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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE "ONE PLANET MANY PEOPLE" ATLAS LAUNCHED TO MARK WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2005 Rapid Urbanization, Shrimp Farming and Forest Loss Among Highlights SAN FRANCISCO/LONDON/NAIROBI, June 3, 2005 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- The dramatic and, in some cases, damaging environmental changes sweeping planet Earth are brought into sharp focus in a new atlas launched to mark World Environment Day (WED). Produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), One Planet Many People: Atlas of our Changing Environment compares and contrasts spectacular satellite images of the past few decades with contemporary ones, some of which have never been seen before. The huge growth of greenhouses in southern Spain, the rapid rise of shrimp farming in Asia and Latin America and the emergence of a giant, shadow puppet-shaped peninsula at the mouth of the Yellow River are among a string of curious and surprising changes seen from space. They sit beside the more conventional, but no less dramatic images of rain forest deforestation in Paraguay and Brazil, rapid oil and gas development in Wyoming, United States, forest fires across sub-Saharan Africa and the retreat of glaciers and ice in polar and mountain areas. This year WED is hosted by San Francisco, California with the global theme of Green Cities-Plan for the Planet! The atlas, produced in collaboration with organizations including the United States Geological Survey and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), highlights this theme showing the explosive growth and changes around some of the major cities of the world such as Beijing, Dhaka, Delhi and Santiago. Also covered are developed world cities including Las Vegas, the fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States, and Miami. Miami's spread westwards may endanger Florida's famous everglades and their important wildlife and water supplies. Specially commissioned images of Bucharest, London, Nairobi and San Francisco supplements One Planet Many People. Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's Executive Director, said: " People living in San Francisco or London may look at these images of deforestation or melting Arctic ice, and wonder what it has to do with them. That these changes are the result of other people's lifestyles and consumption habits hundreds and thousands of kilometres away. But they would be wrong." "Cities pull in huge amounts of resources including water, food, timber, metals and people. They export large amounts of wastes including household and industrial wastes, wastewater and the gases linked with global warming. Thus their impacts stretch beyond their physical borders affecting countries, regions and the planet as a whole," he added. "So the battle for sustainable development, for delivering a more environmentally stable, just and healthier world, is going to be largely won and lost in our cities," said Mr. Toepfer. "I thank San Francisco for being the WED 2005 host city in this 60th anniversary year of the United Nations and in this important year of reform. And I urge city dwellers everywhere, especially in developed countries, to help to do their bit to make their city more resource efficient and less resource wasteful for the sake of the local and for the sake of the global environment," he added. It is hoped that the atlas and its images will concentrate the minds of mayors coming to San Francisco for the week long WED celebrations. The mayors are set to agree on a series of "Environmental Accords" designed to promote more environmentally-friendly, resource efficient, cities. One example of how space technology and its application has proven important is that of the Casey Trees Endowment Fund in the District of Columbia, United States. It was set up in 2001 following a generous donation by philanthropist Betty Brown Casey. Mrs Casey was moved to action after seeing satellite images, published in 1999, showing the dramatic loss of trees in the District since the 1970s. Researchers hope that One Planet Many People Atlas of Our Changing Environment will have a similar impact on governments, private business, non governmental organizations and the private individual by highlighting how globalization is driving local and regional change. Notes to Editors WED, commemorated each year on 5 June, is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. WED was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Another resolution, adopted by the General Assembly the same day, led to the creation of UNEP. Information on the day, logos, posters, fact sheets and ideas on how to celebrate WED can be found at www.unep.org/wed/2005 Information on the "One Planet Many People: Atlas of our Changing Environment " can be found at www.na.unep.net or wwwunep.org Details . of the activities taking place in San Francisco can be found at www.wed2005.org The publication "One Planet Many People: Atlas of our Changing Environment " can be purchased at Earth Print http://www.earthprint.com/go.htm?to=DEW0657NA For More Information Please Contact Eric Falt, Director of UNEP's Division of Communications and Public Information (DCPI), on Tel: +254-20-62-3292, Mobile: +254-733-682-656 or +1-917-434-9338, E-mail: eric.falt@unep.org; Nick Nuttall, Spokesperson/Media Services, on Tel: +254-20-62-3084, Mobile: +254-733-632755, E-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org; For the City of San Francisco Debra Benson, Solem & Associates, on Tel: 1 415.788.7858, Mobile: 1 415.788.7788 or E-mail: debra-_benson@solem.com |