Word: planets
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...first goal of that cooperative effort should be to gather the information needed to fashion effective policies. "We've got to get the earth in intensive care, to start to monitor the vital signs of the planet," said John Eddy of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. This could be done by launching an International Earthwatch Program, possibly under the aegis of the United Nations, to coordinate multinational research projects and centralize essential data on the state of the world. Such an umbrella program could pool the results of hundreds of existing research efforts. A prime candidate...
...part, is at a turning point. The Reagan Administration, with its poor record on environmental issues, is coming to a close. President- elect Bush, who turned the pollution of Boston Harbor into a successful campaign issue, has an opportunity to show that he is serious about saving the planet -- even after the election. He sent out an encouraging signal last week by naming veteran conservationist William Reilly to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Reilly, 48, president of the World Wildlife Fund, promised a "new and constructive course" on environmental problems. It is none too soon...
Ultimately, no problem may be more threatening to the earth's environment than the proliferation of the human species. Today the planet holds more than 5 billion people. During the next century, world population will double, with 90% of that growth occurring in poorer, developing countries. African nations are expanding at the fastest rate. During the next 30 years, for example, the population of Kenya (annual growth rate: 4%) will jump from 23 million to 79 million; Nigeria's population (growth rate: 3%) will soar from 112 million to 274 million. Expansion is slower in Brazil, China, India and Indonesia...
...that ban is strictly enforced, some lakes and aquifers will be tainted by poisons that have already been released. Even if global population growth could somehow be cut in half, there would still be more than 45 million new mouths to feed next year, putting further strain on a planet whose capacity to sustain life is already under stress...
When Glantz's forecasting technique is applied to the rest of the world, two things become clear. One is that virtually every long-term environmental change is occurring in miniature somewhere on the planet, whether it is a regional warming trend in sub-Saharan Africa or the vanishing coastline in Louisiana. The other is that Homo sapiens is an immensely resourceful species, with an impressive ability to accommodate sweeping change. In countries and regions hit by climatic upheavals, people have come up with a variety of solutions that are likely to have broad applicability to the global problems of tomorrow...