Rethinking the Environmental Impacts of Population , Affluence and Technology ’

How might we better understand the linkages as old as civilization, perhaps as old as written between population, resources and environmental history itself? Heroditus, writing in the 5th century impacts? How might we proceed to develop before Christ, noted how the population of the organid research programs to examine these Lydians had outpaced production leading to a linkages? How might we discipline onr conceptual prolonged famine that lasted eighteen years m e models with empirical tests? In this paper, we m, Book 1:22-23).’ And Seneca the Younger address these three questions, focusing on writing in the first decades of the Christian era antluopogenic environmental change. We suggest (Naturales Ouaestiones) noted a connection between that an adaptation of the widely known IPAT model population and pollution in Rome.4 He traced (Commoner 1972, 1992; Elulich and Ehrlich 1990; pollution to the growth of household cooking fires Ebrlich and Holdren 1971, 1972; Holdren and and the increased traffic on the dusty streets of the Ehrlich 1974) modified to meet statistical testing city, and also to the burning of dead bodies just requirements, is one strategy for addressing these outside the city limits. Despite this early questions. We provide a brief historical account of recognition, connections between population and scholarly discourse bearing on the questions posed environment were anecdotal and inchoate in classical above. We note that the mial sciences, on the one writings. hand, and the biological and environmental sciences, The idea of a causal link between population on the other hand, have addressed them in parallel, and m n r c e s developed into a more concrete form in but generally qarately--and often antagonistically. the eleventh century. In 1086, William the Then, we describe the original P A T model and our Conqueror commissioned an enumeration of the proposed modifications, evalnating the respective popnlationand its landed wealth, recording the results strengths and wealmesses of both. We map out in the Domesdav Book (the word “domesday” being guidelines for fnrther modification, elaboration and a corruption of the word doomsday, the final day of testing of the model. Finally, we sketch some judgment (Weeh 1986)). This accounting was suggestions for superseding the IPAT model. instrumental in carrying forward the idea that there History of an Idea. The idea that populationgrowth was a link between popnlation and murces . But it affects environmental resources and human welfare is wasn’t until the eighteenth cenhuy, with the writing