Institutional Barriers
and Alternative Paradigms on Population: The Case of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Contrasting Paradigms
Plateau vs. Peak
The Population Plateau
The Population Peak
What is a Paradigm
Cornucopian Paradigm
Ecological Paradigm
Discovering Absurdity
Outline of Presentation
Chapter 1: I Study These Plants
Travel for Science
Along the Way
Chapter 2: Climate Change
I Must Do Something
People in the Way?
Chapter 3: What I Do
Global Change Research
Where the IPCC Fits
Chapter 4—This
Presentation
“The
Black-Box-Expert-Received Wisdom Model of Science/Society”
Primer on Population
Ecology
Building a Critter
Population: Addition and
Subtraction
Building a Population
Exponential Growth
Density Limits
Overshoot by Feedback Lag
Overshoot by Fluctuating
Carrying Capacity
Overshoot by Ecological
Release
Overshoot by Resource
Drawdown
Long-term/Short-term K
Pollution
The Case of the IPCC
Special Report on
Emissions Scenarios—Our Dirty/Rosy Future
We Are Rich and There’re
a Lot of Us
Neoclassical Economics
and Sustainability
How More Efficient?
Are We Reaching Resource
Limits?
Do These Resources
Matter?
Food and Energy
Food Trends
Isn’t Climate Change a
Problem?
IPCC Food Projections
Proximate Explanation of
Absurdity
Ultimate Explanation of
Absurdity
Sounds Great! But….
Assumptions &
Political Taboos
Promoting Overshoot
An Analogy
The Overshoot System
What Effect on Climate
Models?
A GUMBO Output: Biophysical
A GUMBO Output: Population
Where from Here?