The Four Horseman of the Environment

[Guest guest]

THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE ENVIRONMENT

 

There are dozens or hundreds of small environmental problems, but

there are only four really big ones that we know of today. If we

could solve these four, we might lick more than 90% of the world's

known environmental threats. The four are:

 

(1) burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas), leading to

global warming and the creation of killer air pollution (fine

particles);

 

(2) use of chlorine as an industrial feedstock, leading to

destruction of the earth's ozone shield and the widespread poisoning

of humans and wildlife by reproductive toxins and hormone-mimicking,

gender-bending chemicals, plus widespread damage to the immune

systems and nervous systems of humans and other species by a host of

solvents, pesticides, and other chlorinated industrial compounds;

 

(3) the mining and distribution of uranium and its byproducts,

leading to an unsolvable problem of long-lived radioactive waste,

and an ever-growing likelihood of enormous violence--acts of

terrorism causing 100,000 or more deaths in one instant;

 

(4) so-called " development " that degrades and diminishes

biodiversity, leading to major, irreversible loss of species,

destabilizing all life. These are the four horsemen [1]of the

environment, and as the year 2000 slouches to a close, all four are

upon us as they have been known for over four decades.

 

Our politicans won't care if we don't...

 

http://rachel.enviroweb.org/contents.htm