3. The Big Picture Vision and the Environment: An International Perspective

Because environmental problems usually manifest themselves on a global scale, global modelling tools are needed to study them and to design possible solutions. Starting from a concept of global biogeochemical cycles, proposed by Vernadsky, through a series of insights provided by the modellers, such as Moiseev, Naess, Lovelock, the chapter approaches the criteria for judging global models. Several major contributions to the global modelling literature are reviewed and models are compared on a range of parameters, such as the most frequently used modelling technique, the presence of the time dimension, the treatment of population change, energy, agriculture, prices, trade and environmental pollution. Drawn from the experience of D. Meadows and accompanied by the charts, depicting various dimensions of EU development on the regional scale, this chapter is designed to introduce the subject of global modelling to readers, who will find a plethora of additional literature focused on this subject following the references provided.