Anonymous person discussing his views on sustainability in the context of entropy.

In science, sustainability refers to the study of how to maintain or instill a behavior or mode of human living progressively, continuously, and stably into the future, given a limited supply of environmental resources.

A noted theorist in this field is Swedish physician Karl-Henrik Robèrt who in 1987 proposed to develop a theory of society towards sustainability based on thermodynamics.

Thermodynamic arguments, typically involving the second law, are frequently involved in discussions on sustainability issues.

Further reading
● Toxopeus, Sewalt, M.E. (2001). “Thermodynamics Based Sustainability Concept”, Int. J. Applied Thermodynamics, Vol. 4: 35-41.
● Mapelli, F., Pulselli, F. M., and Tiezzi, E. B. P. (2002). “Thermodynamic Concepts for Sustainability Studies” (abs), Design and Nature, 3: 185-90.
● Hammond, Geoffrey P. (2004). “Energineering Sustaiability: Thermodynamics, Energy Systems, and the Environment” (abs), International Journal of Energy Research, 28: 613-39.
● Campanella, L. (2008). “Thermodynamics and Sustainability”, CMA4CH Mediterranean Meeting, Multivariate Analysis and Chemometry Applied to Environmental and Cultural Heritage 2nd ed, Ventotene Island, Italy, Europe, 1-4 June.
● Gutowski, Timothy G., Sekulic, Dusan P., and bakshi, Bhavik R. (2009). “Some Preliminary Thoughts on the Application of Thermodynamics to the Development of Sustainability.” IEEE, May.

External links
● Sustainability – Wikipedia.