Notes from the Editors, October 2016

2016 ◽  
Vol 68 (5) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
The Editors
Keyword(s):  
World Economy ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Atomic Weapons ◽  
Fallout Radionuclides ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Global Signal ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
International Geological ◽  
International Geological Congress

buy this issueOn August 29, in a historic moment in the history of the planet, the 35-member Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) reported to the International Geological Congress that the Anthropocene epoch in geological history is "stratigraphically real" and should be dated as arising around 1950, displacing the Holocene epoch of the last 12,000 years. The AWG has yet to arrive at a formal decision that would adopt a definite global "signal" (though ten of the thirty-five members currently support using fallout radionuclides from atomic weapons testing as the signal), which would be followed by the designation of a "golden spike" or actual location in the rock, sediment, or ice strata. Yet the general parameters of the onset of the new epoch are clear.… As Colin Waters, secretary of the AWG, explained: "Being able to pinpoint an interval of time is saying something about how we have had an incredible impact on the environment of our planet. The concept of the Anthropocene manages to pull all these ideas of environmental change together." Most importantly, it tells us that the world economy has generated an anthropogenic rift in the Earth system threatening millions of species, including our own, requiring fundamental changes in the way in which society relates to the earth through production.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

scholarly journals IACS: past, present, and future of the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-107
Author(s):  
Ian Allison ◽  
Charles Fierz ◽  
Regine Hock ◽  
Andrew Mackintosh ◽  
Georg Kaser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
International Association ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Earth System ◽  
10Th Anniversary ◽  
The Earth ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Association ◽  
International Geological ◽  
International Geological Congress ◽  
Key Events

Abstract. The International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS) became the eighth and most recent association of IUGG at the general assembly in Perugia, Italy, in July 2007. IACS was launched in recognition of the importance of the cryosphere within the Earth system, particularly at a time of significant global change. It was the first new association of the union to be formed in over 80 years and IACS celebrated its 10th anniversary only a year before the IUGG centennial. The forbearers of IACS, however, stretch back even further than IUGG, starting with the formation of the Commission Internationale des Glaciers (CIG) by the International Geological Congress in 1894. Here we record the history of the transition from CIG to IACS, the scientific objectives that drove activities and changes, and some of the key events and individuals involved.

The Geologists At Prague: August 1968. History of the International Union of Geological Sciences

1995 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecil Schneer
Keyword(s):  
Field Trips ◽  
International Union ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Global Science ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Major Transformation ◽  
International Geological ◽  
International Geological Congress ◽  
Geological Sciences

In August, 1968 nearly 3000 geologists from 91 countries gathered in Prague for the XXIIIrd International Geological Congress. Geology was in a state of major transformation and the Congress was the opportunity for the nascent International Union of Geological Sciences to involve the world geological community. But a brutal invasion of Czechoslovakia by its Communist allies frustrated all plans. Over 500 papers, more than 50 field trips, dozens of colloquia, meetings of affiliated societies etc. were canceled. Thousands of geologists who might have disseminated a uniquely global science to the classrooms and boardrooms of 91 countries's, were scattered by the winds of war. In rump sessions within the dying Congress and immediately after, a handful of West bloc geologists, committed agents of the new developments, struggled to pick up the pieces. The IUGS had to wait four years for another plenary session with the world geological community.

A Long Stagnation, or Capitalism without Growth

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louçã Francisco ◽  
Ash Michael
Keyword(s):  
Great Recession ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Economic Stability ◽  
Secular Stagnation ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Growth Prospects

Chapter 11 assesses the growth prospects of the world economy. The history of global economic doomsaying is traced briefly, a frequently reasonable position that has not done well with the facts for the past hundred years. Capitalism has been adept at escaping from the pit and pendulum. A set of global imbalances is then reviewed that are seen as posing a severe threat to global economic stability and certainly to the prospects for sustainable and equitable growth. The Great Recession following the Crash of 2007–8 might be “different this time.” Historical and contemporary fears of “secular stagnation” are discussed but the speculative nature of stagnationist assessments is acknowledged.

The Strait of Magellan—a Gateway to New Worlds

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauricio Onetto Pavez
Keyword(s):  
Global Scale ◽  
Modern World ◽  
American Continent ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Strait Of Magellan ◽  
The World ◽  
The Strait Of Magellan ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Time

The year 2020 marks the five hundredth anniversary of the “discovery” of the Strait of Magellan. The unveiling of this passage between 1519 and 1522 allowed the planet to be circumnavigated for the first time in the history of humanity. All maritime routes could now be connected, and the idea of the Earth, in its geographical, cosmographic, and philosophical dimensions, gained its definitive meaning. This discovery can be considered one of the founding events of the modern world and of the process of globalization that still continues today. This new connectivity awoke an immediate interest in Europe that led to the emergence of a political consciousness of possession, domination, and territorial occupation generalized on a global scale, and the American continent was the starting point for this. This consciousness also inspired a desire for knowledge about this new form of inhabiting the world. Various fields of knowledge were redefined thanks to the new spaces and measurements produced by the discovery of the southern part of the Americas, which was recorded in books on cosmography, natural history, cartography, and manuscripts, circulating mainly between the Americas and Europe. All these processes transformed the Strait of Magellan into a geopolitical space coveted by Europeans during the 16th century. As an interoceanic connector, it was used to imagine commercial routes to the Orient and political projects that could sustain these dynamics. It was also conceived as a space to speculate on the potential wealth in the extreme south of the continent. In addition, on the Spanish side, some agents of the Crown considered it a strategic place for imperial projections and the defense of the Americas.

scholarly journals Features of Corporate Management of Mergers and Acquisitions Processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (514) ◽  
pp. 424-429
Author(s):  
O. V. Ptashchenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mergers And Acquisitions ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Corporate Management ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Modern Development ◽  
The World ◽  
Business Efficiency ◽  
History Of

The article examines the main features and identifies the main trends in the global M&A market. The modern development of the economy is characterized by the spread of the processes of globalization, and it can be noted that, one way or another, the latest waves of mergers and acquisitions are tightly related to the flow of these processes. The history of mergers and acquisitions processes in the world economy shows that all surges in mergers and acquisitions agreements were and are accounted for periods of structural changes, industrial rises, technological revolutions, significant organizational restructuring of the world economy. Mergers and acquisitions of companies are one of the most important business development instruments in the market economy. The purposes of these processes are often the growth of company and the use of various kinds of synergies, which is manifested in strengthening its impact on markets and improving business efficiency. Most mergers and acquisitions agreements are concluded by industrialized countries, their role is increasing for developing countries. The dynamics of the M&A processes market will largely depend on the ability of companies to enter into large contracts announced either at the end of the past year or earlier this year. Only then it could it be stated that the growth of activity in the mergers and acquisitions market has become a long-term trend. Many experts believe that a new wave of M&A will inevitably lead to an increase in unemployment, and this, in turn, will lead to an aggravation of the social situation and require additional costs from the budget.

Critical Analysis of the World Economy and Deglobalization Processes in Times of Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
José G. Vargas-Hernández
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Financial Integration ◽  
Economic Agents ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Trade Relations ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Complex Phenomena

This chapter aims to critically analyze both the world economy and the deglobalization processes under the assumption that they are the result of a dialectical evolution of economic, financial, political, and sanitary crises. This dialectical movement of the history of the globalization and deglobalization processes is always a very complex phenomena of interactions between the economic agents and political actors, leading to both progressive and regressive events of economic growth, social development, and environmental sustainability. After a period of intensive economic, trade, and financial integration in the creation of a world economy system, suddenly the economic, financial, and sanitary dysfunctionalities emerged at the interior and created a reactive deglobalization process. However, what has been at the center are the international cooperation and trade relations determined by the need to expand the possibilities of satisfying human needs, including culture.

Australian/Cairns Group Perspective: Southern Agriculture and the World Economy: The Multilateral Trade Negotiations

1988 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-71
Author(s):  
David Shires
Keyword(s):  
New Orleans ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Trade Negotiations ◽  
Multilateral Trade ◽  
War Of Independence ◽  
Penal Colonies ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of

Last week was Australia's 200th birthday. When the rebels in America won what they called their war of independence, Britain lost her penal colonies in the Carolinas and looked around for replacements. The first colonial fleet arrived in Australia on January 26,1788, and included, along with 700 convicts, 44 sheep and 6 cattle. If Britain had defeated her American colonists, then the history of both Australia and Louisiana would likely have been very different. The French flag might be flying today over both Sydney and New Orleans.

scholarly journals The evolution of complex life and the stabilization of the Earth system

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 20190106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan L. Payne ◽  
Aviv Bachan ◽  
Noel A. Heim ◽  
Pincelli M. Hull ◽  
Matthew L. Knope
Keyword(s):  
Flood Basalt ◽  
Biogeochemical Cycles ◽  
Climate System ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Comparative Physiology ◽  
Animal Evolution ◽  
Fundamental Properties ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Water Columns ◽  
History Of

The half-billion-year history of animal evolution is characterized by decreasing rates of background extinction. Earth's increasing habitability for animals could result from several processes: (i) a decrease in the intensity of interactions among species that lead to extinctions; (ii) a decrease in the prevalence or intensity of geological triggers such as flood basalt eruptions and bolide impacts; (iii) a decrease in the sensitivity of animals to environmental disturbance; or (iv) an increase in the strength of stabilizing feedbacks within the climate system and biogeochemical cycles. There is no evidence that the prevalence or intensity of interactions among species or geological extinction triggers have decreased over time. There is, however, evidence from palaeontology, geochemistry and comparative physiology that animals have become more resilient to an environmental change and that the evolution of complex life has, on the whole, strengthened stabilizing feedbacks in the climate system. The differential success of certain phyla and classes appears to result, at least in part, from the anatomical solutions to the evolution of macroscopic size that were arrived at largely during Ediacaran and Cambrian time. Larger-bodied animals, enabled by increased anatomical complexity, were increasingly able to mix the marine sediment and water columns, thus promoting stability in biogeochemical cycles. In addition, body plans that also facilitated ecological differentiation have tended to be associated with lower rates of extinction. In this sense, Cambrian solutions to Cambrian problems have had a lasting impact on the trajectory of complex life and, in turn, fundamental properties of the Earth system.

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