For the past five-hundred million years greenhouse gases have fluctuated between 260 and 280 parts per million (ppm). Today, however, they are nearing 400ppm CO2, which is roughly 30 percent higher than previous peaks in volume during interglacial periods. This has led even the World Bank to recently warn that if present trends continue temperatures could rise as much as 6-degress Celsius before the turn of the century, much higher than the generally accepted “safe zone” of 2-degress. From food and water shortages, the destruction of fertile lands, shifts in weather patterns, species extinction and dramatically accelerated glacier melting, environmental crises are intersecting in myriad non-linear and cascading ways.
This special issue of Alternate Routes is seeking papers that address but are not limited to: In what ways have issues related to environmental degradation taken a backseat to a narrow focus on the “economy” in light of the Great Recession? On what facts do climate change denialists base their claims? How does capitalism limit the space available for substantive environmental reforms? And what are the social, political, cultural and economic consequences of environmental inaction?
Additional topics may include: ongoing theoretical debates; increasing ocean acidity; species decline; rising carbon emissions; more intense natural disasters; deforestation; desertification; resources extraction; poverty; environmental migration and displacement; “overpopulation”; economy and ecology; the weakening of international and national environmental laws and protections; alternative technologies (e.g. solar, tidal, wind, biofuels); food and water security; lobbying efforts by oil and multi-national companies to counter climate science; alternatives to (neoliberal) capitalism; social justice activism and the prospects for change.
Submissions must be received no later than May 31, 2013. In addition to your paper, please include an abstract no longer than 300-words and short biography. We strongly encourage interested writers to visit www.alternateroutes.ca for author guidelines and additional information. Submissions must be sent directly to firstname.lastname@example.org. Publication decisions will be made within 4 to 6 weeks of the submission deadline.
For all other inquires, please see www.alternateroutes.ca or send an email to the email@example.com
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