In recent decades there has been a growing awareness of how intricate the interactions are between human beings and the environment. Fortunately, progress has been made in understanding this relationship, and new technologies have been effective in addressing environmental problems. However belatedly, there has been an acknowledgment of the incompatibility of the world's finite resources with humankind's increasingly greater needs for them, and of how such a challenge demands broadened collaboration among engineers, social scientists, politicians and financial powers. Global agreement that the essential issues of the twenty-first century cannot be solved by any one discipline has led to the concept of sustainability. The transdisciplinary contributions selected for inclusion in this book address these concerns with an overview of the diverse fields of study related to sustainability. This collection of work is intended to pave the way for further collaboration among scientists and nations as well.
Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies for Climate Change
Akimasa Sumi Ai Hiramatsu
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Kensuke Fukushi
Editors
Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies for Climate Change
Editors Akimasa Sumi Executive Director Transdisciplinary Initiative for Global Sustainability The University of Tokyo 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 113-8654, Japan
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Kensuke Fukushi Associate Professor Transdisciplinary Initiative for Global Sustainability The University of Tokyo 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 113-8654, Japan
[email protected]
Ai Hiramatsu Project Assistant Professor Transdisciplinary Initiative for Global Sustainability The University of Tokyo 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 113-8654, Japan
[email protected]
ISBN 978-4-431-99797-9 e-ISBN 978-4-431-99798-6 DOI 10.1007/978-4-431-99798-6 Springer Tokyo Berlin Heidelberg New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009942778 © Springer 2010 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
Humanity is not isolated from the environment. We exist in the stream of life, from the past to the future. Mankind was born and evolved as part of the history of the Earth, which in turn forms part of the history of the Universe. Therefore, we have to regard ourselves in historical terms and not forget our responsibility to the future. In other words, humanity has appeared and evolved during the Earth’s history and owes a responsibility to the future. The old Chinese proverb that we study the past in order to learn new things should be recalled. When we look back at the history of mankind, we realize that we have suffered from many different issues and calamities throughout our entire existence. In other words, there has been no easy time for us, and we have been fighting for our survival by over