According to the
Worldwatch Institute, a nonprofit environmental think tank, the overriding
challenges facing our global civilization are to curtail climate change and
slow population growth. “Success on these two fronts
would make other challenges, such as reversing the deforestation of Earth,
stabilizing water tables, and protecting plant and animal diversity, much more
manageable,” reports the group. “If we cannot stabilize climate and we cannot
stabilize population, there is not an ecosystem on Earth that we can save.”
