ABSTRACT
One of the universal consequences of human activity is the exhaustion of vital natural resources. All over the world today people confront increasing scarcity of land, water, minerals, and energy. The endless search for and exploitation of new resources mean that our lives, communities and landscapes are being irrevocably changed. And people must all consider how our decisions today either secure or jeopardize the futures of our children, grandchildren and even more remote generations. According to Celso-Furtado, the economic history of Brazil was marked by a aeries of boom and bust cycles in the production of sugar, minerals, coffee, and rubber. In almost every case, the collapse could be attributed to political and social rather than physical factors. The effects of resource exhaustion are not, of course, felt exclusively in the resource producing communities. On the contrary, the consumers of natural resources are also affected and in general are far more numerous than the people that supply them.
