Shaping Environmental Policy on a Worldwide Scale

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IF you have a difficult time getting interested in the earth's global environment, maybe you should try harder. Here are some facts to ponder: * One billion more people will join us here on earth by the year 2000. * About 25 percent of all animals and plants will become extinct, or close to it, in the next 30 years. * Tropical forests are being leveled at a rate of 40 to 50 million acres a year. * Asia dumps 90 percent of its waste into the water or next to it.

These estimates, gleaned from scientific sources, will be at the forefront of United Nations thinking when it convenes a Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) at Rio de Janiero next …