Consumption Drop Future

The following graphs describe an alternative future using the Timelines model. Population is held constant beginning in 2021, and per-capita consumption is reduced to only what is renewably produced by nature. Greenhouse gases are removed from the atmosphere so that global average temperature reaches a peak and declines to its pre-industrial level.

For the following summary, roll over the image to see an animation of each year from 2021-2030.

Definitions

Population	Number of people in the world.
Per-capita Consumption	Average annual resources consumed by each person in the world.
Total Consumption	Consumption of everyone in the world (also: R). 1 Earth = resources renewably produced per year.
Capacity	Total resources consumed and available for consumption (including what is produced).
GWP	Gross World Product (economic activity)
Emissions	Global greenhouse gas emissions emitted, in carbon dioxide equivalent mass. Cum = cumulative amount over time.
Life Expectancy	Life expectancy at birth.
Phase	Category of behavior dependent on ratio of needs to habitat.
Needs	Minimum resources per year consumed to sustain population (1/person). Remainder of consumption is waste.
Max Needs	Needs of a maximum population that can exist with the current amount of habitat (see below).
Habitat	Total resources not consumed = Capacity - Total Consumption. Also: "remaining habitat."
Population Efficiency	Measure of population's exponential distribution as a function of phase.
Population Error	Fraction of habitat not accounted for with distribution of population as a function of phase.
Cum R Change	Emissions-equivalent resources withdrawn from atmosphere.
Cap Change	Change in capacity due to causes other than human activity..
Cum Population	Sum of people as a function of phase.
Happiness	Life satisfaction (maximum = 1).
Child/Adult	Average children per adult in a group.
Age	Median age of people in a group.
Cum Consumption	Sum of consumption as a function of phase.
Cum Capacity	Sum of capacity as a function of phase.
GWP/p	Gross World Product per person.
Wealth/p	Wealth per person.
Cum Wealth	Sum of wealth as a function of phase.
Extinction Year	Projected year that population equals zero.
Temp Anomaly	Difference between global average temperature and the global average temperature in 1805.
Hab Density	People per unit of estimated habitat area.

See also:

Changes(Phase) 2021-2030	Changes in global variables from 2021 to 2030 by phase.