Word: making
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Still, while the critics may be down, they are not out. The public may think such issues as the imminence of global warming and the danger of toxic wastes are settled, but scientists do not. Their disagreements about ecological threats make life uncomfortable for the activists, who fear that any apparent uncertainty will give policymakers an excuse for inaction. Critics respond that environmental false alarms have produced bad policy. While some naysayers are economists, industrialists and bureaucrats who view environmentalism as an irrelevant disruption of the real business of the world, others are sophisticated scientists who maintain that...
...easiest, most direct way for people to make a difference is to watch what they throw away. Every year more than 220 million trees are cut down just to make U.S. newspapers, the majority of which are tossed into the trash. Americans discard enough aluminum cans each year to rebuild the entire U.S. commercial airline fleet four times over. Quite obviously, says Earth Day 1990 chairman Denis Hayes, "the answer to the solid-waste problem is not figuring out some way to compact it or to incinerate it; the answer is to reduce...
While the contents of the trash can are easy to see, the all-but-invisible fumes that pour out of automobile tail pipes are just as damaging to the environment. Every time Americans climb behind the wheel, they make their own personal contribution to the global-warming threat. Here again, a gradual modification of life-style can make a dramatic difference. When possible, use mass transit and support its development and expansion. For short distances, consider using a bicycle; it is excellent aerobic exercise. And, as in the energy-short 1970s, buy more fuel-efficient autos and carpool to work...
...just as important as saving energy. Only 3% of the world's water is fresh, and 75% of that is locked away in glaciers and the polar ice caps. The scramble for what is left is growing ever more intense, as the water table falls and toxic chemicals make some supplies undrinkable. Saving the precious liquid can be simple: use a water-conserving shower head, which can reduce consumption by more than half. For older-model toilets, put a brick or two in the tank, since they use 7 gal. of water per flush. Better yet, install a new ultra...
...last March, 105 nations tentatively agreed to place strict curbs on international shipments of hazardous waste. Meeting in Helsinki in May, representatives of 86 countries declared their intention to phase out their production and use of ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the year 2000. All this is encouraging. But make no mistake: these are only the opening skirmishes in what may prove to be mankind's ultimate battle for survival. Mostafa Tolba, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), put the matter starkly in his keynote speech before TIME's Alexandria conference: "Addressing the global environmental crisis requires...