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Summary: A guide to the challenges of the 21st century.
Review: (Adapted from Worldwatch Press release)NEW CENTURY TO BE MARKED BY GROWING THREATS, OPPORTUNITIES The bright promise of a new century is clouded by unprecedented threats to the stability of the natural world, according to a special millennial edition of the State of the World report, released by the Worldwatch Institute today. "In a globally interconnected economy, rapid deforestation, falling water tables, and accelerating climate change could undermine economies around the world in the decades ahead," said Lester Brown and Christopher Flavin, lead authors of the new report. During the past century, world population grew by more than 4 billion-three times the number of people when the century began. At the same time, the use of energy and raw materials grew more than ten times. "These trends cannot continue for many more years," said the authors. "As the 21st century approaches, the big question is whether we can muster the ingenuity to change-and do so rapidly enough to stave off environmentally-based economic decline. The one thing we can say for sure is that the 21st century will be as different from the 20th as that one was from the 19th." Since our emergence as a species, human societies have continually run up against local environmental limits that have caused them to collapse, as local forests and cropland were overstressed. But the advances in technology that have allowed us to surmount these local limits have transferred the problem of environmental limits to the global level, where human activities now threaten planetary systems. Among the problems we now face: * World energy needs are projected to double in the next several decades, but no credible geologist foresees a doubling of world oil production, which is projected to peak within the next few decades. * While protein demands are projected to also double in the century ahead, no respected marine biologist expects the oceanic fish catch, which has plateaued over the last decade, to double. Eleven of the 15 most important oceanic fisheries and 70 percent of the major fish species are now fully or over-exploited, according to experts. And more than half the world's coral reefs are now sick or dying. * Growing stress can also be seen in the world's woodlands, where the clearing of tropical forests has contributed recently to unprecedented fires across large areas of Southeast Asia, the Amazon, and Central America. * Environmental deterioration is taking a growing toll on a wide range of living organisms. Of the 242,000 plant species surveyed by the World Conservation Union in 1997, some 33,000, or 14 percent, are threatened with extinction-mainly as a result of massive land clearing for housing, roads, and industries. * The atmosphere is also under assault. The billions of tons of carbon that have been released since the Industrial Revolution have pushed atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide to their highest level in 160,000 years-a level that continues to rise each year. As scientists predicted, temperatures are rising along with the concentration of carbon dioxide. The latest jump in 1998 left the global temperature at its highest level since record-keeping began in the mid-19th century. * The early costs of climate change may already be evident: weather-related economic damages of $89 billion in 1998 exceeded losses for the decade of the 1980s. In Central America, 11,000 people were killed by Hurricane Mitch, and Honduras suffered losses equivalent to one-third of its annual GDP. * Human societies may also face growing stress in the new century. In Africa, for example, where populations have doubled in the last three decades, economic growth is already failing to keep up with human needs. Several African countries, including Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, where 20-25 percent of the adult population is now HIV-positive, are expected to lose one-fifth or more of their people within the next few decades. This could undermine their societies in the same way the plague did those of Europe in the Middle Ages. "Our analysis shows that we are entering a new century with an economy that cannot take us where we want to go," said Worldwatch President Lester Brown. "Satisfying the projected needs of 8 billion or more people with the economy we now have is simply not possible. The western industrial model-the fossil-fuel-based, automobile-centered, throwaway economy that so dramatically raised living standards in this century-is in trouble." The shift to an environmentally sustainable economy may be as profound a transition as the Industrial Revolution. The foundation of such a system is a new design principle-one that shifts from the one-time depletion of natural resources to an economy that is based on renewable energy and that continually reuses and recycles materials. A sustainable economy will be a solar-powered, bicycle/rail-based, reuse/recycle economy, one that uses energy, water, land, and materials much more efficiently and wisely than we do today. In the absence of a concerted effort by the wealthy to address the problems of poverty and deprivation, building a sustainable future may not be possible. Growing poverty, and the political and economic chaos that can be provoked by it, reverberate around the world, as was seen in 1998 with the Asian economic meltdown, which pushed tens of millions of people below the poverty line in just a few months. One key to reversing environmental degradation is to tax the activities that cause it, according to the report. By putting a price on these activities, the market can be harnessed to spur progress. If coal burning is taxed, solar energy becomes more economically competitive. If auto emissions are taxed, cleaner forms of transportation become more affordable. The effort to replace today's unsustainable economy with one that is suited to the demands of the 21st century will create some of the new century's largest investment opportunities. "No challenge is greater, or more satisfying, than building an environmentally sustainable global economy, one where economic and social progress can continue, not only in the 21st century, but for many centuries beyond," the authors conclude.
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Summary: The Health Barometer of Planet Earth
Review: For finding the essential facts on the Earth's health and the path to a sane future, no series of books is as helpful, balanced and thorough as The Worldwatch Institute's State of the World annual reports. We've just completed a new book about the life and death of planets, Dead Mars, Dying Earth, and have been reading and researching in the planetary biosciences everyday for the last two years, so here's our advice: If you want to find out what's going on on Planet Earth the hard way, go to the bookstore or the library. If you want to understand the clear and simple truth of life on Earth at the Millennium, run out and buy a copy of State of the World 2000.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but one sided.
Review: I give good marks to each of the scientists providing their viewpoints. Each was thoughtfull and concise in his or her viewpoints. Since 1984, the State of the World reports have been published, and since 1984 the overall tone has been one of impending doom avoided only by the most drastic of human changes. If you picked up this book expecting to get an authoritative understanding of environmental and population trends, then you have made a big mistake. This book tells one side of the story- clearly the most attractive as it pulls on that side of us that feels lost in a world we don't understand. If you *really* want to find out both sides of the story, you should search out the counterpoints in scientific litterature. Kudos to you for trying to find out everything about the subject before going on. I recomend Earth Report 2000- a counter publication written specifically in response to this book. After reading both books I am quite convinced that, as a percentage of all there is to know about the planet, we basically understand as much as we did 40 years ago. The information provided in this book is based on theories that, as a young human race, we can not validate for many years to come. Read this book for ideas, but not answers. That is unless you are a doomsayer looking for an amen experience- in which case this baby is right up your alley.
Rating:
Summary: Good but one sided.
Review: I give good marks to each of the scientists providing their viewpoints. Each was thoughtfull and concise in his or her viewpoints. Since 1984, the State of the World reports have been published, and since 1984 the overall tone has been one of impending doom avoided only by the most drastic of human changes. If you picked up this book expecting to get an authoritative understanding of environmental and population trends, then you have made a big mistake. This book tells one side of the story- clearly the most attractive as it pulls on that side of us that feels lost in a world we don't understand. If you *really* want to find out both sides of the story, you should search out the counterpoints in scientific litterature. Kudos to you for trying to find out everything about the subject before going on. I recomend Earth Report 2000- a counter publication written specifically in response to this book. After reading both books I am quite convinced that, as a percentage of all there is to know about the planet, we basically understand as much as we did 40 years ago. The information provided in this book is based on theories that, as a young human race, we can not validate for many years to come. Read this book for ideas, but not answers. That is unless you are a doomsayer looking for an amen experience- in which case this baby is right up your alley.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT!
Review: If you want to learn more about ecology and the present state of the planet, then you HAVE to get this book!!!! This book is invaluable.
Rating: 
Summary: Pardon Me if I Protest
Review: Lester Brown et al have written an alarmist book. I grew up during the years when the word "environment" came to have meaning. Over the decades, I have read a number of books on the state of our environment. Lester Brown et al write what amounts to saying that we are "going to Hell in a handbasket." The truth of the matter is that each age thinks it is on the "eve of destruction." (Don't remember that song? Okay, you are not as old as I am and
you do not remember how seriously we took this matter when this song came out.) BTW, the picture painted by Lester Brown et al is one-sided. For example, I noted an AP article about the thickening of the Antarctic ice which means that the polar ice caps are not shrinking. The reader may not expect this type of information from this book. If one looked at _World Balance Sheet_ among other books, one would not see this type of driven agenda. The world has always known people who were concerned about the shape of the environment. Some BCE writers are known.So are we on the "eve of destruction"?
or are we having to make decisions as we have so often before?
Rating:
Summary: Pardon Me if I Protest
Review: Lester Brown et al have written an alarmist book. I grew up during the years when the word "environment" came to have meaning. Over the decades, I have read a number of books on the state of our environment. Lester Brown et al write what amounts to saying that we are "going to Hell in a handbasket." The truth of the matter is that each age thinks it is on the "eve of destruction." (Don't remember that song? Okay, you are not as old as I am and
you do not remember how seriously we took this matter when this song came out.) BTW, the picture painted by Lester Brown et al is one-sided. For example, I noted an AP article about the thickening of the Antarctic ice which means that the polar ice caps are not shrinking. The reader may not expect this type of information from this book. If one looked at _World Balance Sheet_ among other books, one would not see this type of driven agenda. The world has always known people who were concerned about the shape of the environment. Some BCE writers are known.So are we on the "eve of destruction"?
or are we having to make decisions as we have so often before?
Rating:
Summary: state of sadness
Review: Reading State of the World 22 took me out of my cushy frivolous life and made me really think. I used to be of the frame of mind that sources of energy and the aids problem were nothing to do with me and someone else could deal with it and anyway to tell the truth it sort of bored me.Each time I read this book I would find myself crying as I turned the pages, it really is sad how down the world has gone and how much further it still has to fall if we dont change our ways of thinking. This book puts all the information on sustainable issues and world problems in straightforward english with interesting graphics and statistics in easy to read graphs so that even I (not quite a brain surgeon) can grasp the information.State of the world is not just a book moaning about what we have done wrong it also explains the solutions and what each person can to do help after all we are the cause and we can help be the cure.
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Summary: Creating a Sustainable World
Review: State of the World - 1999 Millennial Edition Doctoral Student, Pepperdine University, Educational Technology The World Watch Society has published the State of the World every year since 1984. The 1999 edition has ten chapters, each written by an expert, on economic utilization of the forests, oceans, material economies, plant biodiversity; social issues such as feeding the world's growing population, ending violent conflicts, and the possibilities of creating a sustainable society. While there are many books that deal with the state of the world, this series is unique if only for their ability to provide notes on where the information they use, comes from. They have 41 tables and 19 charts with figures and the 180+ pages of text are supplemented with over 60 pages of notes. The tone of the volume is set by the Forward which indicates that the Millennial year exists in only the Christian calendar. The Jewish calendar marks the year as 5759, the Hindus say it is 5101, and the Muslim calendar checks in with the year 1377. The celebration of the millennium is particularly a Western celebration. But they do not miss the opportunity of saying that now is a good time for the Western nations and others to decide on new policies to create a more humane world. A sustainable world is one where food, housing, and individual opportunities to obtain full potential, are all possible. And are possible at a level that can be repeated over a number of years. "No challenge is greater, or more satisfying, than building an environmentally sustainable global economy, one where economic and social progress can continue not only in the twenty-first century but many centuries beyond." The rapid change that has marked the twentieth century is demonstrated by the world's population explosion. Charting the growth of the human population over the past 12,000 years creates startling numbers. For several thousands of years up until 2000 BC, the world's population probably stayed around 4 million people. It moved to 27 million by 2000 BC, and 100 million 2000 years ago. By the year 1000 it was estimated to be 350 million, and by 1825 the world hit the billion mark. We now estimate our population to be 6 billion and it is anticipated that in another 50 years we will add over 3 billion more people. The good news is that throughout the world there is a growing trend towards a declining population growth. It is not hard to realize that the European nations and especially the United States use up more than their share of world wide resources. The use of oil, timber, ocean resources, and other resources by the United States alone far surpasses most of the world. "We need a new moral compass to guide us into the twenty-first century - a compass grounded in the principles of meeting human needs sustainably." While the water tables throughout the world are dropping, the oceans are being depleted, and global warming increasing, there are signs of hope throughout the world. As the world's governments are trying to figure out what to do, local communities are acting to establish better ways of living. In Boston the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority decided not to divert two rivers needed to add to their water supplies, but instead, repaired leaky pipes, and educated the citizens on how to save water. The efforts worked, and they saved money on the plan. In Pakistan a district of 1 million squatters organized themselves, collected money, and created sewers to serve their district. The book ends by quoting H. G. Wells who suggested that "human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe." The State of the World does an excellent job of providing a real account of the world's problems but it also shows many of the ways that people throughout the world are cooperating to improve their lives. The choice between adding to the growing problems or becoming a part of those who are creating answers to the problems, is clearly ours to make.
Rating:
Summary: Creating a Sustainable World
Review: State of the World - 1999 Millennial Edition Doctoral Student, Pepperdine University, Educational Technology The World Watch Society has published the State of the World every year since 1984. The 1999 edition has ten chapters, each written by an expert, on economic utilization of the forests, oceans, material economies, plant biodiversity; social issues such as feeding the world's growing population, ending violent conflicts, and the possibilities of creating a sustainable society. While there are many books that deal with the state of the world, this series is unique if only for their ability to provide notes on where the information they use, comes from. They have 41 tables and 19 charts with figures and the 180+ pages of text are supplemented with over 60 pages of notes. The tone of the volume is set by the Forward which indicates that the Millennial year exists in only the Christian calendar. The Jewish calendar marks the year as 5759, the Hindus say it is 5101, and the Muslim calendar checks in with the year 1377. The celebration of the millennium is particularly a Western celebration. But they do not miss the opportunity of saying that now is a good time for the Western nations and others to decide on new policies to create a more humane world. A sustainable world is one where food, housing, and individual opportunities to obtain full potential, are all possible. And are possible at a level that can be repeated over a number of years. "No challenge is greater, or more satisfying, than building an environmentally sustainable global economy, one where economic and social progress can continue not only in the twenty-first century but many centuries beyond." The rapid change that has marked the twentieth century is demonstrated by the world's population explosion. Charting the growth of the human population over the past 12,000 years creates startling numbers. For several thousands of years up until 2000 BC, the world's population probably stayed around 4 million people. It moved to 27 million by 2000 BC, and 100 million 2000 years ago. By the year 1000 it was estimated to be 350 million, and by 1825 the world hit the billion mark. We now estimate our population to be 6 billion and it is anticipated that in another 50 years we will add over 3 billion more people. The good news is that throughout the world there is a growing trend towards a declining population growth. It is not hard to realize that the European nations and especially the United States use up more than their share of world wide resources. The use of oil, timber, ocean resources, and other resources by the United States alone far surpasses most of the world. "We need a new moral compass to guide us into the twenty-first century - a compass grounded in the principles of meeting human needs sustainably." While the water tables throughout the world are dropping, the oceans are being depleted, and global warming increasing, there are signs of hope throughout the world. As the world's governments are trying to figure out what to do, local communities are acting to establish better ways of living. In Boston the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority decided not to divert two rivers needed to add to their water supplies, but instead, repaired leaky pipes, and educated the citizens on how to save water. The efforts worked, and they saved money on the plan. In Pakistan a district of 1 million squatters organized themselves, collected money, and created sewers to serve their district. The book ends by quoting H. G. Wells who suggested that "human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe." The State of the World does an excellent job of providing a real account of the world's problems but it also shows many of the ways that people throughout the world are cooperating to improve their lives. The choice between adding to the growing problems or becoming a part of those who are creating answers to the problems, is clearly ours to make.
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