Dividing and Uniting Through Naming: The Case of North Carolina's Sea-Level-Rise Policy

Opponents of a proposed sea-level-rise policy in North Carolina, USA, reasoned rhetorically to promote a narrative claiming that the policy supporters’ efforts had failed to meet the criteria of “good” science and the American dream expectancy of “progress.” The critics worked to hinder policy adoption by naming as “villains” scientists who provided research to support the proposed policy. In addition, the opponents named their own efforts to prevent policy based on “bad” science that would “destroy” the American dream as “heroic.” To more effectively respond to such narratives, scientists and policy proponents need to shift away from reporting just climate change “facts” in the attempt to gain stakeholder support for mitigation and adaptation initiatives. They need to move toward reasoning rhetorically to construct narratives that encourage the public to name them as the “heroes” who will achieve the American dream by their actions to mitigate climate-change outcomes.     

寻找人类活动影响南明河的水化学指纹:Ⅱ.旬际变化

为进一步了解南明河截污沟修建后主城区水化学组成的变化情况,提取人类活动影响南明河的水化学指纹,我们于2008年10月20日至2009年10月20日以10天为间隔或5天为间隔(7月)对南明河主城区进口(四方河)和出口(团坡桥)进行了短时间尺度取样,确证了第一部分所获得的空间变化趋势。出口处Na+、Cl-、NO3-、SO24-分别升高53%、65%、52%和47%;其它离子如K+、Ca2+、Mg2+和HCO3-只是轻微升高,pH温和下降。出口处离子浓度变化趋势继承了入口处离子浓度趋势,但叠加了城区人类活动的明显印记。Na+浓度在6～7月间的显著峰值最有可能起源于2009年为防止禽流感爆发蔓延而广泛使用的次氯酸钠消毒剂,Na+和Cl-具有显著正相关关系可以证明这一推断。另外一个证据是Na+和NO3-较好的反相关关系,说明消毒剂对氨化细菌和硝化细菌具有负面效应,抑制了NO3-的产量。高硫煤的使用则是城区河段高SO24-含量的主要原因。结合离子浓度的均值、变化范围和标准偏差,我们认为Na+、Cl-、NO3-、SO24-可以作为指示城区人类活动影响南明河的水化学指纹。     

Naming,Mourning, and the Work of Earthly Coexistence

Setting out from Jacques Derrida’s assertion that every act of naming is “a foreshadowing of mourning” ([2008. The animal that therefore I am. (M.-L. Mallet, Ed., D. Wills, Trans.). New York, NY: Fordham University Press], p. 20), this paper argues that the work of earthly coexistence is underwritten by the intertwined practices of naming and mourning. The paper demonstrates that names provide access to and shape our perceptions of earthly entities; that the act of naming prepares us for the work of mourning; that the proper names given to endlings provide poignant points of access to species on the edge of extinction; that species names disclose species as such and, thus, enable us to grieve not just particular living organisms but entire ways of life; and that the name given to the current geological epoch, the “anthropocene,” simultaneously reflects and engenders a mode of awareness which enables us to relinquish those ways of being human that no longer seem sustainable and carry forth those that promise to enrich earthly coexistence.     

The Misdiagnosis: Rethinking “Nature-deficit Disorder”

This study examines and critiques “nature-deficit disorder” (NDD), Richard Louv's popular theory of how and why children are alienated from nature. Specifically, I explore NDD within the context of one forest conservation education program that aligns with and operationalizes Louv's message. Underlying Louv's and forest educators' discourses are culturally specific assumptions about human-nature relationships. Both evoke a fall-recovery narrative—that children are separated from nature and must return—and promote science and naming to reconnect. I argue that, in the absence of deeper cultural examination and alternative practices, NDD is a misdiagnosis—a problematic contemporary environmental discourse that can obscure and mistreat the problem. I call on adults to rethink human-nature disconnectedness by returning to the psyche, digging deeper to the problem's cultural roots, and using nontraditional communication practices such as emotional expression and non-naming.