A Day In The Life Of Mother Earth : Today On The Planet

Human beings may be the smartest of all Earth’s creatures, but they are also the most destructive of nature. The question is whether human beings are smart enough to avoid presiding over their own extinction... So far, the industrialized countries have been most responsible for contributing to potentially devastating global warming and ozone depletion. But more environmental damage is expected to come from the developing nations as they industrialize and their populations explode. A key issue will be how to feed this soaring population when one in five people already live on less than $1 a day. Among the concerns: * Desperation is driving the poor to burn rain forests for farming or to cut them for timber, to poach or trade in rare wildlife, to burn dirty sources of energy simply because they are cheap and accessible. * Such destruction over the long term will make many of the poor nations only poorer. Soil erosion caused by deforestation will produce more hunger. With the forests will go valuable sources of medicine, chemicals and fiber. * Factories and power plants that could raise living standards also could exacerbate the planet’s ills. Electricity, refrigeration and automobiles likely would produce more man-made gases and chemicals that contribute to global warming and the thinning of the protective ozone shield.

Today The Air Today. . . . . .70% of all city dwellers--more than 1.5 billion people worldwide --will breathe unhealthy air. At least 800 people will die prematurely because of air pollution. . . .56 million tons of carbon dioxide will be spewed into the atmosphere, largely through the consumption of fossil fuels and the massive burning of rain forests. . . .More than 1,500 metric tons of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons will be pumped into the atmosphere from leaking refrigerators and air conditioners, aerosol spray cans and some industrial processes. The Water Today. . . . . .At least 15,000 people, mostly children, will die from diseases caused by unsafe water. . . . More than 500 million pounds of fish and shellfish will be harvested from the world’s oceans, rivers, and lakes--enough to fill 630,000 average refrigerators. Overfishing will threaten several of the globe’s major ocean fishing zones. . . .More than 12,000 barrels of oil will be spilled in the world’s oceans, enough to fill 25 backyard pools. About 38 million pounds of litter will be dropped overboard--enough to create a one-foot high by one-foot wide strip reaching from Long Beach to Camp Pendleton, south of San Clemente. The Land Today. . . . . .180 square miles of forest--covering an area about one third the size of Los Angeles--will disappear. Largely as a result of the destruction of forest and coral reefs, it is estimated that more than 100 species of plants, animals, and and other living organisms will be doomed to extinction. . . .Another 63 square miles of land Earth will become wasteland due to overgrazing, wind and water erosion. About 66 million tons of topsoil will be lost from the world’s croplands. . . . Nearly 400,000 tons of chemical fertilizer will be used in an effort to coax more food from degraded farmland. Economic Activity Today. . . . . . About $55 billion worth of goods and services will be produced worldwide. During the 14 days of the Earth Summit in Rio, the value of goods and services produced will nearly equal the globe’s output in the entire year of 1900. . . .The world’s vehicles, industries, and utilities will consume more than 60 million barrels of oil, and 17 million tons of coal. . . .The world’s 413 commercial nuclear reactors, producing about 5% of the world’s energy, will create more than 26 tons of irradiated waste fuel--enough to fill a small bedroom. . . .More than $2.5 billion will be spent on the world’s military, and $12 million will be spent on family planning programs.

Dispite Disasters, World Population Will Grow by 25,000 Today In the time it takes to read this sentence, the Earth’s population will grow by approximately nine. Before today is over, the total population of the planet will increase by about 250,000, enough to populate a city the size of Anaheim. More than 90% of the rise will occur in developing countries. Of those:

140,000 will be added in Asia

75,000 will be added in Africa

22,000 will be added in Latin America

13,000 will be added in the rest of the world--North America, Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Oceania.

Already, more than 1 billion people, or 20% of the world’s population, live in absolute poverty, surviving on the equivalent of less than $1 per day. Two billion people have no sanitation services, and 1.8 billion lack basic health care or access to safe drinking water. The growth of world population: Year / Population 1650: 550,000 1750: 725,000 1850: 1,175,000 1900: 1,600,000 1950: 2,565,000 1980: 4,477,000 1990: 5,333,000 2000 (projected): 6,127,000 2025 (projected): 8,177,000 1348-1666 ‘THE BLACK DEATH’ * “The Black Death,” or bubonic plague, ravages most of the known world, killing an estimated 25 million people. 1846-1847 FAMINE *More than 1 million die in Ireland during the Great Potato Famine. Plagues and famines will also claim 30 million lives in China and India from 1800 to present. 1851-1866 FLOODS * A series of floods are believed to have taken between 40 million and 50 million lives in the Peking-Shanghia-Hankow triangle area of China. 1914-1918 WORLD WAR I * The estimated death toll in “the war to end all wars” ranges between 8.5 million and 12 million, including non-combatants. 1917-1919 INFLUENZA * A global epidemic kills more than 25 million. 1914-1920 * Famine and influenza spread across Russia, killing 20 million. 1939-1945 WORLD WAR II * The world’s bloodiest conflict leaves an estimated 53 million dead, including non-combatants.

A Born Consumer...

In his or her lifetime, a child born today in a typical middle-class American home will:

* Go through 12,000 grocery bags

* Drive 700,000 miles, using more than 28,000 gallons of gasoline

* Wear and discard 250 shirts and 115 pairs of shoes

* Use and discard 27,500 newspapers, 3,900 weekly news magazines and 225 pounds of phone directories

* Purchase a dozen automobiles

* Throw away 110,250 pounds of trash

* Go through 28,627 aluminum beverage cans, weighing 1,022 pounds, of which 17,700 will be recycled

* Consume enough commercially produced electricity to burn 16,610 pounds of coal

* Burn out 750 light bulbs

* Account for the use of 69,250 pounds of steel and 47,000 pounds of cement

* Eat 8,486 pounds of red meat

* Eat 17,591 eggs (equivalent to the lifetime production of 35 chickens)

The Land of Plenty

The United States, with 5% of the world’s population, consumes 25% of the fossil fuels annually and a disproportionate share of other raw materials:

Paper: 33%

Gas: 27%

Aluminum: 24%

Fertilizer: 13%

Cement: 8%

COUNTRY COMPARISONS

* CO2: Holding in the Heat

Scientists believe excessive carbon dioxide emissions are trapping the Earth’s heat like a blanket. Atmospheric levels of CO2 continue to climb despite fears of what higher temperatures could do to the planet. Here are the biggest and smallest annual producers, in metric tons:

Bottom 5 producers: Bhutan: 33,000 Comoros: 51,000 Equatorial Guina: 106,000 Guinea-Bissau: 147,000 Belize: 180,000

Top 5 producers: Germany: 0.6 million Japan: 1.0 million China: 2.3 million Former USSR: 3.8 million United States: 4.9 million

* PER CAPITA WATER USE

Across the globe, water scarcity leads to food scarcity. Since the amount of fresh water available essentially is fixed by nature, conservation plays a key role, About two-thirds is used for agriculture and about one-forth for industry. Here are consumption rates per capita, in gallons per day:

Bottom 5 users: Kuwait: 7 Equatorial Guina: 8 Comoros: 11 Bhutan: 11 Solomon Islands: 13

Top 5 users Madagascar: 1,212 Canada: 1,268 Pakistan: 1,486 United States: 1,565 Iraq: 3,311

Food Baskets Under Siege Danger signals abound over the world’s ability to produce enough food. Between 1988 and 1990, the fishing catch declined in four key areas. Meanwhile, agricultural yield’s are at risk across the globe as soil damage increases.

Rich Habitats at Risk An estimated 20% of the Earth’s species are found in tropical forests and Mediterranean - type regions, making them treasure chests of plant and animal life. Highest priority is given to the areas undergoing rapid rates of conversion to other uses - covering only 0.5% of the Earth’s land surface.

The Population -- Pollution Link High population densities, particularly in the Third World cities, overwhelm governments’ attempts to provide clean water, sewerage and other basic services. Of crucial concern is these cities is extreme air pollution from vehicle congestion and poor placement and regulation of polluting industries. * Ranking the world’s biggest cities: 1. Tokyo-Yokohama, Japan 2. Mexico City 3. Sao Paulo, Brazil 4. New York 5. Shanghai 6. Calcutta 7. Buenos Aires 8. Rio de Janeiro 9. Seoul 10. Bombay 11. Los Angeles * Ranking cities with the worst air: 1. Tehran 2. Mexico City 3. Seoul 3. Sao Paulo, Brazil 4. Moscow 5. Bombay 6. Calcutta 7. Los Angeles 8. Jakarta 9. New Delhi 10. Beijing 11. Bangkok 12. St. Petersburg

Keeping an Eye on Earth Each day, signs of environmental distress are easy to spot: an oil spill on the beach, the haze hanging over the L.A. Basin. But some of the worst damage takes place in tiny processes that are invisible to the eye, relentless assaults on the way the planet is supposed to work. * Assault on the Air Earth’s atmosphere is threatened on two major fronts. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are thinning the ozone that protects the planet from harmful sunlight. This raises the risks of cataracts and skin cancer and damages marine life at the most minute level. At the same time, excessive carbon dioxide, produced by the burning of fossil fuels and forests, may trap the Earth’s heat at dangerous levels. Such a phenomenon threatens to raise ocean levels, change weather patterns and alter habitats. * OZONE DEPLETION

How chlorofluorocarbons destroy ozone:

1. Solar ultraviolet radiation hits chlorofluorocarbon molecules and breaks them apart.

2. A freed chlorine atom destroys an ozone molecule, forming chlorine monoxide and oxygen.

3. Ultraviolet rays break up the chlorine monoxide molecule, releasing the chlorine atom. One chlorine atom can destroy as many as 100,000 ozone molecules. * GLOBAL WARMING

A. Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbon gases from automobiles, factories and other sources are released in the atmosphere, where they form a barrier that traps heat. Water vapor also traps heat.

B. Sunlight is able to pass through the barrier and warm the Earth, but the resulting heat is unable to escape back into space.

C. The resulting “greenhouse” warming is expected to shift prime agricultural regions northward, melt the polar ice caps and cause sharp changes in weather patterns. * Assault on the Land Scientists believe that the clearing of forests--or deforestation--is a leading cause of species extinction. In 1990, deforestation claimed an area equal to the size of Washington state. Meanwhile, productive rangeland is also rapidly diminishing. Cattle play a prominent role in this loss, known as desertification. Overgrazing depletes the perennial grasses, and the erosive power of wind and rain increases. 1. Clearing forests for timber and pastureland sets the wheels of soil degradation into motion. 2. The cleared land is more vulnerable to erosion from rain and wind. 3. New weeds and shrubs anchor the topsoil poorly, and the most productive soil is soon washed away. 4. Under persistent grazing, the bare ground becomes impermeable to rainwater, which turns gentle stream beds into deep gullies and increases flooding. 5. The cattle leave behind proliferating weeds, depleted soils and eroded landscapes. One-third of Earth’s land surface bears the scars. * Assault on the Sea The oceans are under attack from above and below. Industrial pollution and urban runoff threaten to poison aquatic life. Meanwhile, as global demand for seafood increases, overfishing raises the risks of extinction. Oil spills, litter and acid rain contribute to the distress, which is evident from remote inland lakes to the deepest oceans. 1. Sulfur is pumped into the atmosphere from highly polluting coal and lignite, returning to Earth as acid rain. 2. Farms’ pesticide and fertilizer runoff pollutes rivers and groundwater supplies. 3. Factories across the world emit chromium, copper, iron, lead and other substances into waterways, contaminating fish and other marine life. 4. Intensive fishing cuts catches of anchovies, perch, mackerel and other species to dangerous levels. 5. Drilling and spills threaten environmentally sensitive coastal areas. 6. Debris from ocean dumping and vessel discharge works its way into sea beds and the aquatic food chain. Sources: State of the World, 1992; World Resources, 1992-93; Saving the Planet; Pacific Gas and Electric; U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization; World Watch Institute; Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection; the Aluminum Assn.; Energy Information Administration; Information Please Almanac; U.S. Department of Agriculture; Rand McNally & Co.; U.S. Bureau of the Census; projections by Population Div., United Nations; Population Crisis Committee; United Nations Development Program.