Montreal researcher defines “environmentalist’s paradox”

A McGill study asked why human well-being continues to increase as the environment deteriorates.

A study by McGill University’s Ciara Raudsepp-Hearne has gained international notoriety for tackling an issue at the heart of humanity’s seeming unwillingness to stop destroying the environment. The study sought to reconcile data that suggests humans are thriving despite unprecedented levels of environmental degradation. For instance global poverty has declined steadily since the 1970s, even though natural resources are being depleted at astonishing rates. Raudsepp-Hearne said this paradox is what makes policy-makers reluctant to radically change practices that negatively affect the environment. She theorized several reasons behind the paradox, which include the possibility that technology has made humans less dependent on the environment, or that there is a time-lag between environmental damage and its impact on humanity.