Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
also enlightened self-interest because a world of increasing inequality will be
a world of increasing tension. We cannot be secure doing property deals on
mobile telephones from four-wheel-drive vehicles in a world where most
people have never ridden in a car, made a telephone call or owned any prop-
erty. We should take a much more generous attitude to aid, lift our commit-
ment to the international target of 0.7 per cent of Gross Domestic Product,
and cancel the debts of those countries for which debt repayments constitute
a grinding financial burden. As the Australian delegation said at the 1999
UNESCO World Conference on Science, 'We should aim to make this not
just a new century but a
just
new century.'
Environmental issues
The scale and seriousness of environmental problems are no longer in
doubt. At the national level, two
State of the Environment
reports have now
been published. The 1996 report showed that we have a beautiful and unique
environment, with many aspects in good condition by international stand-
ards, but we also have very serious problems, most obviously loss of biologi-
cal diversity, degradation of inland waterways and destruction of the
productive capacity of rural land. Its final section linked the environmental
problems to lifestyle choices, showing that a sustainable future requires inte-
grating environmental awareness into all social and economic decisions. The
second report, released in 2002, noted an improvement in urban air quality
but found that all the other critical environmental problems are getting
worse, because of the increasing
pressures
on natural systems. Each year the
Australian population grows by about 200 000, as the 'natural increase' (the
excess of births over deaths) of about 120 000 is augmented by migration.
The material expectations of people also increase each year. We use more
energy, travel further in larger and less efficient cars, live in larger houses,
consume more resources and produce more waste.
The compounding effect of more people, is putting ever-increasing pres-
sure on our natural systems. The Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed
the decline in their report
Measuring Australia's Progress
. It analysed the
decade 1990-2000. All the usual economic indicators showed positive
trends. The social indicators were mixed, with some very serious negative
trends. Of all the environmental indicators discussed, only urban air quality
improved. The report showed more land being cleared, more species threat-
ened, declining river health, more degraded land and increasing greenhouse
