Ecosystem Crises Interactions

Merrill Singer, Professor Emeritus, Departments of Anthropology and Community Medicine, University of Connecticut; Senior Research Scientist, Center for Health, Intervention and Prevention, University of Connecticut.

• Preface xi1 Introduction: public health, EcoHealth, planetary health, and you 11.1 Connections 11.2 Is this a dangerous book? 11.3 Three alternative approaches to health and the environment 51.3.1 EcoHealth 61.3.2 One Health 81.3.3 Planetary health 101.4 Global warming or climate change? 121.5 Depth of the human footprint 131.6 Introducing ecocrises interactions and health 151.7 Thresholds in the environment 181.8 Sustainability of human life on Earth 181.9 How did things get this bad? 201.10 Age of the Anthropocene 211.11 The hottest year on record 231.12 Organization of this book 23References 24Part 1 Impact on ecosystems 312 Intricacies of ecosystems 332.1 The nature of nature and the pathway to understanding 332.2 Developing a historic understanding of ecology and ecosystems 332.2.1 Ancient Greece 332.2.2 Indigenous environmental knowledge 362.3 Modern ecology 412.3.1 Ecosystems 422.3.2 Biodiversity and the multitude of species 452.3.3 Regional and planet-wide natural interconnecting structures 532.3.4 Human-dominated ecosystems 542.3.5 Human ecology 55References 583 The social and technological making of environmental crises 633.1 Earth is now a different place 633.2 The longue durée and the rise and development of capitalism 633.2.1 Toward environment crises: critical turning points in human history 643.3 Environmental neoliberalism and the polluting elites 763.4 The Anthropocene or the Capitolocene? 813.5 The future of Eaarth 83References 834 Engaging catastrophe 904.1 Introduction to a dismal theme 904.2 Prepping for doomsday 914.3 The record of past radical environmental change 944.3.1 Planetary change and mass extinction 944.3.2 The sixth mass extinction? 974.3.3 Planetary change in the archeological record 1014.4 Popular concern with the environment 1044.4.1 History of the environmental movement 1054.4.2 Environmental crisis and the media 111References 1125 A home in peril: major contemporary environmental crises 1195.1 Case studies in contemporary environmental crises 1195.2 Deforestation 1195.3 Acidification of the oceans 1225.4 Eutrophication of estuarine and coastal waters 1255.5 Depletion of the oceans 1325.6 Pollution of waters 1375.7 Oil spills 1415.8 Desertification 1445.9 Concluding remarks 145References 1466 The threat of ecocrises interaction 1576.1 Compounded perturbations and ecological surprises 1576.2 Climate change and polluted Superfund sites 1586.3 Global toxic sites and climate change 1646.3.1 Camp Century, Greenland 1676.4 The ecocrises of unfettered mining 1696.5 Cement, asbestos, and climate change 1716.6 The climate change–nuclear ecocrisis nexus 1776.6.1 Radiation and health 1786.6.2 Climate change and nuclear facilities 1806.7 Concluding remarks 183References 184Part 2 Environmental crisis 1937 Encountering degrading environments 1957.1Complexities of the environment–health nexus 1957.2 Ecosystem distress syndrome 1997.3 Case studies of degraded environments 2017.3.1 Degrading Arctic permafrost 2017.3.2 Drugged aquatic environments 2087.4 Case studies of fragmented environments 2097.4.1 Fragmenting sky islands 2127.4.2 Fragmenting forests 2137.4.3 Fragmenting grasslands 2157.5 The dilemma of simplified environments 2167.6 Fragmented environments, ticks, and human health 2177.7 Solastalgia: distress linked to environmental change 219References 2208 Climate change, crisis enhancement 2298.1 Consensus on climate change 2298.2 Driving climate change 2308.3 How serious is climate change? 2328.4 Drought and heatwaves 2368.5 Melting and ice and tundra 2418.6 Coastal flooding 2458.7 The polar vortex 2488.8 Hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons, and tropical storms 2498.9 Infectious diseases 2508.10 Food loss to heat and insect pests 253References 2629 Business as deadly usual: resisting environmental science 2729.1 A consistent pattern of climate change denial 2729.2 A time of questioning environmental science 2749.3 Skirting accountability: polluters, innocence, and the victim slot 2789.4 Fighting for the “right” to pollute 2799.5 Deadly business: Big Energy and the denial of climate change 2829.5.1 Phase I: claiming global warming is a hoax 2849.5.2 Phase II: admitting global warming is real, denying its urgency 2909.5.3 Phase III: arguing we’re all in it together 2929.6 The politics of climate change denial 2949.7 The institutions of the climate change denial machine 2959.8 Taking climate change deniers to court 2989.9 Fundamentalist denial 299References 300Part 3 Human health risks with changing environment 30910 Crossing boundaries and thresholds 31110.1 Are there biophysical boundaries for humanity? 31110.2 Key biogeochemical and biophysical Earth system processes 31110.3 Exploring planetary boundaries 31310.3.1 Global environmental governance and planetary boundaries 31410.3.2 Modification of values used to define specific planetary boundary dimensions 31610.3.3 Sustainable development goals and planetary boundaries 31710.3.4 Downscaling planetary-level to subglobal boundaries 32010.4 Environmental tipping points 325References 33211 Time for change? Toward sustainability, toward life 33711.1 Why go to school? 33711.2 Social movements 34011.2.1 The local level 34111.2.2 The regional/national level 34611.2.3 The global level 35411.3 Stepping toward change 35911.4 Toward changing the system: addressing ultimate causes 36211.5 The solidarity economy 36311.6 Stateless democracy 36511.7 Ecosocialism 367References 368Index 376

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