the past patterns of economic and social activities featuring mass production, mass consumption and mass disposal. Higher demand for food associated with the population growth leads to higher demand for land and water resources, and the expansion of economic activities heightens energy needs and results in increased consumption of a host of resources. Also, the population growth particularly noticeable in developing countries accelerates the concentration of populations on cities, causing and aggravating a variety of environmental problems and leading to greater losses of biodiversity through development. Thus, it may be said that the process of advancement achieved by humankind in the past has not necessarily entailed adequate measures to conserve the natural environment.

Meanwhile, there is a growing awareness that the quality of life cannot be necessarily measured by economic aspects alone, and many people are coming to question the pursuit of endless development in disregard of the finitude of natural resources. In recent years, many national and local governments and various other entities around the world are making proactive efforts to fight global warming and conserve biodiversity. Many countries and international institutions are also seeking ways of economic development geared to the preservation of the environment, the idea called “green growth.” As we reflect upon the past pattern of development and aspire for further development of mankind with full recognition of the importance of the environment, we are now witnessing an important paradigm shift in the history of mankind.

In the subsequent sections of this paper, we look at the present status of the environment in Japan in Chapter 1, and in Chapter 2 through Chapter 5, we examine how mankind is trying to achieve further development while preserving the environment and whether such development path is feasible, from the respective angles of global warming, biodiversity, water problems, and the environment and economy.

## Column ☐ Observing Mankind for a Day from Outside the Earth…

We may say that mankind came into existence on the earth quite recently. In a matter of just several centuries, the human population has grown to 6.8 billion. Some 370,000 people are born and about 160,000 people die in a day, resulting in a net increase of about 220,000 in the population each day.

Mankind consumes about $ 150 \, km^{3} $ of fresh water every day, and using the bulk of that water, is producing some 8 million tons of food a day. It is also true that a considerable part of the food produced is being discarded.

We produce some 3.7 million tons of crude steel a day. While we manufacture 200,000 new vehicles each day, we also scrap some 120,000 used vehicles each day. Individuals own cars even when they do not drive them very often, with the shift from the ownership value to the utility value apparently only beginning. We also produce some 1.08 million tons of paper every day.

It was only 200 years ago that mankind learned how to use energy for power. We only consumed one million barrels of crude oil a day 100 years ago, but we are now consuming 80 million barrels, an 80-fold jump. By consuming fossil fuels, we are producing 65 TWh of electric power a day and emitting 80 million tons- $ CO_{2} $ of carbon dioxide in a single day.

We mine some 60 million tons of rocks a day, and are also consuming mineral resources. We are also discharging some 35 million tons of wastes per day, and some forecast that wastes are going to double over the next 50 years.

Humans have cut open rain forests and expanded farmland by burning down trees. Thus, it may be said that we have increased the number of individuals and prolonged the duration of life by depriving other living species of their habitats. In the course of human development, forest areas on the earth have been reduced to half, barren land has widened, and as many as 100 species are becoming extinct each day.

We need to fully recognize that nature takes 100 to 1,000 years to nurture 1 cm of land, that rich forests develop over several thousand years, that an astronomical length of time is required to form exhaustible mineral resources and bountiful ecosystems. We should refrain from the folly of using up the fruits of hundreds of millions of years in only a single day.

Thus far, mankind has been able to tide over a number of crises by the collective wisdom of the human race. But can we survive this environmental crisis in the same way?

Source : NASA Earth Observatory