World scientists’ warning: The behavioural crisis driving ecological overshoot
Previously, anthropogenic ecological overshoot has been identified as a fundamental cause of the myriad symptoms we see around the globe today from biodiversity loss and ocean acidification to the disturbing rise in novel entities and climate change. In the present paper, we have examined this more...
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crsagepubl:10.1177/00368504231201372 2024-10-20T14:11:06+00:00 World scientists’ warning: The behavioural crisis driving ecological overshoot Merz, Joseph J Barnard, Phoebe Rees, William E Smith, Dane Maroni, Mat Rhodes, Christopher J Dederer, Julia H Bajaj, Nandita Joy, Michael K Wiedmann, Thomas Sutherland, Rory 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00368504231201372 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/00368504231201372 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/00368504231201372 en eng SAGE Publications https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Science Progress volume 106, issue 3 ISSN 0036-8504 2047-7163 journal-article 2023 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1177/00368504231201372 2024-09-24T04:12:07Z Previously, anthropogenic ecological overshoot has been identified as a fundamental cause of the myriad symptoms we see around the globe today from biodiversity loss and ocean acidification to the disturbing rise in novel entities and climate change. In the present paper, we have examined this more deeply, and explore the behavioural drivers of overshoot, providing evidence that overshoot is itself a symptom of a deeper, more subversive modern crisis of human behaviour. We work to name and frame this crisis as ‘the Human Behavioural Crisis’ and propose the crisis be recognised globally as a critical intervention point for tackling ecological overshoot. We demonstrate how current interventions are largely physical, resource intensive, slow-moving and focused on addressing the symptoms of ecological overshoot (such as climate change) rather than the distal cause (maladaptive behaviours). We argue that even in the best-case scenarios, symptom-level interventions are unlikely to avoid catastrophe or achieve more than ephemeral progress. We explore three drivers of the behavioural crisis in depth: economic growth; marketing; and pronatalism. These three drivers directly impact the three ‘levers’ of overshoot: consumption, waste and population. We demonstrate how the maladaptive behaviours of overshoot stemming from these three drivers have been catalysed and perpetuated by the intentional exploitation of previously adaptive human impulses. In the final sections of this paper, we propose an interdisciplinary emergency response to the behavioural crisis by, amongst other things, the shifting of social norms relating to reproduction, consumption and waste. We seek to highlight a critical disconnect that is an ongoing societal gulf in communication between those that know such as scientists working within limits to growth, and those members of the citizenry, largely influenced by social scientists and industry, that must act. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ocean acidification SAGE Publications Science Progress 106 3 |
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Previously, anthropogenic ecological overshoot has been identified as a fundamental cause of the myriad symptoms we see around the globe today from biodiversity loss and ocean acidification to the disturbing rise in novel entities and climate change. In the present paper, we have examined this more deeply, and explore the behavioural drivers of overshoot, providing evidence that overshoot is itself a symptom of a deeper, more subversive modern crisis of human behaviour. We work to name and frame this crisis as ‘the Human Behavioural Crisis’ and propose the crisis be recognised globally as a critical intervention point for tackling ecological overshoot. We demonstrate how current interventions are largely physical, resource intensive, slow-moving and focused on addressing the symptoms of ecological overshoot (such as climate change) rather than the distal cause (maladaptive behaviours). We argue that even in the best-case scenarios, symptom-level interventions are unlikely to avoid catastrophe or achieve more than ephemeral progress. We explore three drivers of the behavioural crisis in depth: economic growth; marketing; and pronatalism. These three drivers directly impact the three ‘levers’ of overshoot: consumption, waste and population. We demonstrate how the maladaptive behaviours of overshoot stemming from these three drivers have been catalysed and perpetuated by the intentional exploitation of previously adaptive human impulses. In the final sections of this paper, we propose an interdisciplinary emergency response to the behavioural crisis by, amongst other things, the shifting of social norms relating to reproduction, consumption and waste. We seek to highlight a critical disconnect that is an ongoing societal gulf in communication between those that know such as scientists working within limits to growth, and those members of the citizenry, largely influenced by social scientists and industry, that must act. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Merz, Joseph J Barnard, Phoebe Rees, William E Smith, Dane Maroni, Mat Rhodes, Christopher J Dederer, Julia H Bajaj, Nandita Joy, Michael K Wiedmann, Thomas Sutherland, Rory |
spellingShingle |
Merz, Joseph J Barnard, Phoebe Rees, William E Smith, Dane Maroni, Mat Rhodes, Christopher J Dederer, Julia H Bajaj, Nandita Joy, Michael K Wiedmann, Thomas Sutherland, Rory World scientists’ warning: The behavioural crisis driving ecological overshoot |
author_facet |
Merz, Joseph J Barnard, Phoebe Rees, William E Smith, Dane Maroni, Mat Rhodes, Christopher J Dederer, Julia H Bajaj, Nandita Joy, Michael K Wiedmann, Thomas Sutherland, Rory |
author_sort |
Merz, Joseph J |
title |
World scientists’ warning: The behavioural crisis driving ecological overshoot |
title_short |
World scientists’ warning: The behavioural crisis driving ecological overshoot |
title_full |
World scientists’ warning: The behavioural crisis driving ecological overshoot |
title_fullStr |
World scientists’ warning: The behavioural crisis driving ecological overshoot |
title_full_unstemmed |
World scientists’ warning: The behavioural crisis driving ecological overshoot |
title_sort |
world scientists’ warning: the behavioural crisis driving ecological overshoot |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00368504231201372 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/00368504231201372 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/00368504231201372 |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_source |
Science Progress volume 106, issue 3 ISSN 0036-8504 2047-7163 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/00368504231201372 |
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Science Progress |
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106 |
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3 |
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1813451249093181440 |