Nations are in effect ceding portions of their sovereignty to the international community and beginning to create a new system of international environmental governance.

Children whose developing lungs are particularly vulnerable suffer the most from air pollution. For children, breathing the air in cities with the worst pollution, such as Beijing, Calcutta, Mexico City, Shanghai, and Tehran, is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day.

One way or another, the choice will be made by our generation, but it will affect life on earth for all generations to come

The foundation is being laid for the emergence of both wind and solar cells as cornerstones of the new energy economy. World wind generating capacity grew from 7,600 megawatts in 1997 to 9,600 in 1998, an expansion of 26 percent. At a national level, Germany led the way, adding 790 megawatts of capacity, followed by Spain with 380 megawatts, and the United States with 226 megawatts. In the past, U.S. wind generating capacity was concentrated in California, but in 1998, wind farms began generating electricity in Minnesota, Oregon, and Wyoming, broadening the new industry's geographical base.

The biggest threat to global stability is the potential for food crises in poor countries to cause government collapse.

Saving civilization is not a spectator sport.

Humanity's greatest challenge may soon be just making it to the next harvest.