Inertia

Inertia describes the ability of a movement to persist, after the application of the initial driving force. The earth’s biophysical cycles have inertia of their own, while social systems have a particular dynamic, giving rise to other forms of inertia. Modern society has pushed back against natural inertial constraints, but our activities have also established other, disquieting inertia mechanisms (e.g. nuclear inertia). The Anthropocene raises questions about the compatibility of these inertial cycles; the timescales on which they operate are orders of magnitude apart, so it is no easy task to reconcile them. Today, we have begun to see clashes between the inertial mechanisms of the different systems, and urgently need to redefine the timescales that policymakers consider, so new policy can address and mitigate these clashes.