Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
9
CHAPTER NINE
Conclusions
Misanthropy, adaptation and
safe operating spaces
From the upper reaches of the atmosphere to the
depths of underground aquifers, throughout the
chapters of this volume we have explored the
nature and extent of the human transformation
of the global environment. This socio-ecological
journey has seen us follow the flow of the carbon,
nitrogen and hydrological cycles, the international
trade in timber, the extraction and transportation
of crude oil, and the transnational movement of
atmospheric sulphur dioxide. Throughout this
book we have also considered the extent to which
the human transformation of the environment
represents something geologically significant:
the birth of a new geological epoch known as the
Anthropocene. We have seen that the current
rates of resource extraction; climate change; the
forcing of the nitrogen cycle; soil degradation;
deforestation; and urbanization all point to
something significant going on in the nature of
human-environment relations. Notwithstanding
these observations, this volume has not sought
to provide a definitive answer as to whether
the current patterns of environmental change
require a new geological designation. It is now
expected that the Anthropocene Working Group
of the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy
will make its formal recommendation to the
International Commission on Stratigraphy in
2016. But regardless of this ruling, it is clear that
the scale and scope of the human transformation
of the Earth requires that we develop more
sophisticated ways of understanding the processes
that are driving environmental change. To
these ends, this volume has sought to show the
importance of combining scientific and social
scientific understanding of contemporary patterns
of environmental transformation. This volume has
thus shown that studying the Anthropocene
requires that we understand aspects of atmospheric
chemistry alongside urbanization, soil leaching and
global commodity markets, the nitrogen cycle and
political theories of the state, global heat balances
and the psychology of human decision-making.
In addition to establishing the importance of
combining scientific and social scientific frame-
works, this volume has also advocated the value of
studying the Anthropocene in the context of
particular geographical places. There is a tendency
when speaking of the Anthropocene to talk about
it in sweeping geological terms and global-level
events. While such talk is, in many ways, inevitable,
care must be taken to ensure that while we
recognize we are all living through a significant
period of environmental change, the consequences
and effects of these changes are felt with varying
degrees of intensity in different places. In many
ways, it is an awareness of the geography of the
Anthropocene that is at the heart of contemporary
studies of socio-ecological vulnerability, resilience
and adaptation (see Adger et al, 2005; Adger, 2006;
Folke, 2006). This work considers the ability of
different peoples and environments to be able to
