ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a flavor of what is to come by illustrating the challenges posed by one pollution problem and one resource scarcity problem. Future societies will also face challenges arising from resource scarcity and accumulating pollutants. Industrialized countries that undertake stringent environmental policies may not suffer much at the national level due to offsetting increases in income and employment in industries that supply renewable, cleaner energy and pollution control equipment. Due to their more limited adaptation capabilities, many developing countries, which have produced relatively small amounts of greenhouse gases, are expected to be the hardest hit as the climate changes. According to United Nations data, the continents most burdened by a lack of access to sufficient clean water are Africa and Asia. The availability of potable water is further limited by human activities that contaminate the remaining supplies. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
