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Human activities place a lot of stress on the natural world. Ecologists say we’re now demanding more from the earth than it can sustain — in effect drawing down the planet’s reservoir of natural resources. But what can be done? I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet. If we plan to leave anything behind for our coming generations, scientists say we need to act soon. And they say there are a few key things we can do now to help slow the rate of destruction. Dr. Mathis Wachernagel is an authority on global sustainability.
ambience: generic traffic
“We can reduce human demand in three ways: reducing human consumption, producing the consumer items in a way that uses fewer resources, and reducing human population. We can reduce consumption, for example, by building our cities much more compact, and much more pedestrian friendly. So, that’s actually a way to increase our quality of life, to make more friendly and and and and exciting cityscapes, than what we have today in the United States. We can also produce our products more efficiently, for example, by using less destructive energy sources, like wind or solar, making sure there’s less waste in the distribution system and the production system. And we can reduce the population by helping particularly women to have more access to health care, by having more access to education so they have more choice about how they want to use their lives, and to have a stronger voice in in helping to decide how to bring up children in a way that they have a best future.”
Please visit our website at pulseplanet.com. Pulse of the Planet is presented with support provided by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.
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