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2018 | Book

The Global Ecological Situation Read chapter Read first chapter

The Biosphere and Civilization: In the Throes of a Global Crisis

Authors: Dr. Victor I. Danilov-Danil'yan, Igor E. Reyf

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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About this book

This monograph explores the dire ecological, social, and economic situations facing mankind through comprehensive analyses of global ecological issues, poverty, environmental stability and regulation, and sustainable development. Drs. Victor Danilov-Danil’yan and Igor Reyf discuss the development of ecology as a science, the increasing concern among scientists and public servants for the unsustainability of current economic and demographic trends, and the dire consequences our planet and civilization are already suffering as a result of the ongoing environmental and social crisis. They also address the philosophical implications of the crisis, and suggest possible solutions.

The book conveys complex objects of study, namely the biosphere and the harmful anthropogenic processes it has been experiencing for decades, so that the work is accessible without omitting key components of the subject matter. Readers will learn about the social and economic contributors to a threatened biosphere, the mechanisms that maintain the stability of the global environment, and the scales at which sustainable development and preservation can be applied to initiate environmental regulation. Though intended to appeal to the general public and non-specialists, environmental researchers, organizations involved in sustainable development and conservation, and students engaged in ecology, environment, and sustainability studies will also find this book of interest.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter

Civilization in Crisis: The Edge of the Abyss

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. The Global Ecological Situation
Abstract
Unprecedented rate of change to the atmosphere—Destruction of natural ecosystems—Origin of the ecological crisis—Chemicalization of Earth’s biosphere—Forty-eight tons of waste per capita—Global cost of local environmental cleanup.
Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan, Igor E. Reyf
Chapter 2. A Critically Overpopulated Planet
Abstract
Transforming the landscape as a launchpad for demographic growth—From the Neolithic Revolution to the Industrial Revolution—Passionaries, conflict and demographic change—Demographic stabilization in developed countries, demographic explosion in developing countries—Do we follow the r-strategy or K-strategy of population—Energy’s “magic wand” for extreme population growth—Is there enough time to complete the demographic transition?
Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan, Igor E. Reyf
Chapter 3. The Ecological Footprint of Modern Man
Abstract
Timofeev-Resovsky’s trick question—The ecological footprint as a quantitative value of anthropogenic pressure—Ecological footprint and the one planet concept—“Eco-creditor” countries and “eco-debtor” countries—Urbanization and a growing ecological footprint—The megalopolis to decide humanity’s fate.
Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan, Igor E. Reyf

Civilization in Crisis: The Edge of the Abyss (Continued)

Frontmatter
Chapter 4. The Social Dimensions of the Crisis
Abstract
Life on $1.25 a day for 17% of the third world’s population—25 thousand malnutrition deaths per day—Poverty as the prime polluter—Immigrants, the new proletariat of developed countries—The hostile environment of megalopolises.
Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan, Igor E. Reyf
Chapter 5. Centralized Economics, the Market and Their “Contributions”
Abstract
Centralized economics: into oblivion—Socialism’s economic score—The market: the other side of the coin—Hyperconsumption, “easy” money and economic crisis—Competition in nature and society—Natural capital as a limit to growth—Civilization’s overproduction: internal crises and the external crisis—Precedents for state regulation of the market—A global organ for environmental stabilization, responsible to the biosphere.
Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan, Igor E. Reyf
Chapter 6. Humanity’s Spiritual Crisis as the Root Cause of the Ecological Challenge
Abstract
Humans and nature: obtaining independence or losing a friend?—Psychology of a conqueror—The renaissance revolution in worldviews—A mindset that leaves nature “out in the cold”—Degradation of nature; degradation of man—“Nature first died in people’s souls and minds”—Destruction of a destroyer.
Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan, Igor E. Reyf

World Society: Politicians and Scientists in Search of an Answer

Frontmatter
Chapter 7. First Steps by the UN and Club of Rome. The Computer Model That Rocked the World
Abstract
New concerns in a post-war world—The UN’s first actions on the environment—Description of the Club of Rome and its status today—Possibilities of ecological collapse analyzed by computer—The concept limits to growth—Civilization beyond sustainability—What we need to save the planet.
Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan, Igor E. Reyf
Chapter 8. Programs of Change: Stockholm—Rio De Janeiro—Johannesburg—Rio+20
Abstract
Ecological concerns reach the international level—The Stockholm Conference and its indirect consequences—Forming an ecological consciousness—The Brundtland Commission as a stepping stone to the Rio Conference—Sustainable development–the birth of a term—What was left unsaid at the Rio Earth Summit—Johannesburg: summit of unfulfilled hopes—Rio plus 20 or Rio minus 20—Humanity still unready for change.
Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan, Igor E. Reyf
Chapter 9. The Path to a Systemic Understanding of the Biosphere
Abstract
Vernadsky and his concept of the biosphere—From biocenose to ecosystem: the establishment of ecology as a science—The 1920s: the arrival of mathematical methods in ecology—The hydrobiologists’ contribution—The ecosystem: birth of a term—Biogeocenose as cell of the biosphere – Nikolay Timofeyev-Resovsky: the biosphere as a factory, manufacturing the environment – James Lovelock and the “Gaia Hypothesis”—Strong and weak points of the Gaia Hypothesis and criticism from evolutionary biologists.
Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan, Igor E. Reyf

Permanence of the Planetary Environment and the Concept of Biotic Regulation

Frontmatter
Chapter 10. Abiotic Factors in Forming the Earth’s Climate
Abstract
Role of the hydrosphere in climate formation—The other side of the greenhouse effect—Glaciers as cold accumulators—Causes of great glaciations—“The climate ball” on the peak of unsustainable equilibrium—The Earth’s biota as one factor in the Earth’s climate stability.
Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan, Igor E. Reyf
Chapter 11. Role of the Biota in Forming the Environment
Abstract
Limitations on carbon resources in the biosphere and the “waste-free technologies” of the modern biosphere—Removal of carbon from the atmosphere in previous geological epochs—The oceanic biota’s role in the carbon cycle—Soil as a reservoir of organic carbon and accumulator of moisture—Role of the biota in soil formation—Regulation of the continental water cycle by the vegetative biota—The forest biotic pump as the most important condition for life on land—Why Europe has not turned into desert.
Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan, Igor E. Reyf
Chapter 12. Biotic Mechanisms for Supporting Environmental Stability
Abstract
Flows of organic and inorganic carbon in the biosphere—The biosphere as “biotechnology market”—The biota’s threshold of sensitivity to environmental perturbation—The mechanism of biotic regulation and ecological succession—Stabilizing selection as a means to prevent collapse of the biota’s genetic memory—Information flows in the biota and—civilization—Human kind’s possibilities in managing the environment.
Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan, Igor E. Reyf

Weighing a Scientific Approach

Frontmatter
Chapter 13. Foundations of Sustainability in Nature and Society
Abstract
“Sustainable Development”—prehistory of a term—Development that doesn’t threaten future generations—Development without growth in living nature—Competitive relations in the biota and society—Civilization’s rate of growth, the biota’s rate of evolution—A word from concerned scientists.
Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan, Igor E. Reyf
Chapter 14. Sustainable Development Within the Norms of the Biosphere’s Carrying Capacity
Abstract
A shot across humanity’s bow—Law of energy flow distribution in the biota—The energy quota of large animals—The biosphere’s economic capacity as the quantity of its extreme disruption—Human civilization’s energy corridor—The “geographic equivalent” for the biosphere’s disruption threshold.
Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan, Igor E. Reyf
Chapter 15. Prerequisites for Sustainable Development and Maintaining Ecosystems by Country and Continent. Russia’s “Special Project”
Abstract
CO2 sources and sinks; attempts to bring them into balance in the biosphere—The underestimated role of preserved ecosystems—Two paths to climate stability—Global centers of environmental disruption—Forest bastions of the planet—What is “ecological rent?”—Russia’s ecosystems and their contribution to global sustainability—Will Russia’s strength lie in growing Siberia?—What Russia’s ecological specialization could mean.
Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan, Igor E. Reyf
Chapter 16. What About Coevolution?
Abstract
Do we need new terms?—Coevolution or sustainable development—The rate of the innovative process and the speed at which “natural technologies” are formed—“Human activities mean one thing for the biosphere—disruption”—Questions for which there are no answers—Evolution of the biosphere “in a human direction” of humans “in the direction of the biosphere”—What is really behind the term “noosphere?”
Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan, Igor E. Reyf
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
The Biosphere and Civilization: In the Throes of a Global Crisis
Authors
Dr. Victor I. Danilov-Danil'yan
Igor E. Reyf
Copyright Year
2018
Electronic ISBN
978-3-319-67193-2
Print ISBN
978-3-319-67192-5
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67193-2