Will major global environmental change take place in the 21st century?
How much is known about the change? Can we find out more? Must we take
it seriously? Should we do something now, or can we wait a decade or so?
This book seeks to answer these questions. Scientists are reaching
consensus that rates of change in many of the environmental indicators
are already increasing in some cases, and are likely to increase even
more rapidly in the 21st century. Although there are still
uncertainties, the case is made that the consequences of not taking
action are too great to take a chance that the scientists' expectations
are wrong. The book leads to the admonition - Think long term, act now!
Signs of Change (Chapter 1) Chapter 1 provides a definition of global
change and some examples of changes already taking place in the driving
forces (demographics, energy consumption, deforestation, 'mining of
groundwater', etc. ) and in some of the environmental variables
(increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, depletion of
stratospheric ozone, desert- ification, decreasing biodiversity, etc. )
The chapter raises some important questions for science and society, and
concludes that global environmental change is both a scientific and a
political issue.