Environmental aspects of sustainable development

Abstract

The term "sustainable development" is based on the fundamental principle of improving human quality of life without destroying the natural environment (the biosphere). Humankind develops through the consumption of renewable (air, water, landscapes, and biota) and nonrenewable (fuel, ores, and other mineral resources) resources from the Earth. Constant renewal of resources is an essential condition for sustainable development. However, the present-day use of nature ignores this requirement, which inevitably leads to the depletion of resources, degradation of ecosystems, and global ecological disaster. This paper considers the modern level of consumption of life-supporting resources, which exceeds the permissible limits, and possible ways to prevent the approaching disaster. We draw several conclusions regarding the necessity to adopt a radically new nature-use strategy on the bases of the rational use and reproduction of resources as well as the development of new technologies of energy production from nontraditional sources.