Title: The nature of environmental problems and environmental degradation

Authors: Kaushik Sridhar

Addresses: Macquarie Graduate School of Management, 156/122, Culloden Road, Marsfield, NSW 2122, Australia

Abstract: A basic characteristic of environmental problems is that they are cross-disciplinary and it is this characteristic that so often makes them difficult to solve. This paper reflects an increasingly holistic perspective of environmental literature in the last few decades. It seeks fundamental explanations for environmental problems in economics, culture, resource, pollution and population problems. Environmental studies have been bedevilled by a multiplicity of facts and theories, some of which contradict each other. This paper attempts to be comprehensive yet digestible by concentrating on theories that are arguably true.

Keywords: pollution; capitalism; sustainability; sustainable development; energy usage; culture; environmental degradation; cross-disciplinary characteristics; holistic perspectives; environmental problems; economics; culture; natural resources; population growth; business excellence.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2011.038789

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2011 Vol.4 No.2, pp.202 - 224

Published online: 27 Sep 2014 *

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