Shifting the Trajectory — 01: Introduction
First published April 21, 2022, updated July 17,2022
I’d like to preface my introduction to Shifting the Human Extinction Trajectory in a Positive Direction by saying that I am speaking poetically rather than literally when I refer to a human extinction trajectory. We humans are an exceptionally adaptable and resilient species and prior to the invention of intensive agriculture found ways to live in harmony with the natural environment in the polar Arctic, the hottest of deserts, and all environments in between on our beautiful planet. From my perspective as an environmental scientist, the current human population overshoot and collapse trajectory shown in the figure above is likely to stabilize at a population of perhaps 500 million (red line in the figure above).
One way or another, however, the lifestyle supported by modern global industrial society is headed toward extinction. Once we are on the collapse side of the overshoot-and-collapse curve —my sense is that we aren’t quite there, but close — the amount of additional human pain and suffering compared to that currently caused by wars, poverty, and all other forms of injustice, will be determined by how much and how quickly we humans, individually and collectively, are able to harmoniously change our habits and behaviors toward each other and the natural environment. I would not be starting this series if I didn’t feel in my heart that it is possible to flatten the overshoot curve in ways that significantly lessen the monumental suffering that the current trajectory toward catastrophic systems collapse would cause.
I invite you to join me on what I anticipate will be an 8-year journey to the year 2030, at which time it seems likely to me that it will be possible to assess whether humanity has collective awakened to the harm we do to each and the planet sufficiently to significantly flatten the human population collapse curve (green line in the figure above). For me, personally, the articles in this publication will be a continuation of a spiritual journey that began in the 1990s when everything I saw as an environmental scientist led me to conclude that system collapse was inevitable —red line in the figure above. Science and spirit will be required to flatten the curve. If you would like a preview of topics that will be covered in upcoming articles, I will be expanding upon slides in a February 2022 presentation I made to the International Society for the Systems Sciences titled Potential Systems Science Contributions to Shifting the Human Extinction Trajectory toward a Positive Direction.
Additional articles in this series:
StT — 02: Overshoot and Collapse Explained, May 20, 2022 (Nonmember link)
StT — 03: When Will the Human Overshoot Curve Peak?, June 16, 2022 (Nonmember link)
StT — 04: Best Case (1) A Quantum Leap in Human Consciousness, July 17, 2022, title revised November 5, 2022 (Nonmember link)
StT — 05: Best Case (2) A Safe and Just Space for Humanity and all Life on Earth, December 18, 2022 (Nonmember link)
StT — 06: A Positive View of the Current Catastrophic Collapse Trajectory, May 10, 2023 (Nonmember link)
StT — 07: Shifting the Trajectory — 07: The All-of-the-Above Approach to Addressing Climate and Related Crises June 11, 2023 (Nonmember link)
Subscribe to this publication: https://medium.com/subscribe/@jrussell.boulding
