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...
Published in: | Science Progress |
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SAGE Publications
2023
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_84880 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/ccb52a11-533e-4b00-9ff0-21eebd20ceb8/download https://doi.org/10.1177/00368504231201372 |
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ftunswworks:oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/unsworks_84880 2024-05-19T07:46:40+00:00 World scientists’ warning: The behavioural crisis driving ecological overshoot Merz, JJ Barnard, P Rees, WE Smith, D Maroni, M Rhodes, CJ Dederer, JH Bajaj, N Joy, MK Wiedmann, T Sutherland, R 2023-07-01 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_84880 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/ccb52a11-533e-4b00-9ff0-21eebd20ceb8/download https://doi.org/10.1177/00368504231201372 unknown SAGE Publications http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_84880 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/ccb52a11-533e-4b00-9ff0-21eebd20ceb8/download https://doi.org/10.1177/00368504231201372 open access https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 CC BY-NC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ free_to_read This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage) urn:ISSN:0036-8504 urn:ISSN:2047-7163 Science Progress, 106, 3, 00368504231201372 Humans Conservation of Natural Resources Hydrogen-Ion Concentration Seawater Biodiversity Climate Change behaviour consumption ecological overshoot ecology economics marketing population pronatalism psychology scientists warning anzsrc-for: 389902 Ecological economics journal article http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 2023 ftunswworks https://doi.org/10.1177/00368504231201372 2024-04-24T01:09:24Z 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 UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales): UNSWorks Science Progress 106 3 |
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UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales): UNSWorks |
op_collection_id |
ftunswworks |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Humans Conservation of Natural Resources Hydrogen-Ion Concentration Seawater Biodiversity Climate Change behaviour consumption ecological overshoot ecology economics marketing population pronatalism psychology scientists warning anzsrc-for: 389902 Ecological economics |
spellingShingle |
Humans Conservation of Natural Resources Hydrogen-Ion Concentration Seawater Biodiversity Climate Change behaviour consumption ecological overshoot ecology economics marketing population pronatalism psychology scientists warning anzsrc-for: 389902 Ecological economics Merz, JJ Barnard, P Rees, WE Smith, D Maroni, M Rhodes, CJ Dederer, JH Bajaj, N Joy, MK Wiedmann, T Sutherland, R World scientists’ warning: The behavioural crisis driving ecological overshoot |
topic_facet |
Humans Conservation of Natural Resources Hydrogen-Ion Concentration Seawater Biodiversity Climate Change behaviour consumption ecological overshoot ecology economics marketing population pronatalism psychology scientists warning anzsrc-for: 389902 Ecological economics |
description |
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, JJ Barnard, P Rees, WE Smith, D Maroni, M Rhodes, CJ Dederer, JH Bajaj, N Joy, MK Wiedmann, T Sutherland, R |
author_facet |
Merz, JJ Barnard, P Rees, WE Smith, D Maroni, M Rhodes, CJ Dederer, JH Bajaj, N Joy, MK Wiedmann, T Sutherland, R |
author_sort |
Merz, JJ |
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://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_84880 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/ccb52a11-533e-4b00-9ff0-21eebd20ceb8/download https://doi.org/10.1177/00368504231201372 |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_source |
urn:ISSN:0036-8504 urn:ISSN:2047-7163 Science Progress, 106, 3, 00368504231201372 |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_84880 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/ccb52a11-533e-4b00-9ff0-21eebd20ceb8/download https://doi.org/10.1177/00368504231201372 |
op_rights |
open access https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 CC BY-NC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ free_to_read This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage) |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/00368504231201372 |
container_title |
Science Progress |
container_volume |
106 |
container_issue |
3 |
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1799486902794977280 |