Some people claim that we have recently witnessed a tipping point in the perceptions and values of western-oriented leaders and others involved in issues related to global environmental change. Western cultures now recognize that environmental issues formerly viewed as external to society are in reality embedded in the dynamics of the biosphere, and that economies are fundamentally dependent on the capacity of the environment to support and generate the preconditions for human and societal development. We have also acknowledged that ignoring this interdependence may lead to substantial costs, as highlighted in the widespread results of the Stern (2006) report on the global economics of climate change and amplified by reports on melting glaciers and ice sheets, flooding, fires, and storms. Technologies, investors, and markets are reviving and emerging for alternative energy sources that have the potential to mitigate the burning of fossil fuels. Across all scales, from the local to the global, more attention is being given to the abilities and possibilities of societies to adapt to climate change.
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