Content area
Full Text
Writing in Our Planet, the UNEP's Journal, Nabil Megalli says:
Hunger Picture: The picture of hunger in the last decade of the 20th century is frightening. Already, one billion people do not have the minimum to eat, and there will be on e billion more mouths to feed by the year 2000. Agriculture is devouring its own base in three continents that cover two - thirds of the world's area and house four - fifths of its population . The world is galloping towards a situation where it will not be able to feed itself, no matte r what it does. In the United States, farmers are suffering from droughts at a frequency unpreceden ted in modern history. Global warming has already led to three severely drought - reduced har vests in the United States during the 1980s, even though droughts have, as a rule, occurred t here once every 20 years.
According to the UN Environment Programme's Global Assessment of Soil Degra dation (GLASOD), there were 4700 million hectares of agricultural land in 1988, but 123 0 million hectares - that is, about 25 percents -...