| Summary: | There is no doubt that today, perhaps more than ever before, humanity faces a
myriad of complex and demanding challenges. This has been propelled by the ever
increasing global population and intense pressure being exerted on the Earth’s
resources. The resulting consequences are severe changes in land cover (e.g.,
forests giving way to settlements), diminishing biodiversity and natural habitats,
dwindling fresh water supplies, and the degradation in the quality of the little that
is available, and changing weather and climatic patterns, especially global
warming with its associated predicted catastrophes such as rising sea level and
increased numbers of extreme weather events.
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