Global Environmental Issue and Sustainable Development

Abstract

The problem of increasing anthropogenic pressure on the biosphere is considered in the framework of ideas about the carrying capacity of the ecosystem. The possibility of giving an exact definition of the carrying capacity is discussed, the concept of its one-dimensional projection is introduced, and examples of one-dimensional projections are given. In relation to the biosphere, they relate, in particular, to the limits of growth. The traditional definition of the concept “sustainable development” is criticized, this definition is associated with the ideology of the consumer society. The features of the perception of environmental issues by the mass consciousness in a consumer society are described. Extensions of the notion “environment” and a new approach to the interpretation of the notion “sustainable development” due to this expansion are considered.