Sowing the seeds

Recent posts in this blog have attempted to show that sustainable, environmentally-sound policies can be sensible, practical and perhaps most importantly of all, do not require an economic or financial compromise. The following example is a small scale initiative but it has a big impact on local communities.

The Urban Pollinators Project run by the University of Bristol, aims to research pollinating insects in urban spaces and looks to help increase the abundance and diversity of urban pollinators by promoting urban flower meadows. These meadows can be grown in parks by replacing traditional plant choices with pollinator-friendly wild flowers. The meadows can also be created in other grassy areas such as along the road side, increasing the aesthetic appeal of these areas.

(photo from: Urban Pollinators Project)

The Decline of England's Bees, a policy review and recommendations report published by the University of Reading explains why pollinating insects are so important: 

"Pollination by insects is thought to be the main reproductive mechanism in 78% of temperate flowering plants and is essential to maintaining plant genetic diversity"

"Insect-pollinated plants and their fruits or seeds are also important to wider biodiversity, providing food, shelter and other resources to mammals, birds and other insects."

(photo from Urban Pollinators Project)

The protection of pollinating insects is not just about ecological integrity, there is also a significant economic motivation. Pollinating insects carry out very important work, for free. The Decline of England's Bees report quantifies this contribution to the UK economy:

"£510m of total crop sales value is thought to directly arise from pollination services as of 2009"

"To replace pollination services provided by bees with hand pollination could cost farmers around £1.8bn/year in labour and pollen alone"

(photo from Urban Pollinators Project)

The success of the Urban Pollinators Project was featured in the Guardian Newspaper this week and the article discusses the multiple benefits of urban meadows, apart from supporting a declining bee population and the related consequences of loss to biodiversity, the meadows are aesthetically pleasing. Furthermore they are a cheaper and more sustainable alternative to maintaining mowed grass, especially if perennial meadows are sown. These urban meadows are becoming a sensible choice for city councils faced with restricted budgets. The article also suggests that these meadows can even reduce antisocial behaviour:

"At St Andrews Park in Bristol, mini-meadows in petal shapes, spirals and wavy lines have been sown to gently discourage antisocial behaviour by stopping large groups of people gathering on the grass." 

The meadows successfully transformed the atmosphere of area and influenced the way the local community used the space

The success of urban meadows hints that win win policies are possible and that the environment and the economy are not always in direct opposition.

(photo from Urban Pollinators Project)

Staying afloat or going (down) under

So Australia has officially repealed its carbon tax. It is the first country to do so and the move has received global criticism, especially since Australia is a significant CO2 emitter.

The response is encapsulated by John Connor, CEO of the Climate Institute:

“The result of repeal today is that Australia is bereft of credible climate policy just as the international community focuses on deeper reduction targets for 2025 and 2030, and even the heads of organisations like the International Monetary Fund, OECD and World Bank talk of the need to completely decarbonise the global economy by the second half of this century.”

“The last seven years have been a sorry and sordid tale of greed, incompetence and rotten luck, which has reduced Australian policy making to scaremongering, self-interest and reckless short termism.”

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott describes the carbon tax repeal: "a useless destructive tax, which damaged jobs, which hurt families cost of living, and which didn't actually help the environment is finally gone."  

It seems painfully clear that Tony Abbott needs to be introduced to the Polluter Pays Principle, i.e. that the polluter should bear the cost of the pollution that they create.

At some stage down the line someone will have to face the consequences of Australia's carbon emissions; it is naive, irresponsible and short-sighted of Australia to think that this can be avoided. It is further nonsensical to believe that companies which profit from this pollution should not be held accountable for it. If paying for the pollution that they create represents too great a financial burden, it perhaps tells us something about the viability of that industry. Instead of bailing out these industries it would better for the Australian Prime Minister to think bigger, to be progressive and innovative in policy making, to build an economy that looks towards a sustainable and secure future. Not only are such policies possible but they will become commonplace as energy security and environmental security threaten economic growth.

A report released by the World Bank last month, "Climate-Smart Development: Adding Up the Benefits of Actions that Help Build Prosperity, End Poverty and Combat Climate Change", shows that "government actions can boost economic performance and benefit lives, jobs, crops, energy, and GDP – as well as emissions reductions to combat climate change." This refutes the idea that sound environmental policies represent an economic burden. 

Rachel Kyte, World Bank Group Vice President & Special Envoy for Climate Change, describes the report:

"This study makes the case for actions that save lives, create jobs, grow economies and, at the same time, slow the rate of climate change. We place ourselves and our children at peril if we ignore these opportunities."  

It is the responsibility of the Australian people to demand more of their politicians, to demand fair and sustainable policies that will work for the Australian people of this generation and generations to come. At the very least demand a politician who isn't a global embarrassment.

Good, Gooder, Goodest

Many of the posts in this blog have discussed the ways in which society and the environment are compromised for human growth and development. This is the idea behind the question: how does the whole world fit into the anthrosphere? With insatiable demand and competition for resources and land, it seems obvious that not everyone can be left satisfied. Those who most often lose out are those whose needs represent the least profitability and those who are most vulnerable; this can include people, wildlife, communities and ecosystems. Sometimes it can seem that what is fair and sustainable is inherently contradictory to commercial and economic success. However this need not be the case.

The growth of the green economy and greater global awareness of issues such as climate change, social justice, biodiversity and inequality, has awoken a social and environmental conscience so that it makes good business sense to have ethical integrity, to be environmentally engaged and to be socially aware. In the below video Simon Anholt discusses the idea of a "good country" and the way in which countries with a positive reputation become more competitive. The idea can be applied to businesses and to people, and hopefully can help to change the idea that society and the environment are obstacles to growth and development, so that instead they might be seen as a pathway to prosperity. 

Simon Anholt: Which country does the most good for the world?

Devastating Deforestation

In a previous post I mentioned the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, the context of the post was the attention that this issue receives. The loss of the Amazon rainforest is well publicised and so there are high-profile efforts to protect the forest for environmental, conservation and ecological reasons. 

While this is a very worthwhile cause, the removal of tropical forest is not isolated to Brazil and a recent study published by Nature Climate Change has revealed that as of 2012 Indonesia leads the world in the destruction of primary forest. Between 2000-2012 6.02 million ha (over 60,000 sq km) of Indonesian primary forest was lost.

The study defines primary forest as:

"mature natural forests of 5 ha or more in extent that retain their natural composition and structure, and have not been completely cleared and re-planted in recent history"

These tropical forests are a global resource since they sequester and store carbon dioxide. The destruction of these forests releases the significant stores of terrestrial carbon and contributes to Indonesia's carbon dioxide emissions. But deforestation is not just about carbon dioxide; the habitat loss associated with deforestation decreases biodiversity and endangers plants and animal species. This is especially relevant in Indonesia which has incredible biodiversity.

"Indonesia's forests contain high floral and faunal biodiversity including 10% of the world's plants, 12% of the world's mammals, 16% of the world's reptile-amphibians, and 17% of the world's bird species"  

In May 2011 Indonesia implemented a moratorium on deforestation, however it seems clear that this has not been successful, and it begs the question of the role that the rest of world should play in preserving these forests. It is too easy to condemn Indonesia's destruction of forest, but does this mean that the rest of the world has a responsibility to incentivise the maintenance of tropical forest? 

The land cleared by deforestation is used for agricultural and industrial uses, similarly to the way in which subsistence farmland is sold for commercial farming, to the detriment of the local community (as discussed in the previous post on land grabbing). Such commercial land use is more profitable in the short term but in the long term it is unsustainable and damaging to the environment, biodiversity and conservation. The growth of the industries that call for deforestation show no signs of slowing, but the earth's resources will not and cannot expand in the same way. So while some people will ask "how much forest cover will be lost before the limits of deforestation are reached?" for others the question is "how much money can be made before the limits of deforestation are reached?". The answers remain to be seen, but we can influence and determine the answers, if we so choose.

Land Grabbing; something's gotta give

A recent study published in Environmental Research Letters; Food Appropriation Through Large Scale Land Acquisitions, discusses the issue of "land grabbing" and its contribution to food scarcity. The study calculates the amount of acquired land, the crops that the land could produce, the calorific content of those crops and the number of people that could be fed.

As the global human population continues to grow there is a need for increased agricultural production and therefore productive agricultural land is in increasingly greater demand. The planet already produces enough food to feed everyone, so the real issue should be our ability (or inability) to distribute this food and alleviate the food scarcity, malnourishment and starvation that are common in many parts of the world. However, as will become clear, this is not at the heart of agribusiness.

The growth of the biofuel industry is further increasing demand for productive agricultural land to grow biofuel crops. While the diversification of the energy industry and a move away from fossil fuel dependence represents an environmentally positive step forward it should be obvious that as demand grows for a finite amount of land, somebody has to lose out, and, as is so often the case, those losing out are among the most vulnerable people in the world.

Land grabbing refers to the purchase of agricultural land, and its transformation from subsistence farmland to large scale commercial agricultural land, without consideration of the impact of this change on the local community, who invariably lose out. It is perhaps all the more sinister because large scale international investors are targeting areas that are already susceptible to food scarcity.

It is argued that the acquired land has usually been under utilized and that the commercial farming companies have access to the resources and technology needed to boost production, 

furthermore the local community will benefit from job creation and investment in the area. However, this does not represent the reality of the situation. These crops are grown and sold for profit which means that they are exported out of the area of production to more profitable markets.

"between 2007 and 2012 large scale land acquisitions in the Pujehun district in Sierra Leone had a negative impact on local food and livelihood security (IFPRI 2012). The crops harvested in the acquired land were exported, while the local population was affected by loss of farmland, inadequate compensation for their land, and reduced access to food due to the increasing food prices."

"In Cambodia foreign direct investments in agricultural land are leading to the conversion of rice fields to sugar cane plantations and the relocation of peasants to less fertile land."

Agribusiness is not about feeding starving people and it is not about reducing fossil fuel dependence. It is about profits and economic growth. As demand for agricultural land grows this short-sighted and unsustainable growth pattern will continue and it will push increasing numbers of vulnerable people towards food scarcity. It is a deplorable irony that successful commercial agriculture is increasing food scarcity. It also demonstrates that our current consumption and growth patterns are mismatched with our resources. 

Small Victories

With the news that Soco International will cease its exploration for oil in Africa's oldest national park conservationists breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Read the joint statement from Soco and the WWF

It seems somewhat absurd that such a hard fought battle is necessary to protect an already protected UNESCO world heritage site...but here we are. The increasingly desperate search for new oil, combined with the poverty, violence and political unrest in DR Congo counteracts the extraordinary biodiversity of the Virunga National Park and its practical and symbolic significance for the Congolese people.

The fight to protect Virunga has been high profile and international. Actress Anna Friel has been campaigning on behalf of the WWF. Desmond Tutu, Richard Branson and Howard Buffett voiced their concerns in a joint editorial. The Tribeca Film Festival 2014 featured the documentary film Virunga directed and produced by Orlando Von Einsiedel.

 

Virunga is also under threat from poachers and militia; the future of the park and the endangered species living within it are far from secure but the withdrawal of Soco is encouraging. The future of the park might be further secured with the development of eco-tourism and renewable energy initiatives which will create greater economic prosperity in the park without damaging its environmental integrity. This will make it easier to resist promises of wealth from oil, for which the environmental price is far too high.

It's Only a Game...

The 2014 World Cup is now in full swing in Brazil, and as a result the country has been placed under a microscope. In the run up to the start of the tournament there have been concerns over the completion and safety of stadiums, and there have been reports on the anticipated increase in sex tourism; the revelations about child prostitution are particularly distressing:

Child Prostitutes Forced to Cash-in on Fans at Brazil World Cup 

The spotlight has also be turned to environmental issues in Brazil. The mascot for the World Cup, 'Fuleco', is an endangered three-banded armadillo and has received much attention from world media. The name is a combination of the words futebol (football) and ecologia (ecology) and appears to demonstrate environmental awareness on the part of FIFA. While the choice of mascot may help raise awareness of the plight of this creature, FIFA has been criticised for not doing more to help secure the future of the animal that is being used to market the World Cup.

Huffington Post: Armadillo, Mascot of the 2014 World Cup, Threatened with Extinction

BBC News: Row Over Protection for World Cup Mascot Armadillo

Paddy Power has used the World Cup as an opportunity to raise awareness of deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest...or did they use deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest to raise awareness of Paddy Power and the World Cup?

The entire story and the way in which it unfolded is documented on the Paddy Power website (below).

The Truth about Paddy Power's Stunt in the Amazon Rainforest

The online backlash that Paddy Power received when people thought they had contributed to deforestation demonstrates the general public's awareness of the issue and their concern for the "lungs of the world". However, once the truth had been revealed the conversation quickly changed from concern for the Amazon to praise for the creativity and originality of the publicity stunt.

The 2014 World Cup could be a great opportunity to highlight and tackle important environmental issues, but what we have seen so far has been little more than lip service; the true goal is self promotion and publicity. While it is unrealistic to expect FIFA to tackle environmental issues in any meaningful way, the very least we can do is recognise that insincere marketing strategies exploit environmental issues and exploit the public.  

Geomorphology

One way to make the physical environment meet the increasing demands and growth of the human population is to physically change the shape of the landscape. However this approach may prove to be as short-sighted as it is drastic.

The flattening of mountains in China caught the attention of the world media this week and the reports centred on the warnings issued by the scientific community. 

Risk Posed by China Mountain Removal 

Efforts to flatten the landscape aim to create more space for construction and allow for the expansion of cities that are currently restricted in valleys. This is one of the least subtle ways in which humans are exercising domination over nature; by literally bulldozing over the natural landscape. 

The concerns are that this mountain flattening is happening on an unprecedented scale and so it is somewhat experimental. It has also been linked to water and air pollution, soil erosion and flooding. Furthermore there are concerns as to the suitability of the newly flattened land for building, and so it may not even meet its primary objective.

Previous posts in this blog have discussed the dangers of heavy handed approaches to nature, and the ways in which poorly considered approaches that do not acknowledge or understand the natural processes in the environment, often end up creating more problems than they can solve. It seems that mountain flattening will become yet another example.

Mountain flattening represents a feat of human engineering and ingenuity. If the city is getting too big for the valley and if it is not financially or structurally viable to expand into the mountains, then change those mountains and valleys. If the planet is getting too warm due to an increased concentration of greenhouse gases and it is not socially, economically or politically viable to reduce emissions, then cool the planet by restricting incoming solar radiation. Though mountain flattening is not in the same league as some solar radiation management proposals in terms of the level of tinkering with the earth system, both represent a similar way of thinking. Both present a solution that changes the wider environment but not human behaviour. Both make an allowance for continued unsustainable growth. Both solve a problem in very narrow sense with seemingly no regard for the consequences. If we would rather move mountains (literally) than address unsustainable population and economic growth it does not bode well for a timely and effective response to climate change. 

Going Beyond the Obvious

Hunting and habitat destruction are the usual suspects for the extinction of animal species at human hands. These are well recognised issues and many organisations work hard to protect endangered species from these threats, however, climate change will bring about a whole new wave of  problems.

Images of polar bears stranded on ever-shrinking ice sheets have become common-place in media campaigns raising awareness of climate change. It is true that the Arctic is highly sensitive to climate change and the diminishing food sources and changes to habitat represent a very real threat to polar bear populations. However, the reality of the consequences of climate change for animals goes well beyond melting ice. These consequences may also be more complex and less perceptible than the well illustrated plight of the polar bear.

Recent studies have shown that warmer temperatures will impact the incubation of sea turtle eggs. The temperature of the sand during incubation determines the gender of the turtle; increased temperatures will result in a higher proportion of females. While this may be good news for population growth in the short-term, ultimately a severe gender imbalance poses a serious threat.

More Sea Turtles Will Be Born Female As Climate Warms, Study Shows

These findings emphasise that the consequences of climate change may not always be obvious. The incubation of sea turtle and other reptile eggs is just one example of an obscure repercussion. It seems likely that there will be many more and if we cannot pre-empt them it is improbable that we will be able to respond to them in a timely or effective way.

Plants and animals have spent millions of years evolving to thrive in their environment. Climate change disrupts delicate and intricate environmental balances at a rate that is too fast for animals to adapt.

Whatever Remains

The photo below was taken at Euston Square tube station, it is an interesting thought to consider when in the bustling centre of London city. 

There are fewer and fewer places that remain untouched by human development, and it seems that we are now looking at nuclear wasteland as undisturbed places of interest.

Haunting Pictures Reveal the Eerie Beauty of Chernobyl  

Following the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster there are many collections of photos depicting the abandoned exclusion zone as an area of curious tranquillity.

There is also great interest in the impact of radioactivity on plant and animal life in the area, not least of all because it can help inform the impacts on human life. While there are arguments that life has thrived in the area due to the absence of humans and that some bird species appear to be adapting to the radioactivity, it cannot be denied that the environment and most of the life within it has suffered and been diminished.

At Chernobyl, Hints of Nature's Adaptation

The New York times article linked above, discusses studies of animal life around Chernobyl. While it is interesting to consider the complexity and resilience of nature, I think it is above all, poignant that nature has shown such endurance in an area unfit for human habitation.

It's Complicated...

The obvious answer to the question: "How does the whole world fit into the anthrosphere?",  is that it doesn't. There are multiple aspects of the environment that are compromised and damaged in the course of human development and population growth. These issues are widely known; deforestation, endangered species, climate change...

This bleak picture is a familiar one, and often seems quite straightforward; as human societies flourish, nature is diminished. However things are rarely so simple and it seems that nature may have the capacity to fight back. This is not to say that we should not be concerned with nature's response to human influences. If nature faces a human induced survival of the fittest, we should be wary that the way in which nature endures might be undesirable for human society. There is reason to be cautious about interfering with the complex and delicate balance of nature.

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring first published in 1962, brought attention the dangers of heavy-handed interactions with nature. The book, in which Carson raised the alarm on chemical pest control, is credited with shaping modern ecological concerns. There are numerous examples of how the indiscriminate spraying of DDT and other toxic chemicals did not achieve sustained pest control, and even made matters worse. This was often because of the lack of attention paid to the complex checks and balances that occur naturally in ecosystems. Apart from the distressing descriptions of how birds, fish, farm animals and pets suffered and died from unintentional poisoning, the book also highlights the economic and social costs. The use of toxic chemicals did not continue along the irresponsible pathway that Carson imagined, this is in part due to the work that she did, however the ultimate message from Silent Spring remains relevant today. The idea that nature can be "controlled" in a predictable manner is naive and arrogant. We should approach nature with a measure of humility, care and consideration.  

Recent studies suggest that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide may make crops less nutritious. This is an example of how anthropogenic changes to the atmosphere can have unexpected consequences elsewhere, and highlights the intricacy of our environment and its interrelationships, which we struggle to understand fully.

Read the National Geographic article on crop nutrition and climate change

What is the Anthrosphere?

The anthrosphere or anthroposphere (sometimes also called the technosphere) refers to the part of the environment that is made or modified by humans and is used for human activity. It is one of the earth's spheres. Other major spheres include the atmosphere, lithosphere, cryosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere. While these other spheres may have important interactions and exchanges with each other, and are certainly not independent of each other, it is relatively straightforward to characterise and differentiate between these spheres. The anthrosphere, however, is more complex.

    

The anthrosphere plays an increasingly prominent role in influencing changes within each of the other spheres. That is to say that human activities are impacting ice sheets, sea level, sea acidity, land cover change, biodiversity and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. While by no means an exhaustive list, this should be enough to illustrate that the anthrosphere has a powerful and far reaching impact on planet Earth.

The anthrosphere is not as old as the other spheres mentioned, and unlike the other spheres it has grown in importance over a relatively short space of time. Although a period of glaciation would have a drastic impact on the earth and would demonstrate the strength of the cryosphere, the cyclical changes between glaciation and inter-glaciation happen over very long time-scales and do not match the exponential and relentless growth of the anthropogenic influence.

The human hand print on earth can be traced back to the development of agriculture, the onset of industrialisation and the continued growth of the human population and its associated activities. The anthrosphere has become a dominant force at the expense of the other spheres and it begs the question of how the other components of the earth system can fit into this anthropocentric world; how does the whole world fit into the anthrosphere?