One and a Half Earth's

The title of this post is in reference to the amount of land and water we currently need to produce the resources we consume as a global population and absorb the waste that results from us.   I figured since just yesterday I discussed looming food shortages, I would go into a general overview of where the earth is headed and what will happen as a result.  I am basing this blog off of a an op-ed piece in the NYTimes which in turn is based off of a book by an Australian environmentalist-entrepreneur.   In sum, as if we all couldn't figure this out from the general state of the world and yesterday's post, the rate at which our population is growing and the rate at which we consume and produce things is unsustainable.  We only have one planet to live on and something is going to have to give if we don't make changes soon.  The Earth is currently caught in two vicious loops that are intersecting and causing great environmental damage and world wide turmoil.  The first loop is as follows; population growth and global warming are together pushing up food prices, higher food prices increase turmoil in the Middle East, increased turmoil in the Middle East drives up oil prices, higher oil prices drives up the cost of food, which ultimately brings about more turmoil.  The second loop is as follows; increased productivity means fewer jobs so if we want more jobs, we need to build more factories and when we build more factories, we increase global warming.   Global warming is where the two loops meet, feed into each other, and compound the problem for all of us.  Whether or not you want to buy into the science of global warming, it is a reality that is occurring.  Our Earth is getting warmer and regardless of how it is getting there or how you want to believe it is getting there, we do have an impact on it. 

As it is right now, the way we live is unsustainable.  If we are currently exceeding the limits that our earth can sustain, then what happens in the future if we keep on at our current rate.  Something has to give.  We can not keep sucking our environment dry and destroying every bit of it.  There are many places on Earth that currently have been pretty much sucked dry.  Aquifers are being drained at an alarming rate to supply the water needed to produce the food we consume.  Especially in desert regions, areas will run out of water very soon.  One in particular is Sana, Yemen.  Within the decade, all the water needed to sustain people in that city will have to be brought in by tanker truck or through some pipeline that is not even built.   On a similar note, if we keep on producing more goods and pumping CO2 into the atmosphere, we will eventually warm the planet to the point where life will be snuffed out.  A grim future, yes, but one that can be avoided if we all start making changes now.   The basis of change needs to be our rate of consumption, not necessarily food because that is a necessity that we need to survive, but in the everday products that we feel our necessary to our way of life.  Almost all the products we use in our every day lives are made in a factory somewhere that regardless of how "environmentally friendly" they claim to be, produces at least some degree of pollution and waste that ends up in our environment.   Our consumer driven economy has already proven itself unsustainable.  If we look at the recession a lot of us are dealing with right now, it was in large part due to over extensions on our consumer habits.  We want so much and buy so much, that eventually we all suffer. 

The solution is to drastically change the way we think and act.  According to Paul Gilding, (the author of the book which the op-ed piece I linked to here is based on) we need to move from a consumer-driven growth model to a happiness-driven growth model.  The consumer-driven one is broken, we see it every day and it will eventually lead to unsustainability.  The happiness-driven growth model is one based upon people working less and owning less.  Lets be realistic here (and I will draw off of his comments), how many people at the end of their life will wished they had worked harder, more, or attained more goods.  I would wager that few of us would.  I believe that most of us, at the end of our lives, would rather have spent more time with our families, enjoyed more time reading books or working in the yard.  Maybe I am wrong, but to have a desire to just work is un-human.  But that is the way we all live currently and to change that will be extremely hard for almost all of us.  To change models will take a concerted effort on the part of everyone.  It can not just be one group of people that changes, but our entire society that needs to change.  Gilding thinks we can, I hope we can, but who knows.  What we all need to do is ask ourselves what we really need in our lives.  Do we need all the latest gadgets, trinkets, and toys to keep us happy.  According to our current social mentality, yes.   But in reality, do these things really contribute to our happiness or are they just a means to spend money that we work so hard to get to create the illusion of happiness.   I would suggest it is the latter.  All we really need to survive is a shelter, food, and family.   If we can re-learn to be happy with these and forego all the unnecessary baggage we create, then maybe we can move our society to a happiness-driven growth model.  I really hope we can, because if we keep eating away at our future, there will be no future and that by far is much worse than any change we might have to make to prevent it.