In areas that have already suffered rampant deforestation and hurricane damage, such as the island nation of Haiti, is is apparent why one shouldn't assume that things once buried will stay that way. In that nation, the amount of erosion has caused major loss of life and property. And this is even with the relatively small tropical storms that were already common. The island has also already seen a sharp rise in the number and intensity of named storms over the 150 years or so that records have been kept.

Here, erosion has caused items that were once thought buried for good, such as decades old trash, to reappear on the surface and cause major pollution concerns. Of even more concern are the toxins, thought safe in a by-gone era are now escaping into the tropical environment. By way of comparison, neighboring Dominican Republic has far fewer trees standing and has a much easier time weathering storms. Part of sustainable development to protect areas from toxic releases is the planting and tending of trees to protect against future disasters.

The term biodiversity is one that gets a lot of talk, but is not well understood by many outside of ecology classrooms. Nor can it be understood without having some sort of feel for how intricately all life is connected in very real ways. There are countless examples of how very specific mechanisms to carry out the very important business of reproduction is accomplished in unique ecosystems, but suffice it to say that when one piece in even a single chain is destroyed, the whole thing is in danger of falling apart.

Moreover, biodiversity is the great treasure of Earth. There are many things that can be replicated, but re-creating an extinct creature is not one of them, regardless of what one might see at the cinema. It is found no where else in the Galaxy that we know of, so every creature that is unique here is unique in a very extended everywhere.

The biodiversity of crop plants is maintained at germplasm repositories throughout the world, allowing plant breeders to have access to the diversity of the whole plant kingdom when breeding to meet the challenges of a changing climate.

Sustainable development requires the input of all the major stakeholders in the climate change solution phase. That means that governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other concerned parties cannot set about on a sustainable course of action until some sort of agreement is reached with any party that might raise an objection that could put the project in danger.

Sometimes public input on policy changes can keep the bill that is politically expedient from becoming a law that appeases everyone and fixes nothing. Major stakeholders in the climate debate include just about everyone, but some special groups that have been very active include native and indigenous peoples, residents of island nations, commerce and business groups, environmental activists and human rights campaigners, to name just a few. It is very important that these groups have a chance to sit down on a regular business and state their concerns or compliments about how climate change mitigation is being handled.

One of the major ways in which demographics changes is by migration of populations. The first environmental refugees that can clearly attribute their troubles to climate change have left their South Pacific islands for the last time in recent years. The massive amount of development in coastal areas that has taken place since the 1960s has increased the worldwide population of vulnerable people drastically. It is thought that as many as 40% of the people on Earth could be displaced if seas rose half as high as some estimates.

Clearly, migration away from storm, flood, fire and desert ravaged areas will cause great pressures on resources and natural environments. It will also have an impact on people who are not used to being so closely crowded together. For instance, if a nation founded on a given belief looses its homeland, where can they set up a place to freely practice their beliefs? Attempts at nation-building in the past have not met with resounding success, to say the least.

One of the biggest challenges of the 21st century is the population problem. While the effects that were predicted as long ago as the 18th century, the ability to use oil to grow food has allowed the human race to get far larger than is sustainable on one planet. Since off-world migration isn't an option yet, the population is going to have to come down with as little misery as possible.

Whether by simply running out of getting off the habit to save our own skins, the use of petroleum must be drastically lowered to levels that existed before the living memory of most people. The least traumatic way to do this is through education and access to birth control, to keep the population from getting any larger. With access to prescription medications difficult for many people and the cost of condoms, low cost vasectomies are the most sustainable option for many places and situations.

One of the most exciting developments in the production of renewable energy at home is the use of micro-turbines. Far less offensive to homeowners association, micro-turbines can be unobtrusively mounted in arrays that can supply a surprising amount of power. They also have the advantage of continuing to work in very light wind situations.

In many areas this power can then be sent directly back to the grid with a grid-lined conditioner and inverter. If you need to store the power for your own supplemental use, there are several options. The most common is the use of deep cycle marine batteries in an array. This stores direct current, so an inverter is also required to bring this power up to 110 or 220 volts AC. Such equipment is often more expensive than the collection devices, so it's good to plan accordingly for the cost, care and maintenance of your storage system. Another option is the use of a hydrogen fuel cell. With a large enough wind array, you can generate plenty of power to satisfy your needs when the wind isn't blowing.

In some places climate change has taken the form of lost summers, floods and hurricanes. In other places, the rain has been very stubborn about falling at all. This is especially worrisome in area that have never needed summer irrigation before. Retrofitting an entire company with the irrigation equipment previously reserved for very high value crops is not an option given current and likely future commodity crop prices. When growing maize for a gas tank, for instance, it doesn't make sense to waste valuable water and resources when crop insurance allows you to simply till it under and wait until next year.

However, irrigation in one form or another might become a practical necessity in the mid-west, just as it has been for a very long time in the arid West. Homeowners and farmers alike need to compete for water during drought years. As has been evidenced by conditions during the 100-year drought that has continued for several years in Australia, extreme droughts can bring on some very unusual behaviors in the local wildlife as well as the populace.

It's one thing to be in an area that is accustomed to getting severe storms. It's quite another to live well outside the range of hurricanes and then wake up to a tropical storm bearing down on Sweden. That is, however, exactly how some recent years have shaken out. Preparedness is a key component of sustainable development, but this is complicated by climate change. The whole point is that you don't know what could happen because "normal" simply doesn't apply anymore.

This is certainly true of folks who didn't think to have a tornado escape plan for their trailer park in January. The same could be said of Oregonians who are becoming acquainted with the sort of fire seasons that Californians can now only dream about. Ask the folks who wrecked their cars trying to navigate a freak blizzard in Los Angeles or truckers that got stuck in the mountains during an early August white out. Prepare to be amazed as weather chaos becomes even more violent and dangerous as the world tries to clear itself of this fever that human beings have caused.

One of the largest growth sectors in the hotel and tourism business are sustainable accommodations that lessen the carbon load and the guilt of dedicated travelers. Among hoteliers, a marked increase in customer demand for sustainable accommodations appeared in the 'aughts. After doing some studies to make sure, it was found that In the case of the hotel business, this can actually save time, labor, money and supplies. But sustainable tourism is about more than just waiting to wash the towels.

Sustainable tourism also opens up areas to tourism that can benefit from the added incentive to preserving wildlife. This has been especially useful in areas of Africa that were loosing what little remaining wildlife in the area to habitat encroachment and poaching. With the money and concern that is brought in from more developed countries, the people who are actually on the ground have a chance to change the minds of people who might have a better chance of helping preserve the local environment.

Thankfully, the discussion about climate change and the challenge of preventing it isn't all doom and gloom. There are some legitimate opportunities to make some real money at a time where it may get scarce for a great many people. The wants and desires of people change according to the amount of discretionary income they have to work with. Being ready to meet a massive consumer demand when suitable technologies are found to reduce carbon emissions and petroleum dependence will be golden.

Renewable energy is perhaps the most obvious sector to consider investing money or a little bit of yourself in. This includes the cheap and convenient generation of solar, wind, geothermal power, to name a few. Sustainable development also envisions climate change threats to the fresh water supplies of many places, so water conservation in the form of landscape consultancy or miserly fixtures for retrofitting is also sure to be a growth industry in the 21st century.