Hope youve enjoyed civilized life, folks. Because a new study sponsored by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center says the worlds industrial societies are poised to collapse under the weight of their own unsustainable appetites for resources. There goes the weekend . . . and everything after it for the rest of our lives. The research article appears in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Ecological Economics, but Dr. Nafeez Ahmed, executive director of the Institute for Policy Research & Development, has a more understandable (but no less harrowing) summary over at The Guardian. Either way, the news isnt good—as the researchers point out, history doesnt seem to hold out any favor for advanced societies. The fall of the Roman Empire, and the equally (if not more) advanced Han, Mauryan, and Gupta Empires, as well as so many advanced Mesopotamian Empires, are all testimony to the fact that advanced, sophisticated, complex, and creative civilizations can be both fragile and impermanent. Whos to blame? You. Me. Everyone walking around outside your window. Even the technology we invented to save us from ourselves is contributing to our decline. Technological change can raise the efficiency of resource use, but it also tends to raise both per capita resource consumption and the scale of resource extraction, so that, absent policy effects, the increases in consumption often compensate for the increased efficiency of resource use. Is there a way out? Of course. But youre probably not gonna like it. Dr. Ahmed sums up the researchers suggestions: The two key solutions are to reduce economic inequality so as to ensure fairer distribution of resources, and to dramatically reduce resource consumption by relying on less intensive renewable resources and reducing population growth. Which is just as difficult and improbable as it sounds. Seriously, you should read the whole rundown of what the research says. Its eye-opening, and a serious call to action—if the crushing bleakness of what weve done to ourselves hasnt already doomed you to abandon all hope. Here, watch a funny video to make you feel better. [The Guardian]
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 03:17:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015