World Resources 1998-99; Environmental Change and Human Health

THE AIM OF the World Resource reports, which now come out one every two years, is to provide an objective and up to date report of conditions and trends in the world's natural resources and global environment. In this report, the eighth of its kind, a new design and format have been introduced. Part I focuses on the critical issue of environmental change and human health. Chapter 1 explores the links between environmental quality and human health, looking both at the environmental threats associated with poverty and those associated with unwise development. This chapter introduces new indicators that estimate a country's potential exposure to environmental risks that undermine health. Chapter 2 examines three trends that are changing the face of the planet and also influencing human health, namely agricultural intensification, industrialization and rising energy use, in particular the use of fossil fuels. It examines the potential of these three trends to improve human health and well-being and also, if not well managed, to degrade the environment and create risks to human health from exposure to infectious agents and chemical pollutants. Chapter 3 describes a range of environmental interventions, from local to international, that can safeguard both environmental quality and human health. Following these overview chapters, there is a collection of signed essays that reflect a diversity of opinions concerning the links between environment and health. The section ends with two regional profiles – one of the Senegal River Basin in West Africa, the other in China – that illustrate many of the tensions and opportunities explored in this section.

This volume also introduces a new section, entitled Global Environmental Trends, which highlights critical trends in a graphic and easy-to-read format. The section features some 30 stories in five broad areas: Population and Human Well-being; Feeding the World; Production and Consumption; the Global Commons; and Resources at Risk. Together, this collection provides both an overview of progress to date on sustainable development and an in-depth look at certain critical issues such as the extent of threats to the world’s forests. Also within this section, a new chapter is introduced that highlights key trends in each of the world’s geographic regions. Entitled, Regions at a Glance, this chapter aims to better serve the needs for regional policy analysis, and also features eight global maps highlighting key environment and development indicators the world over.

Part III, data tables, continues and expands on the tradition of providing relevant data on most countries of the world, with each data table accompanied by an extensive listing of sources and technical notes to enable readers to understand the general method used to generate the data. Economic indicators, population and human development, health, urban data, food and agriculture, forests and land cover, fresh water, oceans and fisheries, biodiversity, energy and materials, and atmosphere and climate are main subject areas.