One Earth, One Future: Our Changing Global Environment - Softcover

National Academy Of Sciences; DeFries, Ruth S.; Silver, Cheryl Simon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0309046327 ISBN 13: 9780309046329

Publisher: National Academies Press, 1992

Synopsis

Written for nonscientists, One Earth, One Future can help individuals understand the basic science behind changes in the global environment and the resulting policy implications that the population of the entire planet must face.
The volume describes the earth as a unified system--exploring the interactions between the atmosphere, land, and water and the snowballing impact that human activity is having on the system--and presents perspectives on policies and programs that can both develop and protect our natural resources.
One Earth, One Future discusses why such seemingly diverse issues as historical climate change, species diversity, and sea-level rise are part of a single picture--and how human activity is the critical element in that picture.
The book concludes with practical examinations of economic, security, and development questions, with a view toward achieving improvements in quality of life without further environmental degradation.
One Earth, One Future is must reading for anyone interested in the interrelationship of environmental matters and public policy issues.

Table of Contents

• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction
• The Earth as a System
• 2. A New Science of the Earth
• 3. Lessons from the Geologic Past
• 4. System Interactions: Atmosphere, Oceans, Land, and Humans
• 5. Humanity: An Agent of Global Environmental Change
• The Faces of Global Eniornmental Change
• 6. Global Warming
• 7. Food, Water, and Changing Climate
• 8. Coastlines and Rising Seas
• 9. The Ozone Layer and Ultraviolet Radiation
• 10. Vanishing Forests and Vanishing Species
• 11. Lakes, Forests, and Acid Deposition
• Afterword
• Appendixes
• A. Selected Reading
• B. Forum on Global Change and Our Common Future: Agenda and Speakers
• C. Committee on Global Change and Oversight Committee Members
• D. Letter on Global Environmental Change to President-Elect George Bush from the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine
• Index

About this title

From the Back Cover

'One Earth, One Future explains, in very clear and understandable terms, the complex web of processes that compose and threaten our planet's environmental systems. This book makes it indelibly apparent that humanity is altering the natural balance that has governed the planet's natural environment. Indeed, we are now a powerful force of change in the natural world.'

About the Author

by Cheryl Simon Silver with Ruth S. DeFries for the National Academy of Sciences

Edition details

• Publisher: National Academies Press
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0309046327
• ISBN 13: 9780309046329
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 208