Overshoot :)

The Limits to Growth. Dunella Meadows, Jorgen Renders, Dennis Meadows, Chelsea Green. Publiship company, White River Junction, Vermont 2004.


Overshoot: to unintentionally over do something

Overshoot can range from in taking or over indulging too much food to unconsciously using up all of our natural resources, ultimately damaging our Earth. While reading through the chapter of "Limits to Growth" I noticed that the authors was trying to convey that us, the consumers, are overshooting; meaning, our population has exponentially grown. This also includes the growth of our use of materials as well.
I agree that the authors do address that there is a problematic issue, where we are over using our land as well as deteriorating our natural resources, however this is not an overshoot. In order for something to overshoot, it must be unintentional and over using the land, and deforesting our rainforest is not an accident. The people who are drilling thousands of feet in order to uncover oil, and the people who are buying this oil, are fully aware of what is going to happen if we keep doing this cycle at the alarming rate, but they are not taking immediate action.
On page 13, the is a quotation from U Thrant, who was Secretary general of the United Nations, They state: “Members of the United Nations have perhaps ten years left in which to subordinate their ancient quarrels and launch a global partnership to curb the arms race, to improve the human environment, to defuse population explosion, and to supply the required momentum to develop efforts………… More than 30 years have passed, and the global partnership is still not in evidence.” As a former participant in Model United Nations Class at my school, it is to my knowledge that a Resolution was made base on “going green” several years ago, and the United States did not sign it.
It is greed that would ultimately lead to the collapse of our world. We are fully aware of the threat that is taking place, so why not take action now, than wait for it to show up on our doorsteps. And when that happens, the damage is irreversible.