Hence, the community as a whole suffers from the ambition of its individual members. Similarly, this mechanism can act on a much larger level. For instance, even when the global environment is threatened as in the case of chlorofluorocarbons damaging the ozone layer individual nations often have difficulty sacrificing their own self-interest for the benefit of the group ("The environment" 1 31).
In addition, as human populations gradually increase in size, they may cause such extensive environmental degradation that ecosystems lose their capacity for renewal. Threshold effects generally involve abrupt environmental responses to gradually imposed stress. Forests and lakes may tolerate certain amounts of pollutants without exhibiting damage. Beyond the threshold level, however, these natural systems may completely lose their capacity for producing food or absorbing wastes. On a global scale, threshold effects could potentially result in irreversible climate changes. As the world's population and per capita consumption gro
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