Widespread Environmental Degradation Research Articles

Identifying leverage points using material flow analysis to circularise resources from urban wastewater and organic waste

Anthropogenic systems are synonymous with linear economies that cause widespread resource waste and environmental degradation. Urban areas are hotspots for this behaviour due to their high population density and resource consumption. Changing this situation is limited by the lack of a holistic but sufficiently detailed understanding of system units where resource waste occurs. The objectives of this study were: (1) to develop and apply a model of the material and substance (nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon) flows of organic waste and wastewater systems at a local scale, taking Christchurch, New Zealand, as a study case, and (2) to identify leverage points within the system to achieve resource circularisation. Results show that groundwater, infiltrated water, and industrial wastewater are the predominant material flows into the system. Nitrogen and phosphorus inputs predominantly come from food products, detergents, green waste, and industrial wastewater. The Christchurch wastewater system is a prime example of a linear economy, where ∼66 % of the nitrogen and ∼63 % of the phosphorus entering the wastewater system is discharged to the ocean. Leakage from the water supply system reduces water resource efficiency, while water infiltration into the wastewater network inflates the quantity of wastewater treated at the centralised treatment plant, limiting nutrient recovery. In the compost facility, 86 % of the waste is composted, with 33% of the nitrogen and all the phosphorus exiting as compost, while ∼66 % of the nitrogen treated exits through volatilisation. The remaining 14 % of the organic waste entering the treatment plant is deemed unsuitable for composting and is landfilled. The material and substance flow analysis allowed the identification of flows with leverage points in the system where there are opportunities to reduce, reuse, or recover materials and substances to encourage circularisation. These flows include food products, detergents, unsuitable materials for composting, domestic water supply leakages, wastewater network infiltration, and wastewater treatment plant's nutrient recovery.

From conflict to collaboration through inclusive landscape governance: Evidence from a contested landscape in Ghana

The Western Wildlife Corridor (WWC) in Ghana’s Northern Savannah ecological zone is a contested landscape where efforts to reverse widespread environmental degradation often conflict with local livelihood concerns and broader development objectives. Despite policy measures to devolve natural resource decision-making authority, poor environmental management, persistent socioeconomic challenges, and increasingly limited livelihood opportunities for people living within the corridor prevail. This study investigates environmental degradation in the WWC and natural resource governance using information on stakeholder perceptions from stakeholder workshops, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. We also explore how natural resource management might be strengthened to better deliver social, economic, and environmental goals. We found that despite a history of contestation, stakeholders were able to agree upon specific issues of common concern and generate a collaborative vision for the WWC landscape. Transitioning toward such a vision requires significant investment in strengthening current governance structures and building natural resource management capacity within the corridor and beyond. Furthermore, persistent challenges of conflicting stakeholder objectives and issues related to coordination, corruption, and non-inclusion in decision-making about natural resources must be addressed to advance progress. Stakeholders were able to formulate specific recommendations and a participatory theory of change to inform the development of a sustainable landscape management plan and future evidence-based policy that could steer the WWC toward a more resilient and multifunctional system that equitably supports livelihoods, biodiversity, and wider economic development. The methods for inclusive engagement in environmental decision-making are extrapolatable to other contexts facing similar social-environmental challenges.

Environmental Racism in Nigeria’s Niger Delta: An Ethical Appraisal

Nigeria’s Niger Delta is plagued by serious environmental problems. These environmental problems include oil spillage, pollution, deforestation, biodiversity destruction, and so forth. Many of the environmental problems in the Niger Delta arise from the anthropogenic activities of multinational oil companies. While these environmental problems, which have caused widespread environmental degradation, are well discussed in light of environmental justice, the reality—that these problems are also precipitated by environmental racist attitudes and practices—is not receiving just attention. This article argues that the environmental problems in the Niger Delta should be seen from the perspective of environmental racism. Through critical hermeneutics and analytic methods, the article shows that what is taking place in the Niger Delta can be called environmental racism. The Niger Delta peoples and cultures have disproportionately suffered from the burden and effects of oil exploration and exploitation activities. Many practices taking place in the Niger Delta, such as gas flaring, use of obsolete oil equipment, and so forth, will not be tolerated in Western countries where the headquarters of multinational oil companies are located. The article finds that unacceptable levels of environmental racism are taking place in the Niger Delta. The article concludes that there is a need to promote environmental justice and mitigate the environmental problems in the Niger Delta.

Biodegradation of chlorpyrifos by charcoal–alginate immobilized bacterial consortium isolated from pesticide-polluted Kuzhikandam Creek, Kerala, India

Chlorpyrifos, one of the most frequent organophosphorus pesticides, has been linked to major health problems and widespread environmental degradation. It is imperative to remove this herbicide from its point source of contamination since the risk of their off-site migration poses a health concern to non-target organisms. The objective of the present study was to investigate the biodegradation of chlorpyrifos 20% emulsifiable concentration (EC) utilizing a consortium of bacteria that had previously been isolated from a pesticide-contaminated site and are chlorpyrifos tolerant (S27I and S28I). Free cells and immobilized cells with chlorpyrifos as the only carbon source were used to analyze the biodegradation. Charcoal–alginate and kaolin–alginate were the immobilization matrices employed in the investigation. By using gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometer analysis, the degradation of chlorpyrifos was investigated. When compared to free cells, immobilized bacterial isolates showed the greatest amount of biodegradation in the investigation. Consortium (C1) among the isolates degraded chlorpyrifos most quickly compared to S27I and S28I. The study also examined the toxicity of chlorpyrifos at doses of 10, 25, 50, 75, and 100 ppm on the green gram seeds’ morphological parameters. Increased chlorpyrifos concentrations resulted in appreciable variations in the germination percentage, shoot length, and root length. The green gram germination study was used to evaluate the detoxification of chlorpyrifos following its breakdown.

A Comprehensive Analysis of Marine Life Pollution Using Machine Learning Techniques on historical shipping Pollutants data

Oil spills significantly threaten marine and coastal ecosystems, resulting in devastating ecological and economic consequences. The current research highlights the key aspects surrounding oil spills, including their causes, environmental impacts, and mitigation strategies. Oil spills, resulting from accidents during offshore drilling, transportation, or natural seepage, pose severe ecological and societal challenges. These incidents release vast quantities of oil into marine ecosystems, leading to widespread environmental degradation. The impact of oil spills is influenced by factors such as spill volume, oil type, environmental conditions, and response effectiveness. Ecologically, oil spills harm marine life through toxic effects, habitat destruction, and interference with reproductive cycles. Birds, marine mammals, fish, and shoreline organisms suffer from oil exposure, leading to long-term population declines. The economic consequences are significant, affecting fishers, tourism, and coastal industries. The clean-up process involves mechanical removal, chemical dispersants, and controlled burns, each with its environmental trade-offs. Oil spill assessment methods encompass satellite monitoring, modeling, and ecological surveys to estimate damages and aid restoration efforts. Prevention measures include stricter regulations, technological advancements, and industry best practices. Public awareness and international cooperation are vital for enhancing spill preparedness and response. In the paper, oil spills continue to challenge environmental sustainability and economic stability. Addressing their multifaceted impacts demands an integrated approach involving mitigation, rigorous assessment, and global collaboration to prevent future disasters and safeguard our oceans and coastlines. An expansive dataset gathered from Queensland, Australia, incorporating intricate information about ships, regions, longitudes, latitudes, and pollutants, the study markedly advances the capability to identify oceanic oil spills and enhances our understanding of the resulting impact on marine life. In that, algorithms are used of machine learning techniques such as SVC and LogisticRegression. In the course of the study, machine learning techniques are applied, featuring algorithms like Support Vector Classification (SVC) and Logistic Regression. These algorithms play a crucial role in the analysis, contributing to the extraction of valuable insights from the dataset. Keywords: Bilge, Diesel, Hydraulic Oil, Types of Ship, Machine learning algorithms

Analysis of the Heat Exchanger Energy Efficiency of Variable Cross Section with an Inhomogeneous Coolant

Abstract One of the main priorities in the modern thermal power engineering development is the problem of energy saving due to the economical use of fuel and energy reserves. Increasing energy consumption with a simultaneous increase in energy prices and widespread environmental degradation necessitates the development and implementation of energy efficient technologies to save fuel, materials and labour costs. The object of study is tubular heat exchangers of variable cross section, which are widely used in steam generators of nuclear power plants, gas turbines and transport plants. Scale deposit properties and the composition of the heat coolant were studied, and their influence on the energy efficiency of heat exchangers was analysed. To study the scale deposits and coolant influence on the energy efficiency of heat exchangers, their properties were examined using an atomic emission analysis with the help of a TESCAN electron microscope. The principles of implementing technologies aimed at intensifying heat transfer, reducing hydraulic and heat losses in heat exchangers were formulated.

The LANDSUPPORT geospatial decision support system (S‐DSS) vision: Operational tools to implement sustainability policies in land planning and management

AbstractNowadays, there is contrasting evidence between the ongoing continuing and widespread environmental degradation and the many means to implement environmental sustainability actions starting from good policies (e.g. EU New Green Deal, CAP), powerful technologies (e.g. new satellites, drones, IoT sensors), large databases and large stakeholder engagement (e.g. EIP‐AGRI, living labs). Here, we argue that to tackle the above contrasting issues dealing with land degradation, it is very much required to develop and use friendly and freely available web‐based operational tools to support both the implementation of environmental and agriculture policies and enable to take positive environmental sustainability actions by all stakeholders. Our solution is the S‐DSS LANDSUPPORT platform, consisting of a free web‐based smart Geospatial CyberInfrastructure containing 15 macro‐tools (and more than 100 elementary tools), co‐designed with different types of stakeholders and their different needs, dealing with sustainability in agriculture, forestry and spatial planning. LANDSUPPORT condenses many features into one system, the main ones of which were (i) Web‐GIS facilities, connection with (ii) satellite data, (iii) Earth Critical Zone data and (iv) climate datasets including climate change and weather forecast data, (v) data cube technology enabling us to read/write when dealing with very large datasets (e.g. daily climatic data obtained in real time for any region in Europe), (vi) a large set of static and dynamic modelling engines (e.g. crop growth, water balance, rural integrity, etc.) allowing uncertainty analysis and what if modelling and (vii) HPC (both CPU and GPU) to run simulation modelling ‘on‐the‐fly’ in real time. Two case studies (a third case is reported in the Supplementary materials), with their results and stats, covering different regions and spatial extents and using three distinct operational tools all connected to lower land degradation processes (Crop growth, Machine Learning Forest Simulator and GeOC), are featured in this paper to highlight the platform's functioning. Landsupport is used by a large community of stakeholders and will remain operational, open and free long after the project ends. This position is rooted in the evidence showing that we need to leave these tools as open as possible and engage as much as possible with a large community of users to protect soils and land.

Upscaling the remediation of acidic landscapes – the coastal floodplain prioritisation method

Over 24 million hectares of the world's coastal floodplains are underlain by acid sulfate soils (ASS). Drainage of these sediments has led to widespread environmental degradation, raising serious health concerns. To date, onsite rehabilitation has been complicated by differing stakeholder priorities, with resources often allocated to sites with more vocal proponents rather than those exposed to more significant environmental impacts. To address this issue, this paper introduces the Coastal Floodplain Prioritisation (CFP) Method; a novel, data driven and spatially explicit multi-criteria assessment that ranks floodplain catchment areas according to their risk of transferring acidic drainage waters to an estuary. Results can be used to prioritise where remediation actions are likely to have the greatest benefit. The method was applied across six different estuaries in south-east Australia, with major field campaigns undertaken at each site. Within each estuary, the largest acid fluxes and impacts are identified with relevant mitigation measures provided. On a catchment scale, the results reflect the broader hydrogeomorphic characteristics of each estuary, including the historic acid formation conditions and recent anthropogenic drainage activities. Low-lying backswamps were identified as the highest risk zones within each estuary. These areas are also the most vulnerable to sea level rise. Reinstatement of tidal inundation to these backswamps effectively remediates acid sulfate soil discharges and provides a nature-based solution for adaptation to sea level rise with a range of co-benefits to encourage further investment.

A health risk model for rural households based on the distribution of multi pollutants.

Rapid consumerism and improper waste disposal create widespread environmental degradation through the air, water sources and landfills in India's rural areas. This work develops a health risk prediction model to score villages based on quantitative and qualitative factors. Quantitative observations regarding pollutant levels and qualitative responses are collected from various households. that are risk labelled against WHO standards. The health risk model is designed to correlate the qualitative factors. A total of 2,370 rural households spread across three districts of Karnataka were selected. The study found that the health risk score predicted by the model has a higher significant correlation (0.8) to various existing pollutant factors. The study found that source of drinking water (0.87), quality of drinking water (0.81), drainage canal availability (0.72), type of drainage (0.73), stagnant water (0.71), toilet availability (0.83), maintenance frequency (0.83), cooking fuel type (0.77), cigarette use (0.71), garbage piles up (0.73) and the percentage composition of wastes (0.74) was found to have a higher positive correlation to the health of rural households. The villages with higher health risks can be identified, and suitable mitigation plans can be designed to mitigate the health risk by state authorities.

Smartly Packaged

Smartly Packaged

Review: The Nature of the Religious Right: The Struggle Between Conservative Evangelicals and the Environmental Movement, by Neall W. Pogue

“WHAT ARE WE DOING TO GOD’S EARTH?” questioned a leading American evangelical periodical in May 1970 (p. 23). As historian Neall W. Pogue recounts in The Nature of the Christian Right, in the aftermath of the first official Earth Day observance the spring of that year, “mainstream” American evangelical leaders in the United States mirrored the nation’s growing concern over widespread environmental degradation. In Pogue’s telling, these prominent leaders embraced in response neither a human-centered, utilitarian approach of dominion over nature nor an environmental apathy rooted in premillennial premonitions of the earth’s fiery demise. Instead, starting in the 1970s, they unexpectedly championed a “philosophy” of “Christian environmental stewardship” before abruptly abandoning it in the early 1990s (pp. 2, 174).Pogue’s account argues “Christian environmental stewardship” first found fertile expression in the thought of American evangelical Francis Schaeffer. Schaeffer’s landmark book Pollution and the Death of Man tilled the soil for a harvest of “eco-friendly philosophies” within the “conservative evangelical mainstream” (p. 2). The itinerant evangelist argued evangelicals had a Scripturally rooted responsibility to care for God’s creation. Humans, he posited, were but one part of a broader ecological “natural order” that they needed to steward. On this point, Schaeffer’s environmental philosophy proved far more ambitious than merely caring for creation. Preserving what was “natural” also included advancing other well-documented evangelical causes, such as counteracting the “artificial” sexual revolution (pp. 43–45).While it gained mainstream appeal, Schaeffer’s “stewardship philosophy” experienced a fall from grace in the early 1990s. At that point, Pogue maintains, evangelical leaders recoiled in reaction to the consistent critiques of aggressive “secular” environmentalists, who had long argued that Christianity “perpetuated the ecological crisis” (p. 6). In response, evangelical leaders labeled environmentalists as “earth-worshipping extremists” and agents of a “one-world state” (pp. 139, 150). For these mainstream personalities, association with environmentalism now carried great political and religious risk and necessitated their disavowal of Schaeffer’s thought.In unearthing the rise and fall of this strain of evangelical environmentalism, Pogue’s study marks a welcome foil to the standard historiography on the Religious Right. And yet, the book’s overall focus on elite figures and institutions raises two pressing questions: first, to what extent did everyday evangelicals fully embrace such ecological commitments? And second, where should historians properly locate the center of American evangelicalism?Recently, several historians of modern American evangelicalism have challenged long-accepted historical markers of evangelical identity, such as the Bebbington quadrilateral (p. 9), arguing that such abstractions captured the doctrinal concerns of white evangelicalism’s vanguard at the expense of the movement’s populist core. Moreover, such a framework obscured the militant masculinity, political dominance, white supremacy, skepticism toward science, and visions of Armageddon at the center of white evangelicalism. Through focusing primarily on “mainstream” elites, Pogue has outlined an evangelicalism that arguably proved far gentler and kinder on ecological issues than what may have existed within the core of the movement. This historical recovery, while significant and needed, overlooks a much more heated, complex, and deep-seated internal evangelical struggle over ecology and identity. When weighing Christian stewardship’s downfall, it also potentially attributes too much causation to the external critiques of secular environmentalists, as opposed to the internal, core instincts of evangelicals themselves. Finally, greater inclusion of Black and female evangelical voices could have helped the book uncover much more prophetic and visionary evangelical ecologies, many of which endure to this day. These concerns aside, Pogue’s work has offered a firm foundation to further tease out the contested reality of American evangelical environmentalism.

Contextualising environmental and climate change migration in Uganda

ABSTRACT The complex linkage between environment, climate change and migration is increasingly capturing global debate. Uganda faces widespread environmental degradation and high vulnerability to climate change impacts that cause livelihood hardships, inducing human mobility. However, the environment, climate change and migration nexus is not well understood and documented, although advocacy to address the livelihood challenges associated with environmental and climate-induced migrations is on the rise. This paper addresses this knowledge gap and presents findings from a review of literature, complemented by key informant interviews and group discussions conducted in the Karamoja, Mt. Elgon and Teso sub-regions of Uganda. The findings show that some socio-economic hardships that cause migrations like natural resources scarcities (water, pastures and fertile soils), hunger and food insecurity and conflicts are linked to slow-onset processes/events related to environmental degradation, rising temperatures and desertification, compounded by sudden-onset events/disasters including; drought, rainstorms, flooding and landslides, that threaten livelihood security and trigger voluntary and forced migrations. Migration also occurs as a coping strategy to environment and climate shocks and stresses. However, empirical research evidence on the numbers of people who have migrated because of environmental change or climate change is still lacking as more research focus has been on the socio-economic and political drivers of migration. Deeper empirical research that incorporates spatial analyses on how the environmental and climate parameters induce migrations is necessary to provide an evidence base to inform transformative policy processes and actions that address human mobility challenges and build resilient societies in Uganda.

The Politics of Banana Planting in Waingmaw Township

Abstract: Since 2018, a steady stream of media reports has described the rapid expansion of tissue banana plantations in the Waingmaw area of Kachin State in Northeast Myanmar, noting the widespread environmental degradation and disenfranchisement of local residents. We conducted field research in two villages connected to banana plantations, interviewing residents, plantation workers, government officials, and health workers. Using assemblage theory, we analyze the local political ecology of food production, and how the particularities of local geography, especially in peripheral regions, result in different practical political settlements. These settlements involve a range of different actors including ethnic armed organizations, foreign merchants, government officials, and local brokers. Arrangements of power in border areas are implicit and negotiated, rather than explicit and formalized. These are appropriated through new spatial arrangements (e.g., banana plantations) and spatial relationships (e.g., migrant workers from Rakhine State) in which older identities and modes of living are redefined. A key component of this frontier assemblage is the banana itself, in particular, the practice of cultivating imported tissue strains which are reliant on imported technology and fertilizers. This, in turn, influences the form of the assemblage and power relations within it, illustrating the critical role of material and technological elements within assemblages.

Sustaining planetary health in the Anthropocene.

The inextricable link between global environmental change and human health has gained attention as we witness increasingly catastrophic weather events and widespread environmental degradation wrought by pollution and biodiversity loss and respond to an ongoing COVID pandemic of zoonotic origins [1,2]. In 2014, Richard Horton et al. called for a collective manifesto to transform public […]

An acceptance speech.

An acceptance speech.

194 Sustainable Livestock Production from Phytochemically Diversified Pastures

Abstract Agricultural systems must increase productivity while conserving the natural resource base and optimizing ecosystem services to meet the converging challenges posed by a growing human population, increasing costs of production inputs, and widespread environmental degradation. Thus, sustainability concerns justify the needs for readjustment of pasture strategies and redefining the role of forages in livestock production. The function of forages in pasture-based livestock systems needs to be broaden beyond their agronomic and animal nutrition benefits. Specifically, the potential of bioactive compounds found in forb species in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, boosting animal immune system, increasing the biochemical richness of animal products and ecosystem benefits should be considered in designing pasture systems. It is key to take full advantage of the benefits provided by the biochemicals present in diverse arrays of forages, as they can contribute to the enhancement of feed efficiency and animal health at relatively low costs to the producer. The use of phytochemically diverse pastures that include legumes and forbs with high nutritive quality together with the presence of beneficial plant secondary compounds can improve the antioxidant capacity and the immune function of livestock and reduce animal CH4 emissions and nitrate (NO3) leaching from soils. The main tenet of the invited talk will be to provide information on recent research findings on the effects of temperate forb species with high bioactive compounds on animal production, health and GHG emissions. Furthermore, how these forages can be successfully incorporated in pasture systems and animal feeding programs in temperate agro-ecologies will be discussed.

Exiting the Anthropocene: Achieving personal and planetary health in the 21st century.

Planetary health provides a perspective of ecological interdependence that connects the health and vitality of individuals, communities, and Earth's natural systems. It includes the social, political, and economic ecosystems that influence both individuals and whole societies. In an era of interconnected grand challenges threatening health of all systems at all scales, planetary health provides a framework for cross-sectoral collaboration and unified systems approaches to solutions. The field of allergy is at the forefront of these efforts. Allergic conditions are a sentinel measure of environmental impact on human health in early life-illuminating how ecological changes affect immune development and predispose to a wider range of inflammatory noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This shows how adverse macroscale ecology in the Anthropocene penetrates to the molecular level of personal and microscale ecology, including the microbial systems at the foundations of all ecosystems. It provides the basis for more integrated efforts to address widespread environmental degradation and adverse effects of maladaptive urbanization, food systems, lifestyle behaviors, and socioeconomic disadvantage. Nature-based solutions and efforts to improve nature-relatedness are crucial for restoring symbiosis, balance, and mutualism in every sense, recognizing that both personal lifestyle choices and collective structural actions are needed in tandem. Ultimately, meaningful ecological approaches will depend on placing greater emphasis on psychological and cultural dimensions such as mindfulness, values, and moral wisdom to ensure a sustainable and resilient future.

Scale dependence of coral reef oases and their environmental correlates.

Identifying relatively intact areas within ecosystems and determining the conditions favoring their existence is necessary for effective management in the context of widespread environmental degradation. In this study, we used 3766 surveys of randomly selected sites in the United States and U.S. Territories to identify the correlates of sites categorized as "oases" (defined as sites with relatively high total coral cover). We used occupancy models to evaluate the influence of 10 environmental predictors on the probability that an area (21.2-km2 cell) would harbor coral oases defined at four spatial extents: cross-basin, basin, region, and subregion. Across all four spatial extents, oases were more likely to occur in habitats with high light attenuation. The influence of the other environmental predictors on the probability of oasis occurrence were less consistent and varied with the scale of observation. Oases were most likely in areas of low human population density, but this effect was evident only at the cross-basin and subregional extents. At the regional and subregional extents oases were more likely where sea-surface temperature was more variable, whereas at the larger spatial extents the opposite was true. By identifying the correlates of oasis occurrence, the model can inform the prioritization of reef areas for management. Areas with biophysical conditions that confer corals with physiological resilience, as well as limited human impacts, likely support coral reef oases across spatial extents. Our approach is widely applicable to the development of conservation strategies to protect biodiversity and ecosystems in an era of magnified human disturbance.

Myth and reality of a global crisis for agricultural pollination

Mounting evidence shows that pollinators are declining as a result of widespread environmental degradation. This loss raises concerns that a global pollination crisis could threaten the human food supply by decreasing crop yield and even promote famine under a hypothetical scenario of total pollinator extinction. This catastrophic possibility has prompted intense interest from scientists, politicians and the general public. However, three lines of evidence do not support such an apocalyptic scenario. First, even though the abundance and diversity of wild pollinators are declining worldwide, the global population of managed honey-bee hives has increased by ~80% since the early 1960s. Second, agricultural production would decrease by <10% in the total absence of bees because relatively few crops are completely pollinator dependent. Lastly, despite widespread pollination deficits, current evidence is inconsistent with deceleration in yield growth with increasing pollinator dependence at a global scale, probably due to improvements in crop breeding and external agricultural subsidies. Overall, this evidence refutes simplistic claims of human starvation caused by a hypothetical total pollinator extinction. Nevertheless, pollination problems may loom. Although pollinators are responsible for a minor fraction of global agriculture production, this fraction has increased ~600% since 1961, greatly outpacing human population growth and the growth of the global population of managed honey bees. This large production increase is explained to a considerable extent by the rapid expansion of pollinator-dependent monocultures at the expense of natural and diverse agricultural habitats. By driving pollinator decline, this land-use transformation could worsen pollination deficits and promote further crop expansion given sustained market demands. Therefore, although the human food supply is not currently subject to a global pollination crisis, a spiralling positive-feedback between the impacts of agriculture expansion and pollinator decline on crop yield could accelerate precipitous biodiversity loss by promoting further habitat destruction and homogenization.

Jesus as News: Crises of Health and Overpopulation in Galilee

What made Jesus ‘news’? The key reason given in Mark and Matthew is that Jesus was an effective healer. In Q, likewise, Jesus fulfils John’s prediction of a Coming One who will baptize in Holy Spirit and fire by means of his healing mission. Luke complicates this slightly by emphasizing Jesus’ teaching on social justice, and John conceptualizes the healings as ‘signs’, but both also indicate that Jesus was news because he healed people. Thus, Galilee was in the grip of a chronic health crisis which people – both rich and poor – experienced as stress, and Jesus was news because he provided a solution. While being an exorcistic healer was not unusual, Jesus’ healing apparently was, both in its effectiveness and in its approach, involving physical touch. We now know that affective touch has a positive effect on the immune system. Disease crises in Galilee can be linked to the great density of its population, associated with widespread rural poverty and environmental degradation. Previous assessments of population in Galilee have hitherto been much too small.