Environmental alarm bells are ringing
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has released a landmark report (called GEO-4) on the state of the global environment. Authored by 388 scientists from around the world and peer-reviewed by another 1,000, the report details the most urgent risks and pressures on the atmosphere, water supplies, food availability, and biodiversity due to human activity. Although global warming is certainly a key concern in the report, it is by no means the only factor under consideration.
The report spells out some ominous trends:
Dangerously declining amounts of drinking water, over-fished lakes and seas, a warming planet, plus a rising population: A large-scale report by the UN says the world is living beyond its environmental means.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) released its first environmental report card in 20 years on Thursday, and the grades are jarring: Despite some praise for certain treaties and reductions, the report blasts the world community for "woefully inadequate" measures and "a remarkable lack of urgency."
In particular, the 550-page report entitled "Global Environment Outlook" (GEO-4) warned that climate change, species extinction, dwindling fresh water supplies and other threats will drastically -- and irreversibly -- alter life on Earth, if global action is not taken.
From the UNEP site:
GEO-4 also warns that we are living far beyond our means. The human population is now so large that "the amount of resources needed to sustain it exceeds what is available... humanity's footprint [its environmental demand] is 21.9 hectares per person while the Earth's biological capacity is, on average, only 15.7 ha/person...".
I thought this image was pretty striking; it's an illustration of the impact on Florida if the sea level were to rise five meters (over 16 feet):
If the Greenland ice cap were to melt, global sea levels would rise about 22 feet.
The report can be downloaded here, either as one file or by section.