State of the World 2001 (Worldwatch Institute Books) [Paperback]

Lester R. Brown (Author), Christopher Flavin (Author), Hilary French (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0393320820 | ISBN-13: 978-0393320824 | Publication Date: January 2001 | Edition: 1

The Worldwatch Institute's research team tackles the great challenge of our rapidly globalizing world: how to use our political systems to manage the difficult and complex relationships between the global economy and the Earth's ecosystems. This book provides concerned citizens and national leaders with an analysis of threatening environmental trends - from the growing pollution of groundwater to the increasing toll of "unnatural" disasters to the effects of the developing world's staggering 2 trillion dollar debt - and emerging solutions to turn those trends around.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'The environmentalist's bible' Times Higher Educational Supplement; 'Essential reading' The Good Book Guide" --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Lester R. Brown is president of the Worldwatch Institute and the author of Beyond Malthus, Who Will Feed China?, and other books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc; 1 edition (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393320820
• ISBN-13: 978-0393320824
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,849,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lester R. Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, is one of the world's most widely published authors with books in more than 40 languages.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creating a Sustainable World, January 19, 2000

By 

Jim Rosso (Arlington, Va USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: State of the World 1999: The Millennium Edition (Paperback)

State of the World - 1999 Millennial Edition

Doctoral Student, Pepperdine University, Educational Technology

The World Watch Society has published the State of the World every year since 1984. The 1999 edition has ten chapters, each written by an expert, on economic utilization of the forests, oceans, material economies, plant biodiversity; social issues such as feeding the world's growing population, ending violent conflicts, and the possibilities of creating a sustainable society. While there are many books that deal with the state of the world, this series is unique if only for their ability to provide notes on where the information they use, comes from. They have 41 tables and 19 charts with figures and the 180+ pages of text are supplemented with over 60 pages of notes.

The tone of the volume is set by the Forward which indicates that the Millennial year exists in only the Christian calendar. The Jewish calendar marks the year as 5759, the Hindus say it is 5101, and the Muslim calendar checks in with the year 1377. The celebration of the millennium is particularly a Western celebration. But they do not miss the opportunity of saying that now is a good time for the Western nations and others to decide on new policies to create a more humane world. A sustainable world is one where food, housing, and individual opportunities to obtain full potential, are all possible. And are possible at a level that can be repeated over a number of years. "No challenge is greater, or more satisfying, than building an environmentally sustainable global economy, one where economic and social progress can continue not only in the twenty-first century but many centuries beyond."

The rapid change that has marked the twentieth century is demonstrated by the world's population explosion. Charting the growth of the human population over the past 12,000 years creates startling numbers. For several thousands of years up until 2000 BC, the world's population probably stayed around 4 million people. It moved to 27 million by 2000 BC, and 100 million 2000 years ago. By the year 1000 it was estimated to be 350 million, and by 1825 the world hit the billion mark. We now estimate our population to be 6 billion and it is anticipated that in another 50 years we will add over 3 billion more people. The good news is that throughout the world there is a growing trend towards a declining population growth.

It is not hard to realize that the European nations and especially the United States use up more than their share of world wide resources. The use of oil, timber, ocean resources, and other resources by the United States alone far surpasses most of the world. "We need a new moral compass to guide us into the twenty-first century - a compass grounded in the principles of meeting human needs sustainably."

While the water tables throughout the world are dropping, the oceans are being depleted, and global warming increasing, there are signs of hope throughout the world. As the world's governments are trying to figure out what to do, local communities are acting to establish better ways of living. In Boston the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority decided not to divert two rivers needed to add to their water supplies, but instead, repaired leaky pipes, and educated the citizens on how to save water. The efforts worked, and they saved money on the plan. In Pakistan a district of 1 million squatters organized themselves, collected money, and created sewers to serve their district.

The book ends by quoting H. G. Wells who suggested that "human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe." The State of the World does an excellent job of providing a real account of the world's problems but it also shows many of the ways that people throughout the world are cooperating to improve their lives. The choice between adding to the growing problems or becoming a part of those who are creating answers to the problems, is clearly ours to make.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars state of sadness, May 7, 2000

By 

alexandra mcguinness - See all my reviews

This review is from: State Of The World 2000 (Paperback)

Reading State of the World 22 took me out of my cushy frivolous life and made me really think. I used to be of the frame of mind that sources of energy and the aids problem were nothing to do with me and someone else could deal with it and anyway to tell the truth it sort of bored me.Each time I read this book I would find myself crying as I turned the pages, it really is sad how down the world has gone and how much further it still has to fall if we dont change our ways of thinking. This book puts all the information on sustainable issues and world problems in straightforward english with interesting graphics and statistics in easy to read graphs so that even I (not quite a brain surgeon) can grasp the information.State of the world is not just a book moaning about what we have done wrong it also explains the solutions and what each person can to do help after all we are the cause and we can help be the cure.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but one sided., July 31, 2001

By 

H. Bramlet (Pasadena, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: State Of The World 2000 (Paperback)

I give good marks to each of the scientists providing their viewpoints. Each was thoughtfull and concise in his or her viewpoints.

Since 1984, the State of the World reports have been published, and since 1984 the overall tone has been one of impending doom avoided only by the most drastic of human changes.

If you picked up this book expecting to get an authoritative understanding of environmental and population trends, then you have made a big mistake. This book tells one side of the story- clearly the most attractive as it pulls on that side of us that feels lost in a world we don't understand. If you *really* want to find out both sides of the story, you should search out the counterpoints in scientific litterature. Kudos to you for trying to find out everything about the subject before going on. I recomend Earth Report 2000- a counter publication written specifically in response to this book.

After reading both books I am quite convinced that, as a percentage of all there is to know about the planet, we basically understand as much as we did 40 years ago. The information provided in this book is based on theories that, as a young human race, we can not validate for many years to come.

Read this book for ideas, but not answers. That is unless you are a doomsayer looking for an amen experience- in which case this baby is right up your alley.