Humans are consuming too much and doing too little to protect the environment
August 30, 2006
Economy grows, environment suffers
Humans are consuming too much and doing too little to protect the environment.
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2006/aug/business/pt_economy.html
The Worldwatch Institute has concluded that the economy is flourishing at an unsustainable pace. In the past year, according to Vital Signs, the organization’s annual review of future trends, humans produced more steel and aluminum than ever before in history.
[url for report] http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4344
Automakers put a record 45.6 million vehicles on the market, and retailers sold >816 million cell phones.
Manufacturing these goods requires the exploitation of a large amount of natural resources, as well as the additional environmental expense of burning fossil fuels. The institute states that the average concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere rose 0.6% in 2005, the largest recorded annual increase of the greenhouse gas. Meanwhile, the planet’s average temperature rose to 14.6 °C. NASA scientists report that global surface temperatures in 2005 were the hottest ever recorded in more than a century of instrumental data.
Current consumption patterns can only sustain a global population of 1.8 billion, the report’s author said in a prepared statement. The planet now has 6.5 billion people, and that number is expected to grow. “Business as usual is harming the Earth’s ecosystems and the people who depend on them,” he said.
The report includes various web resources that can be accessed for further information.
Informant: binstock
Economy grows, environment suffers
Humans are consuming too much and doing too little to protect the environment.
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2006/aug/business/pt_economy.html
The Worldwatch Institute has concluded that the economy is flourishing at an unsustainable pace. In the past year, according to Vital Signs, the organization’s annual review of future trends, humans produced more steel and aluminum than ever before in history.
[url for report] http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4344
Automakers put a record 45.6 million vehicles on the market, and retailers sold >816 million cell phones.
Manufacturing these goods requires the exploitation of a large amount of natural resources, as well as the additional environmental expense of burning fossil fuels. The institute states that the average concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere rose 0.6% in 2005, the largest recorded annual increase of the greenhouse gas. Meanwhile, the planet’s average temperature rose to 14.6 °C. NASA scientists report that global surface temperatures in 2005 were the hottest ever recorded in more than a century of instrumental data.
Current consumption patterns can only sustain a global population of 1.8 billion, the report’s author said in a prepared statement. The planet now has 6.5 billion people, and that number is expected to grow. “Business as usual is harming the Earth’s ecosystems and the people who depend on them,” he said.
The report includes various web resources that can be accessed for further information.
Informant: binstock
rudkla - 1. Sep, 12:33
