17
three consumables are provided simultaneously and sustainably—in a manner that
requires management and maintenance of land, soils, waters, air, and ecosystems.
Hard (physical) infrastructure has a nuanced relationship to ecosystem services. Superficially, one can say that hard infrastructure for food and water delivers
the products of ecosystem services. However, while energy from hydroelectricity
and other renewables draw on ecosystem services, energy from fossil fuels is the
result of geological actions on biomass over millions of years rather than recent
ecosystem functions.
Nexus studies often treat ecosystem services in a similar way to infrastructure, or
as “natural extensions” of hard infrastructure. However, in practice, ecosystem services are different from hard infrastructure because of their broader values and services to society.
Ecosystems can mediate changes within individual food, energy, and water systems, and between systems. For example, hydroelectricity production impacts sediment flow in rivers, which can affect downstream agriculture and water use. Several
case studies in this book explore land and ecosystems as mediums for nexus
interactions.
1.3.2.4 Climate Change
Climate averages and cycles and the weather patterns that they give rise to are central to where human communities exist and how they operate. It is primarily the
impact of climate change on where and how human communities live, which makes
it a significant concern.
In some ways, the earth’s climate operates similarly to land, soils, waters, air, and
ecosystems, providing environmental services rather than being a consumable commodity. Like land, soils, waters, air, and ecosystems, the climate has proven to be
subject to profound impact by human activity, which can alter climate averages,
increase and decrease rainfall, increase the frequency of extreme events, and bring
about sea-level rise.
Climate also resembles air in that it arrives naturally without the aid of human- built
physical infrastructure. Rather, like air, human-built physical infrastructure related to
climate is primarily to protect humans from negative impacts related to weather.
Climate change as a high-level policy issue arrived in the 1980s, several decades
later than air regulations in economically advanced nations. However, climate
change has risen to the top of the global policy agenda in a manner in which local
and regional air pollution has not because climate is a global, rather than local or
regional, problem.
Human impact on the earth’s climate change is primarily the result of the dominance of carbon fuels in nearly all energy systems, and, to a lesser degree, to landuse changes related to food production. Both result in the intensification of the
earth’s natural greenhouse effect, warming the planet with many consequences.
Therefore, efforts to mitigate climate change require profound shifts in energy and
food production, hopefully without reducing energy services or nutrition.
1 Introduction
three consumables are provided simultaneously and sustainably—in a manner that
requires management and maintenance of land, soils, waters, air, and ecosystems.
Hard (physical) infrastructure has a nuanced relationship to ecosystem services. Superficially, one can say that hard infrastructure for food and water delivers
the products of ecosystem services. However, while energy from hydroelectricity
and other renewables draw on ecosystem services, energy from fossil fuels is the
result of geological actions on biomass over millions of years rather than recent
ecosystem functions.
Nexus studies often treat ecosystem services in a similar way to infrastructure, or
as “natural extensions” of hard infrastructure. However, in practice, ecosystem services are different from hard infrastructure because of their broader values and services to society.
Ecosystems can mediate changes within individual food, energy, and water systems, and between systems. For example, hydroelectricity production impacts sediment flow in rivers, which can affect downstream agriculture and water use. Several
case studies in this book explore land and ecosystems as mediums for nexus
interactions.
1.3.2.4 Climate Change
Climate averages and cycles and the weather patterns that they give rise to are central to where human communities exist and how they operate. It is primarily the
impact of climate change on where and how human communities live, which makes
it a significant concern.
In some ways, the earth’s climate operates similarly to land, soils, waters, air, and
ecosystems, providing environmental services rather than being a consumable commodity. Like land, soils, waters, air, and ecosystems, the climate has proven to be
subject to profound impact by human activity, which can alter climate averages,
increase and decrease rainfall, increase the frequency of extreme events, and bring
about sea-level rise.
Climate also resembles air in that it arrives naturally without the aid of human- built
physical infrastructure. Rather, like air, human-built physical infrastructure related to
climate is primarily to protect humans from negative impacts related to weather.
Climate change as a high-level policy issue arrived in the 1980s, several decades
later than air regulations in economically advanced nations. However, climate
change has risen to the top of the global policy agenda in a manner in which local
and regional air pollution has not because climate is a global, rather than local or
regional, problem.
Human impact on the earth’s climate change is primarily the result of the dominance of carbon fuels in nearly all energy systems, and, to a lesser degree, to landuse changes related to food production. Both result in the intensification of the
earth’s natural greenhouse effect, warming the planet with many consequences.
Therefore, efforts to mitigate climate change require profound shifts in energy and
food production, hopefully without reducing energy services or nutrition.
1 Introduction