Archive Article: State Of The World. 18th July 03
December 22, 2008
The annual “State of the World” book is the most important annual review of how the world’s environment is going. It is published by the Washington DC-based Worldwatch Institute. As usual, there is some bad news and good news.
The book is not just an annual statistical survey. Instead, each year’s review focuses on some key issues and explores them at depth.
One chapter this year is on “watching birds disappear”. For example, almost a third of the world’s 330 parrot species are threatened with extinction due to habitat loss and collecting pressures. Human-related factors threaten 99 per cent of the bird species in greatest danger.
Scientists now consider the world to be in the midst of the sixth great wave of animal extinctions. The fifth wave finished off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
Unlike previous episodes, humans are now the main cause of the sudden die-offs. One quarter of the world’s mammal species are threatened or nearly threatened with extinction; of the other well-surveyed species, 25 per cent of reptiles, 21 per cent of amphibians, and 30 per cent of fish are also threatened.
Another chapter is on malaria. This has had more impact on human history than any other disease. For example, it killed more Australian troops in World War II than did the Japanese. Today’s worldwide death toll from malaria is greater than that of AIDS.
But it does not get the pharmaceutical attention it deserves. Between 1975 and 1999, only four of the 1,393 new drugs developed worldwide were anti-malarial. International funding for malaria research comes to about US$150 million, only about five per cent as much as proposed US government funding for AIDS research in 2003.
The chapter on charting a new energy future deals with the rapid changes in creating new sources of energy. Germany is an unlikely success story. Just over a decade ago, there was little interest in developing new energy sources: the energy utilities had a comfortable, complacent existence with their political influence. They felt no need to change. One of the pioneers in this field figured he would have more success on African projects.
But by the end of the 1990s, Germany had been transformed into a renewable energy leader. With a fraction as much potential in wind and solar power as the United States, Germany has almost three times as installed wind capacity (more than one third of total global capacity) and is a world leader in solar photo voltaic cells.
Public pressure forced the politicians and their mates in the energy utilities to develop alternative energy sources. The average cost of manufacturing wind turbines in Germany fell by 43 per cent between 1990 and 2000. The European Union now has a goal of having renewable energy generate 22 per cent of Europe’s electricity by 2010.
Another inspiring chapter is on the role of religious organizations in the quest for a sustainable world. There is now an unprecedented level of co-operation between such organizations. The survey notes the role of religion in industrial countries in struggling to counter the consumerist tide. The chapter calls on secular environmental organizations to build a greater appreciation for the importance of religion into their work.
The Bible points out that we are here as stewards of the Earth to take care of it. We need to remember our duty.
Broadcast Friday 18th July 2003 on Radio 2GB’s “Brian Wilshire Programme” at 9pm