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Human prosperity--including, you know, properly nourishing infants--is the single best way to protect the environment. Poor societies exploit and devastate the
by dudeinjapan 2y ago
Human prosperity--including, you know, properly nourishing infants--is the single best way to protect the environment. Poor societies exploit and devastate the environment for subsistence. When societies become rich, they begin to view the environment as a luxury good worthy of preserving, and largely forestall short term exploitation. Case-in-point, most of the developed world has experienced net reforestation in recent decades.
- eropple 2y ago> Case-in-point, most of the developed world has experienced net reforestation in recent decades. Kind of, and only if you care about quantity as a leading metric. As a woodworker and someone interested in silviculture, I do not; the tree balance has often shifted radically and for example much of the United States's reforestation is fast-growing but fairly homogeneous conifers. American hardwoods are ever more limited. At the same time, the demand for exotics largely by rich markets (think non-plantation teak, mahogany and substitutes, etc.) has caused CITES warnings and bans to circle the world, pointing to poorer countries in various stages of exploitation. Rich societies also get to outsource their nature damage, and are not expected to account for those externalities.
- dudeinjapan 2y agoQuantity should be positive first. When we get even richer, we can improve the quality.