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"The biosphere is the part of Earth where life exists or can exist. It includes all living things on Earth, as well as the nonliving systems that help them survive. Readers of this stimulating volume will learn how people affect the biosphere and how life and energy are maintained in the biosphere. Key elementary science curricula, including concepts such as food chains and life cycles, are reinforced through eye-catching graphic elements and age-appropriate text"--

Intro -- Dedication -- Acknowledgments -- Preface -- Contents -- Part I: Civilization in Crisis: The Edge of the Abyss -- Chapter 1: The Global Ecological Situation -- References -- Chapter 2: A Critically Overpopulated Planet -- References -- Chapter 3: The Ecological Footprint of Modern Man -- References -- Part II: Civilization in Crisis: The Edge of the Abyss (Continued) -- Chapter 4: The Social Dimensions of the Crisis -- References -- Chapter 5: Centralized Economics, the Market and Their "Contributions" -- References -- Chapter 6: Humanity's Spiritual Crisis as the Root Cause of the Ecological Challenge -- References -- Part III: World Society: Politicians and Scientists in Search of an Answer -- Chapter 7: First Steps by the UN and Club of Rome. The Computer Model That Rocked the World -- References -- Chapter 8: Programs of Change: Stockholm-Rio De Janeiro-Johannesburg-Rio+20 -- References -- Chapter 9: The Path to a Systemic Understanding of the Biosphere -- References -- Part IV: Permanence of the Planetary Environment and the Concept of Biotic Regulation -- Chapter 10: Abiotic Factors in Forming the Earth's Climate -- References -- Chapter 11: Role of the Biota in Forming the Environment -- References -- Chapter 12: Biotic Mechanisms for Supporting Environmental Stability -- References -- Part V: Weighing a Scientific Approach -- Chapter 13: Foundations of Sustainability in Nature and Society -- References -- Chapter 14: Sustainable Development Within the Norms of the Biosphere's Carrying Capacity -- References -- Chapter 15: Prerequisites for Sustainable Development and Maintaining Ecosystems by Country and Continent. Russia's "Special Project" -- References -- Chapter 16: What About Coevolution? -- References -- Conclusion: "The Die is not yet Cast" -- Reference -- Index.

This monograph contains articles based on the oral presentations given at the International Workshop on the Biosphere Origin and Evolution (BOE 2005) held in Novosibirsk, Russia, June 26-29, 2005. The organizers of the event were the Scientific Programme of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which involves 50 institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences.