Beyond the limits: Global collapse or a sustainable future

by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers

In great condition! In 1972 The Limits of Growth , sponsored by the Club of Rome and produced by a research team on a MIT computer programmed with a World3 model, created a stormy sensation. Denounced as eco-gloom and doom, the book also became a keystone of the era's environmentalism. Now on the eve of the June U.N. Earth Summit, three of the researchers give World3 another run. Although many books and reports examine ``sustainability,'' the authors provide unique insights thanks to their background in systems analysis. Society has gone into overshoot, they argue, a state of being beyond limits without knowing it. These limits are more like speed limits than barriers at the end of the the rate at which renewable resources can renew themselves, the rate at which we can change from nonrenewable resources to renewable ones, and the rate at which nature can recycle our pollution. Without being a catch-all on the environmental crisis, the book shows how we are overshooting such crucial resources as food and water while overwhelming nature with pollutants like those causing global warming. World3 runs 13 future scenarios and learns that we can only avoid collapse by unplugging the exponential growth in population (two billions people in the past 20 years) and industrial production (doubled in the past 20 years). If the world settles for two children per couple and the per capita income of South Korea, we can avoid collapse and find an equilibrium at 7.7 billion people through 2100. Systems analysis may sound like an academic specialty, but the authors have written for the general reader and provide a compelling challenge to traditional economics and public complacency. (Apr.)

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

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.