Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 30, 2026
12:44
Watershed Planning within a Quantitative Scenario Analysis Framework
Published on: July 24, 2016
8.7K
Feasible future global scenarios for human life evaluations
Christopher Barrington-Leigh1, Eric Galbraith2,3,4
1Institute for Health and Social Policy; and School of Environment, McGill University, Montreal, H3A1A3, QC, Canada. Chris.Barrington-Leigh@McGill.ca.
Nature Communications
|January 13, 2019
Summary
Future human well-being may see modest gains from economic factors. However, non-material elements like social support and fairness will critically shape global life satisfaction by 2050.
Area of Science:
- Social Sciences
- Psychology
- Economics
Background:
- Subjective well-being varies significantly across nations, predictable by socio-economic factors.
- Future projections of global life evaluations have not been previously estimated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To estimate feasible future projections of self-reported life evaluations to 2050.
- To assess the impact of socio-economic and non-material variables on future well-being.
Main Methods:
- Utilized historical trends in proxy variables (economic and non-material) to constrain future projections.
- Modeled potential changes in life evaluations up to the year 2050.
Main Results:
- Projected macroeconomic changes suggest modest improvements in global average life evaluations.
- Scenarios based on non-material factors indicate a wide range of potential future well-being outcomes.
- Future global life evaluations could range from the top 15% to the bottom 25% of current country rankings.
Conclusions:
- Non-material factors (social support, freedom, fairness) are critical determinants of future human well-being.
- Policy and societal shifts focusing on non-material aspects are essential for enhancing global life satisfaction.
Related Concept Videos
01:26Requirements for Human Life
13.5K
The Earth and its atmosphere have provided humans with air, water, and food, but these are not the only requirements for survival. Humans also require a specific range of temperature and pressure that the Earth and its atmosphere provides.
Oxygen
Atmospheric air is only about 20 percent oxygen, but that oxygen is a key component of the chemical reactions that keep the body alive, including the reactions that produce ATP. Brain cells are susceptible to a lack of oxygen because they require a...
Oxygen
Atmospheric air is only about 20 percent oxygen, but that oxygen is a key component of the chemical reactions that keep the body alive, including the reactions that produce ATP. Brain cells are susceptible to a lack of oxygen because they require a...
13.5K
01:50Global Climate Change
28.9K
Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.
28.9K
02:42Half-life of a Reaction
38.9K
The half-life of a reaction (t1/2) is the time required for one-half of a given amount of reactant to be consumed. In each succeeding half-life, half of the remaining concentration of the reactant is consumed. For example, during the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, during the first half-life (from 0.00 hours to 6.00 hours), the concentration of H2O2 decreases from 1.000 M to 0.500 M. During the second half-life (from 6.00 hours to 12.00 hours), the concentration decreases from 0.500 M to...
38.9K
01:23Characteristics of Life
260.8K
Biology is a natural science that studies life and living organisms, including their structure, function, development, interactions, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. The field's scope is extensive and divided into several specialized disciplines, such as anatomy, physiology, ethology, genetics, and many more. All living things share a few key traits, including cellular organization, heritable genetic material and the ability to adapt/evolve, metabolism to regulate energy needs, the...
260.8K
02:39The Angiosperm Life Cycle
72.4K
Plants have a life cycle split between two multicellular stages: a haploid stage—with cells containing one set of chromosomes—and a diploid stage—with cells containing two sets of chromosomes. The haploid stage is the gamete-producing gametophyte, and the diploid stage is the spore-producing sporophyte.
72.4K
02:40The Tree of Life - Bacteria, Archaea, Eukaryotes
38.4K
The “tree of life” describes the evolution of life and the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The root of the tree is the common ancestor to all life on Earth. All other species radiate from this point, much like the branches of a tree. The numerous tips of these branches on the tree of life represent every living, or extant, species. Extinct species, which are species that no longer exist, can be found towards the center of the tree. Currently, these organisms, both...
38.4K