A SICK PLANET

SYMPTOMS

• Global climate change• Rising average

temperatures• Rising sea level• Melting polar ice• Warming oceans• Rising use of fossil

fuels: appetite for oil increasing

SYMPTOMS

• Loss of two billion tons of topsoil each year due to wind and water erosion

• Washing into mouths of rivers causing “dead zones”

SYMPTOMS

• Polluted water and air

• Synthetic (man-made) chemicals ending up in atmosphere and hydrosphere

SYMPTOMS

• Diminishing biodiversity

• Worldwide habitat destruction

• Ecosystems in danger• Colony-Collapse

Disorder

SYMPTOMS

• Destruction of tropical rain forests and marine ecosystems

• More forest fires in the temperate zone

SYMPTOMS

• Destruction of world’s coral reefs

• Bleaching of polyps due to increased solar radiation & warmer water

• Killed when fishermen use explosives & cyanide to kill fish

SYMPTOMS• Amphibians on the

decline; more deformities• Frogs, toads,

salamanders disappearing world-wide

• In danger now:12% of 10,000 bird species

24% of 4,763 mammal species

30% of 25,000 fish species

SYMPTOMS

• Collapse of most of the worlds oceanic fisheries

• Populations of tuna, groupers and cod are plummeting.

• “We are spending our savings of ocean food resources.”

SYMPTOMS• Four in ten species of freshwater fish in N. America are in danger.

•457 species are in trouble or already extinct.

• These are “silent extinctions.”

SYMPTOMS

• Holes in the earth’s ozone layer

• Stratospheric ozone filters out harmful UV rays.

• On the mend due to phasing out of CFCs; repaired by 2050?

SYMPTOMS

• Disappearing wetlands• Being drained for

agriculture, dams and development

• 50% destroyed in past century

SYMPTOMS

• Extreme water shortages and shrinking water tables

• Rivers run dry before they get to the sea:

Rio Grande ran dry at its mouth last year.

SYMPTOMS

• More destructive storms due to rising temperatures

• Hurricanes more frequent & violent

• Frequency of severe storms also increasing

• Tornadoes out-of-season

SYMPTOMS

• Deteriorating range lands

• Support world’s 3.3 billion cattle, sheep and goats

• Half of grasslands moderately degraded

SYMPTOMS

• Disappearing species• Have had five great

extinctions so far• Now in early stages of

6th• Loss of species is

weakening the web of life.

DIAGNOSIS

People-itis!

PEOPLE-ITIS

• Currently 6.7 billion people on the planet

• Adding 73 million per year (net increase)

• 1.1 billion are undernourished

• India alone adds 21 million per year - another Australia!

PEOPLE-ITIS

• Each time your heart beats once, three new hearts begin to beat for the first time!

• Stop at two!

WARNING

• Q: Why didn’t scientists warn us?

• A: They did. Many times. We ignored their warnings.

What Should We Do?

• Take better care of the earth.

• Use all forms of energy more efficiently.

• Use more energy from the sun:– Wind– Hydrogen– Water

• Stop at two kids.

What Shouldn’t We Do?

• Waste any more time• Wish upon a star*

*Disney’s First Law

Wishing will not make it so!