Journal article
Life-history theory and climate change: resolving population and parental investment paradoxes
Royal Society open science, Vol.3(11), pp.160470-160470
11/2016
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/103589
PMCID: PMC5180129
PMID: 28018631
Abstract
Population growth in the next half-century is on pace to raise global carbon emissions by half. Carbon emissions are associated with fertility as a by-product of somatic and parental investment, which is predicted to involve time orientation/preference as a mediating psychological mechanism. Here, we draw upon life-history theory (LHT) to investigate associations between future orientation and fertility, and their impacts on carbon emissions. We argue '
-strategy' life history (LH) in high-income countries has resulted in parental investment behaviours involving future orientation that, paradoxically, promote unsustainable carbon emissions, thereby lowering the Earth's
or carrying capacity. Increasing the rate of approach towards this capacity are '
-strategy' LHs in low-income countries that promote population growth. We explore interactions between future orientation and development that might slow the rate of approach towards global
. Examination of 67 000 individuals across 75 countries suggests that future orientation interacts with the relationship between environmental risk and fertility and with development related parental investment, particularly investment in higher education, to slow population growth and mitigate
carbon emissions. Results emphasize that LHT will be an important tool in understanding the demographic and consumption patterns that drive anthropogenic climate change.
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Details
- Title
- Life-history theory and climate change: resolving population and parental investment paradoxes
- Creators
- Mark Caudell - Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health , Washington State University , Pullman, WA 99164 , USARobert Quinlan - Department of Anthropology , Washington State University , Pullman, WA 99164 , USA
- Publication Details
- Royal Society open science, Vol.3(11), pp.160470-160470
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology, Department of
- Publisher
- England
- Identifiers
- 99900546792701842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article