Introduction

Throughout history, humans have sought to enhance their wellbeing in multifarious domains – with mixed results. This monograph recognizes that (i) the spectrum of factors responsible for wellbeing has expanded considerably, (ii) advances in the scientific-technological fields have favourably impacted wellbeing, (iii) important failures have been encountered in fortifying peace among various human communities, and (iv) the natural environment has been degraded considerately by humans since the Industrial Revolution (circa 1750). Indeed, some natural disasters are not strictly natural since they are provoked or exacerbated by human activities that produce CO₂ and other greenhouse gases. Increases in these emissions have been largely associated with a growing world population and increased economic activities in agriculture and industry that use intensively fossil fuels (and their derivatives), and/or resort to deforestation.