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next planned revision: 2009-11 |
Probably not.
Axiom: you cannot change human nature.
Humans are first concerned with their kin. A single child's life will be considered worth vastly more than anything that could/should be preserved by ecological conservation. Therefore, keeping development out of national parks or keeping the rainforests from being destroyed will be second to saving the lives of hungry humans, who have the "right" to claim farmland or cut down trees for a living. The human animal always comes first. Only educated people, who ALSO have the means for health care and birth control, will begin to take care of their environment.
But we are over 6 billion people now. The predictions of the 1970s report "Limits to Growth", written for the Club of Rome, look ominously close to what is happening.
Can we save the planet?