Growing economic activity and environmental change: historical and general perspectives

Examines in a general manner the evolution of the historical relationship between the magnitude and nature of human activity and the natural environment. This evolution is related to different stages of economic development, namely the hunting and gathering stage; the development of agriculture; the Industrial Revolution and the current digital revolution associated with the development of new information and communication technologies. It is, however, pointed out that these stages are not distinct. This discussion is related to Ehrlich’s equation, which specifies in a very general manner the relationship between the state of the natural environment and per capita levels of material consumption, human population levels and the nature of technology. These are key variables in economic growth. Also the evolution is considered of variations in social inequality in accessing environmental spaces as economic growth has occurred. This is a neglected issue which has implications for social embedding. To complete this important background chapter, some information is provided on past patterns of environmental change, such as global warming and variations in sea levels, and the consequences are investigated for optimal decisions about resource use when user costs alter due to environmental change. The latter yields some surprising results.