ABSTRACT
In the previous few chapters, one theme worth reiterating is that of continual growth: in population, forests cut, water used, food produced, mineral and fuels consumed, chemical pollutants generated, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, depleted ocean fisheries, and urban sprawl. During the last half century, the world economy expanded sevenfold. “Most striking of all, the growth in the world economy during the single year of 2000 exceeded that of the entire nineteenth century. . . . Stability is considered a departure from the norm” (Brown, 2004: 4). The planet has indeed been transformed by the human footprint.
