State of the World 1990

January 1990
ISBN: 0-393-30614-3
253 pages

As the world enters the last decade of the century, the environmental problems facing human society have moved to center stage. While awareness of the issues has soared in recent years, no country has yet embarked on the ambitious turnaround strategies needed to make today's societies sustainable.

State of the World 1990 focuses on major policy initiatives needed to stabilize the climate, improve air quality, and reduce poverty. A wholesale reordering of government priorities is suggested, including the conversion of military industries into enterprises that promote sustainable society.

State of the World 1990 digs beneath the surface of media headlines and examines the success of policy measures implemented around the globe in the past year. In the last chapter, the authors describe the outlines of a sustainable society. It is not enough, they believe, to implement policies piecemeal, so they have provided vision to guide policy reforms. Other chapters focus on the problem of rising seas, the precarious food situation now facing the world, emerging water scarcities and their threat to agriculture, and the role of the bicycle in transportation systems.