A new study suggests that current levels of worldwide economic growth, energy use and resource consumption will overshoot the Earth's finite limits. University of Dayton Hanley Sustainability Institute Executive Director Ben McCall is among five authors of the essay published in the journal Energy Research & Social Science.
McCall and the other authors write, "Humankind's recent launch into modernity is like a first-time skydive: thrilling, and quite unlike anything that has come before, but now is the time to start asking if the parachute is at hand. Nature does not guarantee that a soft landing is in store."
They ask the uncomfortable question of whether Earth's natural systems can support 8 billion or more people at a modern standard of living and determine "the responsible path is to reduce global resource dependencies and abandon the imperative for growth starting now."
Joining Cincinnati Edition to discuss the essay "Modernity is Incompatible with Planetary Limits: Developing a PLAN for the Future," is University of Dayton Hanley Sustainability Institute Executive Director Ben McCall, Ph.D.
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