{"id":150402,"date":"2019-12-23T12:01:40","date_gmt":"2019-12-23T12:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=150402"},"modified":"2019-12-30T11:27:23","modified_gmt":"2019-12-30T11:27:23","slug":"why-climate-change-is-an-irrelevance-economic-growth-is-a-myth-and-sustainability-is-forty-years-too-late","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/12\/why-climate-change-is-an-irrelevance-economic-growth-is-a-myth-and-sustainability-is-forty-years-too-late\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Climate Change Is an Irrelevance, Economic Growth Is a Myth and Sustainability Is Forty Years Too Late"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Image credit: Nyancho Nwanri\/Arete<\/p><\/div>\n

20 Nov 2019 – <\/em>As someone who has been exploring the world\u2019s most isolated wilderness regions for nearly half a century, I have some insight into the state of the planet and the human race\u2019s current environmental befuddlement. I\u2019ve watched the condition of the earth plummet before my eyes within my own lifespan, to the extent that I no longer recognize it as the beautiful, diverse supporter of all life it once was.<\/p>\n

So let me start by addressing a few key points of confusion that seem to affect both keen activists and head-in-the-sand deniers in equal measure:<\/p>\n

Climate change is not the biggest threat to the world\u2019s environment \u2013 we are. The world\u2019s rivers and seas aren\u2019t choked with floating piles of rubbish, toxic chemicals and plastic waste because of climate change. They\u2019re that way because we have 7.7 billion people crammed onto a planet that\u2019s dying under the pressure of our greedy, selfish abuse. Two decades from now, the earth\u2019s oceans are on target to contain more plastic in them (by weight) than fish. Climate change didn\u2019t do that. Way too many people did that.<\/p>\n

Climate change hasn\u2019t covered the world with concrete or replaced healthy ecosystems with canal estates and shopping malls \u2013 we and our ever-increasing numbers are the culprit. Climate change is only one of many symptoms of an out-of-control disease \u2013 human overpopulation. The irreversible environmental damage stemming from having too many people on a finite planet is already painfully evident. Our bloated population is diminishing our children\u2019s futures in ways that have very little to do with the planet\u2019s temperature.<\/p>\n

I keep hearing people say \u201cHumans have always found a way to solve difficult problems, so don\u2019t worry \u2013 it\u2019ll all work itself out\u201d. Alas, the problem the earth faces now is one it has never dealt with before \u2013 a plague of nearly 8 billion humans. It can\u2019t cope anymore.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been so distracted making money, embracing our agendas and spreading myths about \u2018growth\u2019 and \u2018progress\u2019 that we forgot to notice we\u2019ve turned our only viable planetary home into a spherical garbage dump. Humans may be impressively intelligent, but they\u2019re also profoundly self-focused and short-sighted.<\/p>\n

No politician talks about our population epidemic. All you hear from them is \u2018jobs, jobs, jobs\u2019 and \u2018more growth\u2019. You don\u2019t hear climate change activists talking about overpopulation, either. It\u2019s too dangerous a subject, too painful a reality. It permanently occupies the \u2018too hard\u2019 basket.<\/p>\n

Instead, we\u2019ve all jumped on the global warming bandwagon. We stridently blame governments for lack of action on climate change \u2013 while secretly hoping that whatever they decide to do doesn\u2019t adversely affect our consumer lifestyle.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not confuse activism with action \u2013 they\u2019re not the same. One is about social inclusion and feeling good about your outrage; the other is about doing something tangible to make things better.<\/p>\n

I hate to burst this old-school bubble, but there\u2019s no longer such a thing as economic growth \u2013 not in this century. There\u2019s no true sustainability, either \u2013 not any more. The \u2018environmental tipping point\u2019 everyone loves to talk about was actually reached around 1980, when science tells us that humanity began to consume more of the earth\u2019s resources than the planet could possibly regenerate. We\u2019ve gobbled up more of our planet\u2019s resources in the past fifty years than in all previous human history combined and polluted our way to prosperity in the process. Climate change had nothing to do with any of that \u2013 and still doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Economic growth needs population growth to sustain itself. But when a depleted planet can no longer carry the burden of an existing population and its endless demands, growth is nothing but a dangerous illusion. Today\u2019s \u2018healthy economy\u2019 is tomorrow\u2019s dystopian misery.<\/p>\n

In this century, what we still mistakenly call economic growth is environmental destruction, pure and simple. Nothing\u00a0<\/em>we do today can be called sustainable on a planet that has already endured four solid decades of irreplaceable resource use. The 1970s were the last sustainable decade for mankind. Unfortunately, at the time, no one took notice that a tipping point had been reached and passed.<\/p>\n

Our current environmental woes have almost nothing to do with the climate and everything to do with how we\u2019ve been treating the earth \u2013 not just recently but for many centuries. We\u2019ve always abused the earth horribly and managed to get away with it because our numbers weren\u2019t significant enough to cause lasting damage. Now our numbers are out of control, and that presents us with limited options.<\/p>\n

In hindsight, we should have addressed rampant overpopulation shortly after WW2, when the global population was still around 2.5 billion \u2013 less than a third of what it is today. But we were in the midst of jubilant post-war optimism and still believed in the delusion of \u2018nature\u2019s endless bounty\u2019.<\/p>\n

If you could go back in time to around 1604, to the spot where Manhattan now sits, you would see a tiny settlement of about 150 people enjoying a pristine coastal wilderness with superb growing soil, ample wildlife and rich timber forests \u2013 a genuine paradise on earth. Back then, whales would wander up the clean, fish-rich Hudson River and you could pull lobsters out of the sea half as long as a man. Huge flocks of passenger pigeons blackened the sky.<\/p>\n

Today, that same place is wall-to-wall concrete, with one of the highest human population densities on earth. We\u2019ve been so busy \u2018improving\u2019 things that we\u2019ve destroyed practically everything. In the end, our legacy as a species won\u2019t be about all the wonderful things we\u2019ve created while we\u2019ve occupied the earth. It will be about all the wonderful things we\u2019ve destroyed.<\/p>\n

The most astounding explosion of human population in history happened on my generation\u2019s watch, so we need to take ownership of that lack of foresight. Our own children are now paying the price for our blunders and have every right to be worried about the earth\u2019s future \u2013 and theirs. But let\u2019s not heap all the blame on baby boomers. Previous generations helped the planet\u2019s degradation along just as blindly, and today\u2019s young people still expect the sort of prosperous lifestyle that a dying planet can now only provide in the very short term.<\/p>\n

So, I would patiently urge all climate-change activists to direct their environmental concerns at those who really deserve it. They can start with the economists, developers and politicians who blissfully believe that the status quo of \u2018perpetual growth\u2019 still works. They can then move on to the religious zealots who still spout the mantra of \u2018man\u2019s dominion over nature\u2019 and abhor the idea of contraceptives. After that, they can apportion a hefty dose of blame to the world leaders who purposefully sidestep the overpopulation issue like the political hot potato it is, despite the fact that it\u2019s killing our planet and robbing future generations of the spectacular biodiversity and viable ecosystems that older generations took for granted. And finally, they can look in the mirror and ask themselves what they<\/em>\u00a0are personally doing (besides protesting in the streets) to make their planet a better place for all the life that dwells on it.<\/p>\n

What are the solutions to an overcrowded planet? Firstly, to stop getting sidetracked by the climate change industry and recognize that the problem is our sheer numbers and blatant disregard for the planet\u2019s health \u2013 not the climate. We must replace political and economic agendas and warped ideologies with better education (especially in science). We need more global promotion of family planning, more female empowerment and government incentives to have fewer children \u2013 not more. And sadly, we should have been proactive about all this stuff at least 60 years ago, instead of just waking up to our self-inflicted predicament now.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s reassuring that today\u2019s young people are increasingly aware of the seriousness of their environmental plight, they are protesting up the wrong tree. They should direct their passionate attention to the real enemy \u2013 a greedy, arrogant, two-legged species that\u2019s in furious denial and has become far too adept at making excuses for the inexcusable.<\/p>\n

_______________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kevin Casey is a professional freelance writer based in Brisbane, Australia<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 globalcomment.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

20 Nov 2019 – As someone who has been exploring the world\u2019s most isolated wilderness regions for nearly half a century, I have some insight into the state of the planet and the human race\u2019s current environmental befuddlement. While it\u2019s reassuring that today\u2019s young people are increasingly aware of the seriousness of their environmental plight, they are protesting up the wrong tree. They should direct their passionate attention to the real enemy \u2013 a greedy, arrogant, two-legged species that\u2019s in furious denial and has become far too adept at making excuses for the inexcusable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":150404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,216,48,55,238,146,203,63],"tags":[686,290,1295,354,993,520,307,281,1033,330],"class_list":["post-150402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-technology","category-in-focus","category-capitalism","category-paradigm-changes","category-economics","category-development","category-inspirational","tag-climate-change","tag-culture","tag-deep-culture","tag-economics","tag-global-warming","tag-human-behaviors","tag-humanity","tag-psychology","tag-psychopathy","tag-sustainability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}