One of the best sources is a series of annual reports, State of the World, published by the Worldwatch Institute. In assessing the environmental health of the planet, these reports have observed the same alarming trends year after year. The Earth's forests recede while its deserts expand. Topsoil on our croplands diminishes and the ozone layer, which protects us from harmful ultraviolet radiation, is depleted. Concentrations of heat trapping gases in the atmosphere rise while the number of plant and animal species shrink.
World population continues to grow while the gap between rich and poor widens.
The more we study these critical problems, the more we come to realize that they cannot be understood in isolation. They are systemic problems interconnected and interdependent. Stabilizing world population will be possible only when poverty is reduced worldwide. The extinction of animal and plant species on a massive scale will continue as long as the Third World is burdened by massive debts. And only if we stop the international arms race will we have the resources to prevent the many destructive effects on the biosphere and on human life.