Global environmental issues In a famous book entitled Limits to Growth, Donella

Question

Global environmental issues In a famous book entitled Limits to Growth, Donella et al. (1972) emphasized three major, global, environmental problems of humanity: human population growth, resource depletion, and pollution. a. How has this classification been criticized (positively and negatively)? (150 words or more) b. Are there other ways to arrange major, global, environmental problems of humanity and, if so, what it would be/is. (150 words or more) A Kuznets curve has been suggested as a model to explain the relationship between inequality and environmental degradation. a. Explain in more detail what is a Kuznets curve. (150 words or more) b. Criticize this model. (150 words or more) Quantitative analyses in environmental science Explain the meaning of the graphs shown in the last page of Chapter 1 in the pdf provided in CANVAS (Data Analysis, BiScCHIPart2.pdf (150 words or more for the combined graphs, not 150 for each) List three (there are more) omissions of the graph shown below (taken from a textbook I use for another class). The title of the graph is: Cholesterol blood levels decrease with consumption of oatmeal.

Explanation / Answer

a. 'The limits to growth' book based on the computer simulation of the population and the economic growth with finite supplies of the resources. This 1972 book was based on five variable i.e industrialisation, world population, pollution, resources depletion and food production. The objective of the author is to predict the sustainable feedback pattern by changing the growth trends among these five variables under three scenarios. The book has recieved positive as well as negative reviews. In 2008, the Turner from the CSIRO found that the observed historical data from 1997-2000 was closely matched with the simulated results of the standard run limits of the growth model for all output data. Also the comparison was well within the uncertainity limits of nearly all data in terms of trends and magnitude over time. The book has been criticised by the economist, academics and the businessmen. They claimed that the historical projections by the models were incorrect and the attacks were made on the methodology, conclusions, computer and the people involved in the project.

b. In the' limits of growth' the model was based on the fact that the continued growth leads to infinite quantities so the possiblities of the continous growth could be exhausted and timely action could be done to avoid a planetary collapse. Yale economist Henrich agreed that growth could not continue indefinately and the natural end to growth is more preferable than the intervention. He said that technology can solve all the problems but only if growth continued apace. By stopping growth too soon it would lead to loss of billions to the world. Also if resources and energy would grow in the future the consumption rate would decrease.

c. Kuznet curve is hypothetical curve which describes the relationship of economic inequality vs income per capita over the course of the economic development. It describes the behaviour and relationship between the two variables as an economy develops from mainly an agricultural rural society to an industrialised urban economy.

d. The Kuznet curve does not represents the average progression of the economic development for the individual country but is a representation of the historical differences between the economic inequality and the economic development in the countries used in the data set. Also Kuznet have mainly used the countries in the Latin America which have high economic inequality as compared to their counterparts with similar economic development.

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