Location
SPREP LIBRARY
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Publication Year:
2017
Publication Place
Cham, Switzerland
Physical Description:
121p. : ill. (col.) ; 29cm.
Call Number
[EL]
Material Type
Language
English
Record ID:
41560
Legacy PEIN ID:
81648
General Notes
Open Access and available online
Available online
Subject Heading(s)
Energy
Renewable and Green Energy
Physics of Energy Technology
Popular Science in Technology
Sustainable Development
Climate Change
Climate Change Impacts
Water Policy
Water Governance
Water Management
Abstract
Since thousands of years, the human race has been developing cultural skills and technological capabilities that support its struggle for survival and lead to dominance over all other species. Since about a century, the exponential growth of knowledge, technology, industry and population (see Fig. 1.1) has reached a scale where man modifies biosphere to an extent, that living conditions on the whole planet earth start to change significantly. Resources that had been abundant are becoming scarce within decades. We have arrived in the Anthropocene [1] where man has a significant impact on the basic living conditions of the biosphere of the whole planet. A continuation of this growth rate will unavoidably reach its natural limits where resources vanish; the biosphere will change more rapidly than the ability of organisms and ecosystems to accommodate, and contaminations will endanger living. When such a condition is reached, it is likely that our human civilization will collapse and human population will diminish rapidly. Historic examples demonstrated that drought, hunger, wars and epidemics were typical endpoints of drastic environmental changes and overpopulation. While historic examples mostly affected only individual towns, islands, countries or indigenous nations, the limits of growth this time affect the whole planet and there is no new world to which our civilization can migrate. Recent research has proven that the era of a new biological mass extinction has already started [2] and it can be assumed that finally also our species will be affected.
Location
SPREP LIBRARY
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Publication Year:
2017
Publication Place
Cham, Switzerland
Physical Description:
121p. : ill. (col.) ; 29cm.
Call Number
[EL]
Material Type
Language
English
Record ID:
41560
Legacy PEIN ID:
81648
General Notes
Open Access and available online
Record Created: 21-Feb-2018
Record Modified: 17-Dec-2020