Conditions for sustainable human societies
Weinberger, V. P. (2018). Conditions for sustainable human societies. 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology. doi: 10.17011/conference/eccb2018/108181
Authors
Date
2018Copyright
© the Authors, 2018
All populations, including humans, are sustained by fluxes of energy and materials from a finite environment. Physical constraints on biological design result in ubiquitous and predictable "allometric scaling laws" (Brown et al. 2004), pervasive in ecological theory. However, unique to the human species is its capacity to harness extra-metabolic energy in the form of renewables and fossil fuels to power the development of more complex societies, from agricultural and industrial to modern technological lifestyles. We use ecological theory to compare variation in densities and individual energy use in human societies (varying in societal complexity) to other land mammals. We show that societal complexity (from hunter-gatherers to modern cities) not only associates to greater energy fluxes (both per capita and at a population scale), but also allows escaping from ecological laws. Moreover, densest cities across the globe flux greater energy than net primary productivity on a per area basis, becoming sinks. This condition poses formidable challenges for establishing a sustainable relationship on a finite planet. In an attempt of evaluating sustainable conditions of such demands, we developed a mathematical model, coupling human population growth, the benefits they obtain from the natural system or "ecosystem services" and technological development. In our model, high population numbers attaining basic standards of living can only be sustained under "clean technology" (technology capable of having a net positive impact on ecosystem services flow compared to their consumption). Otherwise, those numbers signify the establishment of "mad-max" scenarios (sensu Costanza 2000), with societies attaining less than basic standard of living conditions or the acceptance of inequalities. A rapid shift to clean technology to power modern societies, is necessary now more than ever
...
Publisher
Open Science Centre, University of JyväskyläConference
ECCB2018: 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology. 12th - 15th of June 2018, Jyväskylä, Finland
Original source
https://peerageofscience.org/conference/eccb2018/108181/Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
- ECCB 2018 [712]
License
Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
Abandonment or ambition: Sustaining nature and society through pastoralism in 21st century Abruzzo, Italy
Marcelli, Nunzio; Frascaroli, Fabrizio (Open Science Centre, University of Jyväskylä, 2018)The abandonment of rural and peripheral areas has been a dominant trend in Southern Europe since the rapid modernization of the 1960s. At the social level, this trend is leading to the disintegration of local communities ... -
Socially sustainable governance of the Mozambican oil and gas sector : analysis on the standpoints of the representatives of the Mozambican civil society
Pirkkalainen, Riitu (2020)Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on kartoittaa Mosambikin kansalaisyhteiskunnan näkemyksiä maan kaasu- ja öljysektorin sosiaalisesti kestävästä hallinnasta. Mosambik on yksi maailman köyhimmistä ja vähiten kehittyneistä ... -
Living standards and changing expectations : investigating domestic necessity and environmental sustainability in an affluent society
Aro, Riikka (University of Jyväskylä, 2017)This study explores how the problematic relations of rising living standards and environmental sustainability may be better understood by investigating domestic necessity and daily going-on. These key subjects are looked ... -
Making conservation sustainable under unfavourable conditions : the case of Chimanimani National Reserve, Mozambique
Virtanen, Pekka (Routledge, 2020)Based on a case study from the Chimanimani National Reserve in Mozambique, this article analyses to what extent different types of operational practices can contribute to the sustainability of protected areas in relatively ... -
Moving forward sustainably : material and social conditions of electronic waste management in Nigeria
Omokaro, Benedicta Ideho (University of Jyväskylä, 2018)This dissertation focuses on understanding the social material interaction between e-waste and e-scrappers for sustainable management of e-waste. Previous studies mainly concentrate on the detrimental environmental ...