Forests in Japanese history
Forests in Japan have been under pressure already for millennia (Totman 1989). More than 2000 years ago, rice culture caused the first dramatic modifications of woodlands and bronze and iron smelting started to put pressure on the forest due to the demand for high-quality charcoal. Metallurgy led to new, more powerful tools and the assault on the woodlands intensified. The [...]
Syndromes: in search of generic patterns of vulnerability and resilience
A fragmented, disciplinary approach does not work in sustainability science. A broader perspective transcending disciplinary boundaries is needed. One framework to investigate global change phenomena in such a broader, problem-oriented setting is the syndrome approach, originally proposed by the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU 1994) and later conceptualised and developed at the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research [...]
Demographic and territorial overshoot: India and Russia
India since the 16 th century Several historical accounts reinforce the impression that large populations of humans were living close to the environment’s carrying capacity and went through periods of severe food shortages and associated violence and hardship. One such a tale is about India since the 16th century; another one is on Russia in the late 19th and early [...]
Environmental history: an empirical reconstruction of collapse
The story of Easter Island is, rightly or wrongly, one of the archetypical examples of how a human population on a finite island with a fragile environment can overexploit its environment and as a consequence collapse. There are contemporary events which suggest a collapse narrative, as in the case of another island in the Pacific, Nauru. Sometimes, it is possible [...]
From private to public transport: lock-in dynamics
The car as a lock-in The car has gained a dominant position in present-day mobility and transport, not in the least because the costs of pollution, noise, accidents, congestion and use of space are not or only partly internalised. It makes other modes of transport less attractive, not only economically but also regarding other quality of life aspects (health, safety, [...]
Guest post: Devnadi – the River of God
The firm house lingers, though averse to square with the new city street it has to wear A number in. But what about the brook that held the house as in an elbow-crook? I ask as one who knew the brook, its strength and impulse, having dipped a finger length and made it leap my knuckle, having tossed a flower [...]