Facts

World Environment Day is 5 June. Over the 10-year period from 1990 to 2000, forests shrank by 940,000 square kilometres due to conversion into farmland and other uses. Nearly half the world's population depends on solid fuels, including wood, dung, crop residues and coal, to meet their most basic energy needs. Indoor air pollution from cooking with such fuels is responsible for more than 1.6 million deaths annually, mostly among women and children. The use of solar energy and wind power have grown by more than 30 percent annually over the past five years in countries such as Germany, Japan, and Spain thanks to policies that have encouraged their use. A concerted global effort to reduce the use of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) led to an 81 percent decline in production during the 1990s, and a marked slowing in the growth of the Antarctic ozone hole. Bird extinctions are running at about 50 times the natural rate, due to habitat loss and other consequences of human activity. 5,500 children die each day from diseases linked to polluted food, air, and water. The global rate of ice melt has more than doubled since 1988 and could raise sea levels 27 centimetres by 2100. Sources: State of the World 2003 – www.worldwatch.org

Background

As the world’s population grows, there is more and more pressure on the environment to produce enough food and energy without consuming the resources faster than they can be replaced. The poor are more affected by environmental degradation than those whose consumption patterns cause much of the toxic wastes, soil degradation and deforestation.
Some of the main issues are:

Land degradation

Soil degradation affects a third of the world’s land and diminishes its ability to produce food for the growing population. It is caused by deforestation, poor land and water management, over-use of fertilisers and pesticides, poor waste disposal, clearance of poor land for growing food and air pollution.

Urbanisation

Though 60 to 70 per cent of people in developing countries live in rural areas, more and more people are being attracted to the cities. As cities grow, productive farming land is covered in houses and roads and the remaining land has to produce more food to support even more people.
Rapid urban expansion also puts pressure on infrastructure development and the environment.
Well-planned, densely populated settlements can reduce the need for land conversion, provide opportunities for energy savings and make recycling more cost-effective.

Pollution and climate change

Contamination of air, water and soil can have serious effects on the health of people and the world's ability to grow food. Since the industrial revolution, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased significantly, contributing to the greenhouse effect known as climate change. Increasing temperatures, more frequent droughts and polar ice melts also affect health and food security
Alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, hydro, biogas, thermal and tidal are being developed to address carbon pollution. While these resources are renewable and have a lower impact on the environment the technology is not developed enough to overcome their unreliability.

Marine and coastal degradation

Disposal of wastes, particularly sewage, directly into oceans is a major source of pressure on marine and coastal areas. Population growth and increasing urbanisation, industrialisation and tourism is increasing the extent of the coastal degradation.
Based on: http://www.unep.org/GEO/geo3/english/overview/index.htm