Ian A. Nalder

In 1972, the results of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology computer model that forecast a global ecological catastrophe were published in the book The Limits to Growth. In the following viewpoint, Ian A. Nalder argues that recent data show that although it represents “a grossly simplified view of world processes,” the model’s overall forecast is accurate. Nalder contends that patterns of population growth, resource consumption, and food and industrial production have largely been following the “Limits to Growth” prediction and suggest that changes necessary to avoid a catastrophe have not yet occurred. Nalder is a doctoral student at the University of Alberta’s Department of Renewable Resources in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

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