UN Report Points to Worsening Problems Around the Globe

Date: May 23, 2016

Source: The United Nations Environment Programme

The United Nations Environment Programme has released a report that reveals worsening environmental problems around the globe. The agency says of the report, which catalogs issues across the six major regions of the planet, "the most authoritative study that UNEP has ever published on the state of the global environment." "The world shares a host of common environmental threats that are rapidly intensifying in many parts of the world," said a UNEP news release. And, while it found many differences, it also found key common themes. One was worsening air pollution problems, driven by large populations and the swelling of urban cores. Another was widespread water scarcity problems, exacerbated by climate change but also greater demand in growing cities. According to Jacqueline McGlade, UNEP's chief scientist, the root causes basically boil down to two major systemic occurrences with multiple ramifying consequences: a changing climate and an intense trend toward greater urbanization. "Every region, regardless of how it might be perceived from the outside, is suffering from water scarcity," McGlade said.

The report is divided into six sections, each of which is well over 100 pages, covering North America, Latin American and the Caribbean, Africa, West Asia, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe. It represents the work of some 1,203 scientists, as well as 160 different governments.

To learn more, visit their website: www.unep.org.

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