Challenges in Anthropocene
The Question of National Identities rising up to the Challenges posed by the Anthropocene like Irrecoverable Climate Change
The concern that is central to the question posed for this essay coalesces the concepts/units that seemingly lie at the heart of this entire project, namely nation and the anthropocene. Question has referred to the challenges at a global scale that are being encountered as of this point in time, and the many different inhibiting factors that would allow for the problems to be addressed properly. As per Gardiner (398), the usage of the term ‘perfect moral storm’ highlights the issue of climate change having innate ethical considerations to have become manifested, and the contributing factors, agents and circumstances, all combine to arrive and formulate the scenario as stated. It also brings under notice Hamilton’s (10) definition of the ‘anthropocene’ as human or anthropogenic interferences and disruptions become prominent across the climate or the ‘Earth’ System respectively. In that sense, a world of distinct, different and widely diverging national identities and accompanying interests cannot rise up to all the challenges posed by the circumstances of the anthropocene.
In giving credence to the above mentioned viewpoints, Gardiner’s (398) outlooks still serve as the primary set of motivation, which actually propels the visions and circumstances of considerations. They are mainly concerned with the ethical factors that seem to innately and separately associated with the scenario at present in degrees about climate change. The moral responsibility as well as widespread assessment notion is widely evocative and reflective of the scenarios related to policy based actions that need to be taken (Gardiner 398). These actions tend to consider resolutions to the case of climate change in two different approaches, namely spatially and temporally. The hard choices necessary to be made across a global scale, reflecting climate change as a widespread global issue consolidates the nature of a ‘perfect moral storm’ in that the colloquial terminology of a ‘perfect storm’ bespeaks convergence of distinct forces and variables at large (Gardiner 398). These independent harmful factors occurring divergently both as results of spatial and temporal orientation respectively showcases and reflects the nature of the issue at large. It is a matter wherein the scenario of addressing the problems becomes hard to tackle because of the widespread implications as it occurs across a multitude of scales and dimensions.
Hamilton (10-11) describing the current epoch of the anthropocene greatly involves the implications and scenarios in understanding how these notions effectively take shape. When Gardiner (399) expresses the factors or ‘storms’ define the problem as originating across three distinct dimensions, namely across global, intergenerational and theoretical, it must be taken under notion that they are all products that gave rise to the anthropocene epoch. A great deal of factors that are notable in defining and consolidating the necessary viewpoints of the factors are related to the noted focus upon the changes that have occurred across Earth’s surface reserves of carbon. They are immensely associated with projecting and bringing into attention that have been done to their redistribution across the Earth system on the whole (Hamilton 11). It implies a great deal in relation to many understandings in which the restoration would not become possible so effectively because of carbon’s migration in the upper atmosphere. According to Gardner (400-401; 403), this redistribution would remain constantive with respect to innate understandings and projections that would ensure the presence of carbon in the upper levels of the atmosphere for almost thousands of years. Since burning carbon based fossil fuels encapsulate such a large section of the world’s entire energy produce, it is evident that spatial contributions to climate change by the notable ‘greenhouse effect’ would remain a factor temporally as well in terms of intergenerational dimensions as well (Gardiner 404). These are some of the most notable factors of challenges that persist in terms of nation based outlooks preventing the widespread nation based methods of proactive forms of rising up.
For much of Earth’s history, the notion of interference and suppositions reflecting the nature of ‘forces’ that brought about changes whether they might be marked as era, epochs, ages or any other consequential marker upon the Geographic Time Scale (Hamilton 13). The notion of this ‘new power’ could be direct or unintentional in the way of contributing from a number of different factors and considerations. However, they are all inimitably producing changes and transformation as a ‘geological’ power in itself, which could only be considered in terms of losses in the volition that nature have had prior to the advent of human civilization ( Hamilton 14). It is an altogether consolidating portrayal of circumstances that seemingly tend to speak about the ‘perfect moral storm’. In that notion, the circumstances and conditions, which have been arguably set into motion would imply and identify with significantly associated and consequential forces for which recuperation and recovery would only be possible from a global stage (Hamilton 14). According to Gardiner (399), reflections with respect to the current international system becomes verily essential and important to address the current international system, and the lack of a governance among all the many states that actually exist. In that notion, the volition that would be required to reflect a completely man made reflective sense in the current topic of climate change then becomes a challenge because of a definite lack of understanding and projections at large.
Gardiner (399-400) specifically highlights and showcases the notion of fragmentation of agencies and factors that might cause climate change. It is a matter of what is referred to as ‘Prisoner’s Dilemma’, which are consequently associated with the game theoretic associations with the ‘Tragedy of the Commons’. Gardiner (400) presents the scenario in terms of two notable forms of rationality, namely collective and individual with respect to different situations and landscapes of restructuring different points of pollution. Both the conditions showcase how pollution and its antecedent factors relate to actual climate change. This is an important position whereupon the consolidating factors of the anthropocene come to forefront. While the first prisoner’s dilemma argues in favor of restricting activities associated with pollution and climate change, the latter of the case showcases as to why individual interests should guide in not taking action as a result (Gardiner 400). The effective relative factors become evident with the help of Hamilton (14) wherein it becomes evident that the positions and situation of human activities and projects on a large scale like industrialism aimed to bring more control over nature, but ultimately led into effectively losing such ‘control’ with time.
This factor of widespread associations with the notions of temporality, according to Gardiner (402-403), under intergenerational ‘storm’ becomes a prominent factor of consideration altogether. It is especially relevant when discussing and presenting factors that are significantly notable in terms of the characteristics of dispersion of causes and effects, fragmentation of agency and then it shall become institutional inadequacy at large. Under the positions related to the circumstances and situations, it is imperative to denote and highlight temporality associations with the manifestation of the problem known as the ‘pure intergenerational problem’ (Gardiner 404). It bespeaks and correlates to the conditions and factors whereupon the situation becomes mightily evident and normalized to the point of projecting practical challenges in bulk that are actually most challenging to address climate change as a global circumstance of immensity and distribution (Hamilton 21). Upon these notions, the above mentioned prominent causes like the human induced carbon migration would lead to three distinct implications related to distinct phenomena, namely being resilient, seriously backloading and substantial deferment (Gardiner 403). The first one considers the conditions of climate change as not practically feasible to bring about distinct changes across the board (Hamilton 22). They are all associated and related to the circumstances of producing effects a long time into the future due to a number of different causes and factors at large, which is backloading. It produces the notion of deferment that shall take place in terms of cumulative or very complex processes that occur across the entire Earth System (Gardiner 403). This is entirely the widespread factors associated with the landscape of conditions and situations that are closely related to situations at large.
The nature of the intergenerational problems of climate change manifests and happens due to the affective problem factors that might generate from spatial degrees as well. Mostly, the Prisoner’s Dilemma that would occur or manifest must be in standard forms with respect to spatial consideration of the scenario (Gardiner 404). However, as the prospective and progressive nature of time evolves, the nature of climate change would present new challenges and factors in which resolutions would become practically harder to achieve accordingly. Milad et al. (830) directly references this as a manifesting form a case study scenario wherein the situation is greatly affected and impacted with respect to the widespread natural resources of forests. In ecosystems of nature, it is very essential to preserve both the elements that make such resource availability actually work at large, which include both species and habitats. Moreover, Milad et al. (832-835) also effectively explain and detail the inherent factors and conditions are defined in large parts of terminologies highlighting prominent anthropogenic stresses. Fragmentation of agencies, depositions of toxic substances and complete destruction in the habitat landscapes are all important considerations in that sentiment or projection of ideas. In terms of intergenerational temporality, the challenges in such understanding proactively depicts and supports the immense challenges they possess because of the lack in mutually-beneficial reciprocity and interactions respectively (Gardiner 405). Isolating consideration of the pure intergenerational problems are not feasible under any stretch of imagination. As a result, main actors and volitional forces of the convergence among social, economic and cultural factors seemingly depict and present the obviously challenging scenarios by every stretch of imagination.
Challenges to the main question asked in lieu of a proper response for the answer obviously exists. Some present the evolving states and conditions of human understanding themselves, which are considered by Gardiner (407) himself in the framing of the Third prominent Theoretical Storm. In that consideration, it becomes imperative to address and consolidate the factors of theoretical ineptitude, especially in treating climate change as a separate discipline as well as being influenced and impacted by a convergence of many disciplines at large (Gardiner 407). This is mainly considered that characteristics of present studies are actually so uncertain and ill-equipped to properly understand and concede the conditions that would occur into the future. Kløve et al. (252) represents this by presenting the understandings that are related with the severe depletion in groundwater resources prominently featured in the Earth System. Their research takes them into highlighting aquifers and groundwater dependent systems are being severely depleted. However, it is something that could be addressed in terms of their conservation, especially in terms of striking an acceptable notion of usage rate, which would relate to replenishment, and ultimately lead to proper conservation of natural resources and their ecosystems (Kløve et al. 258). In that sentiment, the scenario of addressing the global challenges might seem possible because under the Tragedy of Commons principle, the notions of basic needs like water are all self-explanatory.
Nevertheless, it becomes imperative and critical to address the factors and the conditions that are all closely related to the scenario of the international or global system of governance, which had been highlighted under Gardiner (401-402). They are effectively relevant and prominent under discussions upon the individual ‘groups’ based interests that might occur at any given state level. This is mainly because of the fact that nation states are not in an equal, or equitable position for that matter, in terms of resources and other systems in terms of access and usage. These differences that exist between the nation states often spell immense implications to the entire landscape of factors and conditions at large. The conditions of climate change both affect the possibilities in which the states could proactively take action as well as get affected upon being vulnerable to threat and affective forces respectively. In that frame of understanding, the evident positions related with large scale positioning and factors are all immensely affected in not rendering proper position for nations to address such a globally distributed yet highly complex problem. They showcase and present the notions and circumstances as they tend to stand as of present.
Works Cited
Gardiner, Stephen M. "A perfect moral storm: Climate change, intergenerational ethics and the problem of moral corruption." Environmental values 15.3 (2006): 397-413.
Hamilton, Clive. Defiant earth: The fate of humans in the Anthropocene. John Wiley & Sons, 2017.
Kløve, Bjørn, et al. "Climate change impacts on groundwater and dependent ecosystems." Journal of Hydrology 518 (2014): 250-266.
Milad, Mirjam, et al. "Climate change and nature conservation in Central European forests: a review of consequences, concepts and challenges." Forest ecology and management 261.4 (2011): 829-843.
