| Title |
Tipping Points and the Human World: Living with Change and Thinking about the Future
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Ambio, January 2012
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s13280-011-0228-3 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Mark Nuttall |
| Abstract |
The term "tipping point" has become increasingly popular in scientific and media usage to refer to the world in which we live, to describe the probable effects of the processes arising from the consequences of the ways we live with and transform the world, to describe our relationships with the environment, and the effects of our actions. Through this shift in scientific thinking, climate is talked about and represented as having the power to influence our lives in ways we have never before experienced or imagined, suggesting something transformative, disruptive, and decentering. Yet, in doing so, the complexity of the human world is explained in terms of scientific models that suggest a return to climatic determinism that simplifies our understanding of human-environment relations. How is anthropology to contribute to this discussion and to research and policy action on climate change? This article reflects on this and other questions as a way of contributing to the discussion of tipping points: are tipping points and thresholds metaphors, are they to be understood within contexts of speculative forecast, or are they descriptions of real events and indications of future change? What do we mean when we use these terms to imagine, describe, and represent the world? What relevance do they have for anticipatory knowledge and anticipatory practice? Indeed, how does anticipation guide us through a world of shifting conditions and sudden surprises and influence ways we orient ourselves toward the future? |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 6 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Finland | 2 | 33% |
| Sweden | 1 | 17% |
| Unknown | 3 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 3 | 50% |
| Scientists | 3 | 50% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 126 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 2 | 2% |
| United States | 2 | 2% |
| Sweden | 1 | <1% |
| Mexico | 1 | <1% |
| India | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 119 | 94% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 24 | 19% |
| Researcher | 22 | 17% |
| Student > Master | 15 | 12% |
| Student > Bachelor | 7 | 6% |
| Other | 7 | 6% |
| Other | 20 | 16% |
| Unknown | 31 | 25% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental Science | 35 | 28% |
| Social Sciences | 25 | 20% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 12 | 10% |
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 10 | 8% |
| Arts and Humanities | 3 | 2% |
| Other | 7 | 6% |
| Unknown | 34 | 27% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 5. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 25 November 2016.
All research outputs
#6,315,233
of 23,580,560 outputs
Outputs from Ambio
#912
of 1,669 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#56,553
of 249,569 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Ambio
#12
of 29 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,580,560 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 73rd percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,669 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 14.4. This one is in the 45th percentile – i.e., 45% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 249,569 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 77% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 29 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 62% of its contemporaries.