Die Grenzen des Wachstums. Bericht des Club of Rome zur Lage der Menschheit

by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows

In 1972, three scientists from MIT created a computer model that analyzed global resource consumption and production. Their results shocked the world and created stirring conversation about global 'overshoot, ' or resource use beyond the carrying capacity of the planet. Now, preeminent environmental scientists Donnella Meadows, Jorgen Randers, and Dennis Meadows have teamed up again to update and expand their original findings in "The Limits to Growth: The 30 Year Global Update,"Meadows, Randers, and Meadows are international environmental leaders recognized for their groundbreaking research into early signs of wear on the planet. Citing climate change as the most tangible example of our current overshoot, the scientists now provide us with an updated scenario and a plan to reduce our needs to meet the carrying capacity of the planet.Over the past three decades, population growth and global warming have forged on with a striking semblance to the scenarios laid out by the World3 computer model in the original "Limits to Growth," While Meadows, Randers, and Meadows do not make a practice of predicting future environmental degradation, they offer an analysis of present and future trends in resource use, and assess a variety of possible outcomes.In many ways, the message contained in "Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update" is a warning. Overshoot cannot be sustained without collapse. But, as the authors are careful to point out, there is reason to believe that humanity can still reverse some of its damage to Earth if it takes appropriate measures to reduce inefficiency and waste.Written in refreshingly accessible prose, "Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update" is a long anticipated revival ofsome of the original voices in the growing chorus of sustainability. "Limits to Growth: The 30 Year Update" is a work of stunning intelligence that will expose for humanity the hazy but critical line between human growth and human development.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

183 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1972

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

[Michael Bohli · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Die Grenzen des Wachstums" ist immer noch das Standardwerk der Kritik an unserem kapitalistischen System. Der Club Of Rome legte diese Studie in den 70er-Jahren vor und zeigte damals eindrücklich auf, dass der "unendliche Wachstum" nicht funktioniert.
Klimawandel, Hunger, Rohstoffkollaps, Überbevölkerung und viele weitere Probleme werden wissenschaftlich angesprochen und aufgezeigt. Sicherlich ist das Buch eher trocken verfasst, aber immer noch wichtig und beeindruckend. Nur schade, dass die Menschheit bis heute praktisch nichts gelernt hat und den Wendepunkt nur um wenige Jahre nach vorne verschoben hat. Es wird alles anders, da habe ich keine Angst. Doch für uns Menschen wird es nicht besser, bestimmt nicht - denn alle aufgezeigten Fakten treffen auch 40 Jahre später noch zu.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolut must-read for system scientists but just as important and eye opening for everyone else as well!