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Systems and Sustainability

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Environmental Sustainability in a Time of Change

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Environmental Sustainability ((PASTENSU))

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Abstract

Environmental sustainability is greatly informed by the field of systems science which looks at how humans impact the natural environment. Some of the earliest systems science thinkers developed the Gaia hypothesis which helped to conceptually frame the earth as a single environmental system. Since that time, scientists have shown how major earth cycles work and interact with each other. Each of the major earth systems, including the rock, water, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and the sulfur cycles, has been altered in some way by human activity. The systems are so damaged that their repair is an integral part of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, USA

    Robert Brinkmann

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  1. Robert Brinkmann
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Correspondence to Robert Brinkmann .

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Brinkmann, R. (2020). Systems and Sustainability. In: Environmental Sustainability in a Time of Change. Palgrave Studies in Environmental Sustainability. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28203-5_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28203-5_3

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-28202-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-28203-5

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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