The related terms, "sustainable" and "sustainability" are popularly used to describe a wide variety of activities which are generally ecologically laudable but which may not be sustainable. An examination of major reports reveals contradictory uses of the terms. An attempt is made here to give a firm and unambiguous definition to the concept of sustainability and to translate the definition into a series of laws and hypotheses which, it is hoped, will clarify the implications of the use of the concept of sustainability. These are followed by a series of observations and predictions that relate to "sustainability." The laws should enable one to read the many publications on sustainability and help one to decide whether the publications are seeking to illuminate or to obfuscate. Professor Albert Bartlett (1998) http://www.forestry.auburn.edu/south/zpg/bartlett.html LAWS REGARDING SUSTAINABILITY (1) Population growth and/or growth in the rates of consumption of resources cannot be sustained. (2) In a society with a growing population and/or growing rates of consumption of resources, the larger the population, and/or the larger the rates of consumption of resources, the more difficult it will be to transform the society to the conditions of sustainability. (3) The response time of populations to changes in the human fertility rate is the average length of a human life. (4) The size of population that can be sustained (the carrying capacity) and the sustainable average standard of living of the population are inversely related to one another. (5) Sustainability requires that the size of the population be less than or equal to the carrying capacity of the ecosystem for the desired standard of living. (6) The benefits of population growth and of growth in the rates of consumption of resources accrue to a few; the costs of population growth and growth in the rates of consumption of resources are borne by all of society. (7) Growth in the rate of consumption of a non-renewable resource, such as a fossil fuel, causes a dramatic decrease in the life-expectancy of the resource. (8)The time of expiration of non-renewable resources can be postponed, possibly for a very long time, by: i ) technological improvements in the efficiency with which the resources are recovered and used ii ) using the resources in accord with a program of "Sustained Availability," ( Bartlett 1986 ) iii ) recycling iv ) the use of substitute resources. (9) When large efforts are made to improve the efficiency with which resources are used, the resulting savings are easily and completely wiped out by the added resources consumed as a consequence of modest increases in population. (10)The benefits of large efforts to preserve the environment are easily canceled by the added demands on the environment that result from small increases in human population. (11) When rates of pollution exceed the natural cleansing capacity of the environment, it is easier to pollute than it is to clean up the environment. (12) The chief cause of problems is solutions. (13) Humans will always be dependent on agriculture. (14) If, for whatever reason, humans fail to stop population growth and growth in the rates of consumption of resources, nature will stop these growths. (15)In every local situation, creating jobs increases the number of people locally who are out of work. (16) Starving people don't care about sustainability. (17) The addition of the word "sustainable" to our vocabulary, to our reports, programs, and papers, to the names of our academic institutes and research programs, and to our community initiatives, is not sufficient to ensure that our society becomes sustainable. (18) Extinction is forever.
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