Global Economic Growth Strains Earth's Vital Signs

The world is producing - and consuming - more food, material goods and natural resources than ever before, according to the Worldwatch Institute's "Vital Signs 2005" report on trends shaping the world's future.

Increased production and consumption of everything from grain to oil to meat to automobiles reflects strong economic growth in 2004, the report says, but this growth comes with ecological and social costs that often go unnoticed.

Pollution continues to increase, ecosystems are degraded, and many of the world's poor are being left further behind despite economic growth.

The physical indicators of growth "serve to remind us that we have by no means freed ourselves from the material world and its persistent threats," said Worldwatch President Christopher Flavin.

Based in Washington, DC, the research group has produced "Vital Signs" annually since 1992; this year's report tracks 35 economic, social and ecological trends.

http://www.worldwatch.org/press/news/2005/01/12/