scholarly journals A systemic socio-ecological recovery from Covid-19

2021 ◽  
pp. 146801812110191
Author(s):  
William Hynes

New economic thinking and acting through a systemic approach could outline policy alternatives to tackle the global-scale systemic challenges of financial, economic, social and environmental emergencies, and help steer our recovery out of the current crisis. A systemic recovery requires an economic approach that balances several factors - markets and states, efficiency and resilience, growth and sustainability, national and global stability, short-term emergency measures and long-term structural change. To achieve this, we need to think beyond our policy silos, comprehend our interconnections, and build resilience into our systems.

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-271
Author(s):  
John David Lewis

Claims that a man-made global warming catastrophe is imminent have two major aspects: the scientific support offered for the claims, and the political proposals brought forth in response to the claims. The central questions are whether non-scientists should accept the claims themselves as true, and whether they should support the political proposals attached to them. Predictions of a coming disaster are shown to be a-historical in both the long term and the short term, to involve shifting predictions that are contrary to evidence, and to be opposed by many scientists. The political proposals to alleviate this alleged problem—especially plans by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—are shown to offer no alternative to fossil fuels, and to portend a major economic decline and permanent losses of liberty. The anthropogenic global warming claims are largely motivated not by science, but by a desire for socialist intervention on a national and a global scale. Neither the claims to an impending climate catastrophe nor the political proposals attached to those claims should be accepted.


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 3409-3423 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Schurgers ◽  
A. Arneth ◽  
R. Holzinger ◽  
A. H. Goldstein

Abstract. Monoterpenes, primarily emitted by terrestrial vegetation, can influence atmospheric ozone chemistry, and can form precursors for secondary organic aerosol. The short-term emissions of monoterpenes have been well studied and understood, but their long-term variability, which is particularly important for atmospheric chemistry, has not. This understanding is crucial for the understanding of future changes. In this study, two algorithms of terrestrial biogenic monoterpene emissions, the first one based on the short-term volatilization of monoterpenes, as commonly used for temperature-dependent emissions, and the second one based on long-term production of monoterpenes (linked to photosynthesis) combined with emissions from storage, were compared and evaluated with measurements from a Ponderosa pine plantation (Blodgett Forest, California). The measurements were used to parameterize the long-term storage of monoterpenes, which takes place in specific storage organs and which determines the temporal distribution of the emissions over the year. The difference in assumptions between the first (emission-based) method and the second (production-based) method, which causes a difference in upscaling from instantaneous to daily emissions, requires roughly a doubling of emission capacities to bridge the gap to production capacities. The sensitivities to changes in temperature and light were tested for the new methods, the temperature sensitivity was slightly higher than that of the short-term temperature dependent algorithm. Applied on a global scale, the first algorithm resulted in annual total emissions of 29.6 Tg C a−1, the second algorithm resulted in 31.8 Tg C a−1 when applying the correction factor 2 between emission capacities and production capacities. However, the exact magnitude of such a correction is spatially varying and hard to determine as a global average.


European View ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-171
Author(s):  
Loredana Teodorescu

Since mid-2017 there has been a reduction in irregular migrant arrivals, and this has partially been attributed to the various initiatives undertaken by the EU. However, migration remains a controversial and pressing issue for which the EU is still struggling to find an adequate and shared response. Migration has become a divisive issue among EU member states, calling into question the meaning of solidarity within the EU and within the member states themselves. This article argues that it is time to move beyond short-term emergency measures and work on a long-term, holistic and truly European approach to migration, combining internal and external policies. Reinforcing control of the European borders will not be enough. While it is necessary to reduce the number of irregular arrivals, the EU needs to equip itself with a future-proof, efficient migration policy that also addresses the Union’s internal weaknesses, as the challenge is not only to reduce the number of arrivals, but also to increase the capacity to manage the flows.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Tosi ◽  
James C. Nieh ◽  
Annely Brandt ◽  
Monica Colli ◽  
Julie Fourrier ◽  
...  

AbstractThe assessment of pesticide risks to insect pollinators have typically focused on short-term, lethal impacts. The environmental ramifications of many of the world’s most commonly employed pesticides, such as those exhibiting systemic properties that can result in long-lasting exposure to insects, may thus be severely underestimated. Here, seven laboratories from Europe and North America performed a standardised experiment (a ring-test) to study the long-term lethal and sublethal impacts of the relatively recently approved ‘bee safe’ butenolide pesticide flupyradifurone (FPF, active ingredient in Sivanto®) on honey bees. The emerging contaminant, FPF, impaired bee survival and behaviour at field-realistic doses (down to 11 ng/bee/day, corresponding to 400 µg/kg) that were up to 101-fold lower than those reported by risk assessments (1110 ng/bee/day), despite an absence of time-reinforced toxicity. Our findings raise concerns about the chronic impact of pesticides on pollinators at a global scale and support a novel methodology for a refined risk assessment.


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 271-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Schurgers ◽  
A. Arneth ◽  
R. Holzinger ◽  
A. Goldstein

Abstract. Monoterpenes, primarily emitted by terrestrial vegetation, can influence atmospheric ozone chemistry, and can form precursors for secondary organic aerosol. The short-term emissions of monoterpenes have been well studied and understood, but their long-term variability, which is particularly important for atmospheric chemistry, has not. This understanding is crucial for the understanding of future changes. In this study, two algorithms of terrestrial biogenic monoterpene emissions, the first one based on the short-term volatilization of monoterpenes, as commonly used for temperature-dependent emissions, and the second one based on long-term production of monoterpenes (linked to photosynthesis) combined with emissions from storage, were compared and evaluated with measurements from a Ponderosa pine plantation (Blodgett Forest, California). The measurements were used to parameterize the long-term storage of monoterpenes, which takes place in specific storage organs and which determines the temporal distribution of the emissions over the year. The difference in assumptions between the first (emission-based) method and the second (production-based) method, which causes a difference in upscaling from instantaneous to daily emissions, requires roughly a doubling of emission capacities to bridge the gap to production capacities. The sensitivities to changes in temperature and light were tested for the new methods, the temperature sensitivity was slightly higher than that of the short-term temperature dependent algorithm. Applied on a global scale, the first algorithm resulted in annual total emissions of 29.6 Tg C a−1, the second algorithm resulted in 31.8 Tg C a−1 when applying the correction factor 2 between emission capacities and production capacities. However, the exact magnitude of such a correction is spatially varying and hard to determine as a global average.


Author(s):  
Ellen C Giese

In the unparalleled response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many see beyond the pandemic a rare opportunity to build a resilient and low-carbon economic recovery. In this context, the circular economy represents a systemic shift that builds long-term resilience, generates business and economic opportunities, and provides environmental and societal benefits. The COVID-19 pandemic was a tipping point for many sectors that boost economies worldwide, mainly to mining sector. In the midst of the health and economic problems arising from the current crisis, several countries are moving ahead and outlining post-COVID-19 strategies for the supply of critical metals, which in the short term will be based on biomining.


2021 ◽  
pp. 5-30
Author(s):  
V. A. Mau

The paper deals with social and economic consequences of COVID-19 in the context of long-term trends of economic development. The current crisis is compared with economic and war cataclysms of 20th—21st centuries. Special attention is paid to types of anti-crisis policies as well as to relations between anti-crisis (short-term) and modernization (medium-term) challenges. The paper discusses the influence of pandemic on budget and monetary policies, trends of globalization, and new approaches to government regulation of economic development.


Author(s):  
Anna Bocchino ◽  
Ester Gilart ◽  
Inmaculada Cabrera Roman ◽  
Isabel Lepiani

Introduction: Of the serious problems that characterise the current crisis in Spain, the most alarming and revealing is unemployment, which, despite being so common, continues to be quite a negative experience for most people, often with serious negative effects on their biopsychosocial health. The perpetuation of this situation has given rise to a new syndrome of the unemployed. If these effects of economic downsizing are accompanied by the magnitude of the current situation brought about by COVID-19, the results can be devastating for the individuals and families experiencing it. Objective: To compare the symptoms of the unemployed syndrome in three population groups. Method: Three groups were studied: short-term unemployed (n = 91), long-term unemployed (n = 150), and those unemployed during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 94). Unemployment syndrome was assessed with the Unemployment Syndrome Scale (USS). The three population groups were contacted through web pages, social networks, etc. and answered the instruments online in a single session. Once the responses were obtained, their information was encoded in a database and analysed through the SPSS v. 21 program. Population groups were compared using the ANOVA analysis and the Bonferroni post hoc test. Results: The unemployed individuals who lost their job during the pandemic reported higher scores in the symptoms of the Unemployed Syndrome Scale compared to the long- and short-term unemployed individuals. ANOVA analyses for symptoms of USS were all significant in the different groups considering a significance level of <0.005. Participants who were unemployed for less than one year had lower scores in the USS than the long-term unemployed participants and those unemployed during the COVID-19 pandemic that reported a significantly higher number of symptoms in the USS.


Author(s):  
Robert Paul Churchill

This is the first of three chapters on protecting girls and women at risk and bringing about the end of honor killing. These short-term, emergency measures are understood as occurring while other efforts are made to achieve the long-term abolition of honor killing. Also examined are possibilities for leveraging change; that is, changing behaviors through pressures from outside honor–shame communities and through pressures that are coercive. Emergency interventions discussed include those tested elsewhere as well as new initiatives. Insofar as possible, trusted members of local communities should administer emergency interventions. Interventions include hotlines, smartphone apps, information networks, mobile crisis teams, observer-informants, shelters, halfway houses, family centers, granting asylum, and others. The objective of leveraged change, primarily initiated by outside change agents, is to make continuing honor killings too costly. Recommended leveraging strategies include legal reforms, moral entrepreneurship, initiative by media and national elites, and decreasing learned and socialized aggression.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Chen ◽  
Jian Guo ◽  
Shipei Xing ◽  
Huaxu Yu ◽  
Tao Huan

Hair is a unique biological matrix that adsorbs short-term exposures (e. g., environmental contaminants and personal care products) on its surface and also embeds endogenous metabolites and long-term exposures in its matrix. In this work, we developed an untargeted metabolomics workflow to profile both temporal exposure chemicals and endogenous metabolites in the same hair sample. This analytical workflow begins with the extraction of short-term exposures from hair surfaces through washing. Further development of mechanical homogenization extracts endogenous metabolites and long-term exposures from the cleaned hair. Both solutions of hair wash and hair extract were analyzed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS)-based metabolomics for global-scale metabolic profiling. After analysis, raw data were processed using bioinformatic programs recently developed specifically for exposome research. Using optimized experimental conditions, we detected a total of 10,005 and 9,584 metabolic features from hair wash and extraction samples, respectively. Among them, 274 and 276 features can be definitively confirmed by MS2 spectral matching against spectral library, and an additional 3,356 and 3,079 features were tentatively confirmed as biotransformation metabolites. To demonstrate the performance of our hair metabolomics, we collected hair samples from three female volunteers and tested their hair metabolic changes before and after a 2-day exposure exercise. Our results show that 645 features from wash and 89 features from extract were significantly changed from the 2-day exposure. Altogether, this work provides a novel analytical approach to study the hair metabolome and exposome at a global scale, which can be implemented in a wide range of biological applications for a deeper understanding of the impact of environmental and genetic factors on human health.


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