Apocalyptic vision goes mainstream

J.A. Legris · 2011-06-08T15:05:29+00:00

The Earth Is FullBy THOMAS L. FRIEDMANPublished: June 7, 2011Copyright 2011 New York TimesYou really do have to wonder whether a few years from now we=92ll lookback at the first decade of the 21st century =97 when food pricesspiked, energy prices soared, world population surged, tornados plowedthrough cities, floods and droughts set records, populations weredisplaced and governments were threatened by the confluence of it all=97 and ask ourselves: What were we thinking? How did we not panic whenthe evidence was so obvious that we=92d crossed some growth/climate/natural resource/population redlines all at once? =93The only answer can be denial,=94 argues Paul Gilding, the veteranAustralian environmentalist-entrepreneur, who described this moment ina new book called =93The Great Disruption: Why the Climate Crisis WillBring On the End of Shopping and the Birth of a New World.=94 =93When youare surrounded by something so big that requires you to changeeverything about the way you think and see the world, then denial isthe natural response. But the longer we wait, the bigger the responserequired.=94Gilding cites the work of the Global Footprint Network, an alliance ofscientists, which calculates how many =93planet Earths=94 we need tosustain our current growth rates. G.F.N. measures how much land andwater area we need to produce the resources we consume and absorb ourwaste, using prevailing technology. On the whole, says G.F.N., we arecurrently growing at a rate that is using up the Earth=92s resources farfaster than they can be sustainably replenished, so we are eating intothe future. Right now, global growth is using about 1.5 Earths.=93Having only one planet makes this a rather significant problem,=94 saysGilding.This is not science fiction. This is what happens when our system ofgrowth and the system of nature hit the wall at once. While in Yemenlast year, I saw a tanker truck delivering water in the capital, Sana.Why? Because Sana could be the first big city in the...

Jun 08, 2011 21 Replies

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John Larkin 15 years ago

Vote Paul and re-elect Obama.

John

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krw 15 years ago

Why do you think they call it "hot", or "being in heat"? ;-)

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