Environment: International Political Economy
Abstract A new era, the Anthropocene, began in the late eighteenth century, marking the turning point when human actions became the primary driver of environmental change, transforming the structure and functioning of the world's ecosystems. Natural scientists warn that humanity is increasingly...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Other/Unknown Material |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470670590.wbeog172 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/9780470670590.wbeog172 |
| Summary: | Abstract A new era, the Anthropocene, began in the late eighteenth century, marking the turning point when human actions became the primary driver of environmental change, transforming the structure and functioning of the world's ecosystems. Natural scientists warn that humanity is increasingly transgressing “planetary boundaries” – “the safe operating space for humanity with respect to the Earth system and … the planet's biophysical subsystems and processes” – threatening to undermine the relatively stable, interglacial geological epoch that has supported human civilization (Rockström et al. 2009: 472). The political‐economic organization of societies remains at the nexus of the global ecological crisis, whether it is climate change, biodiversity loss, the overloading of the nitrogen cycle, ocean acidification, deforestation, or the decline in fresh water. Macro‐level perspectives within environmental sociology – such as the treadmill of production, treadmill of destruction, metabolic rift, and ecologically unequal exchange – analyze how specific political‐economic structures and relationships influence environmental and ecological change. |
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