Sustainable Industry

Those who work in the field of sustainable development seek to balance the needs of people with the limits of the available resources. For some time, scientists have been aware that if people keep consuming resources at the same rates, these resources will either be used up (in the case of non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels) or else depleted to the point at which they can no longer renew themselves (for example, fish or certain animal species). Up until the past several hundred years, people thought the world was so big and so rich in resources that they would never be used up. Today,we know this is not true. The five volumes in this Encyclopedia give readers a serious look at this important topic.