Worldwide Reasons For a Modern Round Table
by Blue Evening Star
The trends of environmental deterioration are beginning to threaten the security of food supplies. World grain harvest is slowing down while demand for grain increases 80 million people per year.• Cropland continues to be paved over and degraded worldwide. Preservation programs in Europe have saved millions of hectares of prime farmland. Proven technologies for reducing erosion need to be widely implemented.
• Our fossil-fuel dependent energy system has caused global warming which produces floods, droughts, fires, and heat outbreaks. A coalition of Island states threatened by rising seas, insurance companies suffering from record storm-related losses, and business groups that believe slowing climate change is necessary are promoting a plan to wean off fossil fuels completely and stabilize the atmosphere.
• Urban sprawl is throttling the land. Carbon emissions and diminished quality of life are just a part of the growing sprawl-related problems. Public transit systems and urban parks are on the rise in an attempt to stem the tide of urban sprawl.
• Modern buildings rival cars as polluters due to deforestation, global warming, overuse of water, and acid rain. 30% of new or renovated buildings suffer from "sick building syndrome" exposing occupants to stale or mold- and chemical-laden air. Combinations of ancient techniques and available technologies can eliminate damage from buildings and dramatically reduce utility bills.
• The global community faces a resurgence of infectious disease—including the notorious killers AIDS, malaria, and hepatitis. At the same time, "diseases of affluence" such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes are advancing rapidly in many parts of the world. Worldwatch research on human health focuses on the common root of these diverse pathologies: an unstable approach to development. By eliminating the conditions that increase the likelihood of illness, whether lack of clean water in many poor nations or car-centered cities that encourage a lack of exercise in many wealthy ones, nations that shape their development with human health in mind are a step ahead in building a sustainable society.
• Many indigenous cultures are becoming extinct as the modern economy scours the globe for resources and markets. As indigenous cultures vanish, so do vast numbers of animal and plant species unknown to Western science, as well as intimate knowledge of their use.
• 83% of the earth's land surface is directly impacted by human beings. It is within the remaining 17% that the best conservation opportunities lie.
• About 1/5 of the total wood harvest worldwide goes into paper production. Roughly 40% of the waste-stream in many industrial countries is rapidly discarded paper. Germany, in 1991, passed a law requiring packaging producers to take back packaging materials for recycling and reusing which quickly decreased paper waste.
• It is estimated that in 2005, 500 million used cell phones will end up in land fills where they could leach as much as 142 tons of lead.
• Many personal body care and house cleaning products have become chemical powerhouses that cause harm to human bodies and the environment. In the United States, many cities and states are legally banning the use of harmful chemicals and encouraging organically grown botanical ingredients.
• As we replace our old computers with the latest models, we are contributing to a mounting global problem: electronic waste. Despite an international ban on trade in hazardous waste, many old computers from the United States make their way to "recycling" facilities in Asia and elsewhere. Investigations reveal that these facilities expose workers and the environment to a slew of deadly toxins that can cause damage to the central nervous system, endocrine disruption, interference with brain development, and organ damage.
• Rates of home ownership are rising steadily around the world, yet the number of people per household continues to decline.
Source:
www.worldwatch.org