Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies for Climate Change
Chapter “Economy and the Environment: How to Get What We Want” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
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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 [email protected]
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 overcoming those challenges. As part of the struggle, we have accumulated and clarified our knowledge. Science and technology are examples of this collected knowledge. Using results provided by science and applying technology, we have overcome many difficulties. However, it should be remembered that issues continue to evolve along with the development of our society. Our situation at the present time is not the same as in the past. Although a new technology resolves an existing issue, it may also create a new one. For example, the mobile phone has changed our lifestyle, and we can enjoy the advantages it provides. On the other hand, mobile phones facilitate certain new types of crime; hence, we are always confronted with new
