ABSTRACT
Two sets of observations run through the text of this book. First, many acts of development in the Third World have left a series of environmental problems; and second, the environment operates as an integrated system, so any type of modification, even if it is local in nature, may start a chain of events resulting in multifarious effects, regional in scale. Examples of this can be seen in some of the cases discussed: the deforestation of the tropical rainforest; construction of dams across rivers; groundwater depletion to meet urban demands. Such effects could even be global in some cases, as exemplified by the stratospheric ozone depletion and global warming.
