World Watch articles from May 1999

World Watch archives from May 1999

The Failure of U.S. Leadership.
May 1, 1999... As the last remaining superpower, the United States is afforded countless opportunities to take a leadership role in international agreements that affect the health and security of the planet. Unfortunately, the U.S. government has not only...

The Paradox of Surprise.
May 1, 1999... For most of the hundred millennia or so that we humans walked the Earth before we got our hands on high-powered technology, things didn't change very fast. And when changes did occur, they must rarely have come as great surprises. Even the idea...

U.S. Derails Biosafety Protocol.
May 1, 1999... After a week of negotiations in Cartagena, Colombia, delegates representing 174 nations failed to reach a consensus on the Biosafety Protocol - the first global treaty designed to safeguard the world's biodiversity from possible adverse effects...

Scientific Society Speaks Out on Climate.
May 1, 1999... After months of internal discussion, the American Geophysical Union (AGU), a prominent international scientific body of 35,000 Earth and planetary scientists, made a bold move into the public global warming debate last January by unveiling a...

East Timor Moves Toward Independence.
May 1, 1999... In one of the most unanticipated shifts since the collapse of the Soeharto government, top Indonesian officials announced in January that they may grant East Timor independence by the end of this year, after nearly a quarter century of...

The Nemesis Effect.
May 1, 1999... Burdened by a growing number of overlapping stresses, the world's ecosystems may grow increasingly susceptible to rapid, unexpected decline. In 1972, a dam called the Iron Gates was completed on a stretch of the Danube River between...

Why Are We Not Astonished?(adapted from 'God's Last Offer: Negotiating for a Sustainable Future')
May 1, 1999... Watching the world is like closely examining photograph of a human face, as printed in a newspaper or magazine. The photo is made up of dots, or "pixels," and a small piece of the photo seen close-up is unrecognizable. In today's high-speed...

The Politics of Life and Death: Global Responses to HIV and AIDS.(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 1999... If effectively fighting HIV means openly getting condoms to teenagers or clean needles to addicts, or candidly discussing the prevalence of prostitution in their communities, many politicians would rather avoid the subject altogether even if it...