'If you only read one book ...make this it!' L. Hunter Lovins, co-author of Natural Capitalism 'It is time for the world to re-read Limits to Growth! The message of 1972 is more real and relevant in 2004, and we wasted 30 valuable years of action by misreading the message of the first book' Matthew R. Simmons, founder, Simmons & Company International, the world's largest energy investment banking firm 'If you want to understand what's going on Earth, read it.' Patrick Whitefield, Permaculture In 1972, Limits to Growth shocked the world and forever changed the global agenda by demonstrating that unchecked growth on our finite planet was leading the Earth towards ecological 'overshoot' and pending disaster. The book went on to sell millions of copies and ignited a firestorm of controversy that burns hotter than ever in these days of soaring oil prices, wars for resources and human-induced climate change. This substantially revised, expanded and updated edition follows on from Limits to Growth and its sequel Beyond the Limits, which raised the alarm that we have already overshot the planet's carrying capacity. Marshalling a vast array of new, hard data, more powerful computer modelling and incorporating the latest thinking on sustainability, ecological footprinting and limits, this new book presents future overshoot scenarios and makes an even more urgent case for a rapid readjustment of the global economy toward a sustainable path. This is compelling, essential and, indeed, essential reading for all concerned with our common future.

Table of Contents

Authors' Preface * Overshoot * The Driving Force: Exponential Growth * The Limits: Sources and Sinks * World3: The Dynamics of Growth in a Finite World * Back from Beyond the Limits: The Ozone Story * Technology, Markets, and Overshoot * Transitions to a Sustainable System * Tools for the Transition to Sustainability * Appendices * Endnotes

Author Biography

Donella Meadows was Adjunct Professor of Environmental Studies at Dartmouth College, USA. Jorgen Randers is a policy analyst and President Emeritus at the Norwegian School of Management. Dennis Meadows is Professor of Systems Management and Director of the Institute for Policy and Social Science Research, University of New Hampshire, USA.