Ecology and the Knowledge Revolution

Abstract

Since World War II the world economy expanded at a record pace, and world trade increased three times more than world production. During this period industrialization became an irresistible trend, made global by the dynamics of international markets and information technology. This was the golden age of industrial society. Today the industrial society faces the risks created by its own success. Its growth has been based on a voracious use of natural resources, the rapid burning of fossil fuels to produce energy, and massive clearing of wooded lands and other ecosystems where most of the world's biodiversity is found. Economic activity is the fundamental driving force of the two most pressing global environmental problems: climate change and biodiversity destruction.