Time for a Celebration
By Donella Meadows
–July 2, 1992–
If at any time over the past 50 years a message from God had arrived, written across the sky so that no one could deny its source, assuring the world’s people that by 1992 the Cold War would be over, that Russia and America would slash their arsenals, that the terror of communism and of nuclear [...]
Hope And Ozone
What is the basis for hope – and action – in the face of climatic catastrophe? A “multilogue” among the editors of IN CONTEXT
–Summer 1992–
At the end of 1991, In Context executive editor Alan AtKisson sent out a brief electronic mail message to several contributing editors. The message – about a small news item mailed in by IC readers and computer [...]
Beyond The Limits To Growth
By Donella Meadows, Dennis Meadows, and Jørgen Randers
–Summer 1992–
“Grow or die,” goes the old economic maxim. But in 1972 a team of systems scientists and computer modelers challenged conventional wisdom with a ground-breaking study that warned that there were limits – especially environmental limits – to how “big” human civilization and its appetite for resources could get. Beyond a certain [...]
Traumas to the Planet That Have and Haven’t Happened
By Donella Meadows
–June 25, 1992–
Last January scientists warned that the Northern Hemisphere was about to be visited by a massive ozone hole. The hole never appeared.
The community of Times Beach, Missouri, was abandoned because of contamination with dioxin. Two years ago the Environmental Protection Agency launched a reassessment of dioxin’s toxicity.
Until recently everyone “knew” that acid rain was killing forests. [...]
Dear Folks: June 21, 1992
Dear Folks, Sunday morning, slightly rainy, thank heaven. We’ve had two brilliant, dry weeks, and the garden is very thirsty. A female cardinal is chipping at the birdfeeder just out the window to my left as I’m writing, and a multicolored bunch of hens is scratching under the lilac bush. Basil is snoring under my desk. The house is very quiet.
In [...]
