What signs reveal that the earth is a patient in declining health? What is the concept of ‘sustainable development’ and how is it being disturbed?
The earth’s vital signs tell a different story. They give dangerous signals. They reveal that this planet on which we live is no more a pleasant place. It is like a patient in declining health. Lester R. Brown points out that there are four principal biological systems in the world. They are fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands. They form the foundation of the global economic system. But in most parts of the world human demands on these systems are reaching an unsustainable level. The earth and its environment shows all round degradation and deterioration. We are living on a sick planet.
Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without harming the interests of the future generations. It means that natural wealth and resources will be safeguarded to meet the needs of the future generations. Fisheries and forests shouldn’t be plundered. Human development may be such as may not convert grasslands and croplands into wastelands and deserts.
