World Watch articles from May 2001

World Watch archives from May 2001

Why Oil and Wildlife Don't Mix.(potential drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... National energy policy, ostensibly an oxymoron in the United States, is back in the headlines thanks to volatile oil prices, skyrocketing natural gas costs, and California's power crunch. The new Bush administration is right to recognize the...

The Human Genome and the Human-altered Environment.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... When the sequencing of the human genome was published in Science and Nature last winter, it was greeted by the mainstream media as an historic achievement. Much attention was given to what this could mean for medical intervention--for the...

A Message to Us, From Our Genome.
May 1, 2001... The Human Genome Project's completion was greeted by a flurry of media commentary. Although Science and Nature both made original reports available, few of us have the time or expertise to sort through firsthand information. Unfortunately, the...

FROM READERS.
May 1, 2001... Net Energy Cost and Population I am responding to the Flavin/Elliott exchange of views in "Is Our Outlook For Solar Energy Too Sanguine?" (January/February). Having read Christopher Flavin's earlier article ("Energy for a New...

U.N. cities agency on the mend.(United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat))(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... U.N. cities agency on the mend: For several years, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) has struggled with neither a permanent head nor stable funding to raise the profile of its twin goals: to ensure adequate shelter for...

Antimicrobial resistance.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... Danielle Nierenbers Antimicrobial resistance: Feeding massive doses of antibiotic drugs to healthy animals--more than 11 million kg (24 million pounds) per year in the United States alone--is threatening human health by undermining our...

EU considers tougher stance on chemicals.(reviews to screen for environmental and health risks)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... EU considers tougher stance on chemicals: After two years of debate, the European Union is now considering adopting a comprehensive new review process to screen new chemicals for health and environmental risks. Margot Wallstrom, the EU...

Electric bicycles offer a new option.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... * Electric bicycles offer a new option: Sales of electric bikes provided a small spark of life last year to a struggling global bicycle industry. Bicycle production has shown little growth in the last five years, but sales of electric bikes in...

Little-noticed law lurks over environmental protections.(Congressional Review Act)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... * Little-noticed law lurks over environmental protections: A range of U.S. regulations protecting the environment and public health, including the Roadless Area Conservation Rule protecting federal forests, are in danger of being overturned by...

Heavy metals from cars reach Greenland.(catalytic converters)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2001... * Heavy metals from cars reach Greenland: Scientists from France and Italy have found remote regions of Greenland to be contaminated by heavy metals, many of which are likely to have originated from automobile catalytic converters. The finding,...

Indonesia's Coral Reefs on the Line.
May 1, 2001... From Wallace's Line to the Front Lines of the Explosive Struggle for the World's Richest Underwater Treasures Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia Here on the eastern shore of Bali, as I look past the thin, white line of surf breaking over an offshore...

A Worldwatch Addendum.(coral reef damage)(includes table Status of Coral Reefs Around the World)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2001... On a global scale, add climate change, coral mining, toxic dumping, and over fishing to the phalanx of forces destroying coral reefs. AS OF LATE 2000, AN ESTIMATED 27 percent of the world's coral reefs were severely damaged, according to...

ORGANIC GOLD RUSH.(organic farming boom)(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2001... As people become more aware of the ecological and health costs of chemical-dependent agriculture, the market for organic food is booming. But as it does, small-scale organic farmers are watching the form of agriculture they crafted around...

MATTERS OF SCALE.(language facts and figures)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2001... Unspoken Words Percentage of the world's languages that are of European origin 4 percent Percentage of the world's languages that originated in Africa 30 percent Number of languages once spoken in the Peruvian Amazon (an area...

Last Words.(extinction of languages around the world)
May 1, 2001... As cultural homogeneity spreads over the Earth, thousands of human languages are headed for extension. MARATHI. GUJARATI. HINDI. ENGLISH. KUTCHI. In Bombay, where I grew up, I used these languages every day. To get by on the streets, to get...