Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
15.4.1 The Earth cannot be subject to the economics of Man
Human beings undertake all their activities on the outer crust and the surrounding
atmosphere, converting the geological and biological materials they have been be-
stowed into commercial products ready for entry onto the world's markets. Hence,
global wealth is fundamentally obtained in the exploration, extraction and manip-
ulation of natural resources. In fact, many see wealth as a proxy of wellbeing and
measure it in terms of GDP. However, they fail to see that this gain in wealth pro-
duces an unreasonable cost, down the rainbow, ultimately causing the destruction
of Nature's resource endowment.
Thus, in many respects, it is the economy, having replaced biology and geology,
which has come to act as the prime mover. The Earth is thus a planet dominated by
the economics of Man, not Nature. This aside, the economy is still restricted by the
physical laws as no amount of clever accounting can ever bend them. As such there
is a real need to ensure that Man's actions are compatible with Nature's creations.
The latter can be explained through Thermodynamics with a deeper understanding
serving to move mankind in the direction of harmony. However, this paradigm shift
is not free of di culties, as in the authors view, Economics radically differs from
Thermodynamics on three important points:
The quantitative finitude of resources.
The qualitative finitude of resources.
The time spans applied.
15.4.1.1 Limited vs. unlimited resources
The first difference is the fact that the basis of Economics is growth whilst the
foundations of Thermodynamics lie in the First and Second Laws. Such laws serve
to invalidate any form of growth based on finite resources simply because the planet
is not big enough to supply all the materials needed for each generation's unbound
ambitions.
To illustrate this point, suppose a closed and isolated system in which neither
mass nor energy can escape such as the spaceship proposed by Boulding (1966). Here
the system will evolve until its entropy cannot grow any further. An intelligent being
living in such a place would use all resources skillfully to prolong his or her survival.
Breathing e ciency would be improved in order to consume the optimal amount of
oxygen. An awareness in the use of non-degraded resources would develop sharply.
The recycling of substances (water, for instance) would become an increasingly
essential task. However since recycling consumes energy, it also depletes stocks;
meaning one needs to analyse the optimal conditions and procedures for extending
life: via further reduce, reuse, recycle or in the drawing of new energy stocks.
Earth however, in contrast to a spacecraft, is not an energy system isolated
from the outside and obviously its analysis is rather more complex. Here as with
the spaceship, human beings need freshwater to live, concentrated materials and
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search