More findings against eco-alarmist consensus
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.23.33.2.0.2158Keywords:
consensus, climate change, environmental catastrophes, bees, local comsumptionAbstract
As a follow-up of a previous article (Grau 2022), I present five additional groups of findings that challenge fairly established perceptions. 1) The impact of climatically originated catastrophes has dramatically decreased, largely due to economic growth. 2) Bee populations are increasing, and even if they decrease, the effect on food security would be minor. 3) Estimates of the economic costs of invasions by non-native species are frequently exaggerated, without an adequate balance of costs and benefits. 4) In general, local food consumption does not reduce carbon footprint and has no nutritional advantages. 5) European livestock sometimes increases the diversity of herbivores and associated communities, and could contribute to mitigate the effects of extinctions associated with early humans in the Americas. To promote a more rigorous and less dogmatic environmental science I suggest: explicitly accepting that change (including migrations and invasions), is a constitutive component of the functioning of social-ecosystems; emphasizing that environmental change should be assessed through the analysis of long term trends, discerning between causal and correlational relationships, and not by the mere observation of particular events; preserving the ‘essential’ role of science consisting in the valuation of assertions by their consistency reality (data) not by its functional role for political or ideological agendas; proactively stimulating scientific initiatives that challenge consensus or dominant believes as way to promote creative and profound research based on data.
References
Abrams, M. D., and G. J. Nowacki. 2016. An interdisciplinary approach to better assess global change impacts and drought vulnerability on forest dynamics. Tree Physiology 36:421-427. https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tow005.
Aide, T. M., and H. R. Grau. 2004. Globalization, migration and Latin American ecosystems. Science 305:1915-1916. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1103179.
Aizen, M., L. Garibaldi, and L. D. Harder. 2022. Myth and reality of a global crisis for agricultural pollination. Ecología Austral 32:698-715. https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.22.32.2.1.1875.
Avetisyan, M., T. Hertel, and G. Sampson. 2014. Is local food more environmentally friendly? The GHG emissions impacts of consuming imported versus domestically produced food. Environmental and Resource Economics 58:415-462. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-013-9706-3.
Barnosky, D., and E. L. Lindsey. 2010. Timing of Quaternary megafaunal extinction in South America in relation to human arrival and climate change. Quaternary International 217:10-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2009.11.017.
Boltovskoy, D., N. Correa, L. E. Burlakova, A. Y. Karatayev, F. Thuesen, F. Sylvester, and E. M. Paolucci. 2021. Traits and impacts of introduced species: a quantitative review of metaanalyses. Hydrobiologia 848:2225-2258. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-020-04378-9.
Boltovsky, D., R. Guiasu, L. Burlakova, A. Karatayev, M. A. Schlapfer, and N. Correa. 2022. Misleading estimates of economic impacts of biological invasions: including the costs but not the benefits. Ambio 51:1786-1799. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-022-01707-1.
Brook, B. W., and A. D. Barnosky. 2012. Quaternary Extinctions and Their Link to Climate Change. In: Hannah, L. (eds.). Saving a Million Species. Island Press/Center for Resource Economics. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-182-5_11.
Bucher, E. H. 1987. Herbivory in arid and semiarid regions of Argentina. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 60:265-273.
Coley, D., M. Howard, and M. Winter. 2009. Local food, food miles and carbon emissions: a comparison of farm shop and mass distribution approaches. Food Policy 34:150-1550. https://doi.org/10.1016/.j.foodpol.2008.11.001.
Donlan, C. J., J. Bergre, C. E. Bock, J. H. Bock, D. A. Burney, J. A. Estes, D. Foreman, P. S. Martin, G. W. Roemer, F. Smith, M. E: Soule, and H. W. Greene. 2006. Pleistocene rewilding: an optimistic agenda for twenty first century conservation. American Naturalist 168:660-681. https://doi.org/10.1086/508027.
Edward-Jones, G. 2010. Does local food reduce the environmental impact of food production and enhance consumer health? Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 69:582-591. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665110002004.
Ellis, E. C., E. C. Antill, and H. Kreft. 2012. All is not lost: biodiversity in the Anthropocene. PloS ONE 7(1):e30535. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0030535.
Ellis, E. C., J. O. Kaplan, D. Q. Fuller, S. Vabrus, K. K. Goldewijk, and P. Verburg. 2013. Used planet: a global history. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110:7978-7985. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.127241110.
Formetta, G., and L. Feyen. 2019. Empirical evidence of declining global vulnerability to climate-related hazards. Global Environmental Change 57:101920. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenenvcha.2019.05.004.
Franklin, W. L. 2022. Guanaco colonization of Tierra del Fuego island from mainland Patagonia: walked, swam of by canoe? Geo: Geography and the Environment 9(2):e00110. https://doi.org/10.1002/geo2.110.
Geddes, P. 2005. The dangers of scientific consensus. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 3:242-243. https://doi.org/10.2307/3868485.
Ghazoul, J. 2005. Buzziness as usual? Questioning the global pollination crisis. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 20:367-373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2005.04.026.
González, B. A., P. Acebes, P. Corti, M. Grimberg, E. Iranzo, J. E. Malo, C. A: Moraga, R. Sarno, O. Skewes, N. Soto, J. Trabas, S. Vargas, and W. L. Franklin. 2022. Historical perspective and current understanding of the ecology, conservation and management of the guanaco in the Chilean Patagonia. Pp. 191-232 en P. Carmanchahi and G. Lichtenstein (eds.). Guanacos and People in Patagonia. A social-ecological approach to a Relationship of Conflicts and Opportunities. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06656-6_8.
Grau, H. R. 2022. Contra el consenso: hallazgos que amenazan fundamentos del eco-alarmismo. Ecología Austral 32:33-44. https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.22.32.1.0.1782.
Grau, H. R. 2018. El burro en la Puna. Invasor o Restaurador? Pp. 207-208 en H. R. Grau, M. J. Babot, A. E. Izquierdo and A. Grau (eds.). La Puna Argentina. Naturaleza y Cultura. Fundación Miguel Lillo.
Grau, H. R., and T. M. Aide. 2008. Globalization and land use transitions in Latin America. Ecology and Society 13(2). https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-02559-130216.
Iriarte, A., D. S. Donoso, B. Segura, and M. Tirado (eds.). 2017. El Huemul de Aysen y otros rincones. Ediciones Secretaría Regional Ministerial de Agricultura de la Región de Aysén y Flora and Fauna Chile Limitada. Pp. 220.
Iwasaki, J. M., and K. Hogendoom. 2022. Mounting evidence that managed and introduced bees have negative impacts on wild bees: an updated review. Current Research in Insect Science 2:100043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cris.2022.100043.
Izquierdo, A. E., H. R. Grau, C. J. Navarro, E. Casagranda, M. C. Castilla, and A. Grau. 2018. Highlands in transition: urbanization, pastoralism, mining, tourism and wildlife in Argentinian Puna. Mountain Research and Development 38:390-400. https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-17-00075.1.
Janzen, D. H., and P. W. Martin. 1981. Neotropical anachronisms: the fruits the gomphoteres ate. Science 215:19-27. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.215.4528.19.
Kareiva, P., M. Marvier, and B. Silliman (eds). 2019. Effective Conservation Science: Data not Dogma. Oxford Scholarship Online. New York. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198808978.003.0005.
Kim, S. H., and R. Huang. 2021. Understanding local food consumption from and ideological perspective: locavorism, authenticity, pride, and willingness to visit. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 58:102330. https://doi.org/10.1016/jretconser.2020.102330.
Mann, C. 2005. 1491. New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. Knopf. Nueva York.
Mishra, V., A. Deep, T. Saram, S. Aadhar, S. Mu, X. Pai, and D. Lettenmaier. 2019. Drought and Famine in India, 1987-2016. Geophysical Research Letters 46:2075-2083. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018L081477.
Navarro, C., J. Carilla, O. Osinaga-Acosta, M. C. Nieto, R. Ovejero, and H. R. Grau. 2023. Herbivore rewilding does not promote biodiversity in Argentine Andean Peatlands. Anthropocene 42:100382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2023.100382.
Navarro, C., A. E. Izquierdo, E. Aráoz, J. Foguet, and H. R. Grau. 2020. Rewilding of large herbivore communities in high elevation Puna: geographic segregation and no evidence of positive effects on peatland productivity. Regional Environmental Change 20:112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-020-01704-8.
Norberg, J. 2016. Progress. Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future. Simon and Schuster.
Núñez, C. M. V., A. Scorolli, L. Lagos, D. Berman, and A. J. Kane. 2016. Management of free roaming horses. Pp. 133-147 en J. I. Ramson and P. Kaszensky (eds.). Wild equids. Ecology, management, conservation. John Hopkins University Press.
Pielke, R. A., J. Rubiera, C. Landsea, M. L. Fernández, and R. Klein. 2003. Hurricane vulnerability in Latin America and the Caribbean; normalized damage and loss potentials. Natural Hazards Review 4(3):101-114. https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)1527-6988(2003)4:3(101).
Pimentel, D., R. Zuniga, and D. Morrison. 2005. Update on the environmental and economic costs associated with alien-invasive species in the United States. Ecological Economics 52:273-288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2004.10.002.
Pinker, S. 2018. Enlightment Now. The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress. Viking. Pp. 734.
Poore, J., and T. Nemecek. 2018. Reducing food´s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science 360:987-992. https://doi-org/10.1126/science.aaq0216.
Prates., L., and S. I. Pérez. 2021. Late Pleistocene South American megafaunal extinctions associated with rise of fishtail points and human population. Nature Communications 12:2175. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22506-4.
Prevosti, F., F. Santiago, I. Prates, and M. Salemme. 2011. Constrining the time of extinction of the South American fox Dusicyon avus (Carnivora, Canidae) during the late Holocene. Quaternary International 245:209-217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2011.02.010.
Redo, D., H. R. Grau, T. M. Aide, and M. Clark. 2013. Asymmetric forest transition driven by the interaction of socioeconomic development and environmental heterogeneity in Central America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109:8839-8844. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1201664109.
Reus, M. L., F. M. Cappa, N. Andino, V. E. Campos, C. de los Ríos, and C. M. Campos. 2014. Trophic interactions between the native guanaco (Lama guanicoe) and the exotic donkey (Equus asinus) in the hyper-arid Monte desert (Ischigualasto Park, Argentina). Studies in Neotropical Fauna and its Environment 49:159-168. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650521.2014.948772.
Ritchie, H., P. Rosado, and M. Roser. 2022. Natural Disasters. URL: ourworldindata.org/natural-disasters.
Sandstrom, V., H. Valim, T. Krisztin, P. Havlik, M. Herrero, and T. Kastner. 2018. The role of trade in the greenhouse gas footprint of EU diets. Global Food Security 19:48-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.1018.08.007.
Scorolli, A. L. 2016. Manejo de caballos cimarrones: la situación en la Argentina. Mastozoología Neotropical 23(2). URL: tinyurl.com/2yp4fj4d.
Shackleton, R. T., C. M. Shackleton, and C. A. Kull. 2019. The role of invasive alien species in shaping local livelihoods and human well-being. Journal of Environmental Management 229:145-157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envman.2018.05.007.
Schkolnik, S. 2007. De la diversidad de gentes. Pp. 57-66 en J. Estrella and S. Schkolnik (eds.). De la Diversidad de Gentes. Facultad de Artes, Universidad de Chile.
Schwarz, J., M. Schuster, B. Annaert, M. Maertens, and E. Mathijs. 2016. Sustainability of global and local food value chains: an empirical comparison of Peruvian and Belgian asparagus. Sustainability 8(4):344. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8040344.
Stein, A. J., and F. Santini. 2021. The sustainability of “local” food: a review for policy-makers. Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies 103:77-89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41130-021-00148-w.
Thomas, C. 2017. Inheritors of the Earth. How Nature is Thriving in the Age of Extinction. Hachette, New York. Pp. 300. https://doi.org/10.1080/21550085.2019.1652240.
Thomas, C., and G. Palmer. 2015. Non-native plants add to the British flora without negative consequences for native diversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112:4387-4392 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1423995112.
Torres, A., N. Fernández, S. Ermgazzen, W. Helmer, E. Revilla, D. Saavedra, A. Perino, A. Mimet, J. M. Rey-Benayas, N. Selva, S. Schepers, J. C. Svenning, and H. M. Pereira. 2018. Measuring rewilding progress. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 373(1761):20170433. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0433.
van der Sluijs, J. P., N. Simon-Delso, D. Goulson, L. Maxim, J. M. Bonmatin, and L. P. Belzuncers. 2013. Neonicotinonoids, bee disorders and sustainability of pollination services. Current Opinion on Environmental Sustainability 5:293-305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2013.05.007.
Vecchi, G. A., and T. Knutson. 2008. On estimates of historical North Atlantic tropical cyclone activity. Journal of Climate 21:3580-3600. https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JCLI2178.1.
Vecchi, G. A., C. Landsea, W. Zhang, G. Villarini, and T. Knutson. 2021 Changes in Atlantic major hurricane frequency since the late 19th century. Nature Communications 12:4054. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24268-5.
Villavicencio, N. A., E. L. Lindsey, F. M. Martin, L. A. Borrero, P. I. Moreno, and C. R. Marshall. 2016. Combination of humans, climate, and vegetation change triggered Late Quaternary megafauna extinction in the Última Esperanza region, southern Patagonia, Chile. Ecography 39:125-140. https://doi.org/10.1111.ecog.01606.
Williams, A. P., J. T. Abatzoglou, A. Gershunov, J. Guzman-Morales, D. A. Bishop, J. K. Balch, and D. P. Lettenmaier. 2019. Observed impacts of anthropogenic climate change on wildfire in California. Earth´s Future 7:892-910. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EF001210.
Yanco, E., M. P. Nelson, and D. Ramp. 2019. Cautioning against overemphasis of normative constructs in conservation decision making. Conservation Biology 33:1002-1013. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13298.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 H. Ricardo Grau
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Authors retain their rights as follows: 1) by granting the journal the right to its first publication, and 2) by registering the published article with a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which allows authors and third parties to view and use it as long as they clearly mention its origin (citation or reference, including authorship and first publication in this journal). Authors can make other non-exclusive distribution agreements as long as they clearly indicate their origin and are encouraged to widely share and disseminate the published version of their work.
