Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
They concluded that the nesting decisions of these birds were in part deter-
mined by knowledge (a form of public information) of their neighbours'
reproductive success. Where eggs were plentiful, settlement was increased.
But if the hatchlings were scrawny, naïve birds were more likely to go else-
where. Moreover, evidence suggested that the conditioning of the birds
influenced their tolerance of hardship. Birds reared in an artificially impov-
erished area were more likely to put up with such conditions, whereas birds
more familiar with abundance were more likely to reject settlement in over-
populated areas (Withgott 2002).
Yet, few mainstream demographers and economists recognise that the
concept of human carrying capacity is meaningful (McMichael, Butler
et al.
2003). This is despite the recognition by economists that scarcity is a funda-
mental characteristic of society. The extreme form of this disconnection by
some academic disciplines with physical reality can be caricatured as the
'cornucopian enchantment' - the idea that in an information-based, post-
material economy sufficient goods and services can be created in which the
wants of an almost infinitely sized population can be satisfied.
Such an idea is absurd. The global cake is large and has, in the last two cen-
turies, been greatly increased by human ingenuity, technology and cheap
energy. Predators and most competitors for humans have been almost elimi-
nated, apart from
other
members of our species. Many people receive only
crumbs from this large cake, and most influential economists, trained by and
loyal to the dominant power structure, urge that recent policies be intensified.
'Star Trek'-inspired futures of universal abundance are likely to remain
elusive, and even though the percentage of malnourished people is reported
to have fallen, the absolute number of macro and micro-nutrient deficient
people alive today exceeds that of the
entire
global population a century ago
(Food and Agriculture Organisation 2002).
Political instability, corruption, poor governance, and terrorism have a
complex relationship with scarcity. It is striking how often resource-scarcity
and inequality are overlooked as fundamental drivers of human conflict.
Instead, it is often argued that sufficient resources and ingenuity exist,
regionally and globally, to eliminate conflict and to generate 'wealth for all'.
This argument leads to suggestions that the failure to achieve peace is prima-
rily because of the irresponsible behaviour of political leaders.
In reality, limited environmental and human resources are important
drivers of conflict and poor governance. This is particularly clear in many
