Pandemics: the limits to growth and environmental health research

Abstract

The Limits to Growth (published 1972), warned that if dominant trends continue, then, probably by 2070, an 'uncontrollable decline in both population and industrial capacity' will occur. Its warning is one of many, from nature and from scientists, that remain largely ignored by global decision makers. For example, almost all measures of progress are still unadjusted for decline in natural or social capital. Climate change is obvious and accelerating. COVID-19, whose origins also lie in human activities and hubris, is another signal of civilisation's vulnerability and risk. The human species needs to respond urgently, collectively, and progressively to these warnings, to prevent downward spirals that risk civilization's collapse.