2026/05/01 by Scholtes, Wolfgang · 1 voice
Energy · Environmental Science · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Global Energy and Sustainability Research #Ecosystem dynamics and resilience #Climate Change Policy and Economics
paper · doi:10.5281/zenodo.19984574
openalex created_date 2026/02/27 · openalex publication_date 2026/05/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01
Version 6 represents a major structural and conceptual advancement of The Malthusian Trap framework. The core development is the complete reconstruction of Chapter 4, which now presents a systematically organised architecture of 38 interacting destabilisation mechanisms across eight domains: planetary forcing, atmospheric dynamics, hydrological systems, ocean systems, terrestrial biosphere and soils, chemical contamination, biogeochemical feedbacks, and human system consequences. This restructuring clarifies the central thesis that the modern Malthusian Trap is not driven by isolated resource shortages but by a tightly coupled network of feedback processes that collectively reduce the Earth system’s effective carrying capacity. Particular emphasis is placed on the transition from linear impact models to non-linear, interacting system dynamics, including regime instability, feedback acceleration, and the weakening of natural buffering mechanisms. Version 6 incorporates several newly defined or significantly expanded building blocks, including ocean–atmosphere regime instability, thermohaline circulation stress, elevation-dependent climate change, hydrological volatility, methane feedback acceleration, ocean darkening, and socio-economic tipping processes such as labour capacity loss and insurance retreat. The revision also standardises terminology, harmonises cross-references, and establishes a logically ordered system structure, enabling clearer integration of physical, ecological, and socio-economic processes into a unified analytical framework. This version is intended as a publication-ready preprint and provides the most comprehensive and internally consistent formulation of the Malthusian Trap concept to date.