Land use changes are one of the largest contributors to emissions, not only from the removal of carbon sinks resulting from felling mature trees, but from the subsequent emissions resulting from the change. Land clearing for agriculture results in cropping and livestock that continue to contribute to emissions, degrade soil health, create injustices for people and animals, and compromise the continued health of the planet and its inhabitants. People included.

The commons are resources and spaces that are shared and accessible to all. An example of this inside your home or office might be the refrigerator which is shared by building occupants, and outside, this might be the ocean which is shared by marine life and harvested by humans. These resources are often exploited because they are viewed as 'free'.

Post WW2, centralised shopping activity was aligned with streamlined manufacturing and supported by post-war ‘designed obsolescence’ policies that served as an economic strategy to boost the economy out of recession. This strategy called for products to be made poorly or to create an inbuilt 'expiry' of sorts that would prompt faster consumer cycles. The strategy employed advertising and design to stimulate desire, creating a shift in design's role to become mediators of consumer culture. The impact of designed obsolescence as a strategy is still felt today, and evident in hostile product designs that inhibit repair or drain performance to encourage early-upgrades.

For more on this see:

Packard, V. The Waste Makers

Dickinson, G. Selling democracy Consumer culture and citizenship in the wake of September 11

An attitude that rewards people with particular skills and abilities with positions of power. Whilst some people may rise based on true merit, others may also rise based on the tendency for meritocracy to favour those of a particular race, class, status and ability. Meritocracy promises equality based on merit but often fails to deliver on truly equitable social mobility.

In the 1970s a hole was discovered in the ozone's stratospheric layer responsible for keeping us safe from harmful UV rays from the sun. In the late 1980s a ban on CFCs came into effect. By the mid 1990s there had been a marked improvement to the ozone and in 2019 it was reportedly the smallest it had ever been since its first documentation. This demonstrates how policy enactment and behaviour change can combine with the earth's natural repair mechanism to mitigate an ecological crisis.

Capitalism is an economic strategy and political ideology that seeks to privatise services and the means of production. It is an inherently exploitative system that creates ever-widening class divides between workers and owners. A capitalist mindset values competition and economic growth at any expense, even to the detriment of its own context, earth.

Despite multiple signals from nature (and warning from scientists) stating the limits to growth, the continued exploitation of natural resources continues to bring devastating repercussions. Many of these reinforce one another through feedback loops, seen for example in the increase of weather events in turn increase emissions in multiple ways.

A lightening strike from a storm can start a fire where poor land management has created vulnerabilities. The fire typically destroys all in its path, releasing CO2 into the atmosphere and destroying ecosystems (carbon sinks) in its wake. Similarly, a hurricane or tornado destroys everything in its path, displacing people and animals from their homes and destroying living systems and infrastructure alike.

Post-event cleanup can uncover problematic waste materials (for example toxic chemicals released in burned treated timber, asbestos from destroyed dwellings and structures). The rebuilding of populated areas creates further emissions through construction (and its subsequent waste) and often post-event land use changes come into effect which further increase emissions.

As land use changes and biodiversity is lost from natural environments, so too are the ecosystems that support pollinators. The decline of pollinators has dire impacts on the global food system which is reliant on pollination for food growth.

The impacts of climate change are becoming more visible through increasing weather events. The impacts of these events have been felt in the Global South for extended periods of time, but a distance from them has reduced their visibility to the Global North. Severe storm weather is noted in the increase in intensity of hurricanes, tornadoes, typohoons, and blizzards. Severe drought in other areas creates the conditions for catastrophic fire seasons. The ecological tipping points these weather events induce create a feedback loop that further amplifies their impact.

Centralised production is an outcome of efficiency drivers and the desire for growth within the linear economy. It is a 'feature' of capitalism that promotes monopolies and extreme division of wealth and assets. Centralised production leads to efficiencies in supply chains that create a reliance on a constant pushing on demand for goods in order to maximise profits.

Since the industrial revolution technology has played a key role in changing systems. Technological systems are often complemented by centralisation to maximise the scales of provision. For example, the shift from smaller scale farm work by hand to large industrial farming equipment has changed the scale and impact of agriculture, leading to monoculture farming which has in turn lead to a high reliance on chemical inputs to manage and maximise crops. An over reliance on technology often sees complex problems attempt to be solved with overly simplified technical solutions.

Increasingly dense urban living and continued urban sprawl has changed land use and centralised activity into regionalised hubs. This has in turn, created a demand for sprawling centralised services, particularly supermarkets, shopping malls, hardware and department stores.

The foundations for neoliberalism were being laid as economics and politics became more closely intertwined as the organising structures for societies in the Global North. Linear economics which relies on a take-make-dispose model for unfettered growth and continued resource extraction gained traction as the GDP became the primary measurement for success. Political traction was gained by governments able to 'provide' wealth to nations through this economic model.

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Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics Framework has revealed how multiple planetary boundaries are being exceeded.