«Elite wealth monopolies mean that they are buffered from the most detrimental effects of the environmental collapse until much later than the Commoners, allowing them to continue business as usual despite the impending catastrophe. The same mechanism, they argue, could explain how historical collapses were allowed to occur by elites who appear to be oblivious to the catastrophic trajectory (most clearly apparent in the Roman and Mayan cases). (...) The NASA-funded HANDY model offers a highly credible wake-up call to governments, corporations and business - and consumers - to recognise that business as usual cannot be sustained, and that policy and structural changes are required immediately. Although the study is largely theoretical, a number of other more empirically-focused studies - by KPMG and the UK Government Office of Science for instance - have warned that the convergence of food, water and energy crises could create a perfect storm within about fifteen years. But these business as usual forecasts could be very conservative.»
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 17:05:12 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015