This book presents an earth science-based overview of the challenges to sustainability. It provides a detailed study of climate change, as well as energy, food, and water security across different regions. The author uncovers the problems caused by current social and environmental practices, and offers potential solutions. Focusing on systems theory, footprint analysis, risk, and resilience, many examples are given of how to use resources sustainably, especially common pool resources such as the atmosphere, oceans, and groundwater. The book develops its ideas from an array of practical case studies, centering on communal objectives and shared responsibilities.
This book will present an earth science-based overview of the challenges to sustainability (climate change, food and water shortages, etc.) and offer potential solutions. It will show how to use footprint analysis to estimate the environmental impacts of human activities, which then allows us to prioritize problems and their solutions.
