Ecological Time: Natures that Matter to Activism and Art

APRIA Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-183
Author(s):  
Monique Peperkamp
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Human History ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Cultural Assumptions ◽  
Donna Haraway ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Works Of Art ◽  
Sense Of Time ◽  
Agent Of Change

The term 'Anthropocene' brings together a range of interrelated ecological catastrophes and relates human history to the time scales of the Earth. While dominant modes of thinking maintain technocratic notions of nature and time, art has (re)presented alternative proposals and practices that radically shift perception. To foreground and strengthen the power of art to challenge core cultural assumptions and motivate change, this text maps out the implications of philosophical positions often referred to by artists. I consider the ideas of Donna Haraway, Bruno Latour, Andreas Malm, Naomi Klein and T. J. Demos, and perform a more indepth inquiry of the aesthetics proposed by Timothy Morton. Two works of art are at the beginning and at the end of this inquiry: Progress vs. Regress (Progress II) and Nocturnal Gardening, both by Melanie Bonajo. A material sense of time appears to be pivotal for art as an agent of change.

scholarly journals Plant Life and More-than-human Agency in Zainab Amadahy’s Resistance

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 79-91
Author(s):  
Paula Wieczorek
Keyword(s):  
Human Agency ◽  
Speculative Fiction ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Donna Haraway ◽  
Cultural Violence ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Plant Life ◽  
As If

For centuries humans have acted as if the environment was passive and as if the agency was related only to human beings. Both Indigenous and non-Indigenous writers, scholars, and artists express the need to narrate tales about the multitudes of the living earth, which can help perceive the Earth as vibrant and living. The following paper discusses Black/Cherokee Zainab Amadahy’s speculative fiction novel 2013 Resistance as an example of a story resisting the claim about human beings as the ultimate species. The paper initially scrutinizes the phenomena of “plant blindness” and then explores how Zainab Amadahy illustrates plant life in her book. Unlike in traditional literary depictions of botany, the writer presents tobacco as an active and responsive agent that influences the characters, which, consequently, opposes anthropocentrism. The article also addresses the cultural violence and disregard that has dominated the Western perception of animistic cultures and expresses the need to rethink the theory of animism. This paper draws from posthumanist writings by scholars including Donna Haraway, Bruno Latour, Jane Bennett, and Stacy Alaimo. It also refers to some of the most influential contributions to critical plant studies made by Indigenous thinkers such as Robin Wall Kimmerer’ s Braiding Sweetgrass (2013).

scholarly journals ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND HINDUISM

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (9SE) ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Mamta Kothari
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Natural Cycle ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Human History ◽  
Happy Life ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Nature Preserves ◽  
Day By Day ◽  
Water Vegetation

Under the environment, air, water, vegetation, plants, animals, humans all come. In nature, all these quantities and their composition are arranged in such a way that a balanced life continues on the earth. For the last few years, ever since the Earth came into being as animal, animal and other bacterial consumers, this cycle of nature has been going on continuously and smoothly. Whatever is needed and is getting from nature and nature preserves it by producing more in itself. If we observe human history, five hundred and seven hundred years ago, man was close to nature. The food he got from nature was normal, it was his happy life, when water and air were safe. But gradually the change took place with time and the desire of man to live happily increased. With the advancement of science man began to interfere with the natural cycle. The effect of this was that the items of the primary needs of human beings began to lack water, air and food. The immense reserves of nature started decreasing day by day and the word pollution emerged. There was a need for environmental protection. पर्यावरण के अन्तर्गत वायु जल भूमि वनस्पति पेड़ पौधे, पशु मानव सब आते है । प्रकृति में इन सबकी मात्रा और इनकी रचना कुछ इस प्रकार व्यवस्थित है कि पृथ्वी पर एक संतुलनमय जीवन चलता रहे । विगत करोंड़ांे वर्षो से जब से पृथ्वी मनुष्य पशुपक्षी और अन्य जीव-जीवाणु उपभोक्ता बनकर आये तब से, प्रकृति का यह चक्र निरंतर और अबाध गति से चल रहा है । जिसको जितनी आवष्यकता है व प्रकृति से प्राप्त कर रहा है और प्रकृति आगे के लिये अपने में और उत्पन्न करके संरक्षित कर लेती है । मानव इतिहास का अवलोकन करे तो आज से पंाॅच सौ सात सौ वर्ष पूर्व मनुष्य प्रकृति के समीप था । प्रकृति से मिले भोजन पर सामान्य आश्रित था , वह उसका सुखमय जीवन था, जब जल वायु निरापद थे । लेकिन धीरे-धीरे समय के साथ परिवर्तन हुवा और मनुष्य मंे सुखमय जीने की लालसा में वृद्धि हुई । विज्ञान की प्रगति के साथ मनुष्य ने प्राकृतिक चक्र में हस्तक्षेप करना शुरू कर दिया । इसका दूष्प्रभाव यह हुवा कि मनुष्य की प्राथमिक आवष्यकताओं की वस्तुऐं जल, वायु भोजन का अभाव होने लगा । प्रकृति के अपार भण्डार दिन प्रतिदिन कम होने लगे और प्रदुषण शब्द का उदय हुवा । पर्यावरण संरक्षण की आवष्यकता होने लगी ।

Monitoring the Ocean Heat Content and the Earth Energy imbalance from space altimetry and space gravimetry: the MOHeaCAN product

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marti Florence ◽  
Ablain Michaël ◽  
Fraudeau Robin ◽  
Jugier Rémi ◽  
Meyssignac Benoît ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Radiant Energy ◽  
Heat Content ◽  
Ocean Heat Content ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Argo Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Energy Imbalance ◽  
Temporal Sampling ◽  
The Earth

<p>The Earth Energy Imbalance (EEI) is a key indicator to understand climate change. However, measuring this indicator is challenging since it is a globally integrated variable whose variations are small, of the order of several tenth of W.m<sup>-2</sup>, compared to the amount of energy entering and leaving the climate system of ~340 W.m<sup>-2</sup>. Recent studies suggest that the EEI response to anthropogenic GHG and aerosols emissions is 0.5-1 W.m<sup>-2</sup>. It implies that an accuracy of <0.3 W.m<sup>-2</sup> at decadal time scales is necessary to evaluate the long term mean EEI associated with anthropogenic forcing. Ideally an accuracy of <0.1 W.m<sup>-2</sup> at decadal time scales is desirable if we want to monitor future changes in EEI.</p><p>In the frame of the MOHeaCAN project supported by ESA, the EEI indicator is deduced from the global change in Ocean Heat Content (OHC) which is a very good proxy of the EEI since the ocean stores 93% of the excess of heat  gained by the Earth in response to EEI. The OHC is estimated from space altimetry and gravimetry missions (GRACE). This “Altimetry-Gravimetry'' approach is promising because it provides consistent spatial and temporal sampling of the ocean, it samples nearly the entire global ocean, except for polar regions, and it provides estimates of the OHC over the ocean’s entire depth. Consequently, it complements the OHC estimation from the ARGO network. </p><p>The MOHeaCAN product contains monthly time series (between August 2002 and June 2017) of several variables, the main ones being the regional OHC (3°x3° spatial resolution grids), the global OHC and the EEI indicator. Uncertainties are provided for variables at global scale, by propagating errors from sea level measurements (altimetry) and ocean mass content (gravimetry). In order to calculate OHC at regional and global scales, a new estimate of the expansion efficiency of heat at global and regional scales have been performed based on the global ARGO network. </p><p>A scientific validation of the MOHeaCAN product has also been carried out performing thorough comparisons against independent estimates based on ARGO data and on the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant energy System (CERES) measurements at the top of the atmosphere. The mean EEI derived from MOHeaCAN product is 0.84 W.m<sup>-2</sup> over the whole period within an uncertainty of ±0.12 W.m<sup>-2</sup> (68% confidence level - 0.20 W.m<sup>-2</sup> at the 90% CL). This figure is in agreement (within error bars at the 90% CL) with other EEI indicators based on ARGO data (e.g. OHC-OMI from CMEMS) although the best estimate is slightly higher. Differences from annual to inter-annual scales have also been observed with ARGO and CERES data. Investigations have been conducted to improve our understanding of the benefits and limitations of each data set to measure EEI at different time scales.</p><p><strong>The MOHeaCAN product from “altimetry-gravimetry” is now available</strong> and can be downloaded at https://doi.org/10.24400/527896/a01-2020.003. Feedback from interested users on this product are welcome.</p>

On the idea of the planetary

Soundings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 78 (78) ◽  
pp. 50-63
Author(s):  
Dipesh Chakrabarty ◽  
Ashish Ghadiali
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Rabindranath Tagore ◽  
Atmospheric Sciences ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The World ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Agent Of Change ◽  
The Relationship

The notion of the planetary allows us to distinguish between the global of globalisation and the global of global warming. Globalisation is the process through which humans created the world we live in, how we converted the planet into a spherical human domain, at the centre of which are the human stories of technology, empires, capitalism and inequality. Global warming is what has resulted at the planetary level as intensified human consumption of the globe's resources has turned humanity into a geological agent of change. The global is 500 years old, while the planetary is as old as the age of the earth. The physical world has its own deep history: over time it has experienced profound changes. If climate change is to be addressed this mutability must be recognised – the unchanging nature of the world can no longer be taken for granted. The interview covers the rise of atmospheric sciences during the Cold War, when the Earth became, effectively, part of a comparative study of planets; the relationship between Marxism and the idea of 'deep history'; the human-made ecological disaster of bush-fires in Australia; the influence of Rohith Vemula and Rabindranath Tagore on planetary thinking and ideas about connectivity; biopower, zoe and the pandemic; and the difficulty of thinking politically about deep history.

scholarly journals The Soul’s Need to Connect with God through the Language of Art: Analysis from an Islamic Perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Recep Dogan
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Islamic Perspective ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Works Of Art ◽  
Important Means ◽  
Art Analysis ◽  
The Way

Human beings express their emotions through the language of art; it is therefore both the spirit of progress and one of the most important means of developing emotions. Consequently, those who cannot make use of this means are incomplete in their maturation. Ideas and other products of the imagination can be given tangible form with the magical key of art. By means of art, humanity can exceed the limits of the earth and reach feelings beyond time and space. Beauty in the realm of existence can be recognized through art. Moreover, the great abilities inherent in human nature can be understood and witnessed in works of art. However, from an Islamic point of view, there are some restrictions on certain fields such as sculpture and painting. It is therefore imperative to analyse the notion of art in Islam and its philosophy and then reflect upon the need of the spirit to connect to God through the language of art while meeting some religious obstacles on the way.

ZOEPOLIS. W stronę dizajnu poza paradygmatem antropocentrycznym

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (52) ◽  
pp. 51-60
Author(s):  
Monika Rosińska ◽  
Agata Szydłowska
Keyword(s):  
Design Practice ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Wildlife Protection ◽  
Donna Haraway ◽  
Will Kymlicka ◽  
Material Environment ◽  
Introductory Discussion

The article provides an introductory discussion on design practice that contributes to a possible constitution of an expanded community composed of humans, non-human animals and other species. It starts with an examination of existing approaches to design and art that take into consideration relationships between humans and non-humans. We divide them into three types: one, which is focused on a wildlife protection, second which reflects on an animal perspective and third, which recognizes animals as creators. Departing from a critique of given approaches we propose a new one basing on theories of Will Kymlicka and Sue Donaldson, Donna Haraway, Joanna Bednarek and Bruno Latour. Thus the concept of zoepoliscould be defined as a city and a community of living creatures. It would be based not on a hierarchy but on relations on various levels. This concept leads us to a formulation of possible questions and challenges of this expanded community for design practice where material environment could mediate between species and facilitate the cohabitation.

The Age of the Earth in the Twentieth Century

1989 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Brush
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Molten State ◽  
Expanding Universe ◽  
New Science ◽  
Upper Limit ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Age Determinations

At the end of the nineteenth century, Lord Kelvin's upper limit of only 20 or 30 million years for the age of the Earth was challenged by the American geologist T. C. Chamberlin, who showed that Kelvin's model of an Earth gradually cooling from an initial molten state was not the only possible one. Kelvin's limit was soon afterwards repealed by the new science of radioactivity, which yielded ages of a few billion years. While some geologists resisted this expanded time-scale, Chamberlin was the only one who could provide a comprehensive cosmogonical theory that did not submit to the epistemological superiority of physics and astronomy. In the 1940s, as radiometric age determinations improved in accuracy, they came into conflict with the expanding-universe cosmology — a conflict which the cosmologists eventually avoided by expanding their distance and time scales. In 1953, Patterson announced the result 4.5 billion years, which is still accepted as the best estimate for the age of the Earth. But geologists, liberated from Kelvin's limit, define the epoch of the Earth's formation as being outside the scope of their science, and their textbooks rarely give credit to the person who established the number that once seemed so important to accounts of the Earth's history.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document