News Briefs Most of the world's ecosystems are in decline, threatening production of goods and services that humans rely on, according to a report by the United Nations Development Programme, the U.N. Environment Programme, me World Bank, and the World Resources Institute. More than 175 scientists contributed to the report, which found that most ecosystems are in fair but declining condition, with a 50% drop in forest cover 70% of the world's fish stocks overharvested and soils detwo-thirds of agricultural lands A su.iTiixi£Lrv of World Resources 2000-2001 ' People and Ecosystems' The Fravine Web of LifL can be downloaded at wwwwri org/wri/wr2000 The full report will be available in September Freshwater species are disappearing as fast as rainforest species, , which are the most imperiled on earth, according to American Rivers, an environmental organization. America's Most Endangerer Rivers 2000 blames the physical alteration of rivers for much of the decline in freshwater fish species such as salmon and steelhead, and 8 of the 13 U.S. .rvers on this year's list are threatened by dams and flood control projects. The report attributes the perilous condition of the salmon stocks in the most endangered river the Snake to damming stressing that if the river's four dams are not removed salmon stocks could 20 extinct within the decade Click on www americanrivers org for report excerpts or call (202) 547-6900 for a complete coov The National Water Quality Inventory does not accurately portray water quality conditions nationwide, a U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) report finds. Because states monitor only a small percentage of their waters (19% of rivers and streams and 6% of ocean and other shoreline waters) and do so with widely varying approaches and techniques, "the national statistics are unreliable and subject to misinterpretation." The GAO found
data gaps to be particularly serious in the case of nonpoint sources. The report, Key EPA ana State Decisions Limited by Inconsistent and Incomplete Data, can be accessed on the Web at www.gao.gov.
The federal government should develop a strategy to combat the nitrogen and phosphorus pollution causing serious damage on all the nation's coasts, according to a new report by the National Research Council. Nearly one-third of coastal areas assessed by the report are severely affected by high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, which kill coastal wildlife and cause harmful algal blooms such as red tides. A copy of Clean noastal Waters: Understanding gnd deducing the Effects of Nutrient Pollution is available on the Web at www.nap. edu/books/0309069483/html. The benefits of recycling are being dwarfed by a rising rate of waste generation, according to a report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and the Grassroots Recycling Network. Wasting and Recycling in the United States 2000 0ocuments that municipal recycling tripled in the United States over the past 20 years. On average communities now divert 28% of their recyclable materials from landfills and many communities surpass 50%. But from 1990 to 1997 the growing popularity of products with hardto-recycle plastic packaging caused
the rate of plastic generated to grow five times faster, by weight, than the amount recovered for recycling. The problem is also attributable to consolidation in the waste hauling industry, for big hauling companies make more profits from landfilling than recycling. For a copy of the report, click on www.grrn.org. Cleaning up contamination from nuclear weapons production could cost as much as 44% more than a 1998 estimate, according to an update report by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). DOE is responsible for cleaning up 113 sites, and the new report estimates the cost to be between $168 billion and $212 billion. The increase is mainly due to improved estimates of life-cycle costs. The agency must contend with 1.7 trillion gallons of contaminated groundwater and 40 million cubic meters of contaminated soil and debris as well as find a way to safely store 18 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium and manage 2000 tons of intensely radioactive nuclear fuel The report is available on the Web at www em doe gov/closure Companies in six developing nations received awards for their environmental performance in May from the International Chamber of Commerce and the U.N. Environment Programme. The Millennium Business Award for Environmental Achievement was presented to 12 companies for taking "important steps to promote excellence in corporate environmental management." Those honored were Aluminium Bahrain (Bahrain), Bahia Sul Cellulose S.A. (Brazil), International Forest Products, Ltd. (Canada), HiPP (Germany), BSES (India), Nesher-Israel Cement Enterprises, Ltd. (Israel) Tokyo Electric Power Co (lapan) Altos Homos de Mexico S A (Mexico) Cervesur (Peru) Rohner Textile AG (Switzerland) Siam Compressor Industry Co Ltd (Thailand) and The Beacon Press (UK)
JULY 1, 2000 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS • 2 9 5 A
