Page 8 - JCAU-6-1

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Net-zero impacts in sustainable architecture

habitat destruction, and land degradation. In cultivating the economic and political systems driving environmental
an exploitative relationship with the living realm, greed degradation. Whatever we call the devastating consequences
has denied biogeochemical cycles the necessary recovery of modern industrialization, its environmental impacts are all
time to replenish the systems that sustain life. As a result, around us, as exquisitely observed by Rachel Carson:
the base of the biosphere is imploding from the bottom up. “Why should we tolerate a diet of weak poisons,
“The bottom is chewed through, eviscerated, a home in insipid surroundings, a circle of
eaten away, depleted – until nothing is left – acquaintances who are not quite our enemies, the
by the top. The middle, therefore, buckles and noise of motors with just enough relief to prevent
breaks. The top caves in, eventually, along with insanity? Who would want to live in a world which
it. Whether we look at societies, economies, the is just not quite fatal?” (Carson, 1962, p. 12)
planet, or food chains – this pattern of collapse is
what seems to characterize now.” (Haque, 2019) 2. Mitigating impacts
The resultant collapse is an emergency – devastating, Achieving a meaningful outcome to the challenges of the
relentless, profound. Global climate patterns have changed climate emergency demands a multi-faceted and sustained
owing to the massive release of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) effort across the whole of society, from individuals to
into the atmosphere, stemming from the global-scale communities, from science and technology to creativity,
combustion of energy-dense fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and business practices, and forms of governance. Globally and
natural gas, which power modern industrial development. collectively, significant investment in clean energy and the
Trapping heat from the sun, their accumulation leads to an advancement of sustainable practices requires a cultural
overall increase in the Earth’s temperature. This overheating shift towards more judicious and ecologically centered
values and practices.
process is exacerbated by other industrial-scale processes,
including deforestation, corporate agriculture, livestock The climate emergency has diverse and devastating
farming, rice paddies, draining natural boglands and consequences for natural and human systems, including rising
wetlands, landfill practices, overloaded sewerage systems, sea levels, extreme weather events (tornadoes, earthquakes,
and other land-use changes. These activities have severely hurricanes), dramatic variations in rainfall (floods, droughts),
damaged the world’s ability to recapture GHGs and return ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, and impacts on
them to natural biogeochemical cycles. human health owing to increased air pollution, the spread of
disease-carrying insects, rising average temperatures, more
Today, our impact on the planet has reached the scale of a frequent and intense natural disasters, declining crop yields,
geological force, a concept termed the “Anthropocene” by Paul and widespread ecological disruption with food and water
J. Crutzen and Eugene F. Stoermer. Human activities, such as security issues. Actions to date have included efforts to reduce
industrialization, deforestation, and the burning of fossil fuels, GHGs (transitioning to clean energy sources like wind and
have collectively caused such profound changes to the Earth’s solar power and implementing energy efficiency measures
atmosphere and ecosystems, replacing the current geological such as insulation to reduce energy consumption), measures
epoch called the Holocene, which began 11,700 years ago after to protect and restore ecosystems (restoring forests, wetlands,
the last major Ice Age (Crutzen & Stoermer, 2000). Although and soils that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere),
dwarfed by the invisible, intangible, biological, and chemical infrastructural changes that prepare communities for
footprint we leave, cities – especially megacities (with more the impacts of climate change (e.g., protection against
than ten million inhabitants) like Tokyo, Delhi, Shanghai – are rising sea levels, cooling for heat waves, and more robust
now the most visible manifestation of human development on forms of construction for intense natural disasters like
the planet, and their growth is a characteristic feature of the earthquakes), promoting sustainable development (reducing
Anthropocene. While the concept of the Anthropocene has waste, encouraging public transportation, and supporting
gained widespread recognition, scientifically, it remains an sustainable agriculture), international cooperation (setting
unofficial term. The rock layers that characterize a distinct shared standards to mitigate emissions and support the
geological era and mark its lower boundary are still yet to be transition to a low-carbon economy), and developing
formally determined (Prilliaman, 2022). From a humanities circular processes that restore resources while promoting
perspective, some researchers also consider the term as too biodiversity. Consequently, addressing the climate emergency
anthropocentric and in danger of overlooking the complex has mobilized the collective imagination to reconsider how
interrelationships among different species, ecosystems, and we should live together at a time when nature is increasingly
structures that contribute to environmental degradation. agitated. Through the many facets which this entanglement of
They propose alternative terms, such as the “Capitalocene” causes and effects unfolds, addressing the climate emergency
(Moore, 2016) or the “Plantationocene,” which better reflect has also become a priority for many governments. While

Volume 6 Issue 1 (2024) 2 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.1882