ecological degradation
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2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Finlay

The human caused rise in atmospheric greenhouse gases has been seen as the driver of both climate change and ocean acidification. However recent peer reviewed papers show that, while GHG emissions are part of the problem, the primary driver of both climate change and ocean acidification is human caused ecological degradation. Curbing greenhouse gas emissions, to date, has been an abject failure but addressing ecological degradation within the remaining time frame is safe and achievable.


Forests ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Kai Su ◽  
Hongjun Liu ◽  
Huiyuan Wang

The ecological degradation caused by unreasonable development and prolonged utilization threatens economic development. In response to the development crisis triggered by ecological degradation, the Chinese government launched the National Barrier Zone (NBZ) Construction Program in 2006. However, few in-depth studies on the Loess Plateau Ecological Screen (LPES) have been conducted since the implementation of that program. To address this omission, based on the remote sensing image as the primary data, combined with meteorological, soil, hydrological, social, and economic data, and using GIS spatial analysis technology, this paper analyzes the change characteristics of the ecosystem pattern, quality, and dominant services of the ecosystem in the LPES from 2005 to 2015. The results show that from 2005 to 2015, the ecosystem structure in the study area was relatively stable, and the area of each ecosystem fluctuated slightly. However, the evaluation results based on FVC, LAI, and NPP showed that the quality of the ecosystem improved. The vegetation coverage (FVC) increased significantly at a rate of 0.91% per year, and the net primary productivity (NPP) had increased significantly at a rate of 6.94 gC/(m2∙a) per year. The leaf area index (LAI) in more than 66% of the regions improved, but there were still about 8% of the local regions that were degraded. During these 10 years, the soil erosion situation in LPES improved overall, and the amount of soil conservation (ASC) of the ecosystem in the LPES increased by about 0.18 billion tons. Grassland and forest played important roles in soil conservation in this area. Pearson correlation analysis and redundancy analysis showed that the soil conservation services (SCS) in the LPES were mainly affected by climate change, economic development, and urban construction. The precipitation (P), total solar radiation (SOL), and temperature (T) can explain 52%, 30.1%, and 17% of the change trends of SCS, respectively. Construction land and primary industry were negatively correlated with SCS, accounting for 22% and 8% of the change trends, respectively. Overall, from 2005 to 2015, the ecological environment of LPES showed a gradual improvement trend, but the phenomenon of destroying grass and forests and reclaiming wasteland still existed.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Junda Huang ◽  
Yuncai Wang ◽  
Lang Zhang

Ecological restoration has become an important tool for mitigating and adapting to environmental degradation caused by global urbanization. However, current research has focused on single indicators and qualitative analysis, meaning that ecological restoration has not been effectively and comprehensively addressed. This study constructed a spatial priority identification system for ecological restoration, with landscape area, landscape structure and landscape function as the core indicators. The system has wide adaptability. In this work, the spatial classification of ecological degradation was performed by overlay analysis. The results showed the following: (1) In the Shanghai metropolitan area, the landscape quality showed a trend of degradation, with built-up areas encroaching on forests and cropland. (2) Ecological degradation in the suburbs was more severe than that in the urban center. Forests had the highest landscape area indicator (LAI) stability. Significant degradation of landscape structure indicators (LSIs) occurred when built-up area and cropland were transformed into forests. (3) Different types of ecological restoration had significant spatial distribution patterns. Through this identification system, this study aimed to help planners/managers of ecological restoration to recognize the changing patterns of regional landscape quality and its relationship with land cover. It ultimately provides a basis for the formulation of regional ecological objectives and spatial strategies.


2021 ◽  
pp. 105649262110671
Author(s):  
Christian Garmann Johnsen

This study explores the various tactics sustainable entrepreneurs use to meet the challenges associated with creating social and environmental solutions. Although often theorized as market imperfections, in this study, opportunities are considered as situations that allow things to be done differently within social settings. This approach opens up for research into the everyday practice of sustainable entrepreneurship and how sustainable entrepreneurs strive to find new solutions to counteract ecological degradation. To develop this view, I analyze the different entrepreneurial tactics actors employ to advance green architecture in the Danish construction industry. Rather than place an analytic emphasis on the end result of sustainable entrepreneurship, I suggest that the processes of developing solutions aimed at generating simultaneous economic, social and environmental value might warrant greater attention.


2021 ◽  
pp. 331-347
Author(s):  
Vicki Kirby ◽  
Marc Higgins

AbstractIn this interview Marc Higgins invites Vicki Kirby to dilate on the themes that have exercised her attention over the last thirty years. His questions address the received assumptions that shape political and ethical debate and the suggestion that their terms of reference require a radical shake-up. Kirby’s counter-intuitive treatment of familiar and accepted ways of thinking pays special attention to the nature/culture division and its myriad reconfigurations (body versus mind; primitive, or first, versus complex, or second; illiteracy versus literacy). She interrogates the routine and almost automatic logic that segregates what is deemed abstract and ideational from the pragmatic gravitas and political urgency that we tend to secure in empirical, “on the ground” evidence. For Kirby, this notion of material evidence and the weight of its truth claims, together with the corollary belief that the ideational and abstract are entirely other to physical and material reality, promote an insidious political agenda that sustains misogyny, racism, and ecological degradation as inevitable. By underlining the implicated ecologies of life whose dynamic cross-overs and impurities are also manifest in our thought structures, we are challenged to work with/in a sense of corruption that is irreducible and not simply negative.


Heliyon ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. e08592
Author(s):  
Ojonugwa Usman ◽  
Paul Terhemba Iorember ◽  
Gylych Jelilov ◽  
Abdurrahman Işik ◽  
George N. Ike ◽  
...  

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824402110613
Author(s):  
Dahiru Alhaji-Bala Birnintsaba ◽  
Hüseyin Ozdeser ◽  
Andisheh Saliminezhad

There is growing global concern about the unpredictable nature of climate change and rapid ecological degradation, which has emanated from quest to enhance economic growth in many parts of the world. In spite of the potential offered by green energy, developing economies such as Nigeria are lagging behind in the application of renewable energy. The synergic impact of climate change, ecological degradation and some key macroeconomic variables remains partially unexplored. Considering this gap in the literature, the objective of the study is to examine the impact of climatic change, ecological degradation, population growth and energy consumption on economic growth in Nigeria. The dynamic impacts of these key variables were analyzed using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag model. While the bounds test results indicated that the variables are co-integrated, bidirectional causal flows were identified between economic growth, energy consumption, population growth, and climatic change. However, unidirectional relations exist running from ecological degradation to economic growth, as well as from population to economic growth. The study further found that climate change and ecological degradation are mutually reinforcing one another as a bidirectional causal relation was detected among the two variables. In this sense, it can be concluded that population growth, energy consumption, and ecological degradation are key contributors to sustainable growth that will reduce the threat of climate change. As such, there is a strong need for Nigeria to strengthen its environmental regulatory institutions to initiate a paradigm shift from conventional to renewable energy. This will reduce ecological degradation and enhance environmentally-friendly economic growth.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Burns

<p><b>Urban environments in Aotearoa, New Zealand, face a series of challenges regarding the effects of climate change and urbanisation on ecosystems and human wellbeing. As a result of expansive urbanisation during the mid-19th century, the reshaping of natural landscapes saw the destruction of critical indigenous ecologies, causing ecological degradation and biodiversity loss and severely impacting people’s wellbeing; physically, mentally, and spiritually.</b></p> <p>The way we continue to live in and build cities is causing further ecological degradation through overconsumption and pollution, which contributes to the current climate crisis, and leads to storm surge events and sea-level rise, among other direct negative impacts.</p> <p>Porirua, New Zealand is no exemption to this condition. Its existing urban infrastructure and continued urban development to accommodate an expanding population are causing several environmental and social issues relating to ecosystem degradation. Regular flood events demonstrate the city’s inability to cope with storm water surges, which will only continue as the effects of climate change intensify (Daysh, 2019).</p> <p>How might urban environments adapt to and mitigate climate change impacts affecting ecosystems and human wellbeing in a way which preserves social and cultural identities?</p> <p>This thesis argues that a potential solution to address these issues is through increasing human-nature connections in the built environment at a range of scales and across disciplines. This research will test how biophilic design interventions (those related to increasing human/nature connections) could transform a city into a more livable, resilient place of wellbeing for a growing population. Challenging the typical juncture of ocean and land in an urban setting, The research reimagines Porirua as a ‘city on a wetland’ through a speculative biophilic design experiment ,exploring how architecture might respond to dynamic landscape conditions. Theories of biophilia are studied for their related effects on improved human cognitive, psychological and physiological wellbeing, creating anew typology for civic space which marries culture, environment and architecture.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Burns

<p><b>Urban environments in Aotearoa, New Zealand, face a series of challenges regarding the effects of climate change and urbanisation on ecosystems and human wellbeing. As a result of expansive urbanisation during the mid-19th century, the reshaping of natural landscapes saw the destruction of critical indigenous ecologies, causing ecological degradation and biodiversity loss and severely impacting people’s wellbeing; physically, mentally, and spiritually.</b></p> <p>The way we continue to live in and build cities is causing further ecological degradation through overconsumption and pollution, which contributes to the current climate crisis, and leads to storm surge events and sea-level rise, among other direct negative impacts.</p> <p>Porirua, New Zealand is no exemption to this condition. Its existing urban infrastructure and continued urban development to accommodate an expanding population are causing several environmental and social issues relating to ecosystem degradation. Regular flood events demonstrate the city’s inability to cope with storm water surges, which will only continue as the effects of climate change intensify (Daysh, 2019).</p> <p>How might urban environments adapt to and mitigate climate change impacts affecting ecosystems and human wellbeing in a way which preserves social and cultural identities?</p> <p>This thesis argues that a potential solution to address these issues is through increasing human-nature connections in the built environment at a range of scales and across disciplines. This research will test how biophilic design interventions (those related to increasing human/nature connections) could transform a city into a more livable, resilient place of wellbeing for a growing population. Challenging the typical juncture of ocean and land in an urban setting, The research reimagines Porirua as a ‘city on a wetland’ through a speculative biophilic design experiment ,exploring how architecture might respond to dynamic landscape conditions. Theories of biophilia are studied for their related effects on improved human cognitive, psychological and physiological wellbeing, creating anew typology for civic space which marries culture, environment and architecture.</p>


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