Millenium Ecosystem Assessment

Recently, the most comprehensive survey ever into the state of the planet concludes that human activities threaten the Earth's ability to sustain future generations.

Four years in the making, the project was given the tongue-twisting name Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and it brought together nearly 1,400 experts from 95 countries. Their goal was to conduct a global inventory of the state of our ecosystems, quantify the effect that human activities are having on them and make suggestions for the future.

Although many people still consider nature as something that is "out there," and not relevant to our everyday lives, we are, in fact, deeply embedded in the natural world. As a result, the health of natural systems actually has a profound impact on our quality of life. Natural systems purify our air and water, stabilize our climate and soils, provide us with raw resources and much more. That's why the assessment focused especially on how ecosystem health affects human well being.

http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.aspx http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4391835.stm