Industrial Capitalism Still on Course to Consume the World
Echoing the now-weary warnings of scientists, environmentalists and other well-meaning people, a United Nations report released Thursday says: “By 2050, humanity could devour an estimated 140 billion tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and biomass per year -- three times its current appetite -- unless the economic growth rate is ‘decoupled’ from the rate of natural resource consumption.”
Echoing the now weary warnings of scientists, environmentalists and other well-meaning people, a United Nations report released Thursday says: “By 2050, humanity could devour an estimated 140 billion tons of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and biomass per year — three times its current appetite — unless the economic growth rate is ‘decoupled’ from the rate of natural resource consumption.”
“Decoupled” in this case means a condition in which high resource consumption is no longer considered a marker of healthy economies. –ARK
Your support is crucial...Inter Press Service:
The world is running out of cheap and high quality sources of some essential materials such as oil, copper and gold, the supplies of which, in turn, require ever-rising volumes of fossil fuels and freshwater to produce, the report found.
… During the 20th century, the rate of resource use has increased twice as fast as the increase in global population. Now, resources are being consumed at an even greater rate and are on pace to triple by 2050, the report calculates. Except there simply aren’t enough resources left on the planet to manage that.
… North America’s infrastructure, including transportation, sanitation, food production and so on, are all high-energy, high-material-use systems, said report co-author Fischer-Kowalski. They were designed with the assumption of never-ending access to cheap and plentiful energy and resources. Efficiency improvements can be made but it is more expensive and limits to what can be done.
As we navigate an uncertain 2025, with a new administration questioning press freedoms, the risks are clear: our ability to report freely is under threat.
Your tax-deductible donation enables us to dig deeper, delivering fearless investigative reporting and analysis that exposes the reality beneath the headlines — without compromise.
Now is the time to take action. Stand with our courageous journalists. Donate today to protect a free press, uphold democracy and uncover the stories that need to be told.
Editorial Cartoons
Environment
In addition to being the main cause of animal cruelty in the world, factory farming is a primary source of environmental degradation.
Environment
A land management ideology with roots in colonialism is keeping the West from mitigating increasingly destructive wildfires.
Americas
The Belém agreement overlooks how environmental crimes in the Amazon are intertwined with drug trafficking and transnational crime groups.
Environment
New study claims to be the most comprehensive global assessment to date of the threats posed to indigenous peoples’ lands by industrial development.
Editorial Cartoons
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.