Читать книгу Practical Sustainability Strategies - George P. Nassos - Страница 17

Another way of looking at overuse of the earth's resources is to talk about consumption. There is a great variation today in consumption of the many nations in the world. Consumption is defined as the needs of people for survival in terms of food, energy, materials, and the disposal of waste. The disparity in the consumption rate is that it is 32 times greater in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Japan, and Australia than in the developing countries [11].

In 2019, the world population is estimated to be around 7.7 billion people of whom only about 1 billion live in the fully developed countries listed earlier. By the middle of this century, it is estimated that the world population could grow to 9 billion people, and there are questions as to whether the earth can support this number of people or will it collapse. It is not really a question of how many people are on this earth, but what is the consumption rate of these people?

People in third-world countries are aware of a major difference in the consumption rate per capita, although they probably don't know the magnitude of the difference. In general, their goal is to catch up to the developed countries, but if they believe their chances of catching up are hopeless, they could get frustrated, angry, or even participate in terrorist activities. Another option is to immigrate to a first world country like the United Stated and Western Europe, but then they would contribute to the consumption rate of that country.

If one considers the fastest growing economy in China, these people are already aspiring to increase their consumption to the 32 factor. If the Chinese were to succeed, it would be equivalent of doubling the world's consumption rate. If India were to do the same thing, the consumption rate would then triple. If the entire world had the same consumption rate as these first world countries, it would be the same as having 72 billion people on this planet at the current consumption rates—and there is no way the earth could handle this.

Since we are in no position to restrict the rest of world from improving their quality of life, the only answer is that the high consuming countries mentioned earlier must lower their consumption rate. But will they do it for the benefit of the rest of the world? Whether they want to or not, they must reduce their consumption rate because what they are doing today is not sustainable.

If these countries reluctantly agree to reduce their consumption rate, does it mean that they will have to reduce their quality of life? Definitely not! For example, the people in Western Europe consume half as much oil (gasoline) per capita than the people in the United States. But the Western European standard of living is considered higher than that in the United States in terms of life expectancy, healthcare, infant mortality, vacation time, quality of public schools, and several other criteria. Does a large gas-guzzling automobile really contribute positively to any of these quality-of-life factors? Probably not!

The current state of the environment can also be presented by looking at four major environmental issues: (i) water scarcity, (ii) energy sources, (iii) climate change, and (iv) population growth.