Environment and natural resources / edited by V.P. Agrawal and S.V.S. Rana

The biosphere is our life support system from which "as consumers we draw our essential resources of air, water, food, warmth and spiritual energy". We are indeed completely dependent upon its great biogeoche mical cycles, productivity and ecological integrity. Our own life cycles and functions are dynamically embedded and synchronised as those of about 13 lacs of plants, animals and microbial species living with us today. Nevertheless, during the recent three hundred years a new culture of science and technology exploited by capitalists, has made us all powerful. We are busy transforming the environment in every part of the world by adopting a wasteful life style of affluence or heavy consumption of the resources. It endangers our own existence and the life support system. Indeed in magnitude we are industrially competing with the natural biogeochemical cycles by deranging them and dispersing the resources or putting them out of the cycles beyond the limits of their renewability.