Non sustainable development. Development of the concept of sustainability of human societies on the Earth.

During the 2nd half of the 20th century, several exceptional personalities contributed significantly to general understanding of unsustainable exploitation and disruption of nature ecosystems by human activities. Important studies by A. Leopold and R. Carson illustrate this development. Special attention is paid to the report "Our Common Future" prepared by the Brundtland´s Committee.(In Czech, English summary only

Non sustainable development. Oceans - changes and consequences.

Oceans cover some 3 quarters of the Earth's surface and play an important role in water and mineral element cycling as well as in the global climate change. The main consequences of the recent temperature increase include sea level rise due to both glacier melting and volume expansion. The role of oceans in absorbing considerable part of the CO2 from the atmosphere is also important. Huge amounts of methane hydrates recently found on the seabed could contribute to the energy supply but also to an abrupt atmospheric increase in the concentration of the green house gases. Paradoxically, the potential melting of the Greenland ice sheet could reduce the import of warm waters in the Golf stream to such an extent, that the European north-west coast could experience considerable decrease in its temperature.(In Czech, English summary only

Non sustainable development. The nature renders services free of charge to mankind worth 33 trillion US dollars per year.

On the example of a forest ecosystem the importance of nature is illustrated not only for its marketable products and activities, but especially for its production of oxygen, sequestration of carbon, regulation of water cycle, aesthetic values, etc. These nature properties - services are by far not appreciated by mankind and there is no awareness of their economic value. According to one of the first serious analyses (Costanza et al., 1997) the economic value of the total ecosystem services freely supporting human societies has been estimated to be 33 trillion (1012) US dollars.(In Czech, English summary only

Non sustainable development. Climate changes in the Czech republic.

The climate in the Czech Republic could also be characterized by an increase in the daily mean temperatures. Several Czech reports illustrate not only the temperature rise bur also changes in other weather characteristics. For example the number of days with temperatures below zero degree Celsius during the spring period decreased during the last century. The extreme dry and hot summer 2003 with several heat waves has been declared as an event proving with statistical significance higher than 90 % the anthropogenic effect on climate change.  (In Czech, English summary only

Non sustainable development. Consequences of the Changes of Global Carbon Cycle.

The concepts of sustainability declare the necessity to preserve the Earth to next generations in an unchanged state. However, mankind irreversibly depleted a considerable part of usable fossil fuels. Due to their combustion as well as due to the changes of the continent surface the global carbon cycle receives more than 6 billion tons of carbon annually. About half of this carbon in the form of CO2 remains in the atmosphere increasing thus its CO2 concentration from about 280 ppm lasting for many thousands year to the present 380 ppm. This anthropogenic CO2 concentration increase induces changes in the radiation balance of the Earth and its global climate.(In Czech, English summary only

Non sustainable development. Ecosystem services.

Ecosystem services contribute to human welfare much more than economic activities of mankind themselves. Atmospheric gas composition and climate regulation, soil fertility, nutrient cycling, waste treatment, water purification and supply, and a source of genes in organisms  as well as cultural and recreation enjoyment, all represents irreplaceable conditions for the existence of current human societies. At the same time, the large and growing global human population and demands of each human being, clearly induce deterioration of both the composition - even to large-scale extinctions of organisms - and functions of biomes although these are essential to ensure the continuation of these essential services.(In Czech, English summary only

Non sustainable development. The effect of atmospheric CO2 concentration on the global climate.

In this contribution, the principles of the greenhouse effect are briefly described and illustrated. Attention is paid to the effect of the increasing atmospheric concentration of CO2 and other greenhouse gases on the intensification of this effect. Using information contained in the 3rd report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the main consequences of the temperature increase of 0.6 oC during the last century are briefly reviewed.(In Czech, English summary only

Non sustainable development. Sustainable or non-sustainable development?

The personal opinions and beliefs, and therefore decisions about whether mankind activities are sustainable or non-sustainable depend both on one's knowledge and irrational arguments. In this series, my contributions aimed at offering some rough insights into processes vital to man9s future. Many recent publications deal with sustainability in great detail. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment as well as the book entitled "The Revenge of Gaia" by J. Lovelock are briefly introduced. Contrary to these pessimistic reviews, readers are also directed to the extremely optimistic assessment of the recent development of human societies presented in the book "The Pessimistic Environmentalist" by B. Lomborg.(In Czech, English summary only