Die Neuen Grenzen Des Wachstums

by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows

Beyond the Limits Confronting Global Collapse, Envisioning a Sustainable Future is the path-breaking sequel to The Limits to Growth, the international best-seller which sold 9 million copies in 29 languages when it was published 20 years ago. At that time the authors concluded that if the present trends of growth continued unchanged, the limits to physical growth on the planet would be reached in the next 100 years. Now, in Beyond the Limits, the authors show that the world has already overshot some of its limits, and if present trends remain unchanged, we face the virtually certain prospect of a global economic collapse in the next century. That collapse is far from inevitable, however. Now three of the original authors of The Limits to Growth, Donella Meadows, Dennis Meadows, and Jorgen Randers have written Beyond the Limits to help us confront the possibility of global collapse in order to envision the possibility of a sustainable future. They use World3, their system dynamics computer model, as a unique tool to see far into the next century. And by varying the basic global policy assumptions that go into the model, they are able to show a range of outcomes, from collapse to sustainability. Beyond the Limits comes to the following key conclusions. Human use of essential resources and generation of pollutants has surpassed sustainable rates. Unless there are significant reductions in material and energy flows, the world faces an uncontrolled decline in per capita food output, energy use, and industrial production. In order to avoid this decline, growth in material consumption and population must be eased down at the same time as there is a rapid and drastic increase in the efficiency of materials and energy use. A sustainable society is technically and economically feasible. The transition to a sustainable society must be made by carefully balancing our long and short-term goals and emphasizing equity and quality of life. It will require honesty, compassion,

Genres: Sustainability, Environment, Science, Nonfiction, Nature, Economics, Politics

319 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Donella H. "Dana" Meadows was a pioneering American environmental scientist, teacher, and writer. She was educated in science, receiving a B.A. in chemistry from Carleton College in 1963, and a Ph.D. in biophysics from Harvard in 1968. After a year-long trip with her husband, Dennis Meadows, from England to Sri Lanka and back, she became, along with him, a research fellow at MIT, as a member of a team in the department created by Jay Forrester, the inventor of system dynamics as well as the principle of magnetic data storage for computers. She taught at Dartmouth College for 29 years, beginning in 1972.

Reviews

[Christy Hammer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure any educated person can go a day longer without understanding the Limits of Growth thesis, and how we have to embrace that to get past neo-Liberalism. This later rendition has the argument and also recommendations (many still applicable today).

[Tay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A scientific book for the general public which proposes a sustainable world. They explain a computer model they built back in the 1970s, which they then updated and ran again in the 90s. The results most certainly illustrate that our current world system is headed for an overshoot (using too many resources for too many reasons without enough waste receptacles without noticing the signs saying "TOO MUCH!") and collapse (because we don't act in time to save ourselves).

Very clear book, poetically written at times. Takes us through possible scenarios by asking "what if...?" questions and applying them to the model and explaining the results. Basically - we need to stop having more than replacement children, settle with sufficient material consumption, invest in resource efficiency and agricultural technology to avoid collapse, provide for all the people, and maintain a decent standard of living. ("Basically.")

In the last section, researchers remove their researcher hats and speak inspiringly as humans about visioning, learning, truth-telling, and loving - motivating us to change our material needs to non-material opportunities. Beautiful and smart.

[Edie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not good at skimming or reading just part of a book. Though that would have been a good thing to do here. It's a sobering yet technical look at how our planet is racing towards (or past) its natural limits, and how we might mitigate the trouble ahead and build a more sustainable society. The action it calls for is profound and fundamental, but that's what I was reading it for. I quite like the final chapters on the vision for the future, as it falls in line well with my own thinking. I'm looking for inspiration along these lines to plan my own future, and would welcome other reading suggestions!

[Julian Schlaen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Si bien se trata de un libro originalmente escrito en los 70's y actualizado a principios de los 90's, resulta muy interesante el enfoque sistémico desde donde analizan la cuestión de equilibrio entre desarrollo, crecimiento y medio ambiente. Un enfoque que deja de lado en gran parte cuestiones subjetivas, y se centra la interrelación entre distintas variables como población, alimentos, servicios y otras variables cuantificables. Sería muy interesante ver algún análisis similar, actualizado con los nuevos avances tecnológicos y los datos ambientales más recientes.
Vale la pena leer este libro.

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

After "The Limits to Growth," another life-changing book.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shocking how applicable and relevant this was 30 years later after it was published…Donella was so ahead of her time.

[Karen]

Another book that relates to my Environmental Economics class.