GDP Is the Wrong Tool for Measuring What Matters
It’s time to replace gross domestic product with real metrics of well-being and sustainability
Volume 30, Issue 4s
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Features
1 World, 10 Billion People: Who Thrives, and Who Falls Behind?
Quality of life on an increasingly crowded planet depends on decisions made today
Unlimited Information Is Transforming Society
Technology is blurring the lines between consumers and producers, amateurs and professionals, and laypeople and experts. We’re just starting to understand the implications
‘Positive Cities’ Can Improve Earth as Well as People’s Lives
Urban areas can improve the planet as well as people’s lives if we design them to be much more resourceful with energy, water, food and minerals
The Arctic Is Breaking Climate Records, Altering Weather Worldwide
The Arctic climate is shattering record after record, altering weather worldwide
In the Fight against Infectious Disease, Social Changes Are the New Medicine
Vaccines and drugs drove a century of progress, but today’s contagions thrive on inequality
How Climate Change Is Making It Harder to Predict Outbreaks
Climate change is accelerating the spread of disease—and making it much harder to predict outbreaks
Humans Evolved to Be Friendly
Cooperation made Homo sapiens the last human species standing
These Alternative Economies Are Inspirations for a Sustainable World
Making peace with the biosphere will require building communities and relationships that are focused on protecting life—human and nonhuman
What Makes the Human Brain Special
Parts of the brain involved in language and cognition have enlarged greatly over an evolutionary timescale
To Solve Real-World Problems, We Need Interdisciplinary Science
Solving today’s complex, global problems will take interdisciplinary science
How Scientists Discovered the Staggering Complexity of Human Evolution
Darwin would be delighted by the story his successors have revealed
How Economic Inequality Harms the Environment
Power imbalances facilitate environmental degradation—and the poor suffer the consequences
What Ancient Mass Extinctions Tell Us about the Future
Carbon dioxide has done plenty of damage before
Can Humans Outsmart Extinction?
If we do it right, we could become a long-term stabilizing force for the planet
Artificial Intelligence Will Serve Humans, Not Enslave Them
AI will serve our species, not control it
Humans Are Still Evolving
For 30,000 years our species has been changing remarkably quickly. And we're not done yet
The Permanent, Unmistakable Mark Human Beings Have Left on Planet Earth
Humans are profoundly altering the earth. Is our impact enough to matter across geologic time? Some say it is. Welcome to the Anthropocene