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Cited by 445Environmental, Ecological, and Cultural StudiesGlobal Energy and Sustainability ResearchSustainable Development and Environmental Management

Can a collapse of global civilization be avoided?

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Ehrlich, Paul R., Ehrlich, Anne H.·2013·Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
DOI 10.1098/rspb.2012.2845PMC PMC3574335
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Abstract

Environmental problems have contributed to numerous collapses of civilizations in the past. Now, for the first time, a global collapse appears likely. Overpopulation, overconsumption by the rich and poor choices of technologies are major drivers; dramatic cultural change provides the main hope of averting calamity.

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Crossref · 10.1098/rspb.2012.2845

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  • All of these are related to human population size and growth, which increases consumption (especially among the rich), and economic inequity.

    “All of these are related to human population size and growth, which increases consumption (especially among the rich), and economic inequity (6).”

    From Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction (2015) · cites this paper as [6]

    The Introduction links overpopulation with aggregate resource consumption, and section 6 discusses population growth, overconsumption by the rich, and economic inequity as connected concerns. It does not say that population growth itself increases consumption especially among the rich; it treats population growth and affluent overconsumption as distinct drivers. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Biases lead to underestimating the number of species that have gone extinct in the past few centuries.

    “the literature reflects broad agreement among environmental scientists that biases lead to underestimating the number of species that have gone extinct in the past few centuries”

    From Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction (2015) · cites this paper as [6]

    The Introduction describes accelerating species extinction, and §5, “The role of science,” refers to a building extinction crisis. Neither passage addresses whether biases cause counts of species extinct over the past few centuries to be underestimated; searches for extinction-count underestimation and biases found no passage that does. (LLM, conf=0.70)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cites

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Ehrlich, P. R., & Ehrlich, A. H.
Affiliations
Stanford University (US)
ORCID
Ehrlich, Paul R.
Venue
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Publisher
The Royal Society
Published
2013-03-07
Volume
280
Issue
1754
Pages
20122845
ISSN
  • 0080-4649 (ISSN-L)
  • 0962-8452
  • 1471-2954
DOI
10.1098/rspb.2012.2845
PMC
PMC3574335
OpenAlex
W2119826046
Cited by
445
References
8
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 77 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 38 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 44 · 2014: 59 · 2013: 23 · 2012: 1
FWCI
156.92
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Mertz Gilmore Foundation
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Environmental, Ecological, and Cultural Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Global Energy and Sustainability Research
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Sustainable Development and Environmental Management
Keywords
global collapse, societal collapse, environmental problems, overpopulation, overconsumption, technology selection, cultural change, sustainability, future of humanity
MeSH terms
Civilization, Disasters, Food Supply, Humans, Population Density, Socioeconomic Factors, Ecosystem, Earth, Planet, Climate Change

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