- Two Environmental ProblemsEnvironmental issues can be broadly categorized into two fundamentally different types--local and global environmental issues. With local issues， the causes and effects are limited to a locality or region， such as industrial pollution and some forms of urban pollution. These issues involve direct environmental contamination by a specific violator， and are handled by the "polluter pays principle" according to directly applicable regulations.
On the other hand， global environmental issues are caused by human activities in general， and polluters cannot be pinpointed. Taken individually， some daily activities may not even register on the social consciousness， and they have a negligible load on the environment. But collectively， these activities can cause environmental problems of a global scale--and furthermore， may even have repercussions for future generations.
- Need for Breakthroughs in Conserving the Global EnvironmentSince all human endeavors impose a load on the global environment， under present circumstances it is difficult to reform society for sustainable development. We have identified seven areas of technological and social breakthroughs necessary to preserve the global environment:
Technological breakthroughs:
1) revolutionary technological advances
2) technological improvement
Social breakthroughs:
3) urban structure
4) economic system
5) international politics
6) lifestyle
7) social values
- Socio-economic Systems and Environmental LoadTechnological innovation may lead to qualitative changes in the socio-economic system. But technological innovations and improvements are meaningless unless they are accepted into the socio-economic system. Thus along with technological breakthroughs， even greater efforts are needed to achieve social breakthroughs.To achieve social breakthroughs， we first need to understand the relationship between the socioeconomic system and environmental load. This paper presents hypotheses regarding the relationship between elements of the socio-economic system--urban structure， political economy， lifestyles， and values--and environmental loads.
However， this paper represents only a beginning. In seeking a sustainable society that promotes conservation of the global environment， further studies are needed to clarify the causal relationship， both qualitatively and quantitatively， with environmental loads.
