Science of Sustainability - Essay Example

Societies in the past have completely deprived themselves of natural resources they needed to survive, such as deforesting islands (Diamond 93), and with the human population topping 7 billion people, we need to ensure that we sustain the natural resources we need to survive. Question 2: The difference between short-term sustainable development, for instance, attempting to develop sustainably for 100 years, and long term sustainable development which can work forever, is the understanding of the fact that some resources are truly finite, and will not realistically be replenished (short of looking at the earth on geological time scales).

The best examples of this are probably oil and coal. If one talks about the century from 1900 to 2000, oil was used in a sustainable way – it did not run out during that period. However, that does not mean that the use was truly sustainable: it could not be kept up for another 100 years. Coal is in a similar situation at the moment, with many people predicting it could last anywhere from another hundred to four hundred years (Energy Watch Group). This lulls us into a sense of security regarding these resources.

The problem, however, is that this is not truly sustainable. The only things that are truly sustainable are those that are consumed at the same rate as the earth produces them or slightly slower – and things like coal and oil will never fit this description. True, long-term sustainability must come from renewability, while short-term sustainability can come from almost any resource, depending on the time frame. Question 3: Many things can be done at a variety of levels in order to promote sustainability.

In some ways, all of this comes down to personal choices – if everyone on earth lived in a sustainable way, the human population would be sustainable. On the individual level, the easiest things to do are conserve, reuse and recycle. However, it is important at every level to interact with the levels above you, so for an individual it is also important to combine with your community to promote sustainable lifestyles, engage with politicians and so on. I believe that communities have a role in creating sustainability especially through food production and coming together to support local agriculture.

In the upper echelons, the state, federal, and international levels, much of sustainability comes down to money and willingness to use it in the right ways: giving tax breaks to companies that function sustainably or develop techniques to others who do so while taxing and regulating industries that fail to. Governments also need to fund research and development into sustainable technologies and fuels. Question 4: Human innovation has done a great deal to increase human standard of living in a variety of ways.

Large-scale food production and transportation networks have let to more nutritional availability (though some people refuse to use this, while others abuse it and overeat). Medicine and information technology have especially led to improved standards of living – only a couple of hundred of years ago people died