From parrothanging@YAHOO.CO.UK Sun Apr 10 15:57:01 2005
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 22:29:27 +0530
From: Prashanth N S 
To: nathistory-india@Princeton.EDU
Subject: UN warning on environmental degradation


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     Experts Warn Ecosystem Changes Will Continue to Worsen, Putting Global
                           Development Goals At Risk

Wednesday, March 30, 2005 | London, UK

A landmark study released today reveals that approximately 60 percent of
the ecosystem services that support life on Earth ^Ö such as fresh water,
capture fisheries, air and water regulation, and the regulation of
regional climate, natural hazards and pests ^Ö are being degraded or used
unsustainably. Scientists warn that the harmful consequences of this
degradation could grow significantly worse in the next 50 years.

^ÓAny progress achieved in addressing the goals of poverty and hunger
eradication, improved health, and environmental protection is unlikely to
be sustained if most of the ecosystem services on which humanity relies
continue to be degraded,^Ô said the study, Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment (MA) Synthesis Report, conducted by 1,300 experts from 95
countries. It specifically states that the ongoing degradation of
ecosystem services is a road block to the Millennium Development Goals
agreed to by the world leaders at the United Nations in 2000.

Although evidence remains incomplete, there is enough for the experts to
warn that the ongoing degradation of 15 of the 24 ecosystem services
examined is increasing the likelihood of potentially abrupt changes that
will seriously affect human well-being. This includes the emergence of
new diseases, sudden changes in water quality, creation of ^Ódead zones^Ô
along the coasts, the collapse of fisheries, and shifts in regional
climate.

The MA Synthesis Report highlights four main findings:

 *  Humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively in the
    last 50 years than in any other period. This was done largely to meet
    rapidly growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fiber and
    fuel. More land was converted to agriculture since 1945 than in the
    18th and 19th centuries combined. More than half of all the synthetic
    nitrogen fertilizers, first made in 1913, ever used on the planet has
    been used since 1985. Experts say that this resulted in a substantial
    and largely irreversible loss in diversity of life on Earth, with
    some 10 to 30 percent of the mammal, bird and amphibian species
    currently threatened with extinction.
 *  Ecosystem changes that have contributed substantial net gains in
    human well-being and economic development have been achieved at
    growing costs in the form of degradation of other services. Only four
    ecosystem services have been enhanced in the last 50 years: increases
    in crop, livestock and aquaculture production, and increased carbon
    sequestration for global climate regulation. Two services ^Ö capture
    fisheries and fresh water ^Ö are now well beyond levels that can
    sustain current, much less future, demands. Experts say that these
    problems will substantially diminish the benefits for future
    generations.
 *  The degradation of ecosystem services could grow significantly worse
    during the first half of this century and is a barrier to achieving
    the UN Millennium Development Goals. In all the four plausible
    futures explored by the scientists, they project progress in
    eliminating hunger, but at far slower rates than needed to halve
    number of people suffering from hunger by 2015. Experts warn that
    changes in ecosystems such as deforestation influence the abundance
    of human pathogens such as malaria and cholera, as well as the risk
    of emergence of new diseases. Malaria, for example, accounts for 11
    percent of the disease burden in Africa and had it been eliminated 35
    years ago, the continent^Òs gross domestic product would have
    increased by $100 billion.  
 *  The challenge of reversing the degradation of ecosystems while
    meeting increasing demands can be met under some scenarios involving
    significant policy and institutional changes. However, these changes
    will be large and are not currently under way. The report mentions
    options that exist to conserve or enhance ecosystem services that
    reduce negative trade-offs or that will positively impact other
    services. Protection of natural forests, for example, not only
    conserves wildlife but also supplies fresh water and reduces carbon
    emissions. 

^ÓThe over-riding conclusion of this assessment is that it lies within
the power of human societies to ease the strains we are putting on the
nature services of the planet, while continuing to use them to bring
better living standards to all,^Ô said the MA board of directors in a
statement, ^ÓLiving beyond Our Means: Natural Assets and Human
Well-being.^Ô ^ÓAchieving this, however, will require radical changes in
the way nature is treated at every level of decision-making and new ways
of cooperation between government, business and civil society. The
warning signs are there for all of us to see. The future now lies in our
hands.^Ô  

The MA Synthesis Report also reveals that it is the world^Òs poorest
people who suffer most from ecosystem changes. The regions facing
significant problems of ecosystem degradation ^Ö sub-Saharan Africa,
Central Asia, some regions in Latin America, and parts of South and
Southeast Asia ^Ö are also facing the greatest challenges in achieving
the United Nations^Ò Millennium Development Goals. In Sub-Saharan Africa,
for example, the number of poor people is forecast to rise from 315
million in 1999 to 404 million by 2015.

^ÓOnly by understanding the environment and how it works, can we make the
necessary decisions to protect it. Only by valuing all our precious
natural and human resources can we hope to build a sustainable future,^Ô
said Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations in a message
launching the MA reports. ^ÔThe Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is an
unprecedented contribution to our global mission for development,
sustainability and peace.^Ô

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) Synthesis Report  is the first
in a series of seven synthesis and summary reports and four technical
volumes that assess the state of global ecosystems and their impact on
human well-being. This report is being released together with a statement
by the MA board of directors entitled ^ÓLiving beyond Our Means: Natural
Assets and Human Well-being.^Ô

The four-year assessment was designed by a partnership of UN agencies,
international scientific organizations, and development agencies, with
guidance from the private sector and civil society groups. Major funding
is provided by the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations
Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and The World Bank. 
The MA Secretariat is coordinated by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP).

The MA is recognized by governments as a mechanism to meet part of the
assessment needs of four international environmental treaties ^Ö the UN
Convention on Biological Diversity, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands,
the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, and the Convention on
Migratory Species. It is supported by 22 of the world^Òs leading
scientific bodies, including The Royal Society of the U.K. and the Third
World Academy of Sciences.  

The MA^Òs work is overseen by a 45-member board of directors, co-chaired
by Dr. Robert Watson, chief scientist of The World Bank, and Dr. A. H.
Zakri, director of the United Nations University^Òs Institute of
 Advanced Studies. The Assessment Panel, which oversees the technical
work of the MA, includes 13 of the world^Òs leading social and natural
scientists. It is co-chaired by Angela Cropper of the Cropper Foundation,
and Dr. Harold Mooney of Stanford University. Dr. Walter Reid is the
director of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.

 
Reason is a slave to emotion


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