When Should We Care About Sustainability? Applying Human Security as the Decisive Criterion

It seems intuitively clear that not all human endeavours warrant equal concern over the extent of their sustainability. This raises the question about what criteria might best serve for their prioritisation. We refute, on empirical and theoretical grounds, the counterclaim that sustainability should be of no concern regardless of the circumstances. Human security can serve as a source of criteria that are both widely shared and can be assessed in a reasonably objective manner. Using established classifications, we explore how four forms of sustainability (environmental, economic, social, and cultural) relate to the four pillars of human security (environmental, economic, sociopolitical, and health-related). Our findings, based on probable correlations, suggest that the criteria of human security allow for a reliable discrimination between relatively trivial incidences of unsustainable behavior and those that warrant widely shared serious concern. They also confirm that certain sources of human insecurity, such as poverty or violent conflict, tend to perpetuate unsustainable behavior, a useful consideration for the design of development initiatives. Considering that human security enjoys wide and increasing political support among the international community, it is to be hoped that by publicizing the close correlation between human security and sustainability greater attention will be paid to the latter and to its careful definition

The Estrela Geopark: from Planation Surfaces to Glacial Erosion

The Estrela Geopark rises to 1993 m asl and occupies an area over 2000 km2 in the western sector of the Iberian Central System, the mountain range that extends from Guadarrama in Spain to Montejunto in the north-west of Lisbon. The Estrela is located in the Central Iberian Zone showing various types of granites and the turbiditic metasediments of the Beiras Group as the main lithologies. After the planation of the Variscan orogen, the Alpine compression uplifted the Iberian Central System and rejuvenated the landscape, elevating the planation surfaces in a pop-up structure and accelerating fluvial erosion along the main Late Variscan faults. The elevation of the Serra da Estrela, the plateau character of the summit and its position as the first barrier to the moist Atlantic air masses entering Iberia, generated the ideal conditions for fast glacial inception during the cold phases of the Pleistocene. The last glacial showed the formation of an extensive plateau ice field and several valley glaciers, which deeply sculpted the landscape, leaving an excellent imprint of glacial processes in the mountain. The interplay of glacial erosion, granite weathering, tectonics and fluvial erosion generated a landscape of very high scenic, scientific and educational value. These, together with a rich biodiversity and long history of human presence with strong cultural and economic links to the mountain, are the main reasons for the labelling of the Estrela as a UNESCO Global Geopark.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Glacial and Periglacial Landscapes of the Serra da Estrela

The Serra da Estrela is a granite-dominated plateau mountain located in Central Portugal, reaching an elevation of 1993 m. Its position in the western part of the Iberian Central System, elongated morphology in an SW–NE direction, generates an important barrier to the moist Atlantic air masses when they move into Iberia’s interior. This orographic rainfall effect is important today, as it was in the Pleistocene, generating high amounts of precipitation, which in the Pleistocene were key for glacier development. The presence of a plateau above 1400 m and a regional equilibrium line altitude at about 1650 m were key for the development of a plateau ice field, very sensitive to small climate oscillations, but responsible for the development of several radiating valley glaciers. The effects of this glacial system on the landscape were remarkable, with the development of numerous landforms and deposits, which are rare in such a geographical setting. The main geomorphological highlights are the erosional landscape of the western plateau, as well as the glaciated section of the Zêzere valley, which under the action of 11.3 km long and over 340 m thick glacier, developed impressive glacial features. The periglacial action occurred mainly in the non-glaciated parts of the plateaus and valley slopes and testify the significance of frost action all over the mountain, with the presence of permafrost at the plateaus and sites above about 1300 m.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio