Suchergebnisse

Heinrich August Dietrich was a gardener with a deep interest in mycology. He published a two-volume monograph dealing with over 1,000 fungal and fungal-like taxa, the first cryptogamic research of this kind for the Baltic region. Between 1852 and 1857, H. A. Dietrich issued nine volumes of exciccatae named Centuria Plantarum Florae Balticae cryptogamarum. The preserved eight Centuriae and additional collections from Estonia (then the Imperial Russian Baltic province, Estonian Governorate) are revised and their current status in collections is presented. As a result, a new myxomycete species for Estonia, Physarum gyrosum, and the once doubtfully-reported species, Arcyria oerstedii, are recorded, and the earliest vouchers of some endangered ascomycetes, such as Poronia punctata and Sabuloglossum arenarium, are identified in his material. The most remarkable findings among lichenized fungi are Alectoria sarmentosa, Dibaeis baeomyces, Flavoparmelia caperata, Lasallia pustulata, Nephroma laevigatum, Peltigera venosa and Ramalina calicaris, as well as the oldest Estonian specimen of Lobaria pulmonaria.

Marian Wolfgang Koller used to be considered the very best astronomer from Carniola next to Augustin Hallerstein. Today, his work connected with the Dalton Minimum is again in limelight as the alternative explanation of global warming phenomena. Koller wrote precise notes of six semestrial courses of Josef Stefan to promote Stefan's talents. By using the international connection of his patron Koller, Stefan published at least twenty articles in the British Philosophical Magazine, some of them also in Paris and Geneva.

In some of his writings, Kuhn criticized Putnam's causal theory of reference for natural kind terms put forward in his classic paper "The Meaning of 'Meaning'" claiming that Putnam's theory cannot explain the reference changes of natural kind terms. After looking into Kuhn's objections to Putnam's reference theory, some of the main features of Kuhn's incommensurability thesis and some traits of Putnam's later version of his theory, we will argue, on the one hand, that Putnam's later reference theory contains some components that enhance the explanation of the reference change of natural kind terms, and on the other hand, that Kuhn's and Putnam's views on reference do no differ that much, especially in virtue ofcertain similarities between Kuhn's incommensurability thesis and Putnam's thesis of conceptual relativity.

The article discusses issues surrounding the introduction of new forms of documents and the organization of document circulation in Ukraine during the Soviet period, revises the organization of office work and presents a selection of valuable documents. The authors also explore the organizational and scientific activities in the field of management, stipulated in regulatory enactments, and describe the creation of a network of public organizations, institutes and laboratories that dealt with issues of scientific organization of labor and reference activities. In the article, an analysis of the organization of office work and archival management through the evolution of regulatory framework is presented, highlighting the most important stages of the organization of documentation in the USSR. It is noted that, by the end of the 1980s, a holistic system of documentation support, which met at that time the requirements of Soviet business broadcasting and the standards of compiling official documents, had been formed.

A new book addresses the political, moral, and strategic questions raised by acts of property destruction aimed at curbing the use of fossil fuels. The book argues that the magnitude of the climate crisis requires more confrontational methods to force necessary changes. The review considers these arguments in light of previous examples of environmental radicalism.

This article looks at the current state of carbon removal approaches and some of the politics that surround them. It outlines what carbon removal is, charts some of the major challenges and controversies, and sketches some of the work needed to ensure that carbon removal developments are attentive to environmental sustainability and social justice. It also examines some of the major carbon removal options that are either in development or in discussion, starting with biological approaches and then looking at engineered options.

Without deep transformations in the economy that go beyond incremental gains in decarbonization, we remain on course for catastrophic global heating. Some businesses have pledged to go carbon-neutral, carbon-trading schemes are expanding, and a growing divestment movement has pressured investment funds to shun fossil fuel producers. But financial forces are also part of the problem, still driving more production and consumption of fossil fuels. Achieving transformational shifts in finance, production, and governance calls for a more disruptive politics underpinned by shifts in power relations.

Agriculture systems, which account for a sizable share of global greenhouse gas emissions, are placing a growing burden on the environment while also contributing to increasingly common health problems. Climate change is making the situation worse by reducing agricultural productivity as well as the nutritional content of certain crops, which in turn is driving intensified production to meet global food demand. To break out of this potentially catastrophic feedback loop, societies must realign agricultural policies, financial incentives, and diets to promote health and environmental sustainability.

While often treated separately, biodiversity loss and climate change are related and mutually reinforcing problems. Rising temperatures and other climate impacts have seriously altered the composition, function, and structure of many ecosystems and species, some irreversibly. Policies to tackle both problems are clearly needed, but siloed approaches continue to dominate proposed solutions. There are also risks that some climate policies, such as the expansion of afforestation or bioenergy, will have increasingly negative risks on biodiversity. Integrated, innovative, and urgent solutions are needed in order to fulfill increasing calls for transformative change in how we live with nature.

This essay examines the everyday inequalities, stigmas, and injustices that leave people with disabilities highly vulnerable to escalating climate change risks. It argues that including people with disabilities in disaster risk reduction processes is essential to shaping inclusive, effective policies and practices. Examples of several programs that have done so are discussed. Focusing on the strengths of people with disabilities as resilient change-makers and as the experts in their own lives—instead of viewing them as dependent on others—can lead to the changes necessary to recognize their personal sovereignty and deliver disaster justice. Third in a series on disability rights around the world.

The Minsk Group, led by the United States, France, and Russia, has brokered the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the mid-1990s after Armenia-backed secessionists in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic won the first Karabakh war of 1992–94. That mediation embodied the ideals of the mid-1990s unipolar moment, which assumed that liberalized markets and democratic transitions would converge internally to resolve legacy conflicts in postsocialist states while bringing them into convergence externally with Euro-Atlantic nations. Those assumptions withered away over the next quarter-century. Neither Azerbaijan nor Armenia transitioned to liberal democracy. Backed by an increasingly assertive Turkey, Azerbaijan prevailed in a bloody war in 2020. This time, the regional authoritarian powers, Russia and Turkey, are overseeing what could be a test case for a new form of "illiberal peace."

Unlike in the Baltics, support for independence in Moldova was relatively low among the political elites and the general population when the Soviet Union collapsed. In the 1990s, the political parties in power pursued an incoherent program, as governments swung between reformist and conservative agendas. Economic crises and systemic corruption depleted citizens' trust in politicians and state institutions. This low institutional trust has hampered governance at all levels, and primarily in crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

How have Central Asians built livelihoods amidst economic hardship and political dysfunction during three decades of post-Soviet independence? Local leaders are mobilizing people, resources—and, importantly, trust—to enable entire communities to prosper. These nonstate figures are increasingly consequential, but their model of paternalistic patronage may not represent what all Central Asians want.

In authoritarian countries, jokes can allow citizens to mock the system's absurdities, but they also reinforce the boundaries of speech and thought. A study of humor in Belarus puts the country's current protests in a new light, just as the old quiescent mentality may be changing.