2012 marks the 40th year publication anniversary of "The Limits to Growth"
From January 11th New Scientist article: At the beginning of the 1970s, a group of young scientists set out to explore our future. Their findings shook a generation and may be even more relevant than ever today. The question the group set out to answer was: what would happen if the world’s population and industry continued to grow rapidly? Could growth continue indefinitely or would we start to hit limits at some point? In those days, few believed that there were any limits to growth – some economists still don’t. Even those who accepted that on a finite planet there must be some limits usually assumed that growth would merely level off as we approached them. These notions, however, were based on little more than speculation and ideology. The young scientists tried to take a more rigorous approach: using a computer model to explore possible futures. What was shocking was that their simulations, far from showing growth continuing forever, or even levelling out, suggested that it was most likely that boom would be followed by bust: a sharp decline in industrial output, food production and population. In other words, the collapse of global civilisation.
Comment
-
Comment by Karla Sachi on April 27, 2012 at 2:20am
-
I despise fear mongering, especially the way those in power deliberately use the media to make sure people hide their heads in the sand, breed so our "economy can grow", rather than facing the truth, how our beautiful water planet, our living habitat isn't made just for humans to plunder our ONLY SOURCE OF LIFE, this living, breathing piosphere, which is defined as 'resources'lby greedy creepy politicians. I despise more, not being able to access the relaxation response, because I was born autistic, and I feel more connected to plants, animals and nature rather than my fellow human beings. My heart breaks daily when I, not logically know--but feel the advancing indifference perpetuated by self-absorbed brothers and sisters of my species, with superiority complexes, who seem strangely lacking in compassion for other life, besides humans on this earth...after all, we are the youngest, newest kids on the block, and in my opinion -- the stupidest. We can't speak or communicate with other life, because we actually believe ...'they can't communicate with one another--or us. And, we hardly even try--we assume we are the only life with 'intelligence'...how funny. It's like not knowing a language when you visit a foreign country, and assume they're all imbeciles...we don't have a clue how other LIFE on this earth communicates--but I KNOW it does. One example is, several months ago I tied two silk roses on a rose bush, that had no buds for 4 years--and in a few days, this rose bush, that has NEVER made a rose, made two==exactly the same color and size of the two silk roses. So, was it a coincidence? I doubt it. It never before had roses, and has had none since--but it did copy two from the silk roses I tied to the plant.
I can't fathom how human kind can think or believe other life forms, almost a billion years old cannot communicate...It's bloody stupid, in my opinion. Perhaps we have things to learn, if we'd at least assume we are the ones too new to planet earth to understand the perfection of this world, and have a little humility--It's like 7 billion wild monkeys trashing a perfectly good planet, that was doing fine, till SO MANY OF US came along..
People like Sarah Palin get off 'culling' wolf and buffalo, murdering animals from a helicopter with a rifle...How would it be if we were culled by another species? What the hell is wrong with us? Can anyone tell me?
© 2013 Created by David Woolfson.
You need to be a member of WorldShift 2012 to add comments!
Join WorldShift 2012