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Environmental Sustainability, Ecosystem Services, and Human Well-being
Citation:
JORDAN, S. J. AND J. K. SUMMERS. Environmental Sustainability, Ecosystem Services, and Human Well-being. Chapter 25, Praeger Handbook of Environmental Health. Praeger Security International, Westport, CT, , 569-587, (2012).
Impact/Purpose:
This manuscript is an invited article about environmental sustainability for the Praeger Handbook of Environmental Health. It describes unsustainable development, defines sustainability, and gives examples from marine fisheries, agriculture, and urban systems. The article briefly discusses the uncertainties of a changing world, adaptive management and sustainability, and criticisms of the sustainability paradigm.
Description:
This article examines environmental sustainability from several perspectives. First we offer definitions and some historical background. Then through case studies of marine fisheries, agricultural systems, and urban environments, we illustrate contrasts between unsustainable and sustainable systems, describing some of the ways in which each sector is moving toward sustainability. Materials and energy from non-renewable sources are being consumed at higher rates than new sources can supply. Greater efficiencies, recycling, and substitutions can prolong supplies, but renewable sources will be required for long-term sustainability. The developing technology of renewable fuels illustrates uncertainty about the future and the need for adaptive management. In the last section, we consider the implications for sustainability of a variable environment and changing world, and discuss how sustainability relates to the intersection of environmental, social, and economic