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Subjectivity in a context of environmental change: opening new dialogues in mental health research
In a period of unstable experimentation with challenges of globalization of associated risks, and disenchantment with âenduring injusticeâ, we bring forward a consideration of subjectivity to the study of environmental change and mental health. We begin by identifying how mainstream climate change and mental health studies are unable to explain the emergent and co-evolutionary pathways of agency. As a means of freeing these studies of their objective dimensions of linear-causation, we argue in favour of a re-positioning of subjectivity within an appreciation of recognition conflicts and beyond the over-deterministic interpretations of power centresâstate, market or religion. We draw on one example of scientific research that was conducted in a region undergoing strong environmental, social and cultural changes, in the state of SĂŁo Paulo/Brazil, with the aim to open mental health research to new dialogues, to which we contribute with the notion of the âpluriversal subjectâ
A global hotspot for dissolved organic carbon in hypermaritime watersheds of coastal British Columbia
The perhumid region of the coastal temperate rainforest (CTR) of
Pacific North America is one of the wettest places on Earth and contains
numerous small catchments that discharge freshwater and high concentrations
of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) directly to the coastal ocean. However,
empirical data on the flux and composition of DOC exported from these
watersheds are scarce. We established monitoring stations at the outlets of
seven catchments on Calvert and Hecate islands, British Columbia, which
represent the rain-dominated hypermaritime region of the perhumid CTR. Over
several years, we measured stream discharge, stream water DOC concentration,
and stream water dissolved organic-matter (DOM) composition. Discharge and
DOC concentrations were used to calculate DOC fluxes and yields, and DOM
composition was characterized using absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy
with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). The areal estimate of annual DOC
yield in water year 2015 was 33.3âŻMg CâŻkmâ2âŻyrâ1, with
individual watersheds ranging from an average of
24.1 to 37.7âŻMg CâŻkmâ2âŻyrâ1. This represents some of the highest
DOC yields to be measured at the coastal margin. We observed seasonality in
the quantity and composition of exports, with the majority of DOC export
occurring during the extended wet period (SeptemberâApril). Stream flow from
catchments reacted quickly to rain inputs, resulting in rapid export of
relatively fresh, highly terrestrial-like DOM. DOC concentration and measures
of DOM composition were related to stream discharge and stream temperature and correlated with watershed attributes, including the extent of lakes and
wetlands, and the thickness of organic and mineral soil horizons. Our discovery
of high DOC yields from these small catchments in the CTR is especially
compelling as they deliver relatively fresh, highly terrestrial organic
matter directly to the coastal ocean. Hypermaritime landscapes are common on
the British Columbia coast, suggesting that this coastal margin may play an
important role in the regional processing of carbon and in linking
terrestrial carbon to marine ecosystems
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