment in which students would teach themselves. They would be able to realize their mistakes and make corrections to them as necessary. Individualized learning was integral to his theory of child education. He argued that the student combines information already known with what is learned and forms a unique perspective on the newly learned information. Montaigne also thought that tutors should encourage the natural curiosity of students and allow them to question things.He postulated that successful students were those who were encouraged to question new information and study it for themselves, rather than simply accepting what they had heard from the authorities on any given topic. Montaigne believed that a child's curiosity could serve as an important teaching tool when the child is allowed to explore the things that the child is curious about. Experience also was a key element to learning for Montaigne. Tutors needed to teach students through experience rather than through the mere memorization of information often practised in book learning.He argued that students would become passive adults, blindly obeying and lacking the ability to think on their own. Nothing of importance would be retained and no abilities would be learned. He believed that learning through experience was superior to learning through the use of books. For this reason he encouraged tutors to educate their students through practice, travel, and human interaction. In doing so, he argued that students would become active learners, who could claim knowledge for themselves. Montaigne's views on child education continue to have an influence in the present. Variations of Montaigne's ideas on education are incorporated into modern learning in some ways. He argued against the popular way of teaching in his day, encouraging individualized learning. He believed in the importance of experience, over book learning and memorization. Ultimately, Montaigne postulated that the point of education was to teach a student how to have a successful life by practicing an active and socially interactive lifestyle. John Locke In Some Thoughts Concerning Education and Of the Conduct of the Understanding John Locke composed an outline on how to educate this mind in order to increase its powers and activity: "The business of education is not, as I think, to make them perfect in any one of the sciences, but so to open and dispose their minds as may best make them capable of any, when they shall apply themselves to it." "If men are for a long time accustomed only to one sort or method of thoughts, their minds grow stiff in it, and do not readily turn to another. It is therefore to give them this freedom, that I think they should be made to look into all sorts of knowledge, and exercise their understandings in so wide a variety and stock of knowledge. But I do not propose it as a variety and stock of knowledge, but a variety and freedom of thinking, as an increase of the powers and activity of the mind, not as an enlargement of its possessions." Locke expressed the belief that education maketh the man, or, more fundamentally, that the mind is an "empty cabinet", with the statement, "I think I may say that of all the men we meet with, nine parts of ten are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, by their education." Locke also wrote that "the little and almost insensible impressions on our tender infancies have very important and lasting consequences." He argued that the "associations of ideas" that one makes when young are more important than those made later because they are the foundation of the self: they are, put differently, what first mark the tabula rasa. In his Essay, in which is introduced both of these concepts, Locke warns against, for example, letting "a foolish maid" convince a child that "goblins and sprites" are associated with the night for "darkness shall ever afterwards bring with it those frightful ideas, and they shall be so joined, that he can no more bear the one than the other." "Associationism", as this theory would come to be called, exerted a powerful influence over eighteenth-century thought, particularly educational theory, as nearly every educational writer warned parents not to allow their children to develop negative associations. It also led to the development of psychology and other new disciplines with David Hartley's attempt to discover a biological mechanism for associationism in his Observations on Man (1749). Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau, though he paid his respects to Plato's philosophy, rejected it as impractical due to the decayed state of society. Rousseau also had a different theory of human development; where Plato held that people are born with skills appropriate to different castes (though he did not regard these skills as being inherited), Rousseau held that there was one developmental process common to all humans. This was an intrinsic, natural process, of which the primary behavioral manifestation was curiosity. This differed from Locke's 'tabula rasa' in that it was an active process deriving from the child's nature, which drove the child to learn and adapt to its surroundings. Rousseau wrote in his book Emile that all children are perfectly designed organisms, ready to learn from their surroundings so as to grow into virtuous adults, but due to the malign influence of corrupt society, they often fail to do so. Rousseau advocated an educational method which consisted of removing the child from society—for example, to a country home—and alternately conditioning him through changes to his environment and setting traps and puzzles for him to solve or overcome. Rousseau was unusual in that he recognized and addressed the potential of a problem of legitimation for teaching. He advocated that adults always be truthful with children, and in particular that they never hide the fact that the basis for their authority in teaching was purely one of physical coercion: "I'm bigger than you." Once children reached the age of reason, at about 12, they would be engaged as free individuals in the ongoing process of their own. He once said that a child should grow up without adult interference and that the child must be guided to suffer from the experience of the natural consequences of his own acts or behaviour. When he experiences the consequences of his own acts, he advises himself. "Rousseau divides development into five stages (a book is devoted to each). Education in the first two stages seeks to the senses: only when Émile is about 12 does the tutor begin to work to develop his mind. Later, in Book 5, Rousseau examines the education of Sophie (whom Émile is to marry). Here he sets out what he sees as the essential differences that flow from sex. 'The man should be strong and active; the woman should be weak and passive' (Everyman edn: 322). From this difference comes a contrasting education. They are not to be brought up in ignorance and kept to housework: Nature means them to think, to will, to love to cultivate their minds as well as their persons; she puts these weapons in their hands to make up for their lack of strength and to enable them to direct the strength of men. They should learn many things, but only such things as suitable' (Everyman edn.: 327)." Émile Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant believed that education differs from training in that the former involves thinking whereas the latter does not. In addition to educating reason, of central importance to him was the development of character and teaching of moral maxims. Kant was a proponent of public education and of learning by doing. Charlotte Mason Charlotte Mason was a British educator who invested her life in improving the quality of children's education. Her ideas led to a method used by some homeschoolers. Mason's philosophy of education is probably best summarized by the principles given at the beginning of each of her books. Two key mottos taken from those principles are "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life" and "Education is the science of relations." She believed that children were born persons and should be respected as such; they should also be taught the Way of the Will and the Way of Reason. Her motto for students was "I am, I can, I ought, I will." Charlotte Mason believed that children should be introduced to subjects through living books, not through the use of "compendiums, abstracts, or selections." She used abridged books only when the content was deemed inappropriate for children. She preferred that parents or teachers read aloud those texts (such as Plutarch and the Old Testament), making omissions only where necessary. 20th and 21st century Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf education) Waldorf education (also known as Steiner or Steiner-Waldorf education) is a humanistic approach to pedagogy based upon the educational philosophy of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Now known as Waldorf or Steiner education, his pedagogy emphasizes a balanced development of cognitive, affective/artistic, and practical skills (head, heart, and hands). Schools are normally self-administered by faculty; emphasis is placed upon giving individual teachers the freedom to develop creative methods. Steiner's theory of child development divides education into three discrete developmental stages predating but with close similarities to the stages of development described by Piaget. Early childhood education occurs through imitation; teachers provide practical activities and a healthy environment. Steiner believed that young children should meet only goodness. Elementary education is strongly arts-based, centered on the teacher's creative authority; the elementary school-age child should meet beauty. Secondary education seeks to develop the judgment, intellect, and practical idealism; the adolescent should meet truth. Learning is interdisciplinary, integrating practical, artistic, and conceptual elements. The approach emphasizes the role of the imagination in learning, developing thinking that includes a creative as well as an analytic component. The educational philosophy's overarching goals are to provide young people the basis on which to develop into free, morally responsible and integrated individuals, and to help every child fulfill his or her unique destiny, the existence of which anthroposophy posits. Schools and teachers are given considerable freedom to define curricula within collegial structures. John Dewey In Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education, John Dewey stated that education, in its broadest sense, is the means of the "social continuity of life" given the "primary ineluctable facts of the birth and death of each one of the constituent members in a social group". Education is therefore a necessity, for "the life of the group goes on." Dewey was a proponent of Educational Progressivism and was a relentless campaigner for reform of education, pointing out that the authoritarian, strict, pre-ordained knowledge approach of modern traditional education was too concerned with delivering knowledge, and not enough with understanding students' actual experiences. In 1896, Dewey opened the Laboratory School at the University of Chicago in an institutional effort to pursue together rather than apart "utility and culture, absorption and expression, theory and practice, [which] are [indispensable] elements in any educational scheme. As the unified head of the departments of Philosophy, Psychology and Pedagogy, John Dewey articulated a desire to organize an educational experience where children could be more creative than the best of progressive models of his day. Transactionalism as a pragmatic philosophy grew out of the work he did in the Laboratory School. The two most influential works that stemmed from his research and study were The Child and the Curriculum (1902) and Democracy and Education (1916). Dewey wrote of the dualisms that plagued educational philosophy in the latter book: "Instead of seeing the educative process steadily and as a whole, we see conflicting terms. We get the case of the child vs. the curriculum; of the individual nature vs. social culture." Dewey found that the preoccupation with facts as knowledge in the educative process led students to memorize "ill-understood rules and principles" and while second-hand knowledge learned in mere words is a beginning in study, mere words can never replace the ability to organize knowledge into both useful and valuable experience. Maria Montessori The Montessori method arose from Dr. Maria Montessori's discovery of what she referred to as "the child's true normal nature" in 1907, which happened in the process of her experimental observation of young children given freedom in an environment prepared with materials designed for their self-directed learning activity. The method itself aims to duplicate this experimental observation of children to bring about, sustain and support their true natural way of being. William Heard Kilpatrick William Heard Kilpatrick was a US American philosopher of education and a colleague and a successor of John Dewey. He was a major figure in the progressive education movement of the early 20th century. Kilpatrick developed the Project Method for early childhood education, which was a form of Progressive Education organized curriculum and classroom activities around a subject's central theme. He believed that the role of a teacher should be that of a "guide" as opposed to an authoritarian figure. Kilpatrick believed that children should direct their own learning according to their interests and should be allowed to explore their environment, experiencing their learning through the natural senses. Proponents of Progressive Education and the Project Method reject traditional schooling that focuses on memorization, rote learning, strictly organized classrooms (desks in rows; students always seated), and typical forms of assessment. William Chandler Bagley William Chandler Bagley taught in elementary schools before becoming a professor of education at the University of Illinois, where he served as the Director of the School of Education from 1908 until 1917. He was a professor of education at Teachers College, Columbia, from 1917 to 1940. An opponent of pragmatism and progressive education, Bagley insisted on the value of knowledge for its own sake, not merely as an instrument, and he criticized his colleagues for their failure to emphasize systematic study of academic subjects. Bagley was a proponent of educational essentialism. A. S. Neill A. S. Neill founded Summerhill School, the oldest existing democratic school in Suffolk, England, in 1921. He wrote a number of books that now define much of contemporary democratic education philosophy. Neill believed that the happiness of the child should be the paramount consideration in decisions about the child's upbringing, and that this happiness grew from a sense of personal freedom. He felt that deprivation of this sense of freedom during childhood, and the consequent unhappiness experienced by the repressed child, was responsible for many of the psychological disorders of adulthood. Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger's philosophizing about education was primarily related to higher education. He believed that teaching and research in the university should be unified and that students should be taught "to focus on and explicitly investigate the ontological presuppositions which implicitly guide research in each domain of knowledge,” an approach he believed would "encourage revolutionary transformation in the sciences and humanities." Jean Piaget Jean Piaget was a Swiss developmental psychologist known for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology". Piaget placed great importance on the education of children. As the Director of the International Bureau of Education, he declared in 1934 that "only education is capable of saving our societies from possible collapse, whether violent, or gradual." Piaget created the International Centre for Genetic Epistemology in Geneva in 1955 and directed it until 1980. According to Ernst von Glasersfeld, Jean Piaget is "the great pioneer of the constructivist theory of knowing." Jean Piaget described himself as an epistemologist, interested in the process of the qualitative development of knowledge. As he says in the introduction of his book Genetic Epistemology: "What the genetic epistemology proposes is discovering the roots of the different varieties of knowledge, since its elementary forms, following to the next levels, including also the scientific knowledge." Mortimer Jerome Adler Mortimer Jerome Adler was an American philosopher, educator, and popular author. As a philosopher he worked within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions. He lived for the longest stretches in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and San Mateo, California. He worked for Columbia University, the University of Chicago, Encyclopædia Britannica, and Adler's own Institute for Philosophical Research. Adler was married twice and had four children. Adler was a proponent of educational perennialism. Harry S. Broudy Harry S. Broudy's philosophical views were based on the tradition of classical realism, dealing with truth, goodness, and beauty. However he was also influenced by the modern philosophy existentialism and instrumentalism. In his textbook Building a Philosophy of Education he has two major ideas that are the main points to his philosophical outlook: The first is truth and the second is universal structures to be found in humanity's struggle for education and the good life. Broudy also studied issues on society's demands on school. He thought education would be a link to unify the diverse society and urged the society to put more trust and a commitment to the schools and a good education. Jerome Bruner Another important contributor to the inquiry method in education is Jerome Bruner. His books The Process of Education and Toward a Theory of Instruction are landmarks in conceptualizing learning and curriculum development. He argued that any subject can be taught in some intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of development. This notion was an underpinning for his concept of the "spiral" (helical) curriculum which posited the idea that a curriculum should revisit basic ideas, building on them until the student had grasped the full formal concept. He emphasized intuition as a neglected but essential feature of productive thinking. He felt that interest in the material being learned was the best stimulus for learning rather than external motivation such as grades. Bruner developed the concept of discovery learning which promoted learning as a process of constructing new ideas based on current or past knowledge. Students are encouraged to discover facts and relationships and continually build on what they already know. Paulo Freire A Brazilian philosopher and educator committed to the cause of educating the impoverished peasants of his nation and collaborating with them in the pursuit of their liberation from what he regarded as "oppression", Paulo Freire is best known for his attack on what he called the "banking concept of education", in which the student was viewed as an empty account to be filled by the teacher. Freire also suggests that a deep reciprocity be inserted into our notions of teacher and student; he comes close to suggesting that the teacher-student dichotomy be completely abolished, instead promoting the roles of the participants in the classroom as the teacher-student (a teacher who learns) and the student-teacher (a learner who teaches). In its early, strong form this kind of classroom has sometimes been criticized on the grounds that it can mask rather than overcome the teacher's authority. Aspects of the Freirian philosophy have been highly influential in academic debates over "participatory development" and development more generally. Freire's emphasis on what he describes as "emancipation" through interactive participation has been used as a rationale for the participatory focus of development, as it is held that 'participation' in any form can lead to empowerment of poor or marginalised groups. Freire was a proponent of critical pedagogy. "He participated in the import of European doctrines and ideas into Brazil, assimilated them to the needs of a specific socio-economic situation, and thus expanded and refocused them in a thought-provoking way" John Holt In 1964 John Holt published his first book, How Children Fail, asserting that the academic failure of schoolchildren was not despite the efforts of the schools, but actually because of the schools. How Children Fail ignited a firestorm of controversy. Holt was catapulted into the American national consciousness to the extent that he made appearances on major TV talk shows, wrote book reviews for Life magazine, and was a guest on the To Tell The Truth TV game show. In his follow-up work, How Children Learn, published in 1967, Holt tried to elucidate the learning process of children and why he believed school short circuits that process. Nel Noddings Nel Noddings' first sole-authored book Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education (1984) followed close on the 1982 publication of Carol Gilligan's ground-breaking work in the ethics of care In a Different Voice. While her work on ethics continued, with the publication of Women and Evil (1989) and later works on moral education, most of her later publications have been on the philosophy of education and educational theory. Her most significant works in these areas have been Educating for Intelligent Belief or Unbelief (1993) and Philosophy of Education (1995). Noddings' contribution to education philosophy centers around the ethic of care. Her belief was that a caring teacher-student relationship will result in the teacher designing a differentiated curriculum for each student, and that this curriculum would be based around the students' particular interests and needs. The teacher's claim to care must not be based on a one time virtuous decision but an ongoing interest in the students' welfare. Professional organizations and associations See also Education sciences Methodology Learning theory (education) Outline of educational aims Pedagogy Philosophy education References Further reading Classic and Contemporary Readings in the Philosophy of Education, by Steven M. Cahn, 1997, . A Companion to the Philosophy of Education (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy), ed. by Randall Curren, Paperback edition, 2006, . The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Education, ed. by Nigel Blake, Paul Smeyers, Richard Smith, and Paul Standish, Paperback edition, 2003, . Philosophy of Education (Westview Press, Dimension of Philosophy Series), by Nel Noddings, Paperback edition, 1995, . Andre Kraak, Michael Young Education in Retrospect: Policy And Implementation Since 1990 Daan Thoomes, The necessity of education. In: The History of education and childhood. Radboud University, Nijmegen, 2000 External links "Philosophy of Education". In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Education Thinkers of Education. UNESCO-International Bureau of Education website Education studies

Human food

Human food is food which is fit for human consumption, and which humans willingly eat. Food is a basic necessity of life, and humans typically seek food out as an instinctual response to hunger; however, not all things that are edible constitute as human food. Humans eat various substances for energy, enjoyment and nutritional support. These are usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contain essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Humans are highly adaptable omnivores, and have adapted to obtain food in many different ecosystems. Historically, humans secured food through two main methods: hunting and gathering and agriculture. As agricultural technologies improved, humans settled into agriculture lifestyles with diets shaped by the agriculture opportunities in their region of the world. Geographic and cultural differences have led to the creation of numerous cuisines and culinary arts, including a wide array of ingredients, herbs, spices, techniques, and dishes. As cultures have mixed through forces like international trade and globalization, ingredients have become more widely available beyond their geographic and cultural origins, creating a cosmopolitan exchange of different food traditions and practices. Today, the majority of the food energy required by the ever-increasing population of the world is supplied by the industrial food industry, which produces food with intensive agriculture and distributes it through complex food processing and food distribution systems. This system of conventional agriculture relies heavily on fossil fuels, which means that the food and agricultural system is one of the major contributors to climate change, accountable for as much as 37% of the total greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing the carbon intensity of the food system and food waste are important mitigation measures in the global response to climate change. The food system has significant impacts on a wide range of other social and political issues, including: sustainability, biological diversity, economics, population growth, water supply, and access to food. The right to food is a "human right" derived from the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), recognizing the "right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food", as well as the "fundamental right to be free from hunger". Because of these fundamental rights, food security is often a priority international policy activity; for example Sustainable Development Goal 2 "Zero hunger" is meant to eliminate hunger by 2030. Food safety and food security are monitored by international agencies like the International Association for Food Protection, World Resources Institute, World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Food Information Council, and are often subject to national regulation by institutions, such as the Food and Drug Administration in the United States. Food sources Humans are omnivores finding sustenance in vegetables, fruits, cooked meat, milk, eggs, mushrooms and seaweed. Cereal grain is a staple food that provides more food energy worldwide than any other type of crop. Corn (maize), wheat, and rice account for 87% of all grain production worldwide. Just over half of the world's crops are used to feed humans (55 percent), with 36 percent grown as animal feed and 9 percent for biofuels. Fungi and bacteria are also used in the preparation of fermented foods like bread, wine, cheese and yogurt. Humans eat thousands of plant species; there may be as many as 75,000 edible species of angiosperms, of which perhaps 7,000 are often eaten. Most human plant-based food calories come from maize, rice, and wheat. Plants can be processed into bread, pasta, cereals, juices and jams, or raw ingredients such as sugar, herbs, spices and oils can be extracted. Oilseeds are often pressed to produce rich oils: sunflower, flaxseed, rapeseed (including canola oil) and sesame. Animals may be used as food either directly or indirectly. This includes meat, eggs, shellfish and dairy products like milk and cheese. They are an important source of protein and are considered complete proteins for human consumption, as (unlike plant proteins) they contain all the amino acids essential for the human body. Some cultures and people do not consume meat or animal food products for cultural, dietary, health, ethical, or ideological reasons. Vegetarians choose to forgo food from animal sources to varying degrees. Vegans do not consume any foods that contain ingredients from an animal source. Fish and other marine animals are harvested from lakes, rivers, wetlands, inland waters, coasts, estuaries, mangroves, near-shore areas, and marine and ocean waters. Although aquatic foods contribute significantly to the health of billions of people around the world, they tend to be undervalued nutritionally, primarily because their diversity is framed in a monolithic way as "seafood or fish." Worldwide, aquatic foods are available every season and are produced in a wide variety. Over 2,370 species are harvested from wild fisheries, and about 624 are farmed in aquaculture. Fish powder for infants, fish wafers for snacks, and fish chutneys have all been developed because marine foods are nutrient-dense. Taste perception Some animals, specifically humans, have five different types of tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. As such animals have evolved, the tastes that provide the most energy (sugar and fats) are the most pleasant to eat while others, such as bitter, are not enjoyable. Water, while important for survival, has no taste. Fats, on the other hand, especially saturated fats, are thicker and rich and are thus considered more enjoyable to eat. Sweet Generally regarded as the most pleasant taste, sweetness is almost always provided by a type of simple sugar such as glucose or fructose, or disaccharides such as sucrose, a molecule combining glucose and fructose. Complex carbohydrates are long chains and do not have a sweet taste. In the natural settings that human primate ancestors evolved in, sweetness intensity should indicate energy density, while bitterness tends to indicate toxicity. The high sweetness detection threshold and low bitterness detection threshold would have predisposed our primate ancestors to seek out sweet-tasting (and energy-dense) foods and avoid bitter-tasting foods. Artificial sweeteners such as sucralose are used to mimic the sugar molecule, creating the sensation of sweetness, without the energy. The stevia plant contains a compound known as steviol which, when extracted, has 300 times the sweetness of sugar while having minimal impact on blood sugar. Sour Sourness is caused by the taste of acids, such as vinegar in alcoholic beverages. Sour foods include citrus, specifically lemons, limes, and to a lesser degree oranges. Sour is evolutionarily significant as it is a sign of food that may have gone rancid due to bacteria. Many foods, however, are slightly acidic and help stimulate the taste buds and enhance flavour. Salty Saltiness is the taste of alkali metal ions such as sodium and potassium. It is found in almost every food in low to moderate proportions to enhance flavour, although eating pure salt is regarded as highly unpleasant. There are many different types of salt, with each having a different degree of saltiness, including sea salt, fleur de sel, kosher salt, mined salt, and grey salt. Other than enhancing flavour, salty foods are significant for body needs and maintaining a delicate electrolyte balance, which is the kidney's function. Salt may be iodized, meaning iodine has been added to it. Iodine is a necessary nutrient for maintenance of thyroid function, and the addition of iodine to salt became a public-health practice in the mid 20th century to prevent iodine deficiency and related diseases such as endemic goitre. Some canned foods, notably soups or packaged broths, tend to be high in salt as a means of preserving the food longer. Historically salt has long been used as a meat preservative as salt promotes water excretion. Similarly, dried foods also promote food safety. Bitter Bitterness is a sensation often considered unpleasant and characterized by having a sharp, pungent taste. Unsweetened dark chocolate, caffeine, lemon rind, and some types of fruit are known to be bitter. Umami Umami has been described as savoury and is characteristic of broths and cooked meats. Foods that have a strong umami flavor include meats, shellfish, fish (including fish sauce and preserved fish such as Maldives fish, sardines, and anchovies), tomatoes, mushrooms, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, meat extract, yeast extract, cheeses, and soy sauce. Cuisine Many scholars claim that the rhetorical function of food is to represent the culture of a country and that it can be used as a form of communication. According to Goode, Curtis and Theophano, food "is the last aspect of an ethnic culture to be lost". Many cultures have a recognizable cuisine, a specific set of cooking traditions using various spices or a combination of flavours unique to that culture, which evolves. Other differences include preferences (hot or cold, spicy, etc.) and practices, the study of which is known as gastronomy. Many cultures have diversified their foods by utilizing preparation, cooking methods, and manufacturing. This also includes a complex food trade which helps the cultures to economically survive by way of food, not just by consumption. Some popular types of ethnic foods include Italian, French, Japanese, Chinese, American, Cajun, Thai, African, Indian and Nepalese. Various cultures throughout the world study the dietary analysis of food habits. While evolutionarily speaking, as opposed to culturally, humans are omnivores, religion and social constructs such as morality, activism, or environmentalism will often affect which foods they will consume. Food is eaten and typically enjoyed through the sense of taste, the perception of flavour from eating and drinking. Certain tastes are more enjoyable than others, for evolutionary purposes. Presentation Aesthetically pleasing and eye-appealing food presentations can encourage people to consume food. A common saying is that people "eat with their eyes". Food presented in a clean and appetizing way will encourage a good flavour, even if unsatisfactory. Texture plays a crucial role in the enjoyment of eating foods. Contrasts in textures, such as something crunchy in an otherwise smooth dish, may increase the appeal of eating it. Common examples include adding granola to yoghurt, adding croutons to a salad or soup, and toasting bread to enhance its crunchiness for a smooth topping, such as jam or butter. Another universal phenomenon regarding food is the appeal of contrast in taste and presentation. For example, such opposite flavours as sweetness and saltiness tend to go well together, as in kettle corn and nuts. Food preparation While many foods can be eaten raw, many also undergo some form of preparation for reasons of safety, palatability, texture, or flavour. At the simplest level, this may involve washing, cutting, trimming, or adding other foods or ingredients, such as spices. It may also involve mixing, heating or cooling, pressure cooking, fermentation, or combination with other food. In a home, most food preparation takes place in a kitchen. Some preparation is done to enhance the taste or aesthetic appeal; other preparation may help to preserve the food; others may be involved in cultural identity. A meal is made up of food which is prepared to be eaten at a specific time and place. Animal preparation The preparation of animal-based food usually involves slaughter, evisceration, hanging, portioning, and rendering. In developed countries, this is usually done outside the home in slaughterhouses, which are used to process animals en masse for meat production. Many countries regulate their slaughterhouses by law. For example, the United States established the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958, which requires that an animal be stunned before killing. This act, like those in many countries, exempts slaughter following religious law, such as kosher, shechita, and dhabīḥah halal. Strict interpretations of kashrut require the animal to be fully aware when its carotid artery is cut. On the local level, a butcher may commonly break down larger animal meat into smaller manageable cuts, and pre-wrap them for commercial sale or wrap them to order in butcher paper. In addition, fish and seafood may be fabricated into smaller cuts by a fishmonger. However, fish butchery may be done on board a fishing vessel and quick-frozen for the preservation of the quality. Raw food preparation Certain cultures highlight animal and vegetable foods in a raw state. Salads consisting of raw vegetables or fruits are common in many cuisines. Sashimi in Japanese cuisine consists of raw sliced fish or other meat, and sushi often incorporates raw fish or seafood. Steak tartare and salmon tartare are dishes made from diced or ground raw beef or salmon, mixed with various ingredients and served with baguettes, brioche, or frites. In Italy, carpaccio is a dish of very thinly sliced raw beef, drizzled with a vinaigrette made with olive oil. The health food movement known as raw foodism promotes a mostly vegan diet of raw fruits, vegetables, and grains prepared in various ways, including juicing, food dehydration, sprouting, and other methods of preparation that do not heat the food above . An example of a raw meat dish is ceviche, a Latin American dish made with raw meat that is "cooked" from the highly acidic citric juice from lemons and limes along with other aromatics such as garlic. Cooking The term "cooking" encompasses a vast range of methods, tools, and combinations of ingredients to improve the flavour or digestibility of food. Cooking technique, known as culinary art, generally requires the selection, measurement, and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure to achieve the desired result. Constraints on success include the variability of ingredients, ambient conditions, tools, and the skill of the individual cook. The diversity of cooking worldwide is a reflection of the myriad nutritional, aesthetic, agricultural, economic, cultural, and religious considerations that affect it. Cooking requires applying heat to a food which usually, though not always, chemically changes the molecules, thus changing its flavour, texture, appearance, and nutritional properties. Cooking certain proteins, such as egg whites, meats, and fish, denatures the protein, causing it to become firm. There is archaeological evidence of roasted foodstuffs at Homo erectus campsites dating from 420,000 years ago. Boiling as a means of cooking requires a container, and has been practised at least since the 10th millennium BC with the introduction of pottery. Cooking equipment There are many different types of equipment used for cooking. Ovens are mostly hollow devices that get very hot, up to , and are used for baking or roasting and offer a dry-heat cooking method. Different cuisines will use different types of ovens. For example, Indian culture uses a tandoor oven, which is a cylindrical clay oven which operates at a single high temperature. Western kitchens use variable temperature convection ovens, conventional ovens, toaster ovens, or non-radiant heat ovens like the microwave oven. Classic Italian cuisine includes the use of a brick oven containing burning wood. Ovens may be wood-fired, coal-fired, gas, electric, or oil-fired. Various types of cooktops are used as well. They carry the same variations of fuel types as the ovens mentioned above. Cook-tops are used to heat vessels placed on top of the heat source, such as a sauté pan, sauce pot, frying pan, or pressure cooker. These pieces of equipment can use either a moist or dry cooking method and include methods such as steaming, simmering, boiling, and poaching for moist methods, while the dry methods include sautéing, pan frying, and deep-frying. In addition, many cultures use grills for cooking. A grill operates with a radiant heat source from below, usually covered with a metal grid and sometimes a cover. An open-pit barbecue in the American south is one example along with the American-style outdoor grill fueled by wood, liquid propane, or charcoal along with soaked wood chips for smoking. A Mexican style of barbecue is called barbacoa, which involves the cooking of meats such as whole sheep over an open fire. In Argentina, an asado (Spanish for "grilled") is prepared on a grill held over an open pit or fire made upon the ground, on which a whole animal or smaller cuts are grilled. Restaurants Restaurants employ chefs to prepare the food, and waiters to serve customers at the table. The term restaurant comes from an old term for a restorative meat broth; this broth (or bouillon) was served in elegant outlets in Paris from the mid 18th century. These refined "restaurants" were a marked change from the usual basic eateries such as inns and taverns, and some had developed from early Parisian cafés, such as Café Procope, by first serving bouillon, then adding other cooked food to their menus. Commercial eateries existed during the Roman period, with evidence of 150 "thermopolia", a form of fast food restaurant, found in Pompeii, and urban sales of prepared foods may have existed in China during the Song dynasty. In 2005, the population of the United States spent $496 billion on out-of-home dining. Expenditures by type of out-of-home dining were as follows: 40% in full-service restaurants, 37.2% in limited-service restaurants (fast food), 6.6% in schools or colleges, 5.4% in bars and vending machines, 4.7% in hotels and motels, 4.0% in recreational places, and 2.2% in others, which includes military bases. Economy Food systems have complex economic and social value chains that effect many parts of the global economy. Production Most food has always been obtained through agriculture. With increasing concern over both the methods and products of modern industrial agriculture, there has been a growing trend toward sustainable agricultural practices. This approach, partly fueled by consumer demand, encourages biodiversity, local self-reliance and organic farming methods. Major influences on food production include international organizations (e.g. the World Trade Organization and Common Agricultural Policy), national government policy (or law), and war. Several organisations have begun calling for a new kind of agriculture in which agroecosystems provide food but also support vital ecosystem services so that soil fertility and biodiversity are maintained rather than compromised. According to the International Water Management Institute and UNEP, well-managed agroecosystems not only provide food, fibre and animal products, they also provide services such as flood mitigation, groundwater recharge, erosion control and habitats for plants, birds, fish and other animals. Food manufacturing Packaged foods are manufactured outside the home for purchase. This can be as simple as a butcher preparing meat or as complex as a modern international food industry. Early food processing techniques were limited by available food preservation, packaging, and transportation. This mainly involved salting, curing, curdling, drying, pickling, fermenting, and smoking. Food manufacturing arose during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. This development took advantage of new mass markets and emerging technology, such as milling, preservation, packaging and labeling, and transportation. It brought the advantages of pre-prepared time-saving food to the bulk of ordinary people who did not employ domestic servants. At the start of the 21st century, a two-tier structure has arisen, with a few international food processing giants controlling a wide range of well-known food brands. There also exists a wide array of small local or national food processing companies. Advanced technologies have also come to change food manufacturing. Computer-based control systems, sophisticated processing and packaging methods, and logistics and distribution advances can enhance product quality, improve food safety, and reduce costs. International food imports and exports The World Bank reported that the European Union was the top food importer in 2005, followed at a distance by the US and Japan. Britain's need for food was especially well-illustrated in World War II. Despite the implementation of food rationing, Britain remained dependent on food imports and the result was a long-term engagement in the Battle of the Atlantic. Food is traded and marketed on a global basis. The variety and availability of food is no longer restricted by the diversity of locally grown food or the limitations of the local growing season. Between 1961 and 1999, there was a 400% increase in worldwide food exports. Some countries are now economically dependent on food exports, which in some cases account for over 80% of all exports. In 1994, over 100 countries became signatories to the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in a dramatic increase in trade liberalization. This included an agreement to reduce subsidies paid to farmers, underpinned by the WTO enforcement of agricultural subsidy, tariffs, import quotas, and settlement of trade disputes that cannot be bilaterally resolved. Where trade barriers are raised on the disputed grounds of public health and safety, the WTO refer the dispute to the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which was founded in 1962 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization. Trade liberalization has greatly affected world food trade. Marketing and retailing Food marketing brings together the producer and the consumer. The marketing of even a single food product can be a complicated process involving many producers and companies. For example, 56 companies are involved in making one can of chicken noodle soup. These businesses include not only chicken and vegetable processors but also the companies that transport the ingredients and those that print labels and manufacture cans. The food marketing system is the largest direct and indirect non-government employer in the United States. In the pre-modern era, the sale of surplus food took place once a week when farmers took their wares on market day into the local village marketplace. Here food was sold to grocers for sale in their local shops for purchase by local consumers. With the onset of industrialization and the development of the food processing industry, a wider range of food could be sold and distributed in distant locations. Typically early grocery shops would be counter-based shops, in which purchasers told the shopkeeper what they wanted so that the shopkeeper could get it for them. In the 20th century, supermarkets were born. Supermarkets brought with them a selfservice approach to shopping using shopping carts and were able to offer quality food at a lower cost through economies of scale and reduced staffing costs. In the latter part of the 20th century, this has been further revolutionized by the development of vast warehouse-sized, out-of-town supermarkets, selling a wide range of food from around the world. Unlike food processors, food retailing is a two-tier market in which a small number of very large companies control a large proportion of supermarkets. The supermarket giants wield great purchasing power over farmers and processors, and strong influence over consumers. Nevertheless, less than 10% of consumer spending on food goes to farmers, with larger percentages going to advertising, transportation, and intermediate corporations. Access Access to food is an economical and a sociological issue. Disadvantaged people typically live further away from providers of healthy food than the middle class. A study of 94 million visits to food retailers showed that Americans travel a median distance of 5.95 km (3.7 miles) each time they buy food. Prices As investment Problems Because of its centrality to human life, problems related to access, quality and production of food effect every aspect of human life. Nutrition and dietary problems Between the extremes of optimal health and death from starvation or malnutrition, there is an array of disease states that can be caused or alleviated by changes in diet. Deficiencies, excesses, and imbalances in diet can produce negative impacts on health, which may lead to various health problems such as scurvy, obesity, or osteoporosis, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases as well as psychological and behavioral problems. The science of nutrition attempts to understand how and why specific dietary aspects influence health. Nutrients in food are grouped into several categories. Macronutrients are fat, protein, and carbohydrates. Micronutrients are the minerals and vitamins. Additionally, food contains water and dietary fiber. As previously discussed, the body is designed by natural selection to enjoy sweet and fattening foods for evolutionary diets, ideal for hunters and gatherers. Thus, sweet and fattening foods in nature are typically rare and are very pleasurable to eat. In modern times these foods are easily available to consumers, which promotes obesity in adults and children alike. Hunger and starvation Food deprivation leads to malnutrition and ultimately starvation. This is often connected with famine, which involves the absence of food in entire communities. This can have a devastating and widespread effect on human health and mortality. Rationing is sometimes used to distribute food in times of shortage, most notably during times of war. Starvation is a significant international problem. Approximately 815 million people are undernourished, and over 16,000 children die per day from hunger-related causes. Food deprivation is regarded as a deficit need in Maslow's hierarchy of needs and is measured using famine scales. Food waste Policy Legal definition Some countries list a legal definition of food, often referring them with the word foodstuff. These countries list food as any item that is to be processed, partially processed, or unprocessed for consumption. The listing of items included as food includes any substance intended to be, or reasonably expected to be, ingested by humans. In addition to these foodstuffs, drink, chewing gum, water, or other items processed into said food items are part of the legal definition of food. Items not included in the legal definition of food include animal feed, live animals (unless being prepared for sale in a market), plants before harvesting, medicinal products, cosmetics, tobacco and tobacco products, narcotic or psychotropic substances, and residues and contaminants. Right to food Food security International aid Food aid can benefit people suffering from a shortage of food. It can be used to improve peoples' lives in the short term, so that a society can increase its standard of living to the point that food aid is no longer required. Conversely, badly managed food aid can create problems by disrupting local markets, depressing crop prices, and discouraging food production. Sometimes a cycle of food aid dependence can develop. Its provision, or threatened withdrawal, is sometimes used as a political tool to influence the policies of the destination country, a strategy known as food politics. Sometimes, food aid provisions will require certain types of food be purchased from certain sellers, and food aid can be misused to enhance the markets of donor countries. International efforts to distribute food to the neediest countries are often coordinated by the World Food Programme. Safety Foodborne illness, commonly called "food poisoning", is caused by bacteria, toxins, viruses, parasites, and prions. Roughly 7 million people die of food poisoning each year, with about 10 times as many suffering from a non-fatal version. The two most common factors leading to cases of bacterial foodborne illness are cross-contamination of ready-to-eat food from other uncooked foods and improper temperature control. Less commonly, acute adverse reactions can also occur if chemical contamination of food occurs, for example from improper storage, or use of non-food grade soaps and disinfectants. Food can also be adulterated by a very wide range of articles (known as "foreign bodies") during farming, manufacture, cooking, packaging, distribution, or sale. These foreign bodies can include pests or their droppings, hairs, cigarette butts, wood chips, and all manner of other contaminants. Certain types of food can become contaminated if stored or presented in an unsafe container, such as a ceramic pot with lead-based glaze. Food poisoning has been recognized as a disease since as early as Hippocrates. The sale of rancid, contaminated, or adulterated food was commonplace until the introduction of hygiene, refrigeration, and vermin controls in the 19th century. Discovery of techniques for killing bacteria using heat, and other microbiological studies by scientists such as Louis Pasteur, contributed to the modern sanitation standards that are ubiquitous in developed nations today. This was further underpinned by the work of Justus von Liebig, which led to the development of modern food storage and food preservation methods. In more recent years, a greater understanding of the causes of food-borne illnesses has led to the development of more systematic approaches such as the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), which can identify and eliminate many risks. Recommended measures for ensuring food safety include maintaining a clean preparation area with foods of different types kept separate, ensuring an adequate cooking temperature, and refrigerating foods promptly after cooking. Foods that spoil easily, such as meats, dairy, and seafood, must be prepared a certain way to avoid contaminating the people for whom they are prepared. As such, the rule of thumb is that cold foods (such as dairy products) should be kept cold and hot foods (such as soup) should be kept hot until storage. Cold meats, such as chicken, that are to be cooked should not be placed at room temperature for thawing, at the risk of dangerous bacterial growth, such as Salmonella or E. coli. Allergies Some people have allergies or sensitivities to foods that are not problematic to most people. This occurs when a person's immune system mistakes a certain food protein for a harmful foreign agent and attacks it. About 2% of adults and 8% of children have a food allergy. The amount of the food substance required to provoke a reaction in a particularly susceptible individual can be quite small. In some instances, traces of food in the air, too minute to be perceived through smell, have been known to provoke lethal reactions in extremely sensitive individuals. Common food allergens are gluten, corn, shellfish (mollusks), peanuts, and soy. Allergens frequently produce symptoms such as diarrhea, rashes, bloating, vomiting, and regurgitation. The digestive complaints usually develop within half an hour of ingesting the allergen. Rarely, food allergies can lead to a medical emergency, such as anaphylactic shock, hypotension (low blood pressure), and loss of consciousness. An allergen associated with this type of reaction is peanut, although latex products can induce similar reactions. Initial treatment is with epinephrine (adrenaline), often carried by known patients in the form of an Epi-pen or Twinject. Other health issues Human diet was estimated to cause perhaps around 35% of cancers in a human epidemiological analysis by Richard Doll and Richard Peto in 1981. These cancers may be caused by carcinogens that are present in food naturally or as contaminants. Food contaminated with fungal growth may contain mycotoxins such as aflatoxins which may be found in contaminated corn and peanuts. Other carcinogens identified in food include heterocyclic amines generated in meat when cooked at high temperature, polyaromatic hydrocarbons in charred meat and smoked fish, and nitrosamines generated from nitrites used as food preservatives in cured meat such as bacon. Anticarcinogens that may help prevent cancer can also be found in many foods especially fruit and vegetables. Antioxidants are important groups of compounds that may help remove potentially harmful chemicals. It is however often difficult to identify the specific components in diet that serve to increase or decrease cancer risk since many foods, such as beef steak and broccoli, contain low concentrations of both carcinogens and anticarcinogens. There are many international certifications in the cooking field, such as Monde Selection, A.A. Certification, iTQi. They use high-quality evaluation methods to make the food safer. Diet Cultural and religious diets Many cultures hold some food preferences and some food taboos. Dietary choices can also define cultures and play a role in religion. For example, only kosher foods are permitted by Judaism, halal foods by Islam, and in Hinduism beef is restricted. In addition, the dietary choices of different countries or regions have different characteristics. This is highly related to a culture's cuisine. Diet deficiencies Dietary habits play a significant role in the health and mortality of all humans. Imbalances between the consumed fuels and expended energy results in either starvation or excessive reserves of adipose tissue, known as body fat. Poor intake of various vitamins and minerals can lead to diseases that can have far-reaching effects on health. For instance, 30% of the world's population either has, or is at risk for developing, iodine deficiency. It is estimated that at least 3 million children are blind due to vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin C deficiency results in scurvy. Calcium, vitamin D, and phosphorus are inter-related; the consumption of each may affect the absorption of the others. Kwashiorkor and marasmus are childhood disorders caused by lack of dietary protein. Moral, ethical, and health-conscious diets Many individuals limit what foods they eat for reasons of morality or other habits. For instance, vegetarians choose to forgo food from animal sources to varying degrees. Others choose a healthier diet, avoiding sugars or animal fats and increasing consumption of dietary fiber and antioxidants. Obesity, a serious problem in the western world, leads to higher chances of developing heart disease, diabetes, cancer and many other diseases. More recently, dietary habits have been influenced by the concerns that some people have about possible impacts on health or the environment from genetically modified food. Further concerns about the impact of industrial farming (grains) on animal welfare, human health, and the environment are also affecting contemporary human dietary habits. This has led to the emergence of a movement with a preference for organic and local food. History See also Bulk foods Beverages Food and Bioprocess Technology Food engineering Food, Inc., a 2009 documentary Food science Future food technology Industrial crop List of foods Lists of prepared foods Optimal foraging theory Outline of cooking Outline of nutrition Right to food by country References Sources Aguilera, Jose Miguel and David W. Stanley. Microstructural Principles of Food Processing and Engineering. Springer, 1999. . . Asado Argentina. About Asado Argentina. Retrieved from http://www.asadoargentina.com/about-asado-argentina/ on 2007-05-28. Campbell, Bernard Grant. Human Evolution: An Introduction to Man's Adaptations. Aldine Transaction: 1998. . Carpenter, Ruth Ann; Finley, Carrie E. Healthy Eating Every Day. Human Kinetics, 2005. . Davidson, Alan. The Oxford Companion to Food. 2nd ed. UK: Oxford University Press, 2006. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2005. . Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/a0200e/a0200e00.htm on 2006-09-29. Hannaford, Steve. Oligopoly Watch: Top 20 world food companies. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20090918101335/http://www.oligopolywatch.com/2005/10/06.html on 2006-09-23. Howe, P. and S. Devereux. Famine Intensity and Magnitude Scales: A Proposal for an Instrumental Definition of Famine. 2004. Humphery, Kim. Shelf Life: Supermarkets and the Changing Cultures of Consumption. Cambridge University Press, 1998. . . Jango-Cohen, Judith. The History Of Food. Twenty-First Century Books, 2005. . Jurgens, Marshall H. Animal Feeding and Nutrition. Kendall Hunt, 2001. . . Kripke, Gawain. Food aid or hidden dumping?. Oxfam International, March 2005. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20060714133231/http://www.oxfam.org/en/policy/briefingpapers/bp71_food_aid_240305 on 2007-05-26. Lawrie, Stephen; R.A. Lawrie. Lawrie's Meat Science. Woodhead Publishing: 1998. . Magdoff, Fred; Foster, John Bellamy; and Buttel, Frederick H. Hungry for Profit: The Agribusiness Threat to Farmers, Food, and the Environment. September 2000. . Mason, John. Sustainable Agriculture. Landlinks Press: 2003. . Merson, Michael H.; Black, Robert E.; Mills, Anne J. International Public Health: Disease, Programs, Systems, and Policies. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2005. McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004. . Mead, Margaret. The Changing Significance of Food. In Carole Counihan and Penny Van Esterik (Ed.), Food and Culture: A Reader. UK: Routledge, 1997. . Messer, Ellen; Derose, Laurie Fields and Sara Millman. Who's Hungry? and How Do We Know?: Food Shortage, Poverty, and Deprivation. United Nations University Press, 1998. . National Institute of Health. Food poisoning. MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia F. 11 May 2006. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20060928222906/http://www.niaid.nih.gov/publications/pdf/foodallergy.pdf on 2006-09-29. Nicklas, Barbara J. Endurance Exercise and Adipose Tissue. CRC Press, 2002. . Parekh, Sarad R. The Gmo Handbook: Genetically Modified Animals, Microbes, and Plants in Biotechnology. Humana Press,2004. . Regmi, Anita (editor).Changing Structure of Global Food Consumption and Trade. Market and Trade Economics Division, Economic Research Service, USDA, 30 May 2001. stock #ERSWRS01-1. Schor, Juliet; Taylor, Betsy (editors). Sustainable Planet: Roadmaps for the Twenty-First Century. Beacon Press, 2003. . Shah, Anup. Food Dumping (Aid) Maintains Poverty. Causes of Poverty. Retrieved from http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Poverty/FoodDumping.asp on 2006-09-29. Simoons, Frederick J. Eat Not This Flesh: Food Avoidances from Prehistory to the Present. . Smith, Andrew (Editor). "Food Marketing," in Oxford Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. . The Economic Research Service of the USDA. Global Food Markets: Briefing Rooms. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20170704104430/https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/international-markets-trade/global-food-markets.aspx on 2006-09-29. United Kingdom Office of Public Sector Information. Food Safety Act 1990 (c. 16). Retrieved from http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1990/Ukpga_19900016_en_2.htm#mdiv1 on 2006-11-08. . . United States Department of Agriculture, USDA Economic Research Service: The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America. "Briefing Rooms, Food CPI, Prices and Expenditures: Food Expenditure Tables". Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-price-outlook.aspx on 2007-06-06. Van den Bossche, Peter. The Law and Policy of the bosanac Trade Organization: Text, Cases and Materials. UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005. . World Food Programme. Breaking out of the Poverty Trap: How We Use Food Aid. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20060928075506/http://www.wfp.org/food_aid/introduction/index.asp?section=12&sub_section=1 on 2006-09-29. World Health Organization. WHO Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition. Retrieved from on 2006-09-29. World Trade Organization. The Uruguay Round. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20060822200650/http://www.wto.org/trade_resources/history/wto/urug_round.htm on 2006-09-29. . Further reading Collingham, E.M. (2011). The Taste of War: World War Two and the Battle for Food Katz, Solomon (2003). The Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, Scribner Nestle, Marion (2007). Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, University Presses of California, revised and expanded edition, Mobbs, Michael (2012). Sustainable Food Sydney: NewSouth Publishing, The Future of Food (2015). A panel discussion at the 2015 Digital Life Design (DLD) Annual Conference. "How can we grow and enjoy food, closer to home, further into the future? MIT Media Lab's Kevin Slavin hosts a conversation with food artist, educator, and entrepreneur Emilie Baltz, professor Caleb Harper from MIT Media Lab's CityFarm project, the Barbarian Group's Benjamin Palmer, and Andras Forgacs, the co-founder and CEO of Modern Meadow, who is growing 'victimless' meat in a lab. The discussion addresses issues of sustainable urban farming, ecosystems, technology, food supply chains and their broad environmental and humanitarian implications, and how these changes in food production may change what people may find delicious ... and the other way around." Posted on the official YouTube Channel of DLD External links Food Timeline Wikibooks Cookbook Food, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Rebecca Spang, Ivan Day and Felipe Fernandez-Armesto (In Our Time, 27 December 2001) Food and drink Food watchlist articles

Environmental engineering

Environmental engineering is a professional engineering discipline related to environmental science. It encompasses broad scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiology, and mathematics to create solutions that will protect and also improve the health of living organisms and improve the quality of the environment. Environmental engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering and chemical engineering. While on the part of civil engineering, the Environmental Engineering is focused mainly on Sanitary Engineering. Environmental engineering applies scientific and engineering principles to improve and maintain the environment to protect human health, protect nature's beneficial ecosystems, and improve environmental-related enhancement of the quality of human life. Environmental engineers devise solutions for wastewater management, water and air pollution control, recycling, waste disposal, and public health. They design municipal water supply and industrial wastewater treatment systems, and design plans to prevent waterborne diseases and improve sanitation in urban, rural and recreational areas. They evaluate hazardous-waste management systems to evaluate the severity of such hazards, advise on treatment and containment, and develop regulations to prevent mishaps. They implement environmental engineering law, as in assessing the environmental impact of proposed construction projects. Environmental engineers study the effect of technological advances on the environment, addressing local and worldwide environmental issues such as acid rain, global warming, ozone depletion, water pollution and air pollution from automobile exhausts and industrial sources. Most jurisdictions impose licensing and registration requirements for qualified environmental engineers. Etymology The word environmental has its root in the late 19th-century French word environ (verb), meaning to encircle or to encompass. The word environment was used by Carlyle in 1827 to refer to the aggregate of conditions in which a person or thing lives. The meaning shifted again in 1956 when it was used in the ecological sense, where Ecology is the branch of science dealing with the relationship of living things to their environment. The second part of the phrase environmental engineer originates from Latin roots and was used in the 14th century French as engignour, meaning a constructor of military engines such as trebuchets, harquebuses, longbows, cannons, catapults, ballistas, stirrups, armour as well as other deadly or bellicose contraptions. The word engineer was not used to reference public works until the 16th century; and it likely entered the popular vernacular as meaning a contriver of public works during John Smeaton's time. History Ancient civilizations Environmental engineering is a name for work that has been done since early civilizations, as people learned to modify and control the environmental conditions to meet needs. As people recognized that their health was related to the quality of their environment, they built systems to improve it. The ancient Indus Valley Civilization (3300 B.C.E. to 1300 B.C.E.) had advanced control over their water resources. The public work structures found at various sites in the area include wells, public baths, water storage tanks, a drinking water system, and a city-wide sewage collection system. They also had an early canal irrigation system enabling large-scale agriculture. From 4000 to 2000 B.C.E., many civilizations had drainage systems and some had sanitation facilities, including the Mesopotamian Empire, Mohenjo-Daro, Egypt, Crete, and the Orkney Islands in Scotland. The Greeks also had aqueducts and sewer systems that used rain and wastewater to irrigate and fertilize fields. The first aqueduct in Rome was constructed in 312 B.C.E., and the Romans continued to construct aqueducts for irrigation and safe urban water supply during droughts. They also built an underground sewer system as early as the 7th century B.C.E. that fed into the Tiber River, draining marshes to create farmland as well as removing sewage from the city. Modern era Very little change was seen from the decline of the Roman Empire until the 19th century, where improvements saw increasing efforts focused on public health. Modern environmental engineering began in London in the mid-19th century when Joseph Bazalgette designed the first major sewerage system following the Great Stink. The city's sewer system conveyed raw sewage to the River Thames, which also supplied the majority of the city's drinking water, leading to an outbreak of cholera. The introduction of drinking water treatment and sewage treatment in industrialized countries reduced waterborne diseases from leading causes of death to rarities. The field emerged as a separate academic discipline during the middle of the 20th century in response to widespread public concern about water and air pollution and other environmental degradation. As society and technology grew more complex, they increasingly produced unintended effects on the natural environment. One example is the widespread application of the pesticide DDT to control agricultural pests in the years following World War II. The story of DDT as vividly told in Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1962) is considered to be the birth of the modern environmental movement, which led to the modern field of "environmental engineering." Education Many universities offer environmental engineering programs through either the department of civil engineering or chemical engineering and also including electronic projects to develop and balance the environmental conditions. Environmental engineers in a civil engineering program often focus on hydrology, water resources management, bioremediation, and water and wastewater treatment plant design. Environmental engineers in a chemical engineering program tend to focus on environmental chemistry, advanced air and water treatment technologies, and separation processes. Some subdivisions of environmental engineering include natural resources engineering and agricultural engineering. Courses for students fall into a few broad classes: Mechanical engineering courses oriented towards designing machines and mechanical systems for environmental use such as water and wastewater treatment facilities, pumping stations, garbage segregation plants, and other mechanical facilities. Environmental engineering or environmental systems courses oriented towards a civil engineering approach in which structures and the landscape are constructed to blend with or protect the environment. Environmental chemistry, sustainable chemistry or environmental chemical engineering courses oriented towards understanding the effects of chemicals in the environment, including any mining processes, pollutants, and also biochemical processes. Environmental technology courses oriented towards producing electronic or electrical graduates capable of developing devices and artifacts able to monitor, measure, model and control environmental impact, including monitoring and managing energy generation from renewable sources. Curriculum The following topics make up a typical curriculum in environmental engineering: Mass and Energy transfer Environmental chemistry Inorganic chemistry Organic Chemistry Nuclear Chemistry Growth models Resource consumption Population growth Economic growth Risk assessment Hazard identification Dose-response Assessment Exposure assessment Risk characterization Comparative risk analysis Water pollution Water resources and pollutants Oxygen demand Pollutant transport Water and waste water treatment Air pollution Industry, transportation, commercial and residential emissions Criteria and toxic air pollutants Pollution modelling (e.g. Atmospheric dispersion modeling) Pollution control Air pollution and meteorology Global change Greenhouse effect and global temperature Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen cycle IPCC emissions scenarios Oceanic changes (ocean acidification, other effects of global warming on oceans) and changes in the stratosphere (see Physical impacts of climate change) Solid waste management and resource recovery Life cycle assessment Source reduction Collection and transfer operations Recycling Waste-to-energy conversion Landfill Applications Water supply and treatment Environmental engineers evaluate the water balance within a watershed and determine the available water supply, the water needed for various needs in that watershed, the seasonal cycles of water movement through the watershed and they develop systems to store, treat, and convey water for various uses. Water is treated to achieve water quality objectives for the end uses. In the case of a potable water supply, water is treated to minimize the risk of infectious disease transmission, the risk of non-infectious illness, and to create a palatable water flavor. Water distribution systems are designed and built to provide adequate water pressure and flow rates to meet various end-user needs such as domestic use, fire suppression, and irrigation. Wastewater treatment There are numerous wastewater treatment technologies. A wastewater treatment train can consist of a primary clarifier system to remove solid and floating materials, a secondary treatment system consisting of an aeration basin followed by flocculation and sedimentation or an activated sludge system and a secondary clarifier, a tertiary biological nitrogen removal system, and a final disinfection process. The aeration basin/activated sludge system removes organic material by growing bacteria (activated sludge). The secondary clarifier removes the activated sludge from the water. The tertiary system, although not always included due to costs, is becoming more prevalent to remove nitrogen and phosphorus and to disinfect the water before discharge to a surface water stream or ocean outfall. Air pollution management Scientists have developed air pollution dispersion models to evaluate the concentration of a pollutant at a receptor or the impact on overall air quality from vehicle exhausts and industrial flue gas stack emissions. To some extent, this field overlaps the desire to decrease carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from combustion processes. Environmental impact assessment and mitigation Environmental engineers apply scientific and engineering principles to evaluate if there are likely to be any adverse impacts to water quality, air quality, habitat quality, flora and fauna, agricultural capacity, traffic, ecology, and noise. If impacts are expected, they then develop mitigation measures to limit or prevent such impacts. An example of a mitigation measure would be the creation of wetlands in a nearby location to mitigate the filling in of wetlands necessary for a road development if it is not possible to reroute the road. In the United States, the practice of environmental assessment was formally initiated on January 1, 1970, the effective date of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Since that time, more than 100 developing and developed nations either have planned specific analogous laws or have adopted procedure used elsewhere. NEPA is applicable to all federal agencies in the United States. Regulatory agencies Environmental Protection Agency The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is one of the many agencies that work with environmental engineers to solve critical issues. An essential component of EPA's mission is to protect and improve air, water, and overall environmental quality to avoid or mitigate the consequences of harmful effects. See also Associations References Further reading Davis, M. L. and D. A. Cornwell, (2006) Introduction to environmental engineering (4th ed.) McGraw-Hill Chemical engineering Civil engineering Environmental science Engineering disciplines Environmental terminology

Sustainable Development Goal 12

Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12 or Global Goal 12), titled "responsible consumption and production", is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015. The official wording of SDG 12 is "Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns". SDG 12 is meant to ensure good use of resources, improve energy efficiency and sustainable infrastructure, provide access to basic services, create green and decent jobs, and ensure a better quality of life for all. SDG 12 has 11 targets to be achieved by at least 2030, and progress towards the targets is measured using 13 indicators. Sustainable Development Goal 12 has 11 targets. The first 8 are outcome targets, which are: implement the 10‑Year Framework of Programs on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns; achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources; reducing by half the per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and the reduction of food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses; achieving the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle; reducing waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse; encourage companies to adopt sustainable practices; promote public procurement practices that are sustainable; and ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development. The three means of implementation targets are: support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacity; develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts; and remove market distortions, like fossil fuel subsidies, that encourage wasteful consumption. Countries are working towards the implementation of the "10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns". To ensure that plastic products are more sustainable, thus reducing plastic waste, changes such as decreasing usage and increasing the circularity of the plastic economy are expected to be required. An increase in domestic recycling and a reduced reliance on the global plastic waste trade are other actions that might help meet the goal. Background Changes in consumption and production patterns can help to promote the decoupling of economic growth and human well-being from resource use and environmental impact. They can also trigger the transformations envisaged in global commitments on biodiversity, the climate, and sustainable development in general. Targets, indicators and progress SDG 12 has 11 targets. Four of them are to be achieved by the year 2030, one by the year 2020, and six have no target years. The targets address different issues ranging from implementing the 10‑Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns (Target 12.1), achieving the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources (Target 12.2), having per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels (Target 12.3), achieving the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle (Target 12.4), substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse (Target 12.5), encourage companies to adopt sustainable practices (Target 12.6), promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities (Target 12.7), ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development (12.8), support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capabilities (Target 12.a), develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable grouwth (Target 12.b), rationalize inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption by removing market distortions (Target 12.c). Target 12.1: Implement the 10-year sustainable consumption and production framework The full title of Target 12.1 is: “Implement the 10‑Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, all countries taking action, with developed countries taking the lead, taking into account the development and capabilities of developing countries". The goal of this SDG is to have all countries taking the action by 2030. It has one indicator: Indicator 12.1.1 is the "Number of countries with sustainable consumption and production (SCP) national action plans or SCP mainstreamed as a priority or a target into national policies". Many countries are working towards the implementation of the "10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns". Target 12.2: Sustainable management and use of natural resources The full title of Target 12.2 is: "By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources." This target has two indicators: Indicator 12.2.1: Material footprint, material footprint per capita, and material footprint per GDP Indicator 12.2.2: Domestic material consumption, domestic material consumption per capita, and domestic material consumption per GDP Material Footprint is the quantity of material extraction that is required to meet the consumption of a country. The sum of material footprint for biomass, fossil fuels, metal ores and non-metal ores is called the total material footprint. Domestic Material Consumption (DMC) is a production-side measure which does not account for supply chain inputs or exports, meaning a country could have a lower DMC value, if it outsources a large proportion of its materials. A report by the UN in 2020 found that: "Global domestic material consumption per capita rose by 7 per cent, from 10.8 metric tons per capita in 2010 to 11.7 metric tons in 2017, with increases in all regions except Northern America and Africa." Target 12.3: Halve global per capita food waste The full title of Target 12.3 is: "By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses." This target has two components (losses and waste) measured by two indicators. Indicator 12.3.1.a: Food Loss Index which focuses on losses from production to consumption level Indicator 12.3.1.b: Food Waste Index this indicator is a proposal under development FAO and the United Nations Environment Programme measure progress towards this target. FAO found that "globally around 14 percent of the world’s food is lost from production before reaching the retail level". Target 12.4: Responsible management of chemicals and waste The full title of Target 12.4 is: "By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment." This target has two indicators: Indicator 12.4.1: Number of parties to international multilateral environmental agreements on hazardous waste, and other chemicals that meet their commitments and obligations in transmitting information as required by each relevant agreement Indicator 12.4.2: (a) Hazardous waste generated per capita; and (b) proportion of hazardous waste treated, by type of treatment Global e-waste generation has grown during 2010 to 2019: from 5.3 kg per capita to 7.3 kg per capita.  The "environmentally sound recycling of e-waste" also increased: from 0.8 kg per capita to 1.3 kg per capita. Target 12.5: Substantially reduce waste generation The full title of Target 12.5 is: "By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse." It has one indicator: Indicator 12.5.1 is the "National recycling rate, tons of material recycled". Every year, about one third of all food produce goes bad. This is worth about $1 trillion a year. The food spoils due to consumers, and goes bad during transportation. Target 12.6: Encourage companies to adopt sustainable practices and sustainability reporting The full title of Target 12.6 is: "Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle." It has one indicator: Indicator 12.6.1 is the "Number of companies publishing sustainability reports". Target 12.7: Promote sustainable public procurement practices The full title of Target 12.7 is: "Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities." It has one indicator: Indicator 12.7.1 is the "Degree of sustainable public procurement policies and action plan implementation". Three objectives, SPP, GPP and SRPP, all figure in the indicator: SPP: Sustainable public procurement GPP: Green public procurement SRPP: Socially responsible public procurement. One of the limitations noted for this indicator is that different countries may implement and measure these objectives in different ways. Target 12.8: Promote universal understanding of sustainable lifestyles The full title of Target 12.8 is" By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature." It has one indicator: Indicator 12.8.1 is the "Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment". Target 12.a: Support developing countries' scientific and technological capacity for sustainable consumption and production The full title of Target 12.A is: "Support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacity to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production." It has one indicator: Indicator 12.a.1 is the "Installed renewable energy-generating capacity in developing countries (in watts per capita)". Target 12.b: Develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable tourism The full title of Target 12.B is: "Develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products." It has one indicator: Indicator 12.b.1 is the "Implementation of standard accounting tools to monitor the economic and environmental aspects of tourism sustainability". Target 12.c: Remove market distortions that encourage wasteful consumption The full title of Target 12.C is: "Rationalize inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption by removing market distortions in accordance with national circumstances, including restructuring taxation and phasing out those harmful subsidies where they exist, to reflect their environmental impacts, taking fully into account the specific needs and conditions of developing countries and minimizing the possible adverse impacts on their development in a manner that protects the poor and the affected communities." It has one indicator: Indicator 12.c.1 is the: "(a) Amount of fossil-fuel subsidies as a percentage of GDP; and (b) amount of fossil fuel subsidies as a proportion of the total national expenditure on fossil fuels". Global fossil fuel subsidies in 2018 were $400 billion.  This was double the subsidies for renewable energy. Custodian agencies Custodian agencies are in charge of reporting on the following indicators: Indicators 12.1.1, 12.2.1, 12.2.2, 12.7.1 and 12.c.1: United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Indicator 12.3.1: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Indicator 12.4.1: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Indicator 12.4.2: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Department of Economic and Social Affairs-Statistics Division (DESA/UNSD) Indicator 12.5.1: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) Indicator 12.6.1: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the UN Environment (United Nations Environment Programme/UNEP) Indicator 12.8.1: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UNESCO-UIS) and the UNESCO Education Sector, Division for Peace and Sustainable Development, Section of Education for Sustainable Development (UNESCO-ED/PSD/ESD) Indicator 12.a.1: International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Indicator 12.b.1: United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Progress An annual report is prepared by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, which evaluates the progress towards all the Sustainable Development Goals. Challenges Fossil fuel subsidies rose drastically in 2021, to levels last seen in 2014 before the SDGs were adopted, due to governments' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. They are projected to rise even further due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine disrupting energy supply chains. The COVID-19 pandemic also impaired reporting of data regarding initiatives on sustainable tourism. Links with other SDGs and other issues SDG 12 has targets related to SDG 2, SDG 3, SDG 4, SDG 8, SDG 9, SDG 13, SDG 14 and SDG 15. Organizations United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Department of Economic and Social Affairs-Statistics Division (DESA/UNSD) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UNESCO-UIS) UNESCO Education Sector, Division for Peace and Sustainable Development, Section of Education for Sustainable Development (UNESCO-ED/PSD/ESD) United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) United Nations University References External links Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform (Goal 12) “Global Goals” Campaign - SDG 12 SDG-Track.org - SDG 12 UN SDG 12 in the US Sustainable Development Goals 2015 establishments in New York City Projects established in 2015 Consumption (macroeconomics) Production economics

Agrarian reform

Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land (see land reform) or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land reform measures. Agrarian reform can include credit measures, training, extension, land consolidations, etc. The World Bank evaluates agrarian reform using five dimensions: (1) stocks and market liberalization, (2) land reform (including the development of land markets), (3) agro-processing and input supply channels, (4) urban finance, (5) market institutions. The United Nations thesaurus sees agrarian reform as a component of agricultural economics and policy, with a specific impact on rural sociology, and broader than land reform, describing agrarian reform as:Reforms covering all aspects of agrarian institutions, including land reform, production and supporting services structure, public administration in rural areas, rural social welfare and educational institutions, etc.Cousins defines the difference between agrarian reform and land reform as follows: Land reform… is concerned with rights in land, and their character, strength and distribution, while… [agrarian reform] focuses not only on these but also a broader set of issues: the class character of the relations of production and distribution in farming and related enterprises, and how these connect to the wider class structure. It is thus concerned economic and political power and the relations between them…Along similar lines, a 2003 World Bank report states,…A key precondition for land reform to be feasible and effective in improving beneficiaries' livelihoods is that such programs fit into a broader policy aimed at reducing poverty and establishing a favourable environment for the development of productive smallholder agriculture by beneficiaries. Examples of other issues include "tenure security" for "farm workers, labour tenants, … farm dwellers… [and] tenant peasants", which makes these workers and tenants better prospects for receiving private-sector loans; "infrastructure and support services"; government support of "forms of rural enterprise" that are "complementary" to agriculture; and increased community participation of government decisions in rural areas. See also Agrarian law Agribusiness Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA) Food security Food sovereignty Land reform Land reforms by country Tiberius Gracchus References External links Global Food Security Threatened by Corporate Land Grabs in Poor Countries - video report by Democracy Now! Springer, S. 2012. "Illegal evictions? Overwriting possession and orality with law’s violence in Cambodia."] Journal of Agrarian Change, vol, 13, no. 4, pp. 520–546, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0366.2012.00368.x Agrarian politics Land reform pt:Reforma agrária

Social development theory

Social development theory attempts to explain qualitative changes in the structure and framework of society, that help the society to better realize aims and objectives. Development can be defined in a manner applicable to all societies at all historical periods as an upward ascending movement featuring greater levels of energy, efficiency, quality, productivity, complexity, comprehension, creativity, mastery, enjoyment and accomplishment. Development is a process of social change, not merely a set of policies and programs instituted for some specific results. During the last five centuries this process has picked up in speed and intensity, and during the last five decades has witnessed a marked surge in acceleration. The basic mechanism driving social change is increasing awareness leading to better organization. When society senses new and better opportunities for progress it develops new forms of organization to exploit these new openings successfully. The new forms of organization are better able to harness the available social energies and skills and resources to use the opportunities to get the intended results. Development is governed by many factors that influence the results of developmental efforts. There must be a motive that drives the social change and essential preconditions for that change to occur. The motive must be powerful enough to overcome obstructions that impede that change from occurring. Development also requires resources such as capital, technology, and supporting infrastructure. Development is the result of society's capacity to organize resources to meet challenges and opportunities. Society passes through well-defined stages in the course of its development. They are nomadic hunting and gathering, rural agrarian, urban, commercial, industrial, and post-industrial societies. Pioneers introduce new ideas, practices, and habits that conservative elements initially resist. At a later stage, innovations are accepted, imitated, organized, and used by other members of the community. Organizational improvements introduced to support the innovations can take place simultaneously at four different levels—physical, social, mental, and psychological. Moreover, four different types of resources are involved in promoting development. Of these four, physical resources are most visible, but least capable of expansion. Productivity of resources increases enormously as the quality of organization and level of knowledge inputs rise. Development pace and scope varies according to the stage society is in. The three main stages are physical, vital (vital refers to the dynamic and nervous social energies of humanity that propel individuals to accomplish), and mental. Terminology Though the term development usually refers to economic progress, it can apply to political, social, and technological progress as well. These various sectors of society are so intertwined that it is difficult to neatly separate them. Development in all these sectors is governed by the same principles and laws, and therefore the term applies uniformly. Economic development and human development need not mean the same thing. Strategies and policies aimed at greater growth may produce greater income in a country without improving the average living standard. This happened in oil-producing Middle Eastern countries—a surge in oil prices boosted their national income without much benefit to poorer citizens. Conversely, people-oriented programs and policies can improve health, education, living standards, and other quality-of-life measures with no special emphasis on monetary growth. This occurred in the 30 years of socialist and communist rule in Kerala in India. Four related but distinct terms and phenomena form successive steps in a graded series: survival, growth, development, and evolution. Survival refers to a subsistence lifestyle with no marked qualitative changes in living standards. Growth refers to horizontal expansion in the existing plane characterized by quantitative expansion—such as a farmer increasing the area under cultivation, or a retailer opening more stores. Development refers to a vertical shift in the level of operations that causes qualitative changes, such as a retailer turning into a manufacturer or an elementary school turning into a high school. Human development Development is a human process, in the sense that human beings, not material factors, drive development. The energy and aspiration of people who seek development form the motive force that drives development. People's awareness may decide the direction of development. Their efficiency, productivity, creativity, and organizational capacities determine the level of people's accomplishment and enjoyment. Development is the outer realization of latent inner potentials. The level of people's education, intensity of their aspiration and energies, quality of their attitudes and values, skills and information all affect the extent and pace of development. These factors come into play whether it is the development of the individual, family, community, nation, or the whole world. Process of emergence of new activities in society Unconscious vs. conscious development Human development normally proceeds from experience to comprehension. As society develops over centuries, it accumulates the experience of countless pioneers. The essence of that experience becomes the formula for accomplishment and success. The fact that experience precedes knowledge can be taken to mean that development is an unconscious process that gets carried out first, while knowledge becomes conscious later on only. Unconscious refers to activities that people carry out without knowing what the end results will be, or where their actions will lead. They carry out the acts without knowing the conditions required for success. Role of pioneering individuals The gathering of conscious knowledge of society matures and breaks out on the surface in the form of new ideas—espoused by pioneers who also take new initiatives to give expression to those ideas. Those initiatives may call for new strategies and new organizations, which conservative elements may resist. If the pioneer's initiatives succeed, it encourages imitation and slow propagation in the rest of the community. Later, growing success leads to society assimilating the new practice, and it becomes regularized and institutionalized. This can be viewed in three distinct phases of social preparedness, initiative of pioneers, and assimilation by the society. The pioneer as such plays an important role in the development process—since through that person, unconscious knowledge becomes conscious. The awakening comes to the lone receptive individual first, and that person spreads the awakening to the rest of the society. Though pioneers appear as lone individuals, they act as conscious representatives of society as a whole, and their role should be viewed in that light.<ref>Cleveland, Harlan and Jacobs, Garry, The Genetic Code for Social Development". In: Human Choice, World Academy of Art & Science, USA, 1999, p. 7.</ref> Imitation of the pioneer Though a pioneer comes up with innovative ideas very often the initial response to a pioneer is one of indifference, ridicule or even one of outright hostility. If the pioneer persists and succeeds in an initiative, that person's efforts may eventually get the endorsement of the public. That endorsement tempts others to imitate the pioneer. If they also succeed, news spreads and brings wider acceptance. Conscious efforts to lend organizational support to the new initiative helps institutionalize the new innovation. Organization of new activities The organization is the human capacity to harness all available information, knowledge, resources, technology, infrastructure, and human skills to exploit new opportunities—and to face challenges and hurdles that block progress. The development comes through improvements in the human capacity of an organization. In other words, development comes through the emergence of better organizations that enhance society's capacity to make use of opportunities and face challenges. The development of organizations may come through the formulation of new laws and regulations or new systems. Each new step of progress brings a corresponding new organization. Increasing European international trade in the 16th and 17th centuries demanded corresponding development in the banking industry and new commercial laws and civil arbitration facilities. New types of business ventures were formed to attract the capital needed to finance expanding trade. As a result, a new business entity appeared—the joint-stock company, which limited the investors' liability to the extent of their personal investment without endangering other properties. Each new developmental advance is accompanied by new or more suitable organizations that facilitate that advance. Often, existing inadequate organizations must change to accommodate new advances. Many countries have introduced scores of new reforms and procedures—such as the release of business activities directories, franchising, lease purchase, service, credit rating, collection agencies, industrial estates, free trade zones, and credit cards. Additionally, a diverse range of internet services have formed. Each new facility improves effective use of available social energies for productive purposes. The importance of these facilities for speeding development is apparent when they are absent. When Eastern European countries wanted to transition to market-type economies, they were seriously hampered in their efforts due to the absence of supportive systems and facilities. Organization matures into institution At a particular stage, organizations mature into institutions that become part of society. Beyond this point, an organization does not need laws or agencies to foster growth or ensure a continued presence. The transformation of an organization into an institution signifies society's total acceptance of that new organization. The income tax office is an example of an organization that is actively maintained by the enactment of laws and the formation of an office for procuring taxes. Without active governmental support, this organization would disappear, as it does not enjoy universal public support. On the other hand, the institution of marriage is universally accepted, and would persist even if governments withdrew regulations that demand registration of marriage and impose age restrictions. The institution of marriage is sustained by the weight of tradition, not by government agencies and legal enactments. Cultural transmission by the family Families play a major role in the propagation of new activities once they win the support of the society. A family is a miniature version of the larger society—acceptance by the larger entity is reflected in the smaller entity. The family educates the younger generation and transmits social values like self-restraint, responsibility, skills, and occupational training. Though children do not follow their parents' footsteps as much as they once did, parents still mold their children's attitudes and thoughts regarding careers and future occupations. When families propagate a new activity, it signals that the new activity has become an integral part of the society. Education One of the most powerful means of propagating and sustaining new developments is the educational system in a society. Education transmits society's collective knowledge from one generation to the next. It equips each new generation to face future opportunities and challenges with knowledge gathered from the past. It shows the young generation the opportunities ahead for them, and thereby raises their aspiration to achieve more. Information imparted by education raises the level of expectations of youth, as well as aspirations for higher income. It also equips youth with the mental capacity to devise ways and means to improve productivity and enhance living standards. Society can be conceived as a complex fabric that consists of interrelated activities, systems, and organizations. Development occurs when this complex fabric improves its own organization. That organizational improvement can take place simultaneously in several dimensions. Quantitative expansion in the volume of social activities Qualitative expansion in the content of all those elements that make up the social fabric Geographic extension of the social fabric to bring more of the population under the cover of that fabric Integration of existing and new organizations so the social fabric functions more efficiently Such organizational innovations occur all the time, as a continuous process. New organizations emerge whenever a new developmental stage is reached, and old organizations are modified to suit new developmental requirements. The impact of these new organizations may be powerful enough to make people believe they are powerful in their own right—but it is society that creates the new organizations required to achieve its objectives. The direction that the developmental process takes is influenced by the population's awareness of opportunities. Increasing awareness leads to greater aspiration, which releases greater energy that helps bring about greater accomplishment Resources Since the time of the English economist Thomas Malthus, some have thought that capacity for development is limited by availability of natural resources. Resources can be divided into four major categories: physical, social, mental, and human. Land, water, minerals and oil, etc. constitute physical resources. Social resources consist of society's capacity to manage and direct complex systems and activities. Knowledge, information and technology are mental resources. The energy, skill and capacities of people constitute human resources. The science of economics is much concerned with scarcity of resources. Though physical resources are limited, social, mental, and human resources are not subject to inherent limits. Even if these appear limited, there is no fixity about the limitation, and these resources continue to expand over time. That expansion can be accelerated by the use of appropriate strategies. In recent decades the rate of growth of these three resources has accelerated dramatically. The role of physical resources tends to diminish as society moves to higher developmental levels. Correspondingly, the role of non-material resources increases as development advances. One of the most important non-material resources is information, which has become a key input. Information is a non-material resource that is not exhausted by distribution or sharing. Greater access to information helps increase the pace of its development. Ready access to information about economic factors helps investors transfer capital to sectors and areas where it fetches a higher return. Greater input of non-material resources helps explain the rising productivity of societies in spite of a limited physical resource base. Application of higher non-material inputs also raises the productivity of physical inputs. Modern technology has helped increase the proven sources of oil by 50% in recent years—and at the same time, reduced the cost of search operations by 75%. Moreover, technology shows it is possible to reduce the amount of physical inputs in a wide range of activities. Scientific agricultural methods demonstrated that soil productivity could be raised through synthetic fertilizers. Dutch farm scientists have demonstrated that a minimal water consumption of 1.4 liters is enough to raise a kilogram of vegetables, compared to the thousand liters that traditional irrigation methods normally require. Henry Ford's assembly line techniques reduced the man-hours of labor required to deliver a car from 783 minutes to 93 minutes. These examples show that the greater input of higher non-material resources can raise the productivity of physical resources and thereby extend their limits. Technological development When the mind engages in pure creative thinking, it comes up with new thoughts and ideas. When it applies itself to society it can come up with new organizations. When it turns to the study of nature, it discovers nature's laws and mechanisms. When it applies itself to technology, it makes new discoveries and practical inventions that boost productivity. Technical creativity has had an erratic course through history, with some intense periods of creative output followed by some dull and inactive periods. However, the period since 1700 has been marked by an intense burst of technological creativity that is multiplying human capacities exponentially. Though many reasons can be cited for the accelerating pace of technological inventions, a major cause is the role played by mental creativity in an increasing atmosphere of freedom. Political freedom and liberation from religious dogma had a powerful impact on creative thinking during the Age of Enlightenment. Dogmas and superstitions greatly restricted mental creativity. For example, when the astronomer Copernicus proposed a heliocentric view of the world, the church rejected it because it did not conform to established religious doctrine. When Galileo used a telescope to view the planets, the church condemned the device as an instrument of the devil, as it seemed so unusual. The Enlightenment shattered such obscurantist fetters on freedom of thought. From then on, the spirit of experimentation thrived. Though technological inventions have increased the pace of development, the tendency to view developmental accomplishments as mainly powered by technology misses the bigger picture. Technological innovation was spurred by general advances in the social organization of knowledge. In the Middle Ages, efforts at scientific progress were few, mainly because there was no effective system to preserve and disseminate knowledge. Since there was no organized protection for patent rights, scientists and inventors were secretive about observations and discoveries. Establishment of scientific associations and scientific journals spurred the exchange of knowledge and created a written record for posterity. Technological development depends on social organizations. Nobel laureate economist Arthur Lewis observed that the mechanization of factory production in England—the Industrial Revolution—was a direct result of the reorganization of English agriculture. Enclosure of common lands in England generated surplus income for farmers. That extra income generated additional raw materials for industrial processing, and produced greater demand for industrial products that traditional manufacturing processes could not meet. The opening of sea trade further boosted demand for industrial production for export. Factory production increased many times when production was reorganized to use steam energy, combined with moving assembly lines, specialization, and division of labor. Thus, technological development was both a result of and a contributing factor to the overall development of society. Individual scientific inventions do not spring out of the blue. They build on past accomplishments in an incremental manner, and give a conscious form to the unconscious knowledge that society gathers over time. As pioneers are more conscious than the surrounding community, their inventions normally meet with initial resistance, which recedes over time as their inventions gain wider acceptance. If opposition is stronger than the pioneer, then the introduction of an invention gets delayed. In medieval times, when guilds tightly controlled their members, medical progress was slow mainly because physicians were secretive about their remedies. When Denis Papin demonstrated his steam engine, German naval authorities refused to accept it, fearing it would lead to increased unemployment. John Kay, who developed a flying shuttle textile loom, was physically threatened by English weavers who feared the loss of their jobs. He fled to France where his invention was more favorably received. The widespread use of computers and application of biotechnology raises similar resistance among the public today. Whether the public receives an invention readily or resists depends on their awareness and willingness to entertain rapid change. Regardless of the response, technological inventions occurs as part of overall social development, not as an isolated field of activity. Limits to development The concept of inherent limits to development arose mainly because past development was determined largely by availability of physical resources. Humanity relied more on muscle-power than thought-power to accomplish work. That is no longer the case. Today, mental resources are the primary determinant of development. Where people drove a simple bullock cart, they now design ships and aircraft that carry huge loads across immense distances. Humanity has tamed rivers, cleared jungles and even turned arid desert lands into cultivable lands through irrigation. By using intelligence, society has turned sand into powerful silicon chips that carry huge amounts of information and form the basis of computers. Since there is no inherent limit to the expansion of society's mental resources, the notion of limits to growth cannot be ultimately binding. Three stages of development Society's developmental journey is marked by three stages: physical, vital, and mental. These are not clear-cut stages, but overlap. All three are present in any society at times. One of them is predominant while the other two play subordinate roles. The term 'vital' denotes the emotional and nervous energies that empower society's drive towards accomplishment and express most directly in the interactions between human beings. Before the full development of mind, it is these vital energies that predominate in human personality and gradually yield the ground as the mental element becomes stronger. The speed and circumstances of social transition from one stage to another varies. Physical stage The physical stage is characterized by the domination of the physical element of the human personality. Physical stage is distinguished by the predominance of physical part of human personality, which is characterised by minimal technological advances and becoming depended on manual labour for agricultural practices. During this phase, society is preoccupied with bare survival and subsistence. Moreover, societal structures often exhibit rigidity, with little room for social mobility or advancement beyond one's inherited status or position. People follow tradition strictly and there is little innovation and change. Land is the main asset and productive resource during the physical stage and wealth is measured by the size of land holdings. This is the agrarian and feudal phase of society. Inherited wealth and position rule the roost and there is very little upward mobility. Meanwhile, economic transactions primarily revolve around barter systems and the exchange of goods rather than monetary transactions. Feudal lords and military chiefs function as the leaders of the society. Commerce and money play a relatively minor role. As innovative thinking and experimental approaches are discouraged, people follow tradition unwaveringly and show little inclination to think outside of established guidelines. Occupational skills are passed down from parent to child by a long process of apprenticeship. Despite its limitations, the physical stage lays the foundation for subsequent phases of development, serving as a crucial starting point for societal evolution and progress. Guilds restrict the dissemination of trade secrets and technical knowledge. The Church controls the spread of new knowledge and tries to smother new ideas that does not agree with established dogmas. The physical stage comes to an end when the reorganization of agriculture gives scope for commerce and industry to expand. This happened in Europe during the 18th century when political revolutions abolished feudalism and the Industrial Revolution gave a boost to factory production. The shift to the vital and mental stages helps to break the bonds of tradition and inject new dynamism in social life. Vital stage The vital stage of society is infused with dynamism and change. The vital activities of society expand markedly. Society becomes curious, innovative and adventurous. During the vital stage emphasis shifts from interactions with the physical environment to social interactions between people. Trade supplants agriculture as the principal source of wealth. The dawning of this phase in Europe led to exploratory voyages across the seas leading to the discovery of new lands and an expansion of sea trade. Equally important, society at this time began to more effectively harness the power of money. Commerce took over from agriculture, and money replaced land as the most productive resource. The center of life shifted from the countryside to the towns where opportunities for trade and business were in greater abundance. The center of power shifted from the aristocracy to the business class, which employed the growing power of money to gain political influence. During the vital stage, the rule of law becomes more formal and binding, providing a secure and safe environment for business to flourish. Banks, shipping companies and joint-stock companies increase in numbers to make use of the opportunities. Fresh innovative thinking leads to new ways of life that people accept as they prove beneficial. Science and experimental approaches begin to make a headway as the hold of tradition and dogma weaken. Demand for education rises. As the vital stage matures through the expansion of the commercial and industrial complex, surplus income arises, which prompts people to spend more on items so far considered out of reach. People begin to aspire for luxury and leisure that was not possible when life was at a subsistence level. Mental stage This stage has three essential characteristics: practical, social, and political application of mind. The practical application of mind generates many inventions. The social application of mind leads to new and more effective types of social organization. The political application leads to changes in the political systems that empower the populace to exercise political and human rights in a free and democratic manner. These changes began in the Renaissance and Enlightenment, and gained momentum in the Reformation, which proclaimed the right of individuals to relate directly to God without the mediation of priests. The political application of mind led to the American and French Revolutions, which produced writing that first recognized the rights of the common man and gradually led to the actual enjoyment of these rights. Organization is a mental invention. Therefore, it is not surprising that the mental stage of development is responsible for the formulation of a great number of organizational innovations. Huge business corporations have emerged that make more money than even the total earnings of some small countries. Global networks for transportation and communication now connect the nations of the world within a common unified social fabric for sea and air travel, telecommunications, weather reporting and information exchange. In addition to spurring technological and organizational innovation, the mental phase is also marked by the increasing power of ideas to change social life. Ethical ideals have been with humanity since the dawn of civilization. But their practical application in daily social life had to wait for the mental stage of development to emerge. The proclamation of human rights and the recognition of the value of the individual have become effective only after the development of mind and spread of education. The 20th century truly emerged as the century of the common man. Political, social, economic and many other rights were extended to more and more sections of humanity with each succeeding decade. The relative duration of these three stages and the speed of transition from one to another varies from one society to another. However broadly speaking, the essential features of the physical, vital and mental stages of development are strikingly similar and therefore quite recognizable even in societies separated by great distance and having little direct contact with one another. Moreover, societies also learn from those who have gone through these transitions before and, therefore, may be able to make the transitions faster and better. When the Netherlands introduced primary education in 1618, it was a pioneering initiative. When Japan did the same thing late in the 19th century, it had the advantage of the experience of the US and other countries. When many Asian countries initiated primary education in the 1950s after winning independence, they could draw on the vast experience of more developed nations. This is a major reason for the quickening pace of progress. Natural vs. planned development Natural development is distinct from development by government initiatives and planning. Natural development involves an unplanned and unconscious evolution of social norms and structures, which makes it different from government-led initiatives. Natural development is the spontaneous and unconscious process of development that normally occurs. It is distinguished by different factors including historical legacies, economic circumstances, cultural standards and its inherent complexities. Planned development is the result of deliberate conscious initiatives by the government to speed development through special programs and policies. Natural development is an unconscious process, since it results from the behavior of countless individuals acting on their own—rather than conscious intention of the community. It is also unconscious in the sense that society achieves the results without being fully conscious of how it did so. On the other hand, planned development is the result of deliberate attempts of governmental authorities to stimulate the developing process through specific policies and programmes. The natural development of democracy in Europe over the past few centuries can be contrasted with the conscious effort to introduce democratic forms of government in former colonial nations after World War II. Planned development is also largely unconscious: the goals may be conscious, but the most effective means for achieving them may remain poorly understood. Planned development can become fully conscious only when the process of development itself is fully understood. The achievement of planned development relies on a comprehensive understanding of fundamental social dynamics and a sophisticated implementation strategy. While in planned development the government is the initiator, in the natural version it is private individuals or groups that are responsible for the initiative. Whoever initiates, the principles and policies are the same and success is assured only when the conditions and right principles are followed. Over centuries, democracy’s organic growth has been experienced while Europe stands in contrast to the purposeful Post-World War II, which attempts in colonial countries to establish democratic rules. In contrast to planned development projects, it has been found that natural development results from local efforts of private citizens along with community organisations. Summary Social development theory offers a comprehensive framework for understanding the qualitative changes in society over time. It highlights the role of increasing awareness and better organization in driving progress. Through stages of physical, vital, and mental development, societies evolve, embracing innovation and adapting to change. See also Idea of Progress Social change World systems theory References Jacobs, Garry et al.. Kamadhenu: The Prosperity Movement, Southern Publications, India, 1988. Asokan. N. History of USA'', The Mother's Service Society, 2006. Sociological theories Economic development Human development International development Technology development