| Problem | Components |
|---|---|
| Policy issue area: | World |
| Policy issue: | Environment |
| Description: | Huge areas of Earth's surface are severely damaged each year. |
| Symptoms: | Tropical forests are shrinking at the rate of over 40,000 sq. miles each year; about 120,000 sq. miles of forests in industrial countries are damaged by air pollution or acid rain; 20,000 sq. miles of new deserts are forming annually. |
| Causes: | Huge and growing population needing firewood and crop land in excess of availability; careless industrial and agricultural practices; wasteful use of energy sources. |
| Cost of problem: | - |
| Solution | Components |
| Resources: | Governments of industrialized countries; universities and research institutes; world organizations. |
| Goal: | Halt, and eventually reverse the deterioration of the Earth's surface. |
| Program area: | World ecological development |
| Program-remedy: | 1. Increased funding for, and more effective family planning programs 2. Massive programs for conserving soil and planting trees 3. Raising energy efficiency and developing renewable energy sources. |
| Program-prevent: | Long-term policies and programs for sustainable growth of populations and economies. |
| Cost of program: | - |
| Beneficiaries: | Populations of the countries affected. |