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Population, Consumption, and Sustainability
The root cause of these faster-than-normal changes in our global environment
is a rapidly rising global human population with increasing amounts of per
capita
consumption and energy resource use. These
anthropogenic (i.e., human)
demands put strains on natural and managed (agricultural and forest) ecosystems
that raise questions about irreversible change to the global environment that
might jeopardize the ability of future generations to meet their basic
human
needs. Serious questions are raised about the "sustainability" (indefinitely
continuing current practices that deplete resources or degrade the environment)
of our use of energy, agricultural and forestry practices, use of fresh water,
and others.