bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Observable Large-Scale Impacts of Tropical Cyclones on the Subtropical Gyre
Authors: Lu Zhumin , Wang Guihua , Shang Xiaodong
Published: June 2023

The large-scale ocean circulation in an ocean basin was previously thought to be impacted cumulatively by all the overlying tropical cyclones (TCs). Based on idealized numerical experiments and altimetry observation, this study reveals that, unnecessarily by cumulative impacts, a single TC actually has the ability to plow the large-scale sea surface height (SSH) field due to the TC-induced geostrophic response. This ability is dictated by the along-track length scale of the geostrophic response, i.e., the total track length. Some of the observed along-track signals, including the SSH trough, jet, and SSH rise, can confirm the TC-induced large-scale impacts. Shortly after the TC passage, the observable large-scale signals are generally the SSH trough. However, the jet and the SSH rise easily emerge from the evolved SSH trough due to Rossby wave dispersion. By identifying and tracking the observable signals, this study demonstrates that the subtropical gyre primarily over 4°–20°N, 122°E–180° is plowed by nine typhoons (2015) into several large blocks of SSH troughs and SSH rises. These long-lived SSH troughs and SSH rises dominate the upper-layer circulation from April to December in 2015. If the large-scale signals cannot be observed, the estimated TC-induced mean SSH decreases suggest that the large-scale impacts may still exist but merely cannot be seen intuitively. This study provides compelling observational evidence for the TC-induced large-scale impacts, further highlighting that TCs may play a nonnegligible role in the upper-ocean dynamics in the subtropical gyre.

Significance Statement

This study aims to demonstrate the ability of a typhoon to affect the large-scale ocean dynamics. The ability manifests as some along-track signals in altimetry observations, including sea surface height trough, jet, and sea surface height rise, which can be frequently observed after some typhoons in 2015. The sea surface height field in the western North Pacific is continuously plowed by these typhoons into several large blocks of sea surface height troughs and rises. These long-lived sea surface height troughs and rises dominate the upper-layer circulation from April to December in 2015. This study indicates that typhoons play a vital role in the upper-ocean dynamics in the western North Pacific.
Developing a Hail and Wind Damage Swath Event Database from Daily MODIS True Color Imagery and Storm Reports for Impact Analysis and Applications
Authors: Bell Jordan R. , Wisinski Emily F. , Molthan Andrew L. , Schultz Christopher J. , Gilligan Emma , Sharp Kaylee G.
Published: June 2023

Hail and damaging winds are two threats associated with intense and severe thunderstorms that traverse the Midwest and Great Plains during the primary growing season. In certain severe thunderstorm events, large swaths of agricultural crops are impacted, allowing the damage to be viewed from multiple satellite remote sensing platforms. Previous studies have focused on analyzing individual hail and wind damage swaths (HWDSs) using satellite remote sensing, but these swaths have never been officially archived or documented. This lack of documentation has made it difficult to analyze the spatial extent and temporal frequency of HWDSs from year to year. This study utilizes daily true color imagery from MODIS aboard NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites and daily local storm reports from the Storm Prediction Center to build a database of HWDSs occurring in the months of May–August, for years 2000–20. This database identified 1646 HWDSs in 12 states throughout the Midwest and Great Plains, confirmed through a combination of archived severe weather warnings, radar information, and official storm reports. For each entry in the HWDS database, a geospatial outline is provided along with the most likely date of first visible damage from MODIS imagery as well as the physical characteristics and time of occurrence estimated from available warnings. This study also provides a summary of the radar characteristics for a portion of the database. This database will further the understanding of severe weather damage by hail and wind to agriculture to help understand the frequency of these events and assist in mapping the impacted areas.

Significance Statement

Hail and wind damage swaths (HWDSs) frequently occur during the primary growing season throughout the Midwest and Great Plains but are not yet officially documented or tracked like other severe weather impacts (e.g., tornadoes and derechos). This study describes the creation of a 21-yr HWDS event database using archived daily storm reports and daily true color satellite imagery. Once the database was completed and underwent quality checks, the research team identified spatial and temporal trends from the confirmed swaths.
Frailty as a Predictor of Post-Surgical Outcomes in Patients With Cutaneous Malignancies of the Scalp and Neck Requiring Flap Reconstruction
Authors: Welch Christopher , Kazim Syed Faraz , Esce Antoinette , Bowers Christian , Syme Noah , Boyd Nathan
Published: June 2023

Background:

Investigate the ability of frailty status to predict post-surgical outcomes in patients with cutaneous malignancies of the scalp and neck undergoing flap reconstruction.

Methods:

National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was used to isolate patients with cutaneous malignancies of the scalp and neck who underwent surgical resection between 2015 to 2019. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine if frailty score correlated with negative post-operative outcomes. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves allowed testing of the discriminative performance of age versus frailty.

Results:

This study demonstrated an independent correlation between frailty and major complications as well as non-home discharge. In ROC curve analysis, frailty demonstrated superior discrimination compared to age for predicting major complications.

Conclusion:

Our study demonstrated an association between increasing frailty and major complications as well as the likelihood of a non-home discharge. When compared to age, frailty was also shown to be a better predictor of major complications.
Do Left-Handed Older Adults Have Superior Visual Memories?
Authors: Lindell Annukka K.
Published: June 2023

On demanding visual memory tasks like the Rey Complex Figure Test and Recognition Trial (RCFT), left-handers often outperform right-handers and participants with mixed handedness. Left-handers’ apparent visual memory superiority develops during late childhood and early adolescence and is established by young adulthood. Though many studies have examined RCFT performance in older adults and found that visual memory deteriorates with age, investigations of the relationship between handedness and visual memory abilities in older adults have been scarce. In the present study I sought to determine whether a left-handed RCFT performance advantage would be evident among older adults. I examined RCFT and handedness data from 800 older adults (Females = 152, Males = 648; M age = 69.86, SD = 5.18 years; range 60–85 years), who took part in prior research (Whitehall II Phase 11 sub-study). Among these participants, handedness predicted both immediate and delayed RCFT recall, with left-handers outperforming both mixed- and right-handers and with performance unrelated to gender. The absence of a left-handed advantage for copy accuracy suggests that the effects observed for recall do not stem from differences in participants’ perceptual abilities and/or motor control. Instead, these data suggest that left-handers’ superior performances stem from their advantage for visual memory. As visual memory predicts both motor learning capacity and motor skill retention in older adults, these results have potentially important implications for rehabilitation efficacy.
PARTISANSHIP, REGULATION, AND VOLATILITY IN SOUTH KOREA'S HOUSING MARKET
Authors: Oh Youjin , Lee Changmin , Heo Inhye
Published: June 2023

South Korea's mortgage loan policy, which represents a regulatory policy for stabilizing the housing market, has changed significantly in accordance with changes in presidency and partisanship. Which partisan government's housing policy has been most effective in stabilizing the market? To answer this question, we discuss the different partisanships of Korea's conservative and progressive parties, their policy preferences, and the previous governments’ key housing policies. Thereafter, we concretize the research methodology and examine the housing volatility witnessed since 1987, using the Markov‐switching regression. The results reveal that the market was highly unstable when the progressive government actively promoted regulation in favor of “governmentalist” partisanship. Moreover, the policy was mostly effective in lowering apartment prices in Seoul, which was the regulation's primary target all along. Based on these findings, we conclude with some policy implications of the study. Given that governmentalist partisanship heightens volatility in the housing market, housing market policies should be designed to hedge the negative externalities of partisanship.
Use of Random Forest to Predict Intermediate Temperature SCB Jc Parameter of Long-Term Aged Asphalt Mixtures
Authors: Ma Ye , Liu Jun , Mohammad Louay N. , Cooper Samuel B. , Cooper Samuel B. , Duvvuru Mahesh Krishna Reddy
Published: June 2023

With the growing use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), recycled asphalt shingles (RAS), and other innovative additives in asphalt mixtures, there are concerns about the accuracy of Superpave volumetric-based mixture design. Performance tests in mix design procedures are needed to ensure desirable pavement performance. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) has adopted the semi-circular bend (SCB) critical strain energy release rate parameter, Jc, to evaluate the cracking resistance of asphalt mixtures. To address practical shortcomings, this study aims to develop a predictive model to estimate SCB Jc at intermediate temperature of long-term aged (LTA) asphalt specimens from volumetric properties of plant-produced asphalt mixtures, and rheological and chemical properties of unaged asphalt binder by using a machine-learning model, random forest. Asphalt mixture SCB test and asphalt binder rheological and chemical properties tests were conducted. Stepwise correlation analysis was used to determine the most influential variables to SCB Jc. Random forest model was optimized using grid search with hyperparameter combinations. Results show that the developed random forest model was able to predict the SCB Jc fracture parameter of asphalt mixtures and a good agreement was observed between predicted and measured SCB Jc values. Variable importance scores based on mean decrease in impurity (MDI) showed that the Δ Tc had the most influence on SCB Jc prediction accuracy, and other inputs such as coarse aggregate type, LTA days, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy test carbonyl index, and linear amplitude sweep test ALas also had significant effects on SCB Jc.
Bioactive Scaffold With Spatially Embedded Growth Factors Promotes Bone-to-Tendon Interface Healing of Chronic Rotator Cuff Tear in Rabbit Model
Authors: Han Jian , Han Sheng Chen , Kim Young Kyu , Tarafder Solaiman , Jeong Hun Jin , Jeong Hyeon Jang , Chung Ju Young , Lee Chang H. , Oh Joo Han
Published: June 2023

Background:

Functional restoration of the bone-to-tendon interface (BTI) after rotator cuff repair is a challenge. Therefore, numerous biocompatible biomaterials for promoting BTI healing have been investigated.

Purpose:

To determine the efficacy of scaffolds with spatiotemporal delivery of growth factors (GFs) to accelerate BTI healing after rotator cuff repair.

Study Design:

Controlled laboratory study.

Methods:

An advanced 3-dimensional printing technique was used to fabricate bioactive scaffolds with spatiotemporal delivery of multiple GFs targeting the tendon, fibrocartilage, and bone regions. In total, 50 rabbits were used: 2 nonoperated controls and 48 rabbits with induced chronic rotator cuff tears (RCTs). The animals with RCTs were divided into 3 groups: (A) saline injection, (B) scaffold without GF, and (C) scaffold with GF. To induce chronic models, RCTs were left unrepaired for 6 weeks; then, surgical repairs with or without bioactive scaffolds were performed. For groups B and C, each scaffold was implanted between the bony footprint and the supraspinatus tendon. Four weeks after repair, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence analyses were performed to evaluate early signs of regenerative healing. Histological, biomechanical, and micro–computed tomography analyses were performed 12 weeks after repair.

Results:

Group C had the highest mRNA expression of collagen type I alpha 1, collagen type III alpha 1, and aggrecan. Immunofluorescence analysis showed the formation of an aggrecan+/collagen II+fibrocartilaginous matrix at the BTI when repaired with scaffold with GFs. Histologic analysis revealed greater collagen fiber continuity, denser collagen fibers, and a more mature tendon-to-bone junction in GF-embedded scaffolds than those in the other groups. Group C demonstrated the highest load-to-failure ratio, and modulus mapping showed that the distribution of the micromechanical properties of the BTI repaired with GF-embedded scaffolds was comparable with that of the native BTI. Micro–computed tomography analysis identified the highest bone mineral density and bone volume/total volume ratio in group C.

Conclusion:

Bioactive scaffolds with spatially embedded GFs have significant potential to promote the BTI healing of chronic RCTs in a rabbit model.

Clinical Relevance:

The scaffolds with spatiotemporal delivery of GF may serve as an off-the-shelf biomaterial graft to promote the healing of RCTs.
Successful treatment of near-fatal asthma with ECMO: A case report and literature review
Authors: Xu Junxian , Tian Lijun , Han Xudong
Published: June 2023

Near-fatal asthma (NFA) can lead to severe hypercapnia and sudden cardiac arrest; however, it can be reversed by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). We report a case of a 37-year-old male diagnosed with NFA. After fluid rehydaration, spasmolysis, and treatment with glucocorticoid and mechanical ventilation, the patient’s condition improved temporarily. However, his condition worsened rapidly, and the patient presented with progressive respiratory distress, a sharp increase in airway pressure, decreased tidal volume, and barotrauma. The patient was treated with venovenous ECMO in the prone position. Five days later, the patient was successfully weaned from ECMO. Hence, ECMO could be used for NFA at the right time to provide adequate gas exchange for patients in order to reduce lung damage and prevent death.
Humean Nature
Authors: Carter Alan
Published: June 2023

It has been argued that there is an irreconcilable difference between those advocating animal liberation or animal rights, on the one hand, and those preferring a wider environmental ethic, which includes concern for non-sentient life-forms and species preservation, on the other. In contrast, I argue that it is possible to provide foundations for both seemingly environmentalist positions by exploring some of the potential of a ‘collective-projectivist’ reading of Hume – one that seems more consistent with Hume's texts than other readings. In short, this article seeks to advance our understanding of some of the possibilities within Humean moral theory, while simultaneously providing new foundations for both animal welfare and a wider environmental ethic.
The Naïve Argument against Moral Vegetarianism
Authors: Alward Peter
Published: June 2023

The naïve argument against moral vegetarianism claims that if it is wrong for us to eat meant then it is wrong for lions and tigers to do so as well. I argue that the fact that such carnivores lack higher order mental states and need meat to survive do suffice to undermine the naive argument.
Moral Pluralism and the Environment
Authors: Brennan Andrew
Published: June 2023

Cost-benefit analysis makes the assumption that everything from consumer goods to endangered species may in principle be given a value by which its worth can be compared with that of anything else, even though the actual measurement of such value may be difficult in practice. The assumption is shown to fail, even in simple cases, and the analysis to be incapable of taking into account the transformative value of new experiences. Several kinds of value are identified, by no means all commensurable with one another – a situation with which both economics and contemporary ethical theory must come to terms. A radical moral pluralism is recommended as in no way incompatible with the requirements of rationality, which allows that the business of living decently involves many kinds of principles and various sorts of responsibilities. In environmental ethics, pluralism offers the hope of reconciling various rival theories, even if none of them is universally applicable.
The Quality of Life: What Quality? Whose Life?
Authors: Tickell Crispin
Published: June 2023

As a consequence of industrialization, we face unprecedented pressures on the carrying capacity of the earth. Desertification, pollution and global climate changes can only increase these pressures, and will cause vast increases in the number of refugees and widespread risks to human health. Increasing inequalities between rich and poor nations are potential causes of conflict. Since the industrial countries are mainly responsible for our economic problems, they must give a lead in global arrangements to alleviate them. A major change in our habitual patterns of thought is essential, in which we reassess how we perceive values, and how we measure wealth and well-being. This must be accompanied by governmental action: on population numbers and the refugee problem; on the efficient use of energy; on new methods of land use, and on regulation of damaging industrial activities. To act in these ways, governments must reorganize their domestic policies and increase international co-operation.
Beasts versus the Biosphere?
Authors: Midgley Mary
Published: June 2023

Apparent clashes of interest between ‘deep ecologists’ and ‘animal liberationists’ can be understood as differences in emphasis rather than conflicts of principle, although it is only too easy for campaigners to regard as rivals good causes other than their own. Moral principles are part of a larger whole, within which they can be related, rather than absolute all-purpose rules of right conduct. This is illustrated using the practical dilemma which often occurs in conservation management, of whether or not to cull animals that are damaging their habitat by overgrazing. Here, and in general, when we are faced with a choice between two evils, the need for scrupulous discrimination and honesty cannot be overstated; but it is not a worthy option to retreat behind moral principles of limited application.
Sustainability, Human Welfare, and Ecosystem Health
Authors: Norton Bryan
Published: June 2023

Two types of sustainability definitions are contrasted. ‘Social scientific’ definitions, such as that of the Brundtland Commission, treat sustainability as a relationship between present and future welfare of persons. These definitions differ from ‘ecological’ ones which explicitly require protection of ecological processes as a condition on sustainability. ‘Scientific contextualism’ does not follow mainstream economists in their efforts to express all effects as interchangeable units of individual welfare; it rather strives to express sensitivity to different types and scales of impacts that present activities can exert on the future. We can therefore express the moral obligation to act sustainably as an obligation to protect the natural processes that form the context of human life and culture, emphasizing those large biotic and abiotic systems essential to human life, health, and flourishing culture. Ecosystems, which are understood as dynamic, self-organizing systems humans have evolved within, must remain ‘healthy’ if humans are to thrive. The ecological approach to sustainability therefore sets the protection of dynamic, creative systems in nature as its primary goal.
A Rhetorical Critique of ‘Nonmarket’ Economic Valuations for Natural Resources
Authors: Peterson Markus J. , Peterson Tarla Rai
Published: June 2023

Various ‘nonmarket’ economic valuation methods have been used to compute ‘total’ value of nonmarketed natural resources and related recreation. We first outline the history of these valuation techniques and use the Exxon Valdez disaster response and the valuation of whooping cranes, an endangered species, as examples of how these tools can constrain policy. We then explain how, by excluding non-economic social spheres, economic valuation techniques produce a terministic screen that deforms policy makers’ vision of the ecological problems faced by society. Using Luhmann's functionalist social theory, we demonstrate that when natural resource managers privilege economic motives, they trivialize other social functions such as education, politics, religion and law. This process presents a significant ethical dilemma for democracies by first naturalizing, then ethicizing, existing pattersns of domination.
Sustainable Development: Needs, Values, Rights
Authors: Redclift Michael
Published: June 2023

‘Sustainable development’ is analysed as a product of the Modernist tradition, in which social criticism and understanding are legitimized against a background of evolutionary theory, scientific specialization, and rapid economic growth. Within this tradition, sustainable development emphasizes the need to live within ecological limits, but allows the retention of an essentially optimistic idea of progress. However, the inherent contradictions in the concept of sustainable development may lead to rejection of the Modernist view in favour of a new vision of the world in which the authority of science and technology is questioned and more emphasis is placed on cultural diversity.
Ethics and Values in Environmental Policy: The Said and the UNCED
Authors: Craig Paul P. , Glasser Harold , Kempton Willett
Published: June 2023

While citizens often use non-instrumental arguments to support environmental protection, most governmental policies are justified by instrumental arguments. This paper explores some of the reasons. We interviewed senior policy advisors to four European governments active in global climate change negotiations and the UNCED (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development) process. In response to our questions, a majority of these advisors articulated deeply held personal environmental values. They told us that they normally keep these values separate from their professional environmental policy activities. We interpret these findings within the context of the literature on environmental ethics and values. We suggest that environmental policy could be improved if widely held environmental values were articulated, validated, and admitted into the process of policy analysis and deliberation.
Environmental Literacy and Educational Ideal
Authors: Brennan Andrew
Published: June 2023

Environmental literacy is not encouraged by discipline-based education. Discipline-based education is damaging not only because it breaks the link between experience and theory but also because it encourages learners to believe that complex practical problems can be solved using the resources of just one or two specialist disciplines or frameworks of thought. It is argued that discipline-based education has been extremely successful, and its very success is a factor which explains some of our poor thinking about environmental problems. These problems are highly complex, and it is important for learners to discover the limitations of particular frameworks of thought and disciplinary approaches. This is particularly important in the case of economics. An education which emphasises the limitations of specialist approaches to complex problems can also be used to help overcome the depersonalising effect of bureaucracies.
Corporate Reporting for Sustainable Development: Accounting for Sustainability in 2000AD1
Authors: Gray R.H.
Published: June 2023

The paper is principally concerned with (a) outlining the range of possibilities that exist for organisations which wish to undertake environmental and sustainability reporting and (b) suggesting particular approaches as the more desirable. But the paper also attempts to show that there is an important difference between environmental reporting and reporting for sustainability, and that, so far, efforts to encourage organisations to voluntarily undertake either have not been successful. Environmental reporting is business-centred and there are a number of practicable ways in which it can be undertaken. The most notable of these are the UN CTC approach to financial environmental reporting plus the Compliance-with-Standard Report. Reporting for sustainability is life-centred and, whatever method we adopt it is likely to show that western organisations are not currently sustainable. The concept of sustainability is widely underestimated and misused in business and political circles. This is explored and the real meaning of sustainability operationalised. Environmental reporting and sustainability reporting are shown to be essential and practicable. It is argued, however, that there is little or no prospect of widespread, systematic reporting by corporations without a major regulatory initiative.
Citizens, Consumers and the Environment: Reflections on The Economy of the Earth1
Authors: Keat Russell
Published: June 2023

This paper presents a critical evaluation of Mark Sagoff's critique of economistic approaches to environmental decision-making in The Economy of the Earth. Whilst endorsing many of Sagoff's specific arguments against the use of extended versions of cost-benefit analysis in making such decisions, it criticises the conceptual framework within which these arguments are developed. In particular, it suggests that what Sagoff represents as a tension between consumers and their public roles as citizens is better understood as one between culturally shared values concerning both the protection of nature and the pursuit of consumption; and that this conflict has itself to be resolved by them as citizens.
Economists’ Preferences and the Preferences of Economists
Authors: Norton Bryan G.
Published: June 2023

Economists, who adopt the principle of consumer sovereignty, treat preferences as unquestioned for the purposes of their analysis. They also represent preferences for future outcomes as having value in the present. It is shown that these two characteristics of neoclassical modelling rest on similar reasoning and are essential to achieve high aggregatability of preferences and values. But the meaning and broader implications of these characteristics vary according to the arguments given to support these methodological choices. The resulting ambiguities raise questions regarding economists’ attitudes towards the study (by other disciplines) of preference formation and reformation. Under a strong, positivist interpretation (which is philosophically problematic), consumer sovereignty represents a rejection of any meaningful study of these subjects; under a weaker, methodological understanding, consumer sovereignty merely draws a boundary between economics and other disciplines. The weaker version is argued to be more defensible, and economists are urged to engage in interdisciplinary work that will clarify how preferences are formed, criticised and reformed.
Towards Global Environmental Values: Lessons from Western and Eastern Experience.1
Authors: Sarre Philip
Published: June 2023

The paper argues that new environmental values are needed as the advanced industrial economy becomes global. Reviewing a range of values from hunter-gatherer, agricultural and industrial societies, the paper suggests that environmental value systems should ideally satisfy three criteria. They should be consistent with scientific understanding of natural systems, they should lead to practical ethical and political proposals and, crucially, they should inspire aesthetic responses of pleasure and awe.

Current global value systems fall short of this ideal: Gaia has the potential to combine science and awe, but lacks humane decision criteria, while sustainable development is pragmatic but environmentally minimalist and lacks aesthetic inspiration. The short term need is to integrate different strands of current positions as Hinduism combined pre-existing views. A sequence of priorities is suggested: eliminating irreversible environmental change; stabilising population change through more equitable trade; and reconsidering the boundaries, practical and aesthetic, between society and nature.
Balancing Hydropower and Environmental Values: The Resource Management Implications of the US Electric Consumers Protection Act and the AWARE™ Software
Authors: Bartholow John M. , Douglas Aaron J. , Taylor Jonathan G.
Published: June 2023

This paper reviews the AWARE™ software distributed by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). The program is designed to facilitate the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license renewal process for US hydropower installations. The discussion reviews the regulatory, legal, and social contexts that give rise to the creation and distribution of AWARE™. The principal legal impetus for AWARE™ is the Electric Consumer Protection Act (ECPA) of 1986 that directs FERC to give equal consideration to power and non-power resources during relicensing. The software is reviewed in this paper from several perspectives including those of natural resource economics, systems modeling, and the social context within which FERC licensing decisions are made. We examine both the software and its underlying methodology and find significant problems with each. Because of its flaws, AWARE™ does little to further ECPA's equal consideration requirement. We find that the conservation and restoration impact of ECPA for US fisheries could be seriously hampered by the widespread use of AWARE™.
Radiation Protection and Moral Theory
Authors: Sumner David , Gilmour Peter
Published: June 2023

It seems likely that there is no threshold for the induction of cancer by ionising radiation. Hence even small radiation doses may result in a finite number of premature deaths if a large number of people are exposed. Various arguments are used to demonstrate that such deaths, if they occur, are acceptable; these arguments are shown to be flawed. Many of the arguments, and the ICRP's principle of justification, appear rooted in a utilitarian system of moral philosophy. Such a system is superficially attractive as it appears objective and rational; however, the objectivity may be an illusion masking the underlying aims of the interested parties.
The Value of Ecosystem Health1
Authors: Callicott J. Baird
Published: June 2023

The concept of ecosystem health is problematic. Do ecosystems as such exist? Is health an objective condition of organisms or is it socially constructed? Can ‘health’ be unequivocally predicated of ecosystems? Is ecosystem health both objective and valuative? Are ecosystem health and biological integrity identical? How do these concepts interface with the concept of biodiversity?

Ecosystems exist, although they are turning out to be nested sets of linked process-functions with temporal boundaries, not tangible superorganisms with spatial boundaries. Ecosystem health – or normal occurrence of ecological processes and functions – is an objective condition of ecosystems, although the concept of ecosystem health allows some room for personal and social determination or construction. Ecosystem health is prudentially, aesthetically, and intrinsically valuable, although the value of ecosystem health is subjectively conferred. Biodiversity and biological integrity are different from, but not unrelated to, ecosystem health. Together these three normative concepts represent complementary conservation goals.
Health and Disease as ‘Thick’ Concepts in Ecosystemic Contexts
Authors: Nelson James Lindemann
Published: June 2023

In this paper, I consider what kind of normative work might be done by speaking of ecosystems utilising a ‘medical’ vocabulary – drawing, that is, on such notions as ‘health’, ‘disease’, and ‘illness’. Some writers attracted to this mode of expression have been rather modest about what they think it might purchase. I wish to be bolder. Drawing on the idea of ‘thick’ evaluative concepts as discussed by McDowell, Williams and Taylor, and resorting to a phenomenological argument for a kind of moral realism, I argue that the project of developing a robust understanding of the moral significance of recognising the health or illness of ecosystems is definitely a starter.
Two Distinctions in Environmental Goodness
Authors: Green Karen
Published: June 2023

In her paper, ‘Two distinctions in goodness’, Korsgaard points out that while a contrast is often drawn between intrinsic and instrumental value there are really two distinctions to be drawn here. One is the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic value, the other is that between having value as an end and having value as a means. In this paper I apply this contrast to some issues in environmental philosophy. It has become a commonplace of environmentalism that there are intrinsic values in nature. What is usually meant by this is that some values in nature are not merely instrumental to human ends. By using the notion of intrinsic value to express this philosophers have developed positions which are open to a number of meta-ethical and practical objections. The view that there are objective values in nature, which are independent of human interests, is better served by an environmental philosophy which sees most value in nature as objective, extrinsic value. The resulting environmental ethic is sketched and some apparent difficulties discussed.
The Emperor has no Clothes … Let us Paint our Loincloths Rainbow: A Classical and Feminist Critique of Contemporary Science Policy
Authors: Mcintosh Alastair
Published: June 2023

The British government's White Paper on science together with government research council reports are used as a basis for critiquing current science policy and its intensifying orientation, British and worldwide, towards industrial and military development. The critique draws particulary on Plato and Bacon as yardsticks to address who science is for, what values it honours and where current policy departs from imperatives of socio-ecological justice. Metaphors of the ‘Emperor's new clothes’ and incremental spectral shift in attitude help illuminate both the problems and ways forward. The paper calls for a re-integration of classical perspectives with added insights, often ecofeminist, from philosophy, poetics and a theology of reverence. Predication on the values of love, interconnectedness and orientation towards childrens’ all-round development should be central to curricular reform. Consistent with the views of Plato, the original founder of the Academy, the utilitarian role of science ought to be balanced with a contemplative role of science as the art of knowing ourselves in relation to nature. Only with such a holistic academic approach can it adequately rise to providing a pedagogy of authentic human development, service to the poor and remedies, rather than contribution, to the ongoing destruction of nature.
The Isle of Harris Superquarry: Concepts of the Environment and Sustainability
Authors: Barton Harry
Published: June 2023

In 1991 Redland Aggregates Ltd. put forward a proposal to embark upon the largest mining project in Europe, the chosen location being the remote island of Harris and Lewis in the Western Isles of Scotland. The proposal sparked off an impassioned debate between planners, conservationists and developers, while the local residents have attempted to come to terms with an operation on a scale previously inconceivable on the island.

This paper attempts to examine the proposed development from a sociological angle – it is less concerned with justifying or condemning the project on economic or political grounds and more with analysing the roots of the various viewpoints held by those involved, willingly or unwillingly, in the debate. From this analysis arise implications regarding different perspectives on the environment and different interpretations of the term sustainable. It is argued that these diverse perceptions are grounded in different interpretations of the environment, shaped by the cultural and historical context within which the groups or individuals that hold these views exist and interact. Ultimately, the paper makes a plea for a wider recognition of the diversity of meanings and interpretations implied by the term ‘environment’, a broader definition of the term ‘development’, and an expansion of the concept of sustainability to incorporate the variety of situations and perceived needs of different cultures.
Ecocentrism and Persons
Authors: Baxter Brian H.
Published: June 2023

Ecocentrism has to establish an intrinsic connection between its basic value postulate of the non-instrumental value of the nonhuman world and a conception of human flourishing, on pain of failure to motivate acceptance of its social and political prescriptions. This paper explores some ideas recently canvassed by ecocentrists such as Robyn Eckersley, designed to establish this connection – transpersonal ecology, autopoietic value theory and ecofeminism – and finds them open to objection. An alternative approach is developed which concentrates on the connection between non-human nature and person-hood, via the phenomenon of culture. Persons are conceived of as essentially culture-creators, and the fact of their embodiment in ecosystems is argued to be essential to their activities as culture creators. The variety and integrity of such systems thus turns out to be essential for the flourishing of what is essential to personhood. This means that ecocentrism has to be abandoned in its pure form, and replaced with person-centrism, but this conclusion is argued for on the basis of the extension of the concept of the self – a strategy often endorsed by ecocentrists themselves.
Landscape and the Metaphysical Imagination
Authors: Hepburn Ronald W.
Published: June 2023

Aesthetic appreciation of landscape is by no means limited to the sensuous enjoyment of sights and sounds. It very often has a reflective, cognitive element as well. This sometimes incorporates scientific knowledge, e.g., geological or ecological; but it can also manifest what this article will call ‘metaphysical imagination’, which sees or seems to see in a landscape some indication, some disclosure of how the world ultimately is. The article explores and critically appraises this concept of metaphysical imagination, and some of the roles it can play in our aesthetic encounters.
Approaches to Conserving Vulnerable Wildlife in China: Does the Colour of Cat Matter – if it Catches Mice?
Authors: Harris Richard B.
Published: June 2023

China's environmental problems are well known, but recently its record in the area of wildlife conservation, particularly with regard to endangered species, has come under scrutiny. Environmental values colour how we in the West view both China's past experience with wildlife and what strategies it should adopt to foster better conservation. Chinese have long taken a utilitarian view of wildlife, valuing species primarily as resources for man's use and only secondarily for other reasons. However, China has not developed institutions capable of sustaining the desired use of wildlife in the face of ever-growing demands. I suggest that Western criticisms of Chinese utilitarian attitudes are inappropriate, ineffective, and possibly counter-productive: deep-seated cultural mores change slowly. Instead, Westerners concerned with the fate of China's wildlife should assist the development of systems that act to channel demand for wildlife's material benefits toward investment in conservation. Such systems will likely require devolution of considerable control to local levels, strengthening incentives to favour long- over short-term benefits, and – notwithstanding common Western attitudes – substantial consumptive use of wildlife.
A Political-Ecology Approach to Wildlife Conservation in Kenya
Authors: Akama John S. , Lant Christopher L. , Burnett G. Wesley
Published: June 2023

Kenya has one of the highest remaining concentrations of tropical savanna wildlife in the world. It has been recognised by the state and international community as a ‘unique world heritage’ which should be preserved for posterity. However, the wildlife conservation efforts of the Kenya government confront complex and often persistent social and ecological problems, including land-use conflicts between the local people and wildlife, local people's suspicions and hostilities toward state policies of wildlife conservation, and accelerated destruction of wildlife habitats.

This essay uses a political-ecological framework in the analysis of the social factors of wildlife conservation in Kenya. It postulates that the overriding socio-economic issue impacting wildlife conservation in Kenya is underdevelopment. The problem of underdevelopment is manifested in forms of increasing levels of poverty, famine and malnutrition. The long term survival of Kenya's wildlife depends on social and ecological solutions to the problems of underdevelopment.
Reconciliation Reaffirmed: A Reply to Steverson
Authors: Sterba James P.
Published: June 2023

In this reply to Brian Steverson's objections to my reconciliationist argument, I have clarified the requirements that follow from my principles of environmental justice. I have also clarified the notion of intrinsic value that I am endorsing and the grounds on which my claim of greater intrinsic value for humans rests.
Plural Values and Environmental Valuation
Authors: Beckerman Wilfred , Pasek Joanna
Published: June 2023

The paper discusses some of the criticisms of contingent valuation (CV) and allied techniques for estimating the intensity of peoples’ preferences for the environment. The weakness of orthodox utilitarian assumptions in economics concerning the commensurability of all items entering into peoples’ choices is discussed. The concept of commensurability is explored as is the problem of rational choice between incommensurate alternatives. While the frequent claim that the environment has some unique moral intrinsic value is unsustainable, its preservation often raises ethical and other motivations that are not commensurate with the values that people place on ordinary marketable goods. Nevertheless, CV is also claimed to have some advantages and it is concluded that little progress will be made in this area until both sides in the debate recognise what is valid in their opponents’ arguments.
Democratising Nature? The Political Morality of Wilderness Preservationists
Authors: Mason Michael
Published: June 2023

Deep ecological appeals for wilderness preservation commonly conjoin arguments for participatory land use decision-making with their central championing of natural areas protection. As an articulation of the normative meaning of participatory democracy, the discourse ethics advanced by Jürgen Habermas is employed to highlight the consistency and justifiability of this dual claim. I argue that Habermasian moral theory reveals a key tension between, on the one hand, an ethical commitment to wilderness preservation informed by deep ecological and bioregional principles that is oriented to a naturalistic value order and, on the other, the procedural norms of democratic participation. It is claimed that discourse ethics thereby raises critical philosophical and practical questions concerning the political legitimacy of deep ecology. In examining the progressive claims of environmental philosophers and wilderness activists embracing this perspective, I draw empirically upon Canadian arguments for natural areas protection and associated radical prescriptions for a democratisation of land use decision-making.
Environmental Egalitarianism and ‘Who do you Save?’ Dilemmas
Authors: Michael Mark A.
Published: June 2023

Some critics have understood environmental egalitarianism to imply that human and animal lives are generally equal in value, so that killing a human is no more objectionable than killing a dog. This charge should be troubling for anyone with egalitarian sympathies. I argue that one can distinguish two distinct versions of equality, one based on the idea of equal treatment, the other on the idea of equally valuable lives. I look at a lifeboat case where one must choose between saving a human and saving a dog, and using the work of Peter Singer and Tom Regan, I show why equality understood as equal treatment does not entail that lifeboat cases are moral toss-ups. But the view that all lives are equally valuable does entail this, and so egalitarians should reject this alternative account of equality. The upshot is that egalitarians need to be more careful about distinguishing between these two versions of equality. The failure to insist on this distinction has led many to believe that egalitarianism generally has counter-intuitive implications when in fact only one version of egalitarianism has this problem.
From a ‘Sociology of Nature’ to Environmental Sociology: Beyond Social Construction1
Authors: Woodgate Graham , Redclift Michael
Published: June 2023

This paper aims to provide some theoretical starting points for constructing a social science approach to environmental issues which goes beyond narrower forms of constructivism without dismissing the importance of interpretative sociology. An ecological understanding of society is compared with the notion of structuration and integrated into the concept of coevolution in order to shed light on the dynamic nature of socioenvironmental relations and move beyond the constructivist/realist dualism.
Worldliness and Respect for Nature: An Ecological Application of Hannah Arendt's Conception of Culture
Authors: Whiteside Kerry H.
Published: June 2023

Arendt's conception of culture could supersede claims that nature's intrinsic value or human interests best ground environmental ethics. Fusing ancient Greek notions of non-instrumental value and Roman concerns for cultivating and preserving worldly surroundings, culture supplies an ethic for the treatment of nonhuman things. Unlike a system of philosophical propositions, an Arendtian ecology could only arise in public deliberation, since culture's qualitative judgements are intrinsically linked to processes of political persuasion.
Animal Liberation is an Environmental Ethic
Authors: Jamieson Dale
Published: June 2023

I begin by briefly tracing the history of the split between environmental ethics and animal liberation, go on to sketch a theory of value that I think is implicit in animal liberation, and explain how this theory is consistent with strong environmental commitments. I conclude with some observations about problems that remain.
Biotechnology and Transgenics in Agriculture and Aquaculture: The Perspective from Ecosystem Integrity
Authors: Westra Laura
Published: June 2023

New agricultural technologies are often justified morally in terms of their expected benefits, e.g., feeding the world's hungry. Such justifications stand or fall, not only on whether such benefits are indeed forthcoming, but on whether or not they are outweighed by attendant dangers. The practical details of easch case are, therefore, all-important. In this paper agriculture and aquaculture are examined from the perspective of ecosystem integrity, and with further reference to the uncertain effects of anthropogenic changes in the earth's atmosphere. The principle of integrity provides a strong justification for a cautious approach to new technologies, and particularly so in the case of transgenics.