World Watch articles from September 1997

World Watch archives from September 1997

The lessons of Montreal. (Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer)
September 1, 1997... This September, diplomats will gather in Montreal to mark the tenth anniversary of a landmark in international environmental diplomacy: the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer. The event will provide a much-needed...

Outcompeting ourselves. (ecological and social repercussions of unbridled competition)
September 1, 1997... It may come as a shock to many to find that our closest genetic relatives on the planet - the primates - are diminishing in numbers at an alarming rate. If we were to draw a graph tracking the evolution of primates over the past four million...

Elephants of southern Africa must now "pay their way."
September 1, 1997... Delegates of 140 countries have agreed to allow three countries to resume limited trade in ivory and other elephant products. The decision to "downlist" the African elephant from Appendix I to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade...

Report turns "economy-versus-environment" argument on its head.
September 1, 1997... The current economic value of the world's ecosystem services far exceeds that of the global GNP, according to a landmark study - the first ever to undertake such a comparison. Robert Costanza of the University of Maryland's Institute for...

New measures of material consumption.
September 1, 1997... Individuals in the United States, Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands consume an average of 45 to 85 metric tons of natural resources per year, according to a new joint report from several international environmental organizations. That is...

The nitrogen cycle is out of balance.
September 1, 1997... As the prospect of climate change continues to bring attention to the global carbon cycle, scientists are beginning to voice concern about another key circuit: the global nitrogen cycle. Human activities are doubling the amount of nitrogen each...

Death in the family tree. (global decline of primates)(Cover Story)
September 1, 1997... As the human population continues its unprecedented expansion, the populations of more than half of the world's other primates continue their unprecedented decline. Will our demographic explosion amount to a death sentence for our closest...

The global decline of primates. (includes related article on the maias of Sarawak)
September 1, 1997... And it's not just the number of hunters that is increasing; the growing use of guns is increasing the efficiency of the hunting as well. Even in remote regions, hunters who once relied upon nets, snares, and blowguns now have access to powerful...

Neglected elders. (endangered reptile species and populations)
September 1, 1997... Without the vociferous public support many other animals enjoy, reptiles may have a tough time weathering the growing threat of extinctions caused by the march of human development. A brown spider vanishes from its leafy perch, displaced by a...

Power of choice. (consumers' freedom to choose electricity sources and green power marketing)
September 1, 1997... Millions of people will soon be able to influence where their electricity comes from. Will "green power marketing" brighten their hopes for a cleaner energy future - or merely repackage the existing mix? In a part of the world where the...

Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development.
September 1, 1997... The Faith of an Ecological Economist The first time I encountered Herman Daly's work was part of a serendipitous chain of events of the sort that gives you pause years later with the thought of how different your life would be now if it had...

Matter of scale: liquidating our assets. (effects of human activities on wildlife and natural resources)
September 1, 1997... Liquidating Our Assets Amount of water returned to the Ogallala Aquifer by rainfall each year 2.4 billion gallons Amount drawn from the Ogallala for irrigation and other human uses each year ...