Human history has recorded our impact on the environment. Whether we’re clearing land for agriculture, damming rivers, or extracting ore from the ground, the natural world is always affected by our actions. But until the 20th century, the most destructive environmental practices were usually local in scope. Today, even the local is global as acid rain and global warming affect the entire world. A web of interdependence assures that the smallest action by a citizen of one country can impact everyone else.

World population growth has fueled an increased impact on the environment. United Nations experts predict that, at the current fertility rate, there could be as many as 13 billion people in the world by 2050, more than double the present population. Nearly all of that growth will take place in the developing world, where many countries are doubling their population every 30 years. We also know that the number of people living in cities has tripled since 1950, and now constitutes more than 40 percent of the global population. Dense concentrations of people place intense demands on the environment.

Many would argue that the Earth can absorb billions more people, but only if its resources are both distributed more equitably and used in a truly sustainable way. We’re aware of the huge appetite of the industrialized countries for energy, commercial fuels, wood, and steel products as well as all other natural resources. If those patterns of consumption prevail, natural resources will be exhausted and environmental degradation will be irreversible.

Compounding that problem is the fact that, drawn into the global economy, many of the developing countries are approaching rich nations’ standards of consumption and waste. We need to pay attention to the harmful by-products of what we produce. Today’s emphasis on freer and more open markets can exacerbate the problem, because it often places a lower value on Earth’s natural resources and lessens the perceived need to manage them sustainably.

The industrialized nations pride themselves on their productivity; in fact it is usually the sole measure of economic success. The production of food is a good example; in the pursuit of quantity and bushels-per-acre we use fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides whose negative impact on the environment have been proven scientifically. Genetically engineered foods may provide an abundance of much needed food in this century, however its long term environmental and health impacts are yet to be determined.

In the developing world, the cultivation of single cash crops like coffee is often promoted over the application of small scale mixed agriculture. Overuse of marginal pastureland as well as global climate change has also led to rapid desertification in 70 percent of the dry lands of the world. Statistics on the depletion of fish stocks in all the oceans of the world offer further evidence of the permanent damage done to one of humans’ most important sources of nutrition.

A good indicator of balance in the environment is our fresh water. With the exception of the occasional drought, citizens of the industrialized world take clean drinking water for granted. In fact, more than 70 percent of the world lives without it, and 25,000 people die each day as the result of poor water management. Because almost 90 percent of drinkable water is from groundwater close to the surface, it is especially vulnerable to environmental pollution from industrial waste, excessive irrigation and overuse of fertilizers.

A secondary impact of poisoned water and waterways is the depletion of flora and fauna, which contribute to the balance in the natural world. In our need to develop land we often destroy valuable wetlands, which play a crucial role in maintaining healthy water quality. As with so many other resources, the wasteful use and inequitable distribution of water must be addressed if we’re serious about protecting the environment and our health.

Our personal health is directly linked to the health of our physical surroundings. Ranging from rising skin cancer to respiratory ailments, our sick environment is making us sick as well. Uncontrolled harvesting of the rainforests of the world not only has a direct affect on the greenhouse gases but also directly depletes the diverse stock of trees and plants, which are a source of both traditional and non-traditional medicines.

Problems arising from improper diet are another indirect result of policies that are environmentally unsustainable. As traditional agriculture is replaced by cash crops, the usual dependable sources of nutrition decline. In addition to the obvious impacts of air and water pollution on our health, careless disposal of both nontoxic and toxic waste poses a major threat.

An unexpected result of an environment out of balance is the increase in natural disasters. Many of the extreme weather events of the past 50 years can be traced to environmental and climate change. Floods, resulting in nearly 50 percent of all deaths caused by natural disasters, are more devastating because of clear cutting and other destructive land use practices. Overcrowding in cities has also meant that urban dwellers are more vulnerable to earthquakes and mudslides.

Most countries of the world have extraction-based economies. Many supply the raw materials to distant industrialized nations while their local environment suffers the most damage. Leading economic thinkers have suggested that this rate of supply, also known as “throughput,” must be reduced by a factor of 10 in order to establish a sustainable use of natural resources. Their governments are often influenced primarily by considerations of profitability and short-term political gain and follow policies that are harmful to the natural order.

Given poor countries’ economic vulnerability and dependence on wealthier nations they are often unable to overhaul their system, which condemns them to a dependent relationship with the rest of the world. More disappointing is the fact that, even when national or international laws do exist to prevent pollution or dumping of toxic wastes, corrupt officials will turn a blind eye to such behavior. Without consistent and fair enforcement by representative governments, all such codes and laws are clearly ineffective.

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