February 2001:               suggested link of the week Population and the Environment: The Global Challenge An important new report from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health "As we humans exploit nature to meet present needs, are we destroying resources needed for the future?"

Population Reports is published by the Population Information
Program, Center for Communication Programs, The Johns Hopkins
School of Public Health.

Population and the Environment: The
Global Challenge

"As the century begins, natural resources are under increasing
pressure, threatening public health and development. Water
shortages, soil exhaustion, loss of forests, air and water pollution,
and degradation of coastlines afflict many areas. As the world's
population grows, improving living standards without destroying
the environment is a global challenge.

Most developed economies currently consume resources much
faster than they can regenerate. Most developing countries with
rapid population growth face the urgent need to improve living
standards. As we humans exploit nature to meet present needs,
are we destroying resources needed for the future?"


Recommended links to report summaries:

Five Extinctions and Counting

"We live in the period of the greatest extinction of plant and animal
species since the extinction of the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago.
The history of life on earth has included at least five periods during
which huge numbers of species vanished forever, primarily due to
changes in climate and sea level. Some scientists worry that a sixth
extinction has begun because of humanity's gross misuse of the earth's
resources.

[...] Sixth extinction? Since 1950 some 600,000 species have
disappeared, and nearly 40,000 more currently are threatened.

Environmental Distress Syndrome

"In recent years scientists have become increasingly concerned about
the long-term effects of deteriorating environmental conditions on
the health not only of humans but also of nature itself. "[...] We are
also recognizing the depletion or disruption of natural biophysical
processes that are the basic source of sustained good health," points
out epidemiologist Tony McMichael..."