Category Archives: Readings

Posts about scholarly articles–in top menu or sidebar use “Bibliography” to view a list by author or “Disciplines covered” to view by academic field (mobile users see bottom of page)

“Efforts to monitor and characterize the recent increasing seismicity in central Oklahoma”

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CITATION:
D. E. McNamara et al. 2015. The Leading Edge, June 2015, pp. 628-639.
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ABSTRACT:
The sharp increase in seismicity over a broad region of central Oklahoma has raised concerns regarding the source of the activity and its potential hazard to local communities and energy-industry infrastructure. Efforts to Continue reading →

“Early warning of climate tipping points”

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CITATION:
Timothy M. Lenton. 2011. Nature Climate Change 1, pp. 201-209.
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ABSTRACT:
A climate ‘tipping point’ occurs when a small change in forcing triggers a strongly nonlinear response in the internal dynamics of part of the climate system, qualitatively changing its future state. Human-induced climate change could Continue reading →

“Species-specific responses of Late Quartenary megafauna to climate and humans”

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CITATION:
E.D. Lorenzen, et al. 2011. Nature 479, pp. 359–364.
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ABSTRACT:
Despite decades of research, the roles of climate and humans in driving the dramatic extinctions of large-bodied mammals during the Late Quaternary period remain contentious. Here we use ancient DNA, species distribution models and the human fossil record to Continue reading →

“Climate change in the Fertile Crescent and implications of the recent Syrian drought”

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CITATION:
Colin P. Kelly et al. 2015. PNAS, Vol. 112, No. 11, pp. 3241-326.
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ABSTRACT:
Before the Syrian uprising that began in 2011, the greater Fertile Crescent experienced the most severe drought in the instrumental record. For Syria, a country marked by poor governance and unsustainable agricultural and environmental policies, the drought had a catalytic effect, contributing to Continue reading →

“A feminist project of belonging for the Anthropocene”

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CITATION:
J.K. Gibson-Graham. 2011. Gender, Place & Culture. Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 1-21.
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ABSTRACT:
At the core of J.K. Gibson-Graham’s feminist political imaginary is the vision of a decentralized movement that connects globally dispersed subjects and places through webs of signification. We view these subjects and places both Continue reading →

“Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home”

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CITATION:
Pope Francis. 2015. Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home [Encyclical].
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ABSTRACT:
The Encyclical takes its name from the invocation of Saint Francis, “Praise be to you, my Lord”, in his Canticle of the Creatures. It reminds us that Continue reading →

Reframing landscape fragmentation’s effects on ecosystem services

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CITATION:
Mitchell, M. G. E. et al. 2015. Trends in Ecology and Evolution,  Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 190-198.
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ABSTRACT:
Landscape structure and fragmentation have important effects on ecosystem services, with a common assumption being that fragmentation Continue reading →

“Impact of fossil fuel emissions on atmospheric radiocarbon and various applications of radiocarbon over this century”

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CITATION:
Graven, H. D. 2015. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,  Vol. 112, pp. 9542-9545.
ON-LINE AVAILABILITY:
ABSTRACT:

Radiocarbon analyses are commonly used in a broad range of fields, including earth science, archaeology, forgery detection, isotope forensics, and physiology. Many applications are sensitive to the radiocarbon (14C) content of atmospheric CO2, which has varied since 1890 as a result Continue reading →

“A Manifesto for Abundant Futures”

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CITATION:
Rosemary-Claire Collard, Jessica Dempsey, and Juanita Sundberg. 2015. Annals of the Association of American Geographers. Vol. 105, No. 2, pp. 322-330.
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ABSTRACT:
The concept of the Anthropocene is creating new openings around the question of how humans ought to intervene in the environment. In this article, we address one arena in which the Anthropocene is prompting a sea change: conservation. The path emerging in mainstream conservation is, we argue, Continue reading →

“Paleolithic population growth pulses evidenced by small animal exploitation”

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We welcome Zach Throckmorton, of Lincoln Memorial University, as our first guest blogger . . . click for his bio, or go to the “Who we are” tab.

CITATION:
M. Stiner et al. 1999. Science. 283:190-194.
ONLINE AVAILABILITY:
ABSTRACT:
Variations in small game hunting along the northern and eastern rims of the Mediterranean Sea and results from predator-prey simulation modeling indicate that human population densities Continue reading →

“Archaeology of the Anthropocene in the Yellow River region, China, 8000−2000 cal. BP”

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CITATION:
Yijie Zhuang and Tristram R Kidder. 2014. The Holocene, Vol. 24, No. 11, pp. 1602 –1623.
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ABSTRACT:

Although archaeological analysis emphasizes the importance of climatic events as a driver of historical processes, we use a variety of environmental and archaeological data to show that Continue reading →

“The Story of Big History”

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CITATION:
Ian Hesketh. 2014. History of the Present, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 171-202.
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ABSTRACT:
Currently, a group of historians is claiming that it might be history that provides the framework for a scientific and evolutionary account of everything. Big History, so named by its foremost practitioner, David Christian, seeks to Continue reading →

“Fifteen forms of biodiversity trend in the Anthropocene”

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CITATION:
Brian J. McGill, et al. 2015. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 104-113.
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ABSTRACT:
Humans are transforming the biosphere in unprecedented ways, raising the important question of how these impacts are changing biodiversity. Here we argue that our understanding of biodiversity trends in the Anthropocene, and our ability to protect the natural world, is impeded by Continue reading →

“Justice and the Environment in Nussbaum’s ‘Capabilities Approach’: Why Sustainable Ecological Capacity Is a Meta-Capability”

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CITATION:
Breena Holland. 2008. Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 61, No. 2, pp. 319-332.
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ABSTRACT:
What principles should guide how society distributes environmental benefits and burdens? Like many liberal theories of justice, Martha Nussbaum’s “capabilities approach” does not adequately address this question. The author argues that the capabilities approach should be extended to Continue reading →

“A Safe Operating Space for Humanity”

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THIS POST IS PART OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE ANTHROPOCENE PROJECT—SEE THIS DESCRIPTION OF OUR SUBMISSION.
CITATION:
Rockström, J. et al. 2009. Nature, Vol. 461, pp. 472-475.
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ABSTRACT:

Johan Rockström and colleagues propose a new approach for defining preconditions for human development and predict that crossing certain biophysical thresholds could have disastrous consequences Continue reading →

“Concluding Remarks” on Animal Ecology and Demography

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THIS POST IS PART OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE ANTHROPOCENE PROJECT—SEE THIS DESCRIPTION OF OUR SUBMISSION.
CITATION:
Hutchinson, G.E. 1957. Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology 22 (2): 415–427.
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ABSTRACT:
This paper reflects on a symposium that covered a wide range of topics; in it “a rather detailed analysis of one particular problem is given, partly because the question, namely, the nature of the ecological niche and the validity of the principle of niche specificity has raised and continues to raise difficulties, Continue reading →

“Loess: The Yellow Earth”

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THIS POST IS PART OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE ANTHROPOCENE PROJECT—SEE THIS DESCRIPTION OF OUR SUBMISSION.
CITATION:
Smalley, I., and Rogers, C. 1996. Geology Today, Vol. 12, No. 5, pp. 186-193.
ON-LINE AVAILABILITY:
ABSTRACT:
A wind-deposited silt forming large deposits in China and middle America, loess is the basis of much grade-one agricultural land, and has sourced the building materials for civilizations. Produced largely as a result of Continue reading →