Lecture 6: Welcome to the Anthropocene

Question 1

What factors led to human dominance of the Earth System?

Answer 1

1) industrial revolution
- - global expansion of industrial capitalism (200 years ago)
2) Great acceleration
- - global expansion of consumer capitalism (70 years ago)

Question 2

Anthropocene =

Answer 2

Human activities push the Earth System (especially climate) beyond range of natural variation (holocene)

Question 3

How climate varies naturally without human impacts

Answer 3

• Orbital forcing of climate via MILANKOVITCH cycles
• orbital shape
• axial tilt
• axial precession
• • different amounts of radiation fall on northern hemisphere
• using ice cores = you can see past climates & Atmospheres

Question 4

CO2 ppm 2019

Answer 4

412.8ppm

CO2 = ghg so causing temp to rise

Question 5

CO2 and Temp holocene, still natural?

Answer 5

BOTH exceed natural holocene range

Question 6

When did the anthropocene begin?

Answer 6

debatable

Question 7

Industrial revolution: 1800 AD

Answer 7

Beginning of 19th century (1800)

• fossil fuel based manufacturing replaced human/animal labour
• transition from rural –> industrial economies
• migration into cities
• improved sanitation & health care = pop. growth

Question 8

growing population fed by fossil fuel: industrial fertiliser

Answer 8

• industrial fertiliser production from 1908
• Haber-Bosch process (fixation of atmospheric N to form ammonia)
• high energy demand
• Green Revolution based on this
• estimated half the worlds pop fed on Haber-Bosch process

Question 9

What drove green revolution

Answer 9

• yields improved
• application of large amounts of fertilisers
• • Haber-Bosch process

Question 10

estimated ___ worlds pop fed on Haber-Bosch process

Answer 10

half the worlds pop.

Question 11

Cumulative CO2 emissions UK compared to world

Answer 11

UK high, due to long history industrialisation

• US now catching up
• UK way above global mean

Question 12

Great acceleration driven by

Answer 12

globalisation expansion & economies

• last 70 years
• graphically represented (water use, CO2, other GHG, urban pop) = ALL SKI SLOPE graphs

Question 13

Great acceleration cause & when

Answer 13

post WW2, by totals wealthy countries

• rapid economic growth built on
• – cheap fossil fuel resources
• – abundant natural resources
• – global expansion of farmland

Question 14

reduce pop the answer to solving industrial revolution

Answer 14

• not necessarily, since 1970’s fertility rate been lower than replacement value (no. needed to keep stable population)
• only in certain places (lease development countries = Africa) fertility rates higher
• majority around 2
  BUT pop growth is expected
  — mainly in less developed countries (Sub sahara africa expected to double in next 40 years)
  – Rich countries pop stable, but where most resource consumption growth occurs

Question 15

global inequality: half the wealth of earth is controlled by

Answer 15

less than 1%

46% of wealth controlled by richest 0.7%

Question 16

inequality in CO2 emissions: Wealthiest 10% are responsible for __ of global consumption emissions

Answer 16

50% (Oxfam 2015)

if this 10% reduced their emissions to those of the average European, that would produce 30% cut in emissions

(Anderson 2018)

Question 17

Urbanisation ___ per capita energy consumption

Answer 17

increases

Question 18

more than half the worlds population live in

Answer 18

cities

- set to rise, 2050 more than 70% expected to

Question 19

__ countries consume resources the fastest

Answer 19

wealthiest

Question 20

Earth overshoot day =

Answer 20

since 1970’s now pushed further later in year (august) compared to jan 1st
- day we no longer live sustainability

Question 21

Europeans can’t keep living like

Answer 21

europeans

- we need to cut resource consumption

Question 22

Doughnut economics

Answer 22

there is are planetary boundaries (limit) to how much we can consume, but we also need to recognise less developed countries have right to consume more
– inside doughnut = things for healthy life, sanitation, health care, etc
– outside doughnut = climate change, ocean acidification etc
things to keep an eye on
- Raworth 2012

Question 23

what would a sustainable future look like?

Answer 23

achieving human health, well-being and prosperity within the finite resources of Planet
Earth

Question 24

how many nations on Earth currently meet the basic needs of its citizens within the limits of Earths resources ?

Answer 24

none,

only few achieve social thresholds (aspirational targets) on inside of doughnut economics, but many over transgress biophysical boundaries

USA vs Sri lanka

• • USA majority of biophysical boundaries transgressed, not all social thresholds (employment) met
• • sri lanka no biophysical boundaries transgressed, social thresholds not met

Question 25

basic physical needs for everyone ___ be met within Earths limits i.e., Other goals more challenging i.e.

Answer 25

can be met
– nutrition, sanitation, acces to energy

others more challenging = life satisfaction, education, life expectancy, social support

Question 26

economic growth & capitalism as a measure of success

Answer 26

need to move beyond economic growth to new measures of progress
== money isn’t everything!