*DYING PLANET*

*/Startling New UN Report says environmental failures are putting
humanity at risk/

*Martin Hodgson
London , October 26 *

*THE FUTURE of humanity has been put at risk by a failure to address
environmental problems including climate change , species extinction and
a growing human population, according to a new United Nations report.

In a sweeping audit of the world's environmental well being, the study
by the UN Environment Programme warns that governments are still failing
to recognise the seriousness of major environmental issues.

The study, involving over 1,400 scientists, found that human consumption
had far outstripped available resources. Each person on Earth now
requires a third more land to supply his or her needs than the planet
can supply, it finds.

Biodiversity is seriously threatened by the impact of human activities:
30 per cent of amphibians, 23 per cent of mammals and 12 per cent of
birds are under threat of extinction, while one in 10 of the world's
large rivers runs dry every year before it reaches the sea.

The report - Global Environment Outlook: Environment for Development -
reviews progress made since a similar study in 1987, which laid the
groundwork for studying environmental issues affecting the planet.

"The systematic destruction of the earth's natural and nature-based
resources has reached a point where the economic viability of economies
is being challenged - and where the bill we hand to our children may
prove impossible to pay," the environment programme's executive director
Achim Steiner said.

The 550-page report took five years to prepare. It was researched and
drafted by almost 400 scientists, whose findings were peer-reviewed by
1,000 others.

One of the report's authors, Joseph Alcamo said that a race is on to
determine if leaders move fast enough to save the planet. "Personally, I
think this could be one of the most important races that hu- manity will
ever run."

Sending out an SOS, 1400 scientists found over five years... Each person
requires a third more land than the planet can supply to satisfy his or
her needs 20% is how much energy requirements of developed countries,
such as the US, have increased in the period 34% is the rise in the
world's population in the last 20 years 30% of amphibians, 23% of
mammals, 12% of birds are under threat of extinction 60% of the rivers
have been dammed or diverted 10% of the large rivers run dry every year
before they reach the sea 1.16 lakh sq km of forest land is lost across
the world each year *