The facts of life are showing more and more the need for the paradigm that has guided the development of human society since the 1st Industrial Revolution in 1786 be profoundly modified. The need for there are changes in the paradigm that has guided the current development process is necessary because it is scientifically proven that it is largely responsible for compromising the environment of the entire planet. Science shows based on proven data and facts, the unsustainability of the current development model of society by the fact that it was largely responsible for the depletion of the planet's natural resources, the degradation at an accelerated pace of drinking water and the oceans and the catastrophic climate change that threaten the survival of humanity.

1. 1
SCIENCE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Fernando Alcoforado *
The facts of life are showing more and more the need for the paradigm that has guided
the development of human society since the 1st Industrial Revolution in 1786 be
profoundly modified. The need for there are changes in the paradigm that has guided the
current development process is necessary because it is scientifically proven that it is
largely responsible for compromising the environment of the entire planet. Science
shows based on proven data and facts, the unsustainability of the current development
model of society by the fact that it was largely responsible for the depletion of the
planet's natural resources, the degradation at an accelerated pace of drinking water and
the oceans and the catastrophic climate change that threaten the survival of humanity.
All available data point in the sense that the Earth is now reaching its limits in the use of
its natural resources. One of these data concerns the ecological footprint that is a good
way to measure the impact of human beings on planet Earth. About the ecological
footprint, it is worth noting that it is a scientific methodology used to measure the
amounts of land and water (in terms of global hectares - gha) that would be needed to
sustain the consumption of natural resources of the population. The ecological footprint
is a calculation of what each person, every country and ultimately the world population
consume in natural resources. The measurement is made in hectares, and six categories
are evaluated: farmland, pastures, forests, fishing areas, carbon demands and land for
the construction of buildings.
Considering the six categories described above, the planet Earth has about 13.4 billion
global hectares (gha) of land and water biologically productive according to 2010 data
from Global Footprint Network and humanity's ecological footprint has reached 2.7
global hectares (gha) per person in 2007 for a world population of 6.7 billion people on
the same date, according to the UN [ALVES, José Eustáquio Diniz. A terra no limite
(The land at the limit). Available on the website <http: // planetasustentavel.
abril.com.br/noticia/ambiente/terra-limite-humanidade-recursos-naturais-planeta-
situacao-sustentavel-637804.shtml>, 2016]. With humanity's ecological footprint of 2.7
global hectares (gha) per person means that to sustain the current population on Earth of
7 billion inhabitants would be necessary 18.9 billion gha (2.7 gha x 7 billion people)
which is higher than the 13.4 billion global hectares (gha) of land and water biologically
productive of the Earth, a fact that indicates that already exceeded the regenerative
capacity of the planet in the average level of current world consumption. Today, due to
the current rate of consumption, the demand for natural resources exceeds 41%
replacement capacity of the Earth. If the escalation of this demand continues at this rate,
by 2030, with an estimated global population of 10 billion people would need two Earth
to satisfy her. It should be noted that from 2050, when the world population will exceed
10 billion people, the Earth cannot resist such a demand for natural resources.
Currently, over 80% of the world population lives in countries that use more natural
resources than their own ecosystems can renew. The core capitalist countries (European
Union, United States and Japan), ecological debtors, have exhausted their own
resources and have to import them. In the survey of the Global Footprint Network, the
Japanese consume 7.1 times more natural resources than they have and would require
four Italy to supply the Italians. The consumption pattern of developed countries
disrupts this balance. An indisputable fact is that humanity already consumes more
natural resources than the planet can replenish.

2. 2
Today humanity uses 50% of the planet's fresh water. In 40 years will use 80%. The
geographical distribution of freshwater is uneven. Currently 1/3 of the world population
lives in areas where water is scarce. The use of water not drinkable for consumption
accounts for 60% of ill on the planet. Half of the world's rivers are contaminated by
sewage, pesticides and industrial waste [PLANETA SUSTENTÁVEL Cai do Céu, mas
pode faltar (Falls from the sky, but may lack). Available on the website
<http://veja.abril.com.br/300108/p_086.shtml> 2008]. The world population grows
about 80 million per year worsening the demand for water and its services [REDE
WWF. Relatório Planeta Vivo 2008 (Living Planet Report 2008). Disponível no website
<http://assets.wwf.org.br/downloads/sumario_imprensa_relatorio_planeta_vivo_2008_2
8_10_08.pdf>, 2008]. UN report on the use of water confirms that without measures
against waste and sustainable consumption, access to clean water and sanitation will be
further reduced (BLOG SOS RIOS DO BRASIL. Bilhões sofrerão com falta de água e
saneamento, diz relatório da ONU (Billions suffer from lack of water and sanitation
says UN report). Available on the website
<http://sosriosdobrasil.blogspot.com.br/2009/03/bilhoes-sofrerao-com-falta-de-agua-
e.html, 2009].
The UN report estimates that 5 billion people will suffer from a lack of basic sanitation
in 2030. In the world there are 1.197 billion people without access to safe drinking
water and 2.742 billion without basic sanitation (data from the 2004 Human
Development Report) and, in Brazil, there are more than 45 million people without
access to safe drinking water and more than 90 million without access to the sewage
system (IBGE 2004). According to the UN, 41% of the current surface of the planet are
formed by dry areas, such as the Brazilian semiarid region, and 2 billion people living in
these areas. All these people, living in dry or humid areas, have no access to drinking
water.
Water is becoming a source of wars due to the international competition for water
resources. Many countries build large dams diverting water from natural drainage
systems of the rivers to the detriment of others. The main water conflicts in the world
today involving Israel, Jordan and Palestine by Jordan River, Turkey and Syria by the
Euphrates River, China and India by the Brahmaputra River, Botswana, Angola and
Namibia by the Okavango River, Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan and Egypt by the Nile River
and Bangladesh and India by the Ganges River [TAGUCHI, Clarissa. Ver para crer:
uma guerra pela água pode estar prestes a ser travada (Seeing is believing: a war for
water may be about to be fought) Available on the website
<http://panoramaecologia.blogspot.com.br/2006/03/ver-. to-believe-one war-the-water-
pode.html> 2006].
Only 12% of Earth's land is arable. Over the past 30 years it has doubled the amount of
arable land affected by severe droughts due to global warming. In China, every 2 years
an area equivalent to the state of Sergipe in Brazil turns into desert. Of the 200 species
of fish with higher commercial interest, 120 are exploited beyond the sustainable level.
At this rate, the available volume of fish will have declined by more than 90% up until
2050. It is estimated that 40% of the ocean area is severely degraded by human action.
In the last 50 years the number of dead zones has grown 10 times [BLOGSPOT.COM.
O WWF alerta para o esgotamento dos recursos naturais (WWF warns the depletion of
natural resources). Available on the website
<http://arquivoetc.blogspot.com.br/2008/11/o- wwf-alert-for-exhaustion-dos.html>,
2008]. Due to global warming, the reduction from 1970 to today's terrestrial species is

3. 3
33%, marine specimens corresponding to 14%; and freshwater specimens are 35%
(REDE WWF. Relatório Planeta Vivo 2008 (Living Planet Report 2008). Available on
the website
<http://assets.wwf.org.br/downloads/sumario_imprensa_relatorio_planeta_vivo_2008_2
8_10_08.pdf>, 2008).
As for mineral resources, iron, aluminum and possibly titanium are abundant in the
Earth's crust whose reserves may be considered unlimited. However, other non-
renewable minerals formed by geological processes over millions of years have reserves
that continuously are reduced being so scarce and precious as fossil fuels (MEADOWS,
Donella et al. Beyond the limits. Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 1992).
In the last two centuries the extraction of mineral resources has become more intense,
removing increasing amounts of nature. The concern is that the vast majority of these
resources are not renewable, ie they are not replenished by nature. Based on existing
reserves today, certain mineral resources already have a possible date to run out. The
available data on reserves of mineral resources point in the direction that the Earth is
now reaching its limits.
Estimate of exhaust of mineral resources of the planet Earth is presented in the article
Quando os recursos minerais se esgotarão? (When mineral resources will be
exhausted?) [ABREU, Kátia. Quando os recursos minerais se esgotarão? (When
mineral resources will be exhausted?). Available on the website
<http://planetasustentavel.abril.com.br/noticia/ambiente/quando-recursos-minerais-se-
esgotarao-648952.shtml>, 2008], based on information from the US geological Survey,
the US government agency responsible for geological research that crossed information
on annual consumption, the mineral reserves available on the planet and its probable
extinction: 1) Platinum (use in surgical materials) - Extinction in 2049 ; 2) Silver (use in
the manufacture of mirrors and cutlery) - Extinction in 2016; 3) Copper (used in wire
and cable and air conditioning ducts) - Extinction in 2027; 4) Antimony (use in remote
controls and other materials to increase strength) - Extinction 2020; 5) Lithium (used in
cell phone batteries, laptops and video games) - Extinction in 2053; 6) Phosphorus (use
in agricultural fertilizers) - Extinction in 2149; 7) Uranium (used for electric power
generation) - Extinction in 2026; 8) Indian (use in touchscreen screens of smartphones
and tablets) - Extinction in 2020; 9) Tantalum (use in photographic cameras) -
Extinction in 2027; 10) Nickel (use in metal alloy of coating, electronics such as cell
phones) - Extinction in 2064; 11) Tin (use in coating metal alloys, such as those used in
the soft drink cans) - Extinction 2024; 12) Lead (use in car batteries and trucks and
welds and bearings) - Extinction in 2015; 13) Gold (use as jewelry and computer
microchips) - Extinction in 2043; 14) Zinc (use to cover metallic alloys, preventing that
rust destroy objects like coins) - Extinction in 2041.
For these reasons many minerals of the planet Earth are coming to an end, which may
stop the use of various technologies currently used. As for oil, will last for 40 years
[BLOG PARACLETO. Futuro do Petróleo (Oil Future). Available on the website
<http://institutoparacleto.org/2013/05/23/o-futuro-do-petroleo/>, 2013]. Natural gas has
reserves that can guarantee production up to 60 years [BARBOSA, Vanessa. Os 10
países com as maiores reservas de gás natural do mundo (The 10 countries with the
largest natural gas reserves in the world). Available on the website
<http://exame.abril.com.br/economia/ news / the-10-countries-with-the-biggest-reserve-
of-gas-natural-the-world> 2012]. Coal, in turn, has enough reserves to last 250 years
[BLOGSPOT.COM. Reservas de Carvão no Mundo (Coal reserves in the world).

4. 4
Available on the website <http://carvaomineral.blogspot.com.br/2006/09/reservas-de-
carvo -no-mundo.html> 2006]. The shale gas in recent exploration in the United States,
which could meet the domestic demand of the country for natural gas at current levels
of consumption for over 100 years, is extremely bad for the environment because it
generates half the carbon emissions produced by coal, and contaminate the underground
aquifers.
All that has just been described on the duration of fossil fuel reserves indicates that,
given the longevity of coal, it can be the source of energy to be used in the future when
other fossil fuels are depleted, a fact which further exacerbate the greenhouse effect in
the atmosphere. Humanity must become aware of the urgent need to replace fossil fuels
with renewable sources of energy as well as to replace the current development model
for sustainable development, which, by means of reverse logistics, with the reuse,
recovery and recycling materials, thus achieving the so-called closed production cycle,
could delay the depletion of natural resources of planet Earth.
The catastrophic climate change that is expected to the future results of evidence
scientifically proven of global warming which is coming from temperature
measurements of weather stations around the globe since 1860. The data of these
measurements show that the average temperature increase was 0.6 ± 0.2 °C during the
twentieth century. The largest increases were in two periods: 1910-1945 and 1976-2000,
according to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) of the UN.
Evidence of global warming are obtained by observing snow cover variations of
mountains and icy areas, the increase in global sea levels, increased rainfall, cloud
cover, the El Niño and other bad extreme events time. Since 1961, the amount of
pollutants discharged by man in the atmosphere increased 10 times. This discharge
accelerates global warming causing droughts, floods, extinction of species and the
possibility of increasing sea levels of up to 7 meters if there is the melting of the poles,
Greenland and the Himalayan mountain ranges, the Alps and the Andes which would
result the disappearance of many islands and coastal cities [ALCOFORADO, Fernando.
Aquecimento global e catástrofe planetária (Global warming and planetary
catastrophe). S. Cruz do Rio Pardo: Viena Gráfica e Editora, 2010].
The year 2014 was the hottest on the planet since records began in 1880, said the report
released by Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States. In
December 2014, also scored an average surface temperature of the Earth and the oceans
unprecedented in the last 134 years for this time of year. Globally, the average
temperature of the sea surface was the largest in history, 0.57 °C above the average of
the twentieth century while of the Earth's surface exceeded by 1 °C the same average as
the earth's surface temperature exceeded by 1 °C the same average. The polar regions of
the Earth are places where climate change is having visible and significant impacts. Sea
ice in the Arctic has decreased dramatically in recent years. Antarctic ice platforms are
crumbling and breaking. Antarctica is the largest frozen dough with 90% of the Earth's
ice. Most of the ice is in East Antarctica which is higher, cooler and less prone to melt.
Most of the ice is in East Antarctica is higher, cooler and less prone to melt. West
Antarctica, part of the ice is melting in vulnerable depressions. Data from the European
Space Agency indicate that the Antarctic continent gives off 160 billion metric tons
Antarctic of ice per year from 2010 to 2013 [ALCOFORADO, Fernando. Aquecimento
global e catástrofe planetária (Global warming and planetary catastrophe). S. Cruz do
Rio Pardo: Viena Gráfica e Editora, 2010].

5. 5
Humanity faces a temporal boundary that is not 2100, but much earlier, in 2030! This
date is not arbitrary. In 2030, we will live on a planet that will have around 9 billion
people of which two-thirds living in a saturated Earth of pollution and waste, and
already affected by a sensitive high temperatures. In 2030, we will be entering a penury
phase with the oil and strong tension on other fossil fuels, in a context of reduction of
natural resources and depletion of arable land. The concentration of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere that was 280 ppm (parts per million) by volume at the beginning of the
industrial age can achieve in the twenty-first century values between 540 and 970 ppm.
This increased concentration of carbon dioxide is responsible for 70% of global
warming in progress. The world is facing a challenge that is not to allow global
warming in the twenty-first century more than two degrees Celsius without which will
have to cope with the catastrophic consequences of climate change. To prevent global
warming exceeds 2 °C will need a radical decarbonisation of the global economy. This
is a task difficult to perform, but still possible. In this sense, the world must limit all
emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) to one trillion tonnes.
A global commitment aimed at limiting the increase in global warming to 2 °C was
reached in December 2015, in the Paris Climate Conference, COP 21. The studies of the
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) of the UN recommend the
reduction of emissions greenhouse gases responsible for global warming in the range of
60% to 70% by mid-century. In other words, the per capita emissions should converge
to no more than two tons of CO equivalent (COe) by 2050. To achieve this goal will
have to be in every country in the world a huge effort to dramatically reduce emissions
greenhouse gases.
Numerous scholars of global warming report that there are two ways to respond to
climate change on the planet. The first is to drastically reduce the emission of polluting
gases. The second measure is to seek to adapt the best possible way to change the world
where will live in the coming decades. These changes are inevitable, even if you can
reduce human involvement in the greenhouse, because a third of the warming has
natural causes. To avoid the catastrophic future that is expected for humanity resulting
from global warming, it is essential the implementation of the sustainable development
model, which aims to meet the current needs of the Earth's population without
compromising its natural resources, bequeathing them to future generations. This means
that the model of sustainable development should be implemented aimed at reconciling
the environment with economic and social factors.
To implement sustainable development, it is imperative to reduce global carbon
emissions by promoting changes in the current global energy based mainly on fossil
fuels (coal and oil) by other based on renewable energy resources, in hydroelectricity, in
biomass and in wind and solar sources to avoid or minimize global warming and, hence,
the occurrence of catastrophic changes in the Earth's atmosphere. It is also necessary to
improve energy efficiency by developing actions that lead to achieving energy savings
in the city and in the countryside, in buildings, in agriculture, industry and transport in
general contributing thereby to reducing global carbon emissions and therefore the
greenhouse effect.
The efforts in energy efficiency must ensure that the auto-vehicles and equipment of
domestic uses, agricultural and industrial have higher yield, the buildings are designed
aiming at maximum lighting economy, cooling and heating, agriculture and industry are
modeled in the sense that they require a minimum of energy resources and raw

6. 6
materials, also contemplating the self-production of energy using waste from its
production processes, and finally, the use of new alternative of transportation from the
bicycle to those of high capacity based in railways, among other initiatives.
It is necessary to combat pollution of land, air and water, reducing waste with recycling
of the materials currently used and discarded. In this perspective, the essential materials
should only be used in production processes and in other applications only as a last
resort. When used in several applications, it must first be reused many times; secondly,
they should be recycled to form a new product; thirdly, they must be burned in order to
extract all the energy they contain, and only ultimately must be removed to a landfill.
It is essential to adjust the growth of the population to the resources available on the
planet Earth, reducing their birth rates, particularly in countries and regions with high
rates of population growth. Today, the Earth's population is 6.1 billion people. In 2030,
is expected to reach 9 billion. By the year 2100 will exceed 11 billion inhabitants
According to UN studies, considering the average vegetable energy consumption in
food, seeds and animal feed and the technical advance, the potential production of food
in the world could hold just over 11 billion people. With a population of 11 billion
people, the Earth cannot resist such a demand for natural resources.
Sustainable development also aims to reduce social inequalities, contemplating the
adoption of measures that contribute to supply the basic needs of the population, such as
food, clothing, housing, health services, employment and a better quality of life. For
there to be sustainable development, it is therefore necessary that all human beings have
met their basic needs and are provided opportunities to realize their aspirations for a
better life.
This means that economic growth and wealth resulting from it should be shared by
everybody, that education services enable increase skill levels to work and culture of the
world population, that health services are effective in combating child mortality and
contribute to the increase in population life expectancy, that all men and women on the
planet Earth have decent housing and that have public and private investments at the
level necessary to contribute to the reduction of mass unemployment as a result of the
general crisis of world capitalist system that records today and that tends to worsen in
the future.
For these reasons, it was evident that the information contained in this chapter are the
result of broad and deep scientific research work carried out for centuries by numerous
scientific institutions. Besides contributing to the development of research and
evaluation of the environment at local and global scales, work done by many scientists
around the world presented solutions to the passage of current unsustainable model of
development for the sustainable development model.
* Fernando Alcoforado, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor of Territorial
Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, a university professor and
consultant in strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is
the author of Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova
(Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São
Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado.
Universidade de Barcelona, http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e
Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX
e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of
the Economic and Social Development-The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Muller
Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe

7. 7
Planetária (P&A Gráfica e Editora, Salvador, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e
combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011),
Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012) and
Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV,
Curitiba, 2015).