Industrial Sustainability: Lifting the Siege on Earth and Our Descendents

OWEN FENNEMA

June 1, 2000

Serious environmental and health problems afflict most countries of the world, and inappropriate practices by industry, agriculture, and individuals are major causes. Industrial practices must be altered to become compatible, long-term, with protection of the environment and the well-being of humans. This is the essence of industrial sustainability.

Industrial Sustainability: Lifting the Siege on Earth and Our Descendents The objective of this article is to alert key personnel in the food industry to the fact that not only is adoption of sustainable practices important…

Fig. 1—Deviation in surface air temperature of the Earth relative to the reference mean temperature for 1951–75. Mean and range. Data from Vinnikov et al. (1994)

Fig. 2—Atmospheric concentration of CO2 in the middle troposphere above Mauna Loa. ppmv is parts per million by volume. Mean and range. Data from Keeling and Whorf (1994) Fig. 3—Cod harvested from zone 2J3KL in the Canadian Atlantic. Harvest was equal to or less than the government quota except for the years 1989 and 1990, when the quotas were exceeded slightly. Data from FRCC (1993), redrawn from Ruitenbeek (1996)

Table 1 Changes in air quality in the U.S. and Canadaa

Fig. 4—Predicted trend in number of people living in a state of water scarcity or water stress. Water scarcity exists when a country’s annual water supply is <1,000 m3/person. Water stress exists when a country’s annual water supply is <1,700 m3/person. Data from Hinrichsen et al. (1998)