How Many Will Survive the Next Fifty Years

Jesse H. Ausubel Michael A. Stoto In discussions of long-term environmental issues, such as carbon dioxide and global climatic change, reference is often made to the improbability of substantial societal action to protect populations of the future. Most government and business planning decisions are oriented toward the next quarter or the next year, not toward half a century from now, when many experts contend dramatic environmental shifts will be taking place. Indeed, long-range planning rarely extends more than five years ahead. Implicit in this view may be an assumption that the population of today is quite distinct from the population of the future. Yet, a substantial portion of the people on earth today will still be here 50 years from now, as can be estimated readily by some straightforward calculations

Business · Complex Systems and Decision Making · Global Energy and Sustainability Research