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United Nations Environment Programme Global Environment Outlook 2000

Loss of naturals forests

• 1980 - 1990 Latin America: 62 million hectares (6.0%)

• 1990 - 1995 LDCs: 65 million hectares

Nitrogen loading

• Global fertilizer use:
  • 1950 < 14 million tonnes
  • 1988 = 145 million tonnes
  • 1995 = 135 million tonnes

Hazardous wastes

• Annual output early 1990s:
  • Worldwide 400 million tonnes
  • OECD 300 million tonnes

Desertification

• Degradation of drylands
  • puts at risk livelihood > 1000 million people
• Human-induced soil degradation
  • affects 1035 million hectares = 20% of world's susceptible drylands

Forest fires

• Areas burnt: 1996-1998 (millions hectares)
  • Brazil: 3.3
  • Mongolia 3.0
  • Southeast Asia 4.5

Natural Disasters

• Financial cost: 1990s 608 US$ billion
  • 3 times the cost of the 1980s
  • 9 times the cost of the 1960s
  • 15 times the cost of the 1950s

Yangtze River floods

• caused 4000 deaths

• affected 223 million people

• inundated 25 million hectares of cropland

• cost > US$ 36 billion