Dirty business
Has economic growth become dirtier? While the world economy has grown steadily since 1950, global temperature increased from 13.84
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Banking on growth, only
Environment is very low on the list of priorities of the World Bank. It does not give grants. It lends money only to credit-worthy borrowers and to projects that promise high rates of economic
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Food for thought
The human population in the world has crossed the six billion mark. With this the environmental cost of foodgrain production is rising and this is putting additional pressure on natural resources.
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Flying high
As the global energy crisis escalates, eco-friendly modes of transport are being increasingly ignored. This is reflected in the rapid growth in air travel, which has increased nearly 100-fold since
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The future of energy
It has always been exciting to anticipate what the future scenario with regard to energy will be. There are already some indications of what is to come in the solar roofs of Japan and Germany, in
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The road ahead
After World War II, average life expectancy rates have been increasing all over the world. This means a person born today will live 20 years longer than a person born in 1950. However, in African
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The hazy future
In the fight against increasing pollution from vehicular emissions, new alternatives to fossil fuels have emerged. Till recently diesel was considered an environment-friendly fuel. However,
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Forests: lost in the wild
Forests are the planet's largest and most important ecosystems. They exert a profound influence on the structure and function of the human habitat locally and globally
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Freshwater: a scarce resource
Only 2.5 per cent of all the world's water is fresh, that is, fit for human consumption, agriculture and industry. However, in several parts of the world, water is being used at a much faster rate
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Big dams, more displacement
Protests against large dams have gained momentum in recent years the world over. Projects in India and China displace large numbers of people because of the high population densities of those
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Transport travails
With the increasing human population, the number of cars hitting the roads have gone up. More cars generate more air pollution, increase traffic congestion and affect public health. In the US, for
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Genetically modified, and spreading
Cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops is increasingly becoming popular. Supporters of biotechnology feel that GM crops are the answer to the problem of food security and will curb the
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Call of the ocean
Not only do oceans cover more than two-thirds of the Earth's surface they play a crucial role in the chemical and biological balance of life on the planet. They are vital to our food security,
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A glut of nitrogen
Nitrogen is the basic building block of plant and animal proteins, and is essential to all forms of life. But studies in recent times have shown that human activity, including agriculture, energy
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Coffee not for birds
About 11 per cent of all known bird species are threatened with extinction, according to the World Resources Institute. Fragmentation or loss of habitat is mainly responsible for this decline, but
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The costs of war
Every war has an environmental cost. Armies have been known to degrade the environment, burn fields and forests and poison water sources. Advances in weapon technology have left their mark in
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Poor distribution
If the available food is distributed according to need, it would be sufficient to feed all the people of the world. Yet there are more than 828 million chronically undernourished poor people in
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City shock
Cities are known to generate a lot of waste and contribute in a major way to water and air pollution. They have become a major source of concern in the 20th century. City authorities will have to be
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Women at work
Women spend much more time working than men in virtually every society for which time use studies are available, according to the United Nations Human Development Report, 1998. This includes both
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Trash to trash
The industrialised countries are producing an enormous amount of garbage. Western Europe