User:Gaeanautes/Exceeding limits

Present background: Exceeding global limits to growth
The widening interest in the concept of a steady-state economy has a background in the world's mounting ecological problems: Since the 1990s, measurements have provided evidence that the volume of the world economy far exceeds critical global limits to economic growth already. According to the ecological footprint measure, the carrying capacity of Earth — that is, Earth's long-term capacity to sustain human populations and consumption levels — was exceeded by some twenty percent in 1990. By 2015, this figure had increased to some sixty percent. In effect, mankind is now confronted with the vicious dynamics of planetary overshoot-and-collapse. More specifically, the following issues have long been of general concern worldwide:

Human overpopulation World population is expected to reach 9.3 billion by 2050, and continue growing thereafter. This massive number of people is already resulting in human overpopulation, putting excessive strain on all kinds of natural resources and wildlife habitats everywhere, increasing pollution levels and deteriorating human living conditions. Uncontrolled urbanisation is forcing people to live in congested shanty towns, and large cities swell to become megacities with slum areas ripe with high crime rates. Overpopulation may even lead to social conflict and violence, when too many people (especially young males) end up competing for too few employment opportunities in sluggish economies.

Air pollution and global warming Air pollution emanating from motor vehicles and industrial plants is damaging public health and increasing mortality rates. The concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is evidently the source of global warming and climate change. The extreme regional weather patterns and the rising sea levels caused by the warming may deteriorate future living conditions in many — if not all — parts of the world. The warming already poses a security threat to many nations and a 'threat multiplier' to geo-political stability.

Depletion of non-renewable minerals Non-renewable mineral reserves are currently extracted at high and unsustainable rates from the Earth's crust. Hence, the remaining reserves are likely to become ever more costly to extract in the near future, and will reach depletion at some point. The era of (relatively) peaceful economic expansion that has prevailed globally since World War II may be interrupted by unexpected supply shocks; or simply be succeeded by the all-too-expected peaking depletion paths of oil and other valuable minerals.

Excessive use of renewable resources Excessive use of otherwise renewable resources are undermining ecological stability worldwide. Between 2000 and 2012 alone, some fourteen percent of what amounts to Earth's original forest cover was deforested. Tropical rainforests have been subject to deforestation at a rapid pace for decades — especially in West and Central Africa and in Brazil — mostly due to subsistence farming, population pressure and urbanization. Population pressure is also exerting much strain on the world's soil systems, leading to land degradation, mostly in developing countries. Global erosion rates on conventional cropland are presently estimated to exceed soil creation rates by more than one order of magnitude. Widespread overuse of groundwater result in water deficits in many countries of the world. By 2025, the living conditions of two-thirds of the world's population could be stressed by water scarcity.

Endangered wildlife and loss of biodiversity The destructive impact of human activity on wildlife habitats worldwide is accelerating the extinction of rare species, thereby substantially reducing Earth's biodiversity of plants and animals. The accumulating pollution of plastic debris in the oceans leads to entanglement, suffocation and ingestion of aquatic life. The acidification of the oceans due to concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is resulting in coral bleaching and impedes oceanic calcifying organisms. Arctic sea ice decline caused by global warming is endangering the polar bear.

These mounting concerns have prompted an increasing number of philosophers, economists — besides Herman Daly — and natural scientists to point to obvious global limits to economic growth, and to question — or even oppose — the prevailing political orthodoxy of persistently pursuing growth.

References