Rape of earth

[Guest guest]

Rape of Earth continues - The Sunday Times

By DZULKIFLI ABDUL RAZAK prnnet-

 

June 16: THE year 1972 saw the World Environment Summit

being held in Stockholm. Then came the 1992 Earth Summit in

Rio de Janeiro. Soon it will be the 2002 World Summit on

Sustainable Development (WSSD) in August in Johannesburg.

 

The last preparations took place in Bali, Indonesia, last week.

Some are already expressing doubts about the putcome.

 

As though to underscore this, the United Nations last month

compiled the Global Environment Outlook, charting not only the

environmental degradation in the three decades since Stockholm,

but also for the next 30 years. In the 450-page report, many of

the predictions made continue to be alarming, given the prevailing

'mar-ket first' practice that dominates our current thinking. For

example, 70 per cent of the earth's surface is expected to be

se-verely affected due to destruction of the natural environment by

human activities. Already 15 per cent has been degraded in this

way. Consequently, more than 1,000 species of birds, about 12

per cent of the world's total, are threatened with extinction.

Similar numbers of mammalian species (about 25 per cent of the

world's total) face the same fate. As for the fish, about one-third

of the world's stock will be depleted or over-exploited. A recently

launched UN online atlas of the world's oceans, suggests that all

the 17 of the world's main fishing areas have reached or exceeded

their natural limits, with nine in serious decline (Independent, UK,

June 6).

 

Water sources are not spared either. The continuing degradation

of the oceans has been identified as one of the more pressing

issues. So too coastal waters - where fisheries once thrived -

are being polluted by run-off. Oxygen is being depleted and the

number of poisonous algal species identified in the past 20 years

have nearly tripled.

 

As for the rivers, half are seriously 'endangered.' Some 60 per

cent of the 227 largest rivers are disrupted by dams and other

engineering works. Water shortage thus is expected to be a major

problem for more than half the world's population, with 65 per

cent in Asia-Pacific region, excluding West Asia where 95 per

cent are al-ready facing severe problems. Today, 40 per cent of

the world is short of water, the report says.

 

Across Arabia in particular, a water crisis is emerging as ground

water is pumped out faster rate than rain can replenish it.

Seawater is also increasingly being drawn into under-ground fresh

water supplies, some for as far as 10km inland as in Chennai,

India.

 

In a similar way, arable land can be turned 'salty' as in Iraq where

about 30 per cent of arable land has been abandoned due to salt

'poisoning'. Thus, food production can be severely affected,

leading to crises.

 

Other factors include overgrazing, accounting for 35 per cent of

soil degradation, deforestation (30 per cent), and surprisingly

more than 25 per cent by agriculture.

 

And when water sources are pol-luted, food produce such as

shellfish is more susceptible to contamination. These grim facts do

not augur well for the world's population. Although the deprived

and down-trodden seem to be the hardest hit in the short-term,

eventually everyone will the price.

 

The executive director of the UN Environmental Programme

(UNEP) says: " Without the environment there can never be the

kind of development needed to secure a fair deal for this or future

generations. " He emphasises the need for concrete actions and

political will to change the current trend.

 

This is not wishful thinking be-cause things do change for the

better following appropriate policies and decisive actions. For

one, the hole in the ozone layer is reportedly 'smaller' due to a

decrease in the use of harmful gases and ozone-depleting

chemicals in more than 110 countries.

 

At the same time, species like the whale are said to be recovering

in numbers since 1986 when a moratorium on commercial whaling

was imposed. And there is now real hope that other animals will

recover likewise now that about 10 per cent of the globe (12

million hectares), is in protected areas, like national parks. Clearly

there is no shortage of " declarations, agreements, guidelines and

legally binding treaties designed to address environmental

problems " - to quote the UNEP executive di-rector. What is in

direly short supply is " the political courage and innovative

financing needed to implement these deals and steer a healthier,

more prosperous course for planet earth " .