Why Human Welfare Improves Even As Global Ecosystems Are Degraded

A new paper attempts to explain why life is improving for many people around the globe despite a demonstrable decline in many ecosystems because of growing populations and increased development. Reporting in the journal Bioscience, lead author Ciara Raudsepp-Hearne posits three reasons for the so-called “environmentalist’s paradox”: Innovations in food production, technological changes that decouple human welfare from the natural world, and time lags before the degradation of ecosystems becomes fully felt. The researchers said these three factors are the most plausible explanation of why the Human Development Index — which measures such factors as life expectancy, income, and literacy — has been rising significantly in recent decades even as ecosystems worldwide are suffering serious assaults from human development, as reported in the recent Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Raudsepp-Hearne and her co-authors cautioned against assuming that living standards can continue to rise as ecosystems further deteriorate, noting that such factors as drought caused by anthropogenic global warming may soon begin to reverse gains in food production.