The world food situation is deteriorating. Grain stocks have dropped to a dangerously low level. The World Food Price Index has doubled in one decade. The ranks of the hungry are expanding; political unrest is spreading. On the demand side of the food equation, there will be 219,000 people at the dinner table tonight who were not there last night. And some 3 billion increasingly affluent people are moving up the food chain, consuming grain-intensive livestock and poultry products. At the same time, water shortages and heat waves are making it more difficult for farmers to keep pace with demand. As grain-exporting countries ban exports to keep their food prices down, importing countries are panicking. In response, they are buying large tracts of land in other countries to grow food for themselves. The land rush is on. Could food become the weak link for us as it was for so many earlier civilizations? Lester Brown, one of the leading environmentalists of our time, explains why world food supplies are tightening and tells what we need to do about it.

Historically, food security was the responsibility of ministries of agriculture but today that has changed: decisions made in ministries of energy may instead have the greatest effect on the food situation. Recent research reporting that a one degree Celsius rise in temperature can reduce grain yields by 10 per cent means that energy policy is now directly affecting crop production. Agriculture is a water-intensive activity and, while public attention has focused on oil depletion, it is aquifer depletion that poses the more serious threat. There are substitutes for oil, but none for water and the link between our fossil fuel addiction, climate change and food security is now clear. While population growth has slowed over the past three decades, we are still adding 76 million people per year. In a world where the historical rise in land productivity has slowed by half since 1990, eradicating hunger may depend as much on family planners as on farmers. The bottom line is that future food security depends not only on efforts within agriculture but also on energy policies that stabilize climate, a worldwide effort to raise water productivity, the evolution of land-efficient transport systems, and population policies that seek a humane balance between population and food. Outgrowing the Earth advances our thinking on food security issues that the world will be wrestling with for years to come.

Originally published in 1995, after decades of steady growth, this book was written at a time when the world’s food supply was no longer keeping up with population increases. This book examines the causes of the imbalance in the food/population equation and suggests ways in which Malthusian checks can be countered. It calls for an international strategy to restore global security, and a budget to implement it, with a massive redirection of the world’s financial resources. On one side of the argument the authors advocate increased expenditure on family planning services, education, and women’s rights. On the other, they stress the environmental importance of reforestation and soil conservation schemes to halt the deterioration of the agricultural resource base.

In 1543, Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus challenged the view that the sun revolved around the earth, arguing instead that the earth revolved around the sun. His paper led to a revolution in thinking. In Lester Brown's brilliant and invigorating account of the industrial economy, he shows how a rethink of its fossil fuel-based, throwaway ethos is necessary to ensure that it works with, not against, the natural environment. The issue now is whether the environment is part of the economy or the economy is part of the environment. Brown argues the latter, pointing out that treating the environment as part of the economy has produced an economy that is destroying its natural support systems. One of the foremost experts on the new economic opportunities, Brown shows the vast economic potential and environmental gains that exist from eliminating the waste and destruction of current consumption. He describes how the global economy can be restructured to make it compatible with the earth's ecosystem so that economic progress can continue, with high standards of living and secure employment for all, while conserving resources and restoring the environment. In the new economy, wind farms replace coal mines, hydrogen-powered fuel cells replace internal combustion engines, and cities are designed for people, not cars. Eco-Economy is a map of how to get from here to there. It is an essential guide to the economy of the 21st century and will be compelling reading for business readers and environmentalists alike looking for ways to build a better future.

In this study, the award-winning environmental analyst Lester Brown and his colleagues have charted progress in building the eco-economy - an economy in harmony with the Earth's ecosystems, not undermining them. This edition of the biennial reader highlights 12 key trends, from population growing by 80 million annually, to ice melting, to the boom in use of solar cells. It explains, for example, why wind-generated electricity is emerging as the foundation of the new post-fossil fuel energy economy. It also specifically investigates China's desertification problem, the issues surrounding food production, and the challenge of controlling climate change. Drawing on research and analysis by the Earth Policy Institute, the reader monitors the shift from the old economy to the new.

On the bicentennial of Malthus' legendary essay on the tendency of population to grow more rapidly than the food supply, this book examines the impacts of population growth on 19 global resources and services, including food, fresh water, fisheries, jobs, education, income and health. Despite current hype of a 'birth dearth' in parts of Europe and Japan, the fact remains that human numbers are projected to increase by over 3 billion by 2050. Populations in rapidly growing nations are in danger of outstripping the carrying capacity of their natural support systems and governments in such situations will find it increasingly hard to respond to crises such as AIDS, food and water shortages and mass unemployment. Beyond Malthus examines methods such as the expansion of international family planning, investment in educating young people in the developing world and promotion of a shift towards smaller families which will represent the most humane response to the possible ravages of the population explosion.

In this study, the award-winning environmental analyst Lester Brown and his colleagues have charted progress in building the eco-economy - an economy in harmony with the Earth's ecosystems, not undermining them. This edition of the biennial reader highlights 12 key trends, from population growing by 80 million annually, to ice melting, to the boom in use of solar cells. It explains, for example, why wind-generated electricity is emerging as the foundation of the new post-fossil fuel energy economy. It also specifically investigates China's desertification problem, the issues surrounding food production, and the challenge of controlling climate change. Drawing on research and analysis by the Earth Policy Institute, the reader monitors the shift from the old economy to the new.

On the bicentennial of Malthus' legendary essay on the tendency of population to grow more rapidly than the food supply, this book examines the impacts of population growth on 19 global resources and services, including food, fresh water, fisheries, jobs, education, income and health. Despite current hype of a 'birth dearth' in parts of Europe and Japan, the fact remains that human numbers are projected to increase by over 3 billion by 2050. Populations in rapidly growing nations are in danger of outstripping the carrying capacity of their natural support systems and governments in such situations will find it increasingly hard to respond to crises such as AIDS, food and water shortages and mass unemployment. Beyond Malthus examines methods such as the expansion of international family planning, investment in educating young people in the developing world and promotion of a shift towards smaller families which will represent the most humane response to the possible ravages of the population explosion.

Historically, food security was the responsibility of ministries of agriculture but today that has changed: decisions made in ministries of energy may instead have the greatest effect on the food situation. Recent research reporting that a one degree Celsius rise in temperature can reduce grain yields by 10 per cent means that energy policy is now directly affecting crop production. Agriculture is a water-intensive activity and, while public attention has focused on oil depletion, it is aquifer depletion that poses the more serious threat. There are substitutes for oil, but none for water and the link between our fossil fuel addiction, climate change and food security is now clear. While population growth has slowed over the past three decades, we are still adding 76 million people per year. In a world where the historical rise in land productivity has slowed by half since 1990, eradicating hunger may depend as much on family planners as on farmers. The bottom line is that future food security depends not only on efforts within agriculture but also on energy policies that stabilize climate, a worldwide effort to raise water productivity, the evolution of land-efficient transport systems, and population policies that seek a humane balance between population and food. Outgrowing the Earth advances our thinking on food security issues that the world will be wrestling with for years to come.

As oil insecurity deepens, the extraction risks of fossil fuels rise, and concerns about climate instability cast a shadow over the future of coal, a new world energy economy is emerging. The old economy, fueled by oil, natural gas, and coal is being replaced with one powered by wind, solar, and geothermal energy.

The Great Transition details the accelerating pace of this global energy revolution. As many countries become less enamored with coal and nuclear power, they are embracing an array of clean, renewable energies. Whereas solar energy projects were once small-scale, largely designed for residential use, energy investors are now building utility-scale solar projects. Strides are being made: some of the huge wind farm complexes under construction in China will each produce as much electricity as several nuclear power plants, and an electrified transport system supplemented by the use of bicycles could reshape the way we think about mobility.

As fossil fuel prices rise, oil insecurity deepens, and concerns about climate change cast a shadow over the future of coal, a new energy economy is emerging. Wind, solar, and geothermal energy are replacing oil, coal, and natural gas, at a pace and on a scale we could not have imagined even a year ago. For the first time since the Industrial Revolution, we have begun investing in energy sources that can last forever. Plan B 4.0 explores both the nature of this transition to a new energy economy and how it will affect our daily lives.

Ever since 9/11, many have considered al Queda to be the leading threat to global security, but falling water tables in countries that contain more than half the world's people and rising temperatures worldwide pose a far more serious threat. Spreading water shortages and crop-withering heat waves are shrinking grain harvests in more and more countries, making it difficult for the world's farmers to feed 70 million more people each year. The risk is that tightening food supplies could drive up food prices, destabilizing governments in low-income grain-importing countries and disrupting global economic progress. Future security, Brown says, now depends on raising water productivity, stabilizing climate by moving beyond fossil fuels, and stabilizing population by filling the family planning gap and educating young people everywhere. If Osama bin Laden and his colleagues succeed in diverting our attention from the real threats to our future security, they may reach their goals for reasons that even they have not imagined.

In 1543, Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus challenged the view that the Sun revolved around the Earth, arguing instead that the Earth revolved around the Sun. His paper led to a revolution in thinking to a new worldview. "Eco-Economy" discusses the need today for a similar shift in our worldview. The issue now is whether the environment is part of the economy or the economy is part of the environment. Lester R. Brown argues the latter, pointing out that treating the environment as part of the economy has produced an economy that is destroying its natural support systems. Brown notes that if China were to have a car in every garage, American style, it would need 80 million barrels of oil a day more than the world currently produces. If paper consumption per person in China were to reach the U.S. level, China would need more paper than the world produces. There go the world's forests. If the fossil fuel-based, automobile-centered, throwaway economic model will not work for China, it will not work for the other 3 billion people in the developing world and it will not work for the rest of the world. But Brown is optimistic as he describes how to restructure the global economy to make it compatible with the Earth's ecosystem so that economic progress can continue. In the new economy, wind farms replace coal mines, hydrogen-powered fuel cells replace internal combustion engines, and cities are designed for people, not cars. Glimpses of the new economy can be seen in the wind farms of Denmark, the solar rooftops of Japan, and the bicycle network of the Netherlands. "Eco-Economy" is a road map of how to get from here to there."

This annual volume from the Worldwatch Institute shows in graphic form key trends that often escape the attention of the news media, world leaders, and economic experts, but should be integrated into their plans as they map out our global future. Written by the staff of the award-winning Worldwatch Institute, this book allows readers to track key indicators that show social, economic, and environmental progress, or the lack of it. These authoritative data have been distilled from thousands of documents obtained from government, industry, scientists, and international organizations into forty-five "vital signs" of our times.

Vital Signs 2000 presents up-to-the-minute information on environmental and sustainable development topics such as global temperature, population growth, HIV/AIDS, fossil fuel consumption, Internet use, income inequalities, grain production, and fish catch. Each trend is presented in both text and graphics, providing a thorough, well-documented, and very accessible overview. Vital Signs is an excellent companion volume to Worldwatch's highly acclaimed State of the World series.

The newest volume in the annual series that has become the bible of the global environmental movement--and indispensable for anyone concerned with the future of our world. State of the World 2000 provides national leaders and concerned citizens with a comprehensive framework for the global debate about our future in the new century. This annual survey by the award-winning Worldwatch Institute has become an invaluable analysis of negative environmental trends and a guide to emerging solutions. The book shows how our current fossil-fueled, auto-centered, throwaway economy is steadily destroying the very ecosystems that form the foundations of our lives. The great challenge we face in the next century is making the transition to a sustainable economy that reuses and recycles materials, is powered by renewable energy sources, and has a stable population. The authors argue that meeting this challenge will offer some of the greatest investment opportunities in history. Written in clear and concise language, with easy-to-read charts and tables, State of the World 2000 presents a view of our changing world that we, and our leaders, cannot afford to ignore.

Human demands are pressing up against more and more of the Earth's limits. This book from the Worldwatch Institute examines the impacts of population growth on global resources and services, including food, fresh water, fisheries, jobs, education, income, and health. Despite the current hype of a "birth dearth" in parts of Europe and Japan, the fact remains that human numbers are projected to increase by over 3 billion by 2050. Rapidly growing nations are likely to outstrip the carrying capacity of their natural support systems. Governments worn down by several decades of rapid population growth often cannot mobilize the resources necessary to cope with emerging threats such as new diseases, food and water shortages, and mass unemployment. Already, in several African nations, hunger, disease, and social disintegration are leading to rising death rates, checking the rapid growth of population. Either nations with surging populations will quickly shift to smaller families or nature will impose its own, less humane limits to growth. As the world enters the new millennium, no challenge is perhaps so urgent as the need to quickly reduce population growth. Pakistan's population is projected to increase from 148 million to 357 million, surpassing that of the United States before 2050. Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, and Swaziland, where over one-fifth of the adult population is infected with HIV, will likely reach population stability shortly after the year 2000, as AIDS-related deaths offset soaring birth rates. A Worldwatch Environmental Alert book. Newsmaking press conference on publication National press and television coverage

A collection of the best and most-requested articles from the Worldwatch Institute's award-winning magazine, World Watch.

What ails the earth and how can we fix it? People all over the world are wrestling with this question, and requesting reliable information on the nature of the environmental threats and how to deal with them.

The World Watch Reader responds to this need for timely, authoritative information. Written by the world's preeminent environmental research team, this new edition of the popular anthology offers an in-depth diagnosis of the earth's ills as well as a practical vision of how to create an environmentally responsible future. In a highly readable style, the authors focus on such topics as energy and climate, the effects of water scarcity, the food prospect, oceans in distress, and consumerism and the future of the earth.

Here the global, interdisciplinary perspective that makes Worldwatch research unique is available in an accessible, compelling form. All who care about the future of the planet will want to read this volume.

Facing the Challenge of Food Scarcity

Food scarcity may soon become the dominant consequence of continuing population growth and environmental mismanagement. The president of the Worldwatch Institute assesses the situation in a provocative book published for the World Food Conference to be held in Rome in November.

The worlds leaders are slowly coming to realize what the worlds farmers have known for some time: world grain production is lagging behind population because of the failure of additional fertilizer to boost yields as it once did, the diversion of irrigation water from farms to cities, and the loss of cropland to industrial and residential uses. As world grain production has lagged during the 1990s, estimated carryover stocks of grain for 1996 have dropped to 48 days of world consumption--the lowest level ever.

Here, Lester Brown uses up-to-the-minute information to respond to the widening gap between world demand for grain and lagging yields of oceanic fisheries and croplands. He proposes steps that can be taken to expand food production and buy additional time to stabilize population, and he also explores opportunities for reducing per-capita consumption which in some societies is conspicuously excessive.

Lester Brown, president of the Worldwatch Institute, lives in Washington, D.C.

Award-winning environmental analyst Lester R. Brown and his colleagues chart progress in building the eco-economy, an economy that is compatible with the earth's ecosystem.

Brown explains, for example, why wind-generated electricity with its abundance and falling cost is emerging as the foundation of the new post-fossil fuel energy economy: now cheaper than electricity from coal, oil, or natural gas, it can be used to electrolyze water and produce hydrogen, the fuel of choice for the new fuel cell engines that every major automobile manufacturer is working on. And since an eco-economy relies heavily on recycling materials already in the system, such as steel and aluminum, we learn how, in this new economy, recycling industries will largely replace mining industries.

Bringing together in one volume the essential Eco-Economy Updates that are distributed worldwide over the Internet and published in the world's leading newspapers, The Earth Policy Reader monitors the shift from the old economy to the new.

"[Lester Brown is] a far-reaching thinker."—U.S. News & World Report

The global lily pond in which four billion of us live may already be half full. Although UN projections show world population continuing to grow until it reaches ten to sixteen billion, Lester Brown believes this is unrealistic. In this fascinating analysis of the fisheries, forests, grasslands, and croplands the author shows that the demands at current levels of population and per capita consumption often exceed the long-term carrying capacity. He documents the overfishing, deforestation, and overgrazing that are gradually undermining human life support systems. He also explains that with energy shortages anticipated in the early eighties and a projected downturn in world oil production in the early eighties and a projected downturn in world oil production in the early nineties, the world must quickly shift to renewable energy resources."

This annual volume shows key trends that should be integrated into the planning of our global future. It enables readers to track key indicators that show social, economic and environmental progress, or the lack of it, into 45 vital signs of our time. Each trend is presented in both text and graphics, providing an overview.

This annual volume provides concise, graphic interpretations of key trends that often escape the attention of the news media, economic experts and world leaders. As a comprehensive digest of available environment information, it is intended for students, researchers, activists and general readers.

The sixth annual guide to the environmental, economic and social trends which are shaping the future, this text presents the good news, the bad news, and a few surprises about the state of our planet. n Part One, facing pages of text and graphs provide information on 40 carefully selected indicators, mapping changes in food supplies; agriculture; the atmosphere, energy and transport; natural resources; the global economy; society and health; and the millitary. Part Two of the text contains special features on less celebrated trends, including ten new vital signs indicators such as violence against women, how the environment impacts on the insurance industry, and the proliferation of landmines.

A bold new plan for those concerned about rising temperatures, population projections, and spreading water scarcity.

Lester Brown notes that if the environmental trends of recent decades continue, the global economy will soon begin to unravel. The food sector, he believes, is the most vulnerable. Record-high temperatures and falling water tables are already taking the edge off grain harvests in some countries, including China, the world's largest grain producer.

The wake-up call will come, Brown believes, when 1.3 billion Chinese consumers with an $80 billion trade surplus start competing with Americans for U.S. grain, driving up food prices. Rising food prices could create political instability in low-income countries, disrupting global economic progress.

At that point, it will be clear that business as usual—Plan A—is not working. In Plan B, Brown outlines a World War II-type mobilization to stabilize climate by restructuring the global energy economy and to stabilize population by investing heavily in health care, family planning, and the education of girls in developing countries.