The environmental impact of globalization on Latin America: a prospective approach

Current changes in Latin America include the abandonment of the economic pattern of import substitution, a growing opening of the national economies, a continental wave of political democratization, an apparent economic recovery from the "lost decade" (the 1980s), a growing social polarization, a worsening of environmental problems, the growing influence of the market, and the most intense urbanization process on the planet. The aim of this paper is not to discuss the advantages or disadvantages of the prevailing economic pattern, but only to analyze some of the possible environmental implications derived from the way of insertion of the countries of the region in the global economy. The region as a whole is relatively well endowed in terms of natural resources. With little more than 8% of the global population, Latin America has 23% of the potentially arable land, 10% of the cultivated land, 17% of the pastures, 22% of the forests (and 52% of the tropical forests), and 31% of the permanently usable freshwater. It has not less than 3% of the world reserves of fossil fuel and 19% of the technically usable hydroelectric Power. Regarding economic globalization, the general argument from the environmental point of view is not that international trade is negative and that autarchy is desirable, but rather that a certain degree of regulation is necessary to reach a "sustainable free trade." The technological aspect of globalization is so important that it is possible to speak of a true techno-economic revolution or Knowledge Revolution (see also Chichilnisky's chapter in this book), led by microelectronics and the information technologies, and accompanied by a constellation of developments based on new technologies intensive in science (biotechnology, new materials, new energy sources, nanotechnology, etc.). From the point of view of their environmental implications, many of the new and emergent technologies exhibit interesting differences with the previous technological paradigm. The attributes of the new paradigm having higher strategic interest can be characterized as ambivalence, flexibility, and knowledge-intensivity. The technical potential for ecologically sustainable development is higher today than in any moment of the past. However, the direction toward which the trajectories of the new techno-economic paradigm seem to be moving suggests that, unless Latin America adopts active and sustained strategies to carry out the necessary social, economic, and technological structural changes, the mentioned technical potential is likely to materialize only in the most advanced countries, with the region running the serious danger of concentrating the perverse effects of the techno-economic revolution. A prospective analysis was carried out, based on simple simulation models of the ecosystemic transformations associated to land use in each of the 18 major lifezones represented in Latin America. Two basic socioeconomic scenarios were defined by the whole region: the reference scenario and the sustainable scenario. The reference scenario suggests the type of environmental consequences associated with land use that an unrestricted and unregulated opening of the economies (in the context of an absence or widespread weakness of environmental and social policies) would have. The sustainable scenario shows that, from the ecological and technological points of view, it is possible to change direction toward a much more desirable long-term situation, without too large direct economic costs. Implications of strategic importance for the sustainable development of the region are identified.Latin America; environment; urbanization; natural resources; sustainable free trade; globalization; technology; ecosystems; modeling; climate change; resource extraction; overuse

The environmental impact of globalization on Latin America: a prospective approach

Current changes in Latin America include the abandonment of the economic pattern of import substitution, a growing opening of the national economies, a continental wave of political democratization, an apparent economic recovery from the "lost decade" (the 1980s), a growing social polarization, a worsening of environmental problems, the growing influence of the market, and the most intense urbanization process on the planet. The aim of this paper is not to discuss the advantages or disadvantages of the prevailing economic pattern, but only to analyze some of the possible environmental implications derived from the way of insertion of the countries of the region in the global economy. The region as a whole is relatively well endowed in terms of natural resources. With little more than 8% of the global population, Latin America has 23% of the potentially arable land, 10% of the cultivated land, 17% of the pastures, 22% of the forests (and 52% of the tropical forests), and 31% of the permanently usable freshwater. It has not less than 3% of the world reserves of fossil fuel and 19% of the technically usable hydroelectric Power. Regarding economic globalization, the general argument from the environmental point of view is not that international trade is negative and that autarchy is desirable, but rather that a certain degree of regulation is necessary to reach a "sustainable free trade." The technological aspect of globalization is so important that it is possible to speak of a true techno-economic revolution or Knowledge Revolution (see also Chichilnisky's chapter in this book), led by microelectronics and the information technologies, and accompanied by a constellation of developments based on new technologies intensive in science (biotechnology, new materials, new energy sources, nanotechnology, etc.). From the point of view of their environmental implications, many of the new and emergent technologies exhibit interesting differences with the previous technological paradigm. The attributes of the new paradigm having higher strategic interest can be characterized as ambivalence, flexibility, and knowledge-intensivity. The technical potential for ecologically sustainable development is higher today than in any moment of the past. However, the direction toward which the trajectories of the new techno-economic paradigm seem to be moving suggests that, unless Latin America adopts active and sustained strategies to carry out the necessary social, economic, and technological structural changes, the mentioned technical potential is likely to materialize only in the most advanced countries, with the region running the serious danger of concentrating the perverse effects of the techno-economic revolution. A prospective analysis was carried out, based on simple simulation models of the ecosystemic transformations associated to land use in each of the 18 major lifezones represented in Latin America. Two basic socioeconomic scenarios were defined by the whole region: the reference scenario and the sustainable scenario. The reference scenario suggests the type of environmental consequences associated with land use that an unrestricted and unregulated opening of the economies (in the context of an absence or widespread weakness of environmental and social policies) would have. The sustainable scenario shows that, from the ecological and technological points of view, it is possible to change direction toward a much more desirable long-term situation, without too large direct economic costs. Implications of strategic importance for the sustainable development of the region are identified

The environmental impact of globalization on Latin America: a prospective approach

Current changes in Latin America include the abandonment of the economic pattern of import substitution, a growing opening of the national economies, a continental wave of political democratization, an apparent economic recovery from the "lost decade" (the 1980s), a growing social polarization, a worsening of environmental problems, the growing influence of the market, and the most intense urbanization process on the planet. The aim of this paper is not to discuss the advantages or disadvantages of the prevailing economic pattern, but only to analyze some of the possible environmental implications derived from the way of insertion of the countries of the region in the global economy. The region as a whole is relatively well endowed in terms of natural resources. With little more than 8% of the global population, Latin America has 23% of the potentially arable land, 10% of the cultivated land, 17% of the pastures, 22% of the forests (and 52% of the tropical forests), and 31% of the permanently usable freshwater. It has not less than 3% of the world reserves of fossil fuel and 19% of the technically usable hydroelectric Power. Regarding economic globalization, the general argument from the environmental point of view is not that international trade is negative and that autarchy is desirable, but rather that a certain degree of regulation is necessary to reach a "sustainable free trade." The technological aspect of globalization is so important that it is possible to speak of a true techno-economic revolution or Knowledge Revolution (see also Chichilnisky's chapter in this book), led by microelectronics and the information technologies, and accompanied by a constellation of developments based on new technologies intensive in science (biotechnology, new materials, new energy sources, nanotechnology, etc.). From the point of view of their environmental implications, many of the new and emergent technologies exhibit interesting differences with the previous technological paradigm. The attributes of the new paradigm having higher strategic interest can be characterized as ambivalence, flexibility, and knowledge-intensivity. The technical potential for ecologically sustainable development is higher today than in any moment of the past. However, the direction toward which the trajectories of the new techno-economic paradigm seem to be moving suggests that, unless Latin America adopts active and sustained strategies to carry out the necessary social, economic, and technological structural changes, the mentioned technical potential is likely to materialize only in the most advanced countries, with the region running the serious danger of concentrating the perverse effects of the techno-economic revolution. A prospective analysis was carried out, based on simple simulation models of the ecosystemic transformations associated to land use in each of the 18 major lifezones represented in Latin America. Two basic socioeconomic scenarios were defined by the whole region: the reference scenario and the sustainable scenario. The reference scenario suggests the type of environmental consequences associated with land use that an unrestricted and unregulated opening of the economies (in the context of an absence or widespread weakness of environmental and social policies) would have. The sustainable scenario shows that, from the ecological and technological points of view, it is possible to change direction toward a much more desirable long-term situation, without too large direct economic costs. Implications of strategic importance for the sustainable development of the region are identified

Índice de sustentabilidade agroambiental para o perímetro irrigado Ayres de Souza.

Uma análise integrada do atual uso dos recursos naturais do Perímetro Irrigado de Ayres de Souza, localizado no Vale do Acaraú, Ceará, foi realizada através do desenvolvimento de um índice de sustentabilidade agroecológica. Os dados dessa pesquisa foram oriundos de questionários aplicados a 33 produtores agrícolas beneficiados pelo projeto de irrigação. Os indicadores de sustentabilidade foram estimados pelo emprego de análise fatorial, método da análise fatorial/análise de componentes principais. O índice de sustentabilidade estimado a partir dos indicadores selecionados registrou uma situação de sustentabilidade fragilizada ou de insustentabilidade reversível. As unidades produtivas apresentaram um porcentual de 60,6% com alguma sustentabilidade; e os demais 39,4% estão em condições de insustentabilidade. Os resultados também mostraram que os fatores dominantes do índice de sustentabilidade foram: nível da atividade agrícola praticada, agricultura familiar, condições atuais do sistema água-solo e infraestrutura,fontes alternativas de renda e experiência em tratos culturais

Transformational capacity and the influence of place and identity

Climate change is altering the productivity of natural resources with far-reaching implications for those who depend on them. Resource-dependent industries and communities need the capacity to adapt to a range of climate risks if they are to remain viable. In some instances, the scale and nature of the likely impacts means that transformations of function or structure will be required. Transformations represent a switch to a distinct new system where a different suite of factors become important in the design and implementation of response strategies. There is a critical gap in knowledge on understanding transformational capacity and its influences. On the basis of current knowledge on adaptive capacity we propose four foundations for measuring transformational capacity: (1)how risks and uncertainty are managed, (2)the extent of skills in planning, learning and reorganizing, (3)the level of financial and psychological flexibility to undertake change and (4)the willingness to undertake change. We test the influence of place attachment and occupational identity on transformational capacity using the Australian peanut industry, which is presently assessing significant structural change in response to predicted climatic changes. Survey data from 88% of peanut farmers in Queensland show a strong negative correlation between transformational capacity and both place attachment and occupational attachment, suggesting that whilst these factors may be important positive influences on the capacity to adapt to incremental change, they act as barriers to transformational change

Cortical fast-spiking parvalbumin interneurons enwrapped in the perineuronal net express the metallopeptidases Adamts8, Adamts15 and Neprilysin.

The in situ hybridization Allen Mouse Brain Atlas was mined for proteases expressed in the somatosensory cerebral cortex. Among the 480 genes coding for protease/peptidases, only four were found enriched in cortical interneurons: Reln coding for reelin; Adamts8 and Adamts15 belonging to the class of metzincin proteases involved in reshaping the perineuronal net (PNN) and Mme encoding for Neprilysin, the enzyme degrading amyloid β-peptides. The pattern of expression of metalloproteases (MPs) was analyzed by single-cell reverse transcriptase multiplex PCR after patch clamp and was compared with the expression of 10 canonical interneurons markers and 12 additional genes from the Allen Atlas. Clustering of these genes by K-means algorithm displays five distinct clusters. Among these five clusters, two fast-spiking interneuron clusters expressing the calcium-binding protein Pvalb were identified, one co-expressing Pvalb with Sst (PV-Sst) and another co-expressing Pvalb with three metallopeptidases Adamts8, Adamts15 and Mme (PV-MP). By using Wisteria floribunda agglutinin, a specific marker for PNN, PV-MP interneurons were found surrounded by PNN, whereas the ones expressing Sst, PV-Sst, were not

Modeling complex ecological economic systems: toward an evolutionary, dynamic understanding of people and nature

Recent understanding about system dynamics and predictability that has emerged from the study of complex systems is creating new tools for modeling interactions between anthropogenic and natural systems. A range of techniques has become available through advances in computer speed and accessibility and by implementing a broad, interdisciplinary systems view

Circuit-based interrogation of sleep control.

Sleep is a fundamental biological process observed widely in the animal kingdom, but the neural circuits generating sleep remain poorly understood. Understanding the brain mechanisms controlling sleep requires the identification of key neurons in the control circuits and mapping of their synaptic connections. Technical innovations over the past decade have greatly facilitated dissection of the sleep circuits. This has set the stage for understanding how a variety of environmental and physiological factors influence sleep. The ability to initiate and terminate sleep on command will also help us to elucidate its functions within and beyond the brain

The Neuronal Transition Probability (NTP) Model for the Dynamic Progression of Non-REM Sleep EEG: The Role of the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus

Little attention has gone into linking to its neuronal substrates the dynamic structure of non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep, defined as the pattern of time-course power in all frequency bands across an entire episode. Using the spectral power time-courses in the sleep electroencephalogram (EEG), we showed in the typical first episode, several moves towards-and-away from deep sleep, each having an identical pattern linking the major frequency bands beta, sigma and delta. The neuronal transition probability model (NTP) – in fitting the data well – successfully explained the pattern as resulting from stochastic transitions of the firing-rates of the thalamically-projecting brainstem-activating neurons, alternating between two steady dynamic-states (towards-and-away from deep sleep) each initiated by a so-far unidentified flip-flop. The aims here are to identify this flip-flop and to demonstrate that the model fits well all NREM episodes, not just the first. Using published data on suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) activity we show that the SCN has the information required to provide a threshold-triggered flip-flop for timing the towards-and-away alternations, information provided by sleep-relevant feedback to the SCN. NTP then determines the pattern of spectral power within each dynamic-state. NTP was fitted to individual NREM episodes 1–4, using data from 30 healthy subjects aged 20–30 years, and the quality of fit for each NREM measured. We show that the model fits well all NREM episodes and the best-fit probability-set is found to be effectively the same in fitting all subject data. The significant model-data agreement, the constant probability parameter and the proposed role of the SCN add considerable strength to the model. With it we link for the first time findings at cellular level and detailed time-course data at EEG level, to give a coherent picture of NREM dynamics over the entire night and over hierarchic brain levels all the way from the SCN to the EEG