Computer simulation models for sustainability

For the broad understanding of sustainable development, items such as seasonal change, timing of restrained harvesting and the rate of regeneration of natural resources, as well as the theories of population growth are crucial. Similarly, in the world of computing as a whole and computing simulation in particular, three important components of models are theory, data and program. A model for global sustainability should include sub‐models for different resources and consumers in the ecological system. In this paper, a sample of sub‐models relating to areas such as human population growth, water, soil and land, greenhouse gases and CO₂, conservation, forests and harvesting are listed, combined with other models such as pollution, waste treatment and ozone levels. The complexity of such simulations and their relevance to the current debate on sustainability are discussed.