Environment Counts | Can Earth’s and Society’s Systems Meet the Needs of 10 Billion People? :
Can Earth’s and Society’s Systems Meet the Needs of 10 Billion People? :
In October, 2013 the National Research Council (USA) sponsored a workshop “to explore how the human population of the world might increase to 10 billion in a sustainable manner while
simultaneously increasing the well-being and the standard of living for that population.†Can Earth’s and Society’s Systems Meet the Needs of 10 Billion People?
The workshop was designed to explore issues, not to reach consensus. A significant part of the workshop focused on identifying elements of a research agenda for sustainability science moving forward.
The ensuing report (following the workshop structure) is organized into six sessions, focusing on the following concepts:
• The Human-Earth System
• Challenges to the Earth System: Character and Magnitude of the Challenges in 2050
• Challenges to the Earth System: Consequences for the Earth System
• Extreme Events
• Resource Distribution and Global Inequality
• Interaction Between Earth and Societal Systems
The workshop and resulting report (103 pages) explore recent empirical literature on these six areas. The report includes summaries of the presentations and discussion of each of the six sections. A useful reference section is included.
Issues covered of particular interest on the environment include :
• Understanding population in human environment relationships: Science shaped by World views or evidence?
• Indicators of environmental change, including tipping points and boundaries.
• Urbanization in the 21st Century: Challenges and opportunities for environmental sustainability.
• The impact of climate change on humans.
• Future demand and supply pressures on water: Implications for agriculture and other sectors.
• Interaction Between Earth and Societal Systems
Source: Can Earth’s and Society’s Systems Meet the Needs of 10 Billion People? National Research Council (USA), 2014. Summary of a Workshop by the Board on Environmental Change and Society. Rapporteur M. Mellody. Board on Life Sciences, Division on Earth and Life Studies. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2014.
