ABSTRACT
The primary driver of global environmental change over the last several centuries has been human actions. Natural scientists warn that humanity is threatening to undermine the relatively stable, interglacial geological epoch that has supported human civilization, as business-as-usual operations transgress “planetary boundaries” (Rockström et al. 2009: 472). Humans fundamentally changed the structure of major biogeochemical cycles, accelerated species extinction, transformed the land cover of the earth, altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere, and caused a decline in the availability of freshwater (Vitousek et al. 1997). The global capitalist system remains at the nexus of environmental problems, as it influences the “metabolic interaction” between humans and nature.
