Spaceship Earth

“Ndex kenneth boulding the economics of the coming spaceship earth (1966) note this famous paper was presented at the sixth resources for the future forum on environmental quality in a growing economy in washington, d.c. on march 8,1966. it presents an image of the earth as a finite entity that we should cherish and protect instead of using to the utmost. new ideas and perspectives are, however, still slightly mixed with the illusion of a benevolent state, acting in the public interest, whose task is to introduce the adjustments necessary for the transition to the economy of the spaceship earth.”

“The article examines the challenges that spaceship earth is facing in 2015 and beyond. topics covered include the increasing overpopulation of the earth, the looming energy crisis caused by the limited supply of fossil fuels, and how spaceship earth replenishes some of its consumables by various recycling processes.”

“—Earth was a pretty durable spaceship, but we have managed to trash its life support systems, the atmosphere, and the oceans. humans have also destroyed vast areas of habitats and fragmented many others. we have modified the atmosphere and in doing so have increased the greenhouse effect, which has changed the climate to produce ever increasing maximum tempera- tures. increased temperatures threaten some lizard species in highly biodiverse tropical and sub- tropical regions. many lizards are also threatened by habitat loss and over-harvesting. although lizards are ectotherms and might therefore be expected to be resilient to global warming, evidence strongly suggests that many species could be threatened by warming. some, such as fossorial or nocturnal species or those in cold temperate regions, may be little affected by climate warming but many others such as thermoconformer species in tropical forests and live bearers appear to be particularly vulnerable. the 2011 iucn red list of threatened species lists 12 lizard species as ex- tinct and another 462 species as critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable. together, these constitute at least 8.4%, probably more, of all described lizard species. the highly biodiverse lizard fauna of madagascar is especially threatened mostly due to habitat loss from extensive deforesta- tion by humans. three of the iucn listed species are monitor lizards. most varanids are top preda- tors, generally have large territories, and have low population densities, which make them particu- larly vulnerable to habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, and over-harvesting. all monitor lizards are listed by cites as endangered, and five species are officially listed as ‘threatened with extinction.’ others, including the sister taxon to varanids, the earless monitor lanthanotus from borneo, and several island endemic varanus species from biodiversity hot spots in se asia should be added to these lists. the future survival of all lizards including varanids will depend on our ability to manage the global environment. sustainable management will require controlling the runaway population growth of humans, as well as major changes in our use of resources. to maintain lizard biodiversity, anthropogenic climate change and habitat destruction must be addressed.”

“Ethics based on the metaphor of spaceship earth lead to the tragedy of the commons so long as nations enjoy reproductive freedom without reproductive responsibility. to avert this tragedy the ethics of a lifeboat must be adopted, which implies rejection of a world food bank, and severe restriction of immigration.”