Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change - Softcover

Catton, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0252009886 ISBN 13: 9780252009884

Verlag: University of Illinois Press, 1982

Inhaltsangabe

Our day-to-day experiences over the past decade have taught us that there must be limits to our tremendous appetite for energy, natural resources, and consumer goods. Even utility and oil companies now promote conservation in the face of demands for dwindling energy reserves. And for years some biologists have warned us of the direct correlation between scarcity and population growth. These scientists see an appalling future riding the tidal wave of a worldwide growth of population and technology.

A calm but unflinching realist, Catton suggests that we cannot stop this wave - for we have already overshot the Earth's capacity to support so huge a load. He contradicts those scientists, engineers, and technocrats who continue to write optimistically about energy alternatives. Catton asserts that the technological panaceas proposed by those who would harvest from the seas, harness the winds, and farm the deserts are ignoring the fundamental premise that "the principals of ecology apply to all living things." These principles tell us that, within a finite system, economic expansion is not irreversible and population growth cannot continue indefinitely. If we disregard these facts, our sagging American Dream will soon shatter completely.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

William R. Catton, Jr., is professor of sociology at Washington State University and author of From Animistic to Naturalistic Sociology and more than seventy-five articles in such journals as American Sociologist, Social Science Quarterly, Journal of Forestry, and BioScience.
 

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: University of Illinois Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 1982
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0252009886
• ISBN 13: 9780252009884
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 320
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Mare Nostrum Group B.V.; gpsr@mare-nostrum.co.uk; ; Doelen 72; Breda; 4831 GR; Niederlande