We are apparently the only species readily given to sullying it's own earth nest, squandering its resources, and dominating nature rather than coexisting with it. Needed is a fundamental shift in the way we relate to the environment. Away from the strictly utilitarian point of view, towards one which values nature in and of itself, forcing a reinvention of homosapiens at the species level. Specifically, a greater understanding and adherence to a biospheric point of view, more global, more long-term, more focused on the life conditions of every species within the context of a total  ecosystem.   For we are, indeed, a context-dependent species, notwithstanding the cult of individualism that runs deep throughout this country.

  There is much about China not to admire. But when it comes to urban traffic, it strains credulity how so many buses, cars, trucks, motorcycles, and thousands upon thousands of bicycles (many with young children on both front and rear) all merge and blend perfectly, sans road rage, sans accidents, sans the dismissive attitudes we have toward bicyclists here in America. How do they do it?

  Public enemy #1 creates public health problem #1: the Twin Towers tragedy is an ecological calamity. The 16 acres of toxic-laced rubble, known as ground-zero, sets the record for 'worst urban environmental disaster inside a major city.'

It has been var-  iously predicted that, by decade's end, most of the world's pop- ulation will be urban, resulting in a substantial increase in Sprawl which, in turn, trans- lates into many more cars on the planet, with a concomitant surge in greenhouse emissions wreaking havoc with global warming and thus people's health. Unless nations like the U.S. (whose drivers use close to 43 percent of the world's petrol to power less than 5 percent of the global populace) decides to build cities that are a lot less car-dependent.

Globalization and    the inevitable decline of the nation-state will persist in the guise of the multinational far into the future, buoyed by a simple faith that technology, and the globalization it makes possible, equals pro- gress.  Lost  in this headlong rush into the future is the need to monitor the multi- nationals (who share a common language-- money), assess their impact on values and quality of life, and critique in depth their role in terms of both human progress and the preservation of Earth's biodiversity.

Another major contemporary trend to keep a wary eye on is a pattern of diminished Sociodiversity within, and across, cultures. Much has been written about the homogen- ization of society, and the McDonaldization of just about every- thing.  The  need to preserve earth's Bio- diversity is very im- portant and much discussed in green circles. The need to preserve the planet's Sociodiversity is equal- ly important for sus- taining a more reason- able, more human world. There exists a natural interdepen- dence between bio- diversity, on one hand, and sociodiversity, on the other.

Climate changes will certainly continue to affect Earth's ecosys- tems, associated with higher CO2 levels link- ed to slight elevations in global temperature and unanticipated changes in length of growing seasons, re- duction of snow cover, and redistribution of rainfall. Large-scale ecosystem response to climate change will need to be assiduously monitored, with the aim of developing more effective ways to manage and adapt under conditions of uncertainty, mindful of the irreversibility of a number  of   these trends.