A book committed to the ecosocial crisis: a holistic analysis for a sustainable future
Published by University of Barcelona Editions, the collective work Cambio global. Crisis ecosocial y perspectivas futuras presents, with pedagogical sensitivity, an updated synthesis of the changes in the natural system and the actions needed to reverse the ecosocial crisis.
Published by University of Barcelona Editions, the collective work Cambio global. Crisis ecosocial y perspectivas futuras presents, with pedagogical sensitivity, an updated synthesis of the changes in the natural system and the actions needed to reverse the ecosocial crisis.
“Global change encompasses a wide range of interrelated issues, including the growing impact of human activities on the rest of nature”, say Marc Oliva, Jordi Martín-Díaz, Carles Barriocanal, Juan Ignacio López-Moreno and Josep Bonsoms (editors) in the preface to Cambio global. Crisis ecosocial y perspectivas futuras. Aimed at a heterogeneous public, the book analyses the keys to understanding and tackling the rapid transformations of the world in which we live: from climate challenges to the challenges imposed on a planetary scale by problems such as the loss of biodiversity, the scarcity of resources and accelerated urbanization.
With an integrative and transversal vision that goes beyond the hegemonic discourse, more than sixty experts committed to some main aspects of global change analyse recent socio-economic alterations and their effects on the natural environment. With the aim of analysing the growing interconnection of human and physical transformations, as well as the perspectives that must guide the construction of a sustainable and equitable future, the book is divided into five blocks: “Introducción al cambio global” (Introduction to global change), “Cambios en el sistema Tierra” (Changes in the Earth system), “Dinámica socioecológica en un mundo cambiante” (Socio-ecological dynamics in a changing world), “La geografía del cambio global” (The geography of global change) and “Estrategias futuras frente al cambio global” (Future strategies in the face of global change).
This is the first title in the Canvi Globalcollection, which seeks to encourage reflection and analysis of the complex reality of today's world, characterized by the speed and depth of social and natural transformations. From multiple perspectives, and focusing on regional and global manifestations on different time scales, the books in the collection are born from research and academic study. They are aimed, based on rigour and clarity, at a public interested in understanding these processes and their interactions. In addition to this edition in Spanish, the book will also be published in Catalan and English in the coming months.
Marc Oliva, one of the editors of the book, is a professor of Geography at the University of Barcelona and coordinates the Antarctic, Arctic and Alpine Environments (ANTALP) research group. Oliva has led recent research that has made it possible to reconstruct the climate of the Iberian Peninsula over the last 700 years: its relationship with extreme climatic phenomena and their impact on human and natural ecosystems has been highlighted. He has also participated in studies on the accelerated melting of Greenland and the critical role of glaciers as indicators of global climate change. He is also currently leading research studies in Antarctic environments, where glaciers and scientific bases are a natural laboratory for understanding past and present climate dynamics.
Jordi Martín-Díaz is also a lecturer in Geography at the UB and a member of the ANTALP research group. His teaching responsibilities and lines of research include the management of the ecological crisis and the evolution of environmental awareness over the last decades. His work focuses on the management of the ecological crisis and the evolution of environmental awareness over the last decades, and contributes to establishing a connection between human patterns and environmental transformation, providing essential insights for the analysis of global change.
Carles Barriocanal is also a lecturer of Geography at the UB and a member of the Mediterranean Environmental Research Group (GRAM). His research interests focus on biodiversity conservation and the effects of climate change on organisms in Mediterranean ecosystems and neotropical forests.
Juan Ignacio López-Moreno is a researcher at the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). His research interests focus on the impacts of global change on high mountain landscapes and hydrology, especially on snow and glaciers. The Pyrenees are his main area of study, although he works regularly in the Andes and in polar areas.
Finally, Josep Bonsoms is a researcher in Geography at the UB and a member of the ANTALP research group. His studies focus mainly on the effects of climate change on the snowpack and hydrological processes, mainly in the Pyrenees and in polar areas.