A Finite World, Earth Sciences, and Public Trust

The beginning of the 21st century has coincided with our recognition that life‐sustaining earth cycles are remarkably fine‐tuned, and that humans have developed technological abilities to perturb these cycles. Also, inspired by the gifts of freedom and democracy, humans have given themselves laws to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inGround water Vol. 41; no. 1; pp. 11 - 14
Main Author Narasimhan, T.N.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.01.2003
National Ground Water Association
Subjects
Conservation of Natural Resources
Cultural Characteristics
Europe
Geological Phenomena
Geology
History
Humans
Interpretation and construction
Nature
Periodicity
Public Opinion
Public Policy
Public trust doctrine
Social Conditions
Trust
Water Supply
Europe
United States
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Summary:The beginning of the 21st century has coincided with our recognition that life‐sustaining earth cycles are remarkably fine‐tuned, and that humans have developed technological abilities to perturb these cycles. Also, inspired by the gifts of freedom and democracy, humans have given themselves laws to exploit nature for profit. The upshot is that nature's balance, governed by immutable physical laws, is being confronted by social laws driven by human aspirations. This conflict and its implications to the human relevance of the earth sciences are explored in the context of an extraordinary tradition of European culture known as public trust.
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ISSN:0017-467X
1745-6584
DOI:10.1111/j.1745-6584.2003.tb02562.x