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Using computers to explore ecological issues: A simple limits-to-growth educational program

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Abstract

Educational-level software allows students to interactively conduct their own research on Earth's ecology by using a much-simplified version of the Forrester computer model on which the landmark 1972 limits-to-growth studies were based. Default values of all variables (including the Earth's population, food supply, natural resources, industrialization, and pollution), and simple difference equations relating them, are provided so that the program can be immediately run by novice users. Both variable values and equations can be easily altered to observe the consequences of users' assumptions or proposed policies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Alabama, 35487-0219, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

    Donal E. Muir

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  1. Donal E. Muir
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Additional information

In keeping with its educational objectives, SPACESHIP EARTH has been placed in the public domain and an IBM PC-compatible version can be obtained without charge by sending a formatted diskette (3.5 or 5.25 inch) to the author.

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Muir, D.E. Using computers to explore ecological issues: A simple limits-to-growth educational program. Popul Environ 13, 113–117 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01255513

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01255513

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