Geoenvironmental Sustainability

Industrialization, urbanization, agriculture, and resource exploitation are activities associated with a developing society. Geoenvironmental Sustainability focuses on such a society's geoenvironment and the natural capital that defines it. The book explains these elements in systematic detail, particularly with respect to their relationship to five thematic areas known as WEHAB: water and sanitation, energy, health, agriculture, and biodiversity - all factors identified as key areas of concern by the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). This significant reference addresses topics that include land environment sustainability pertaining to its interaction with the impacts generated by industrial and urbanization activities - in particular with various waste discharges; the magnitude of the problem of urbanization and industries; nonrenewable natural resources, typical case histories, and examples of sustainability actions; and the geoenvironmental perspective of the present status of where we are in the geoenvironmental sustainability framework, with a view that points toward where we need to go. Providing a geoenvironmental perspective on the sustainability of the environment, Geoenvironmental Sustainability is an essential resource for those who are poised to meet the challenge of mitigating manmade threats associated with development.