Abstract
Environmental regulations, in place since the 1960s, were successful in many aspects, mitigating the worst side-effects of rapid industrialization. The environment in many countries is today less contaminated by pollutants, the air is cleaner and the water in rivers less polluted.
Despite this, the basic trends in the development of the planet's ecosystem are still negative, biodiversity is disappearing, many ecosystems are endangered, and experts talk about the sixth mass extinction. The deepening climate crisis is a cause for serious worry, making it to the limelight of political debates on all levels, from global to national.
Yet it is more and more obvious that unlike the measures implemented in the past, significantly deeper changes are necessary. We are witnessing a far-reaching societal transformation and this book strives to aid in understanding it.Professor Bedřich Moldan's book is based on his lectures at the Faculty of Science and at the Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, and comprehensively presents the key aspects of environmental issues.