Sustainable Development and the Limitation of Growth
Subtitle: Future Prospects for World Civilization
Contributors: Vladimir Tumanov - translator
Series: Environmental Sciences
Publisher: Springer-Praxis
Published: February 2009
Place of publication: Berlin
Description: Resorting to such fields as geology, biophysics, biology, history, politics, demography, economics and paleoanthropology, this study argues that humanity cannot continue to act as if it were exempt from the constraints governing the Earth’s biosphere.   The greatest danger for us and all of life on the planet stems not so much from environmental pollution (although this is a considerable threat too), but from the destruction of natural ecosystems — especially deforestation. Using the Theory of Biotic Regulation, the authors demonstrate the role played by forests in maintaining the equilibrium of nature by pumping moisture from the oceans deep into the heart of continents.  The book shows the manner in which human population growth has exerted untenable pressure on the biosphere and discusses the ideologies, as well as values, that have contributed to the current ecological and social crisis.  The discussion is enriched by a thorough overview of the way in which ecology has developed as a science yielding the modern understanding of biospheric issues.
Table of contents: value: PART 1 - CIVILIZATION IN CRISIS: ON THE EDGE OF AN ABYSS 1. GLOBAL ECOLOGICAL SITUATION, 2. CRITICALLY OVERPOPULATED PLANET,3. THE ECOLOGICAL EQUIVALENTS OF MODERN MAN; value: PART 2. CIVILIZATION TEETERING OVER THE ABYSS OF CRISIS, 4. THE SOCIAL DIMENSION OF THE CRISIS, 5. THE ROLE OF THE CENTRALIZED AND MARKET ECONOMIES, 6. THE CRISIS OF VALUES AS THE MAIN CAUSE OF THE ECOLOGICAL CHALLENGE; value: PART 3 - THE WORLD COMMUNITY: POLITICIANS AND SCIENTISTS IN SEARCH OF A SOLUTION, 7. THE MISSION OF THE CLUB OF ROME, 8. PROGRAMS FOR CHANGE: STOCKHOLM – RIO – JOHANNESBURG, 9. TOWARD A SYSTEMIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIOSPHERE, 10. THE CONSTANCY OF THE PLANETARY ENVIRONMENT IN LIGHT OF THE BIOTIC REGULATION MECHANISM; value: PART 4 - SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: BETWEEN COMPLACENCY AND REALITY, 11. THE BASIS OF SUSTAINABILITY IN NATURE AND IN CIVILIZATION, 12. THE NATIONAL COLORS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, 13. CO-EVOLUTION OF NATURE AND SOCIETY: FACT OR FICTION?; value: PART 5 - ON THE SCALE OF A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH, 14. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN RELATION TO THE CARRYING CAPACITY OF THE BIOSPHERE, 15. THE STARTING CONDITIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE PRESERVATION OF ECOSYSTEMS BY COUNTRY AND CONTINENT, 16. NAVIGATION DIRECTIONS: INDICATORS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT; value: PART 6 – "IS THERE ENOUGH COMMUNITY, RESPONSIBILITY, DISCIPLINE AND LOVE?", 17. THE BARRICADES OF OLD THINKING IN THE WAY OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, 18. WHAT THE MARKET ECONOMY CAN AND CANNOT ACCOMPLISH, 19. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE "REAL HUMAN CONDITION", 20. THE SOCIAL PREMISES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE GLOBALIZATION PROBLEM