Global Resource Depletion Managed Austerity And The Elements Of Hope

A World Turned Upside Down? poses two overarching questions for the new period opened by the Trump election and the continued growth of right-wing nationalisms. Is there an unwinding of neoliberal globalization taking place, or will globalization continue to deepen, but still deny the free cross-border movement of labor? Would such an unwinding entail an overall shift in power and accumulation to specific regions of the Global South that might overturn the current world order and foster the disintegration of the varied regional blocs that have formed? These questions are addressed through a series of essays that carefully map the national, class, racial, and gender dimensions of the state, capitalism, and progressive forces today. Sober assessment is crucial for the left to gain its political bearings in this trying period and the uncertainties that lie ahead.

This new and expanded edition builds upon the first edition’s accessible and comprehensive overview of the interdisciplinary field of sustainability. The focus is on furnishing solutions and equipping the student with both conceptual understanding and technical skills for the workplace. Each chapter explores one aspect of the field, first introducing concepts and presenting issues, then supplying tools for working toward solutions. Techniques for management and measurement as well as case studies from around the world are provided. The second edition includes a complete update of the text, with increased coverage of major topics including the Anthropocene; complexity; resilience; environmental ethics; governance; the IPCC’s latest findings on climate change; Sustainable Development Goals; and new thinking on native species and novel ecosystems. Chapters include further reading and discussion questions. The book is supported by a companion website with links, detailed reading lists, glossary, and additional case studies, together with projects, research problems, and group activities, all of which focus on real-world problem solving of sustainability issues. The textbook is designed to be used by undergraduate college and university students in sustainability degree programs and other programs in which sustainability is taught.

The book addresses the idea of colonizing Mars as a possible solution to the problems of overpopulation, depletion of natural resources and global warming facing the Earth. Humanity has reached a critical point in its existence where resources and space are becoming increasingly scarce. The colonization of Mars offers a new frontier for human growth and expansion. Although the technology to accomplish this is still in development, experts predict that the day when humans can live and thrive on Mars may not be far off. Mars colonization should not be seen as a miracle solution to our planet's problems. It should be seen as one piece of a larger puzzle, along with efforts to address the root causes of the problems we face on Earth. It is important to approach Mars colonization with a responsible stewardship mindset, recognizing the ethical obligations that come with venturing into unknown territory. Only in this way can we ensure that Mars colonization does not repeat the mistakes of past colonialism and exploitation. It is up to humanity itself to forge its own future and destiny. If we are able to take the necessary steps to successfully colonize Mars, we will be able to ensure our existence and guarantee our survival for generations to come.

The urban environment – buildings, cities and infrastructure – represents one of the most important contributors to climate change, while at the same time holding the key to a more sustainable way of living. The transformation from traditional to sustainable systems requires interdisciplinary knowledge of the re-design, construction, operation and maintenance of the built environment. Sustainable Urban Environments: An Ecosystem Approach presents fundamental knowledge of the built environment. Approaching the topic from an ecosystems perspective, it shows the reader how to combine diverse practical elements into sustainable solutions for future buildings and cities. You’ll learn to connect problems and solutions at different spatial scales, from urban ecology to material, water and energy use, from urban transport to livability and health. The authors introduce and explore a variety of governance tools that support the transformation process, and show how they can help overcome institutional barriers. The book concludes with an account of promising perspectives for achieving a sustainable built environment in industrialized countries. Offering a unique overview and understanding of the most pressing challenges in the built environment, Sustainable Urban Environments helps the reader grasp opportunities for integration of knowledge and technologies in the design, construction and management of the built environment. Students and practitioners who are eager to look beyond their own fields of interest will appreciate this book because of its depth and breadth of coverage.

Why does humanity seem unable to step off its unsustainable path, even with so many direct symptoms - from climate change to ecological destruction and peak resources - becoming more and more apparent? Striving to answer this question, The Schizophrenic Society marshals many different insights from such areas as history, sociology, politics, philosophy, psychology, economics, and anthropology. The resulting story is an important one that exposes both human and societal shortcomings when grappling with the fundamental issue that we're faced with: the continued growth in humanity's claims upon Earth's finite resources. In plain language, the author takes us on a journey, back to the dawn of agriculture and complex societies, and demonstrates how, over time, humanity has built up a set of delusional beliefs about its ability to control the natural world - of which it is an integral part. He explains how the recent exploitation of fossil fuels has provided a last hurrah for human civilization and its delusional beliefs, and then goes on to challenge the faulty logic of the new religion of Economics, which derides anyone who questions the possibility of infinite growth on a finite planet. Boyd then takes us into the future, where he shows us what life will look like if humanity maintains its current path, succumbing to modern media's continuous push for consumption. He warns us that change will not be easy; that the rich and powerful benefit in the short term from the status quo, and that to expect them to readily adopt changes that will reduce their wealth and power for the good of the whole, is naïve....

Just to maintain our standard of living, we need to grow the worldwide economy at an unsustainable rate. As we seek to hit such lofty targets, were bound to deplete our resources and cause environmental crises on a scale that we have never seen before. Revolutions, terrorism, and wars will follow. Peter Pogany examines the problems we face and argues that human culture is governed by thermodynamic cycles of steady states interrupted by chaotic transitions. Specifically, he postulates that a steady state was interrupted by World War I, with a chaotic transition following World War II, which has led us to the current world order. His theory predicts that global society is drifting toward a new form of self-organization that will recognize limits to demographic-economic expansion but only after we go through a new chaotic transition that will start sometime between now and the 2030s. Havoc, They Name is Twenty-First Century, delivers sobering thoughts on where the world is headed, but it also offers a glimpse of a bright future that we can embrace once we get through the darkness to come.

The essence of this book can be found in a line written by the ancient Roman Stoic Philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca: "Fortune is of sluggish growth, but ruin is rapid". This sentence summarizes the features of the phenomenon that we call "collapse," which is typically sudden and often unexpected, like the proverbial "house of cards." But why are such collapses so common, and what generates them? Several books have been published on the subject, including the well known "Collapse" by Jared Diamond (2005), "The collapse of complex societies" by Joseph Tainter (1998) and "The Tipping Point," by Malcom Gladwell (2000). Why The Seneca Effect? This book is an ambitious attempt to pull these various strands together by describing collapse from a multi-disciplinary viewpoint. The reader will discover how collapse is a collective phenomenon that occurs in what we call today "complex systems," with a special emphasis on system dynamics and the concept of "feedback." From this foundation, Bardi applies the theory to real-world systems, from the mechanics of fracture and the collapse of large structures to financial collapses, famines and population collapses, the fall of entire civilzations, and the most dreadful collapse we can imagine: that of the planetary ecosystem generated by overexploitation and climate change. The final objective of the book is to describe a conclusion that the ancient stoic philosophers had already discovered long ago, but that modern system science has rediscovered today. If you want to avoid collapse you need to embrace change, not fight it. Neither a book about doom and gloom nor a cornucopianist's dream, The Seneca Effect goes to the heart of the challenges that we are facing today, helping us to manage our future rather than be managed by it.