GC078-05
Looking Forward to 30 Years since the Disintegration of the USSR: Environmental and Socio-Economic Consequences of Fundamental Institutional Change amidst Changing Climates

Friday, 11 December 2020: 10:46
Virtual
Geoffrey M Henebry1,2, Ginger RH Allington3, Jiquan Chen1,2, Kirsten de Beurs4, Peilei Fan2,5, Pavel Groisman6,7, Elizabeth A Mack1,2, Herman Henry Shugart8, Amber Jeanine Soja9 and Monika Anna Tomaszewska2, (1)Michigan State University, Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, East Lansing, MI, United States, (2)Michigan State University, Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, East Lansing, MI, United States, (3)George Washington University, Department of Geography, Washington, DC, United States, (4)University of Oklahoma, Geography and Environmental Sustainability, Norman, OK, United States, (5)Michigan State University, School of Planning, Design, and Construction, East Lansing, MI, United States, (6)Hydrology Science and Services Corp, Asheville, United States, (7)P.P.Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, RAS, Moscow, Russia, (8)University of Virginia, Department of Environmental Sciences, Charlottesville, VA, United States, (9)National Institute of Aerospace, Hampton, VA, United States
Recorded Presentation
Abstract:
The Soviet Union formally dissolved in December 1991. From what had been a single centrally planned socio-economic system, there emerged 15 distinct governments seeking to establish control over their respective economies and natural resources. This fundamental institutional change affected all economic sectors, but the agriculture and forestry sectors were hit particularly hard as seasonal cycles of activity were abruptly disrupted. The effects of ongoing climatic changes, particularly at higher latitudes and higher elevations, and extreme weather events have been exacerbated by the consequences of institutional changes, by globalization, and by geopolitical conflicts. We examine in this presentation individual and joint trajectories of the 15 newly independent states and Mongolia since 2000 from complementary perspectives: (1) trends in socio-economic indicators from FAOSTAT and World Bank, and (2) trends in land surface variables obtained from remote sensing products. In addition, we highlight key results from the past two decades of research on biogeophysical processes across Northern Eurasia.
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