LET’S MEET ASTROPHYSICIST DR. THOMAS MURPHY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
Tom Murphy is the best person I know to articulate the “Limits to Growth.” As a physics professor, he is uniquely qualified to talk about energy.
He points out that if the economy grows by 2.33% per year--a conservative estimate--then the economy grows by a factor of 10 every 100 years.
After 100 years, the economy is ten times larger. After 200 years, it’s 100 times larger. After 300 years it’s 1,000 times larger. After 1,000 years it’s ten billion times larger.
Obviously, this can only go on for so long. But our whole economic system is based on this “infinite growth on a finite planet.”
Also, note well: Economic growth correlates perfectly with the movement of energy through our economy. So we’ll be using 100 times as much energy in 200 years, and so on.
So … CAN WE TALK … about the limits to growth?
And it’s not just about energy. We also have an extinction crisis that corresponds to economic growth. Tom says that this extinction crisis is EVEN MORE important than climate change. He makes a good case for it in this interview.
Please watch this interview. And then explore Tom’s material online:
Search for:
Dr. Thomas Murphy
University of California San Diego
Tom’s blog is: Do the Math
Tom’s book is entitled:
“Energy and Human Ambitions on a Finite Planet: Assessing an Adapting To Planetary Limits.” It's 450 pages and it's free online.
