Our world of the mid-1990s faces potentially bursting change. The question is in what direction will it take us? (46)Will the change come from worldwide initiatives that reverse the degradation of the planet and restore hope for the future, or will it come from continuing environmental deterioration that leads to economic decline and social instability?

　　There is no precedent for the rapid substantial change we need to make. (47)Building an environmentally sustainable future depends on restructuring the global economy, major shifts in human reproductive behavior, and dramatic changes in values and lifestyles. Doing all this quickly adds up to a revolution that is driven and defined by the need to restore the earth's environmental systems. If this Environmental Revolution succeeds, it will rank with the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions as one of the great economic and social transformations in human history.

　　Like the Agricultural Revolution, it will dramatically alter population trends. (48)While the former set the stage for enormous increases in human numbers, this revolution will succeed only if it stabilizes human population size, reestablishing a balance between people and natural system on which they depend. In contrast to the Industrial Revolution, which was based on a shift to fossil fuels, this new transformation will be based on a shift away from fossil fuels.

　　(49)The two earlier revolutions were driven by technological advances-the first by the discovery of farming and the second by the invention of the steam engine, which converted the energy in coal into mechanical power. The Environmental Revolution, while it will obviously need new technologies, will be driven primarily by the restructuring of the global economy so that it does not destroy its natural support system.

　　The pace of the Environmental Revolution needs to be far faster than that of its predecessors. The Agricultural Revolution began some 10,000 years ago, and the Industrial Revolution has been under way for about two centuries. But if the Environmental Revolution is to succeed, it must be compressed into a few decades. Progress in the Agricultural Revolution was measured almost exclusively in the growth in food output that eventually enabled farmers to produce a surplus that could feed city dwellers. Similarly, industrial progress was gained by success in expanding the output of raw materials and manufactured goods. (50)The Environmental Revolution will be judged by whether it can shift the world economy into an environmentally sustainable development path, one that leads to greater economic security, healthier lifestyles, and a worldwide improvement in the human condition.

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　　46. 這種變化會來自要徹底扭轉(zhuǎn)地球貧困化趨勢、恢復(fù)未來希望的全球性進取心呢，還是由環(huán)境的不斷惡化導致經(jīng)濟衰退和社會動蕩所引發(fā)？

　　47. 要締造一個環(huán)境能持續(xù)支撐的未來，就必須調(diào)整世界經(jīng)濟，大力轉(zhuǎn)變?nèi)祟惖姆毖苄袨�，并根本改變價值觀和生活方式。

　　48. 農(nóng)業(yè)革命為人口的大量增長準備了條件，而環(huán)境革命要獲得成功，只有穩(wěn)定住人口的規(guī)模，重建人類與其賴以生存的自然世界之間的協(xié)調(diào)關(guān)系。

　　49. 前兩次革命（即農(nóng)業(yè)革命和工業(yè)革命）都是由技術(shù)的進步推動的：第一次是因為發(fā)現(xiàn)了農(nóng)事，第二次是由于發(fā)明了蒸汽機，它能把煤里的能量轉(zhuǎn)化成機械動力。

　　50. 評價環(huán)境革命的標準就是看它能否使世界經(jīng)濟轉(zhuǎn)變到在環(huán)境上可持續(xù)發(fā)展的道路上，亦即使經(jīng)濟有更大保障、使生活方式更加健康、使全球人類生活狀況普遍改善的發(fā)展道路。