NASA-Sponsored Study Warns Of Possible Collapse Of Civilization

Tuesday, March 18, 2014 - 13:30 in Earth & Climate

Apollo 8's famous Earthrise NASA We've heard many times that if we don't change our ways, our civilization may be doomed. But such suggestions are often pushed aside. Nobody likes a whiner, as they say. And our society isn't big on long-term thinking. Well, a new NASA-funded study provides quite the wake-up call, suggesting that civilization could indeed collapse due to unsustainable resource use and growing inequality in wealth. As the Guardian wrote: Noting that warnings of 'collapse' are often seen to be fringe or controversial, the study attempts to make sense of compelling historical data showing that "the process of rise-and-collapse is actually a recurrent cycle found throughout history." Cases of severe civilizational disruption due to "precipitous collapse - often lasting centuries - have been quite common." The study, soon to be published in the journal Biological Economics, identified five factors crucial...

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