The global state of marine fish stocks, although concerning, has remained roughly stable over the past 15 years: 52 percent of stocks are fully exploited, 17 percent are overexploited, and 8 percent are depleted or recovering from depletion. However, the status of many migratory fish species, known as "straddling stocks," has been deteriorating more rapidly than the global average. This worrisome trend is one of several pressing issues discussed in the recently released State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) report, published every two years by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

In São Paulo, Brazil's most populous state, only seven percent of the original rainforest extent remains. The local farmers of Cunha are now beginning to realize a disturbing consequence of deforestation in their area: the natural springs they have always relied on are drying up. A recent article in Science entitled Reconstructing Brazil's Atlantic Rainforest takes a closer look at this problem and the forest restoration project that is attempting to solve it.

Gender inequality is a problem faced by all regions of the developed and developing world. In only four countries--Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden--do women have legal, social and economic rights roughly equal to those of men. The global consequences of gender inequality transcend all aspects of human welfare, including poverty, disease, education, and environmental health. As a result, empowering women has been identified as a necessary condition for improving the lives of the most vulnerable men, women and children worldwide.

Enabling solutions to global climate change has become synonymous with technological innovation in the energy sector. Up-and-coming technologies such as carbon sequestration, hydrogen fuel cells, and high-efficiency wind turbines provide a glimpse into the world's possible energy future. However, numerous tried and proven technologies with the potential to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions already exist but remain to be implemented widely. Recent initiatives by the Australian government and Western Europe's largest coal-fired power plant are demonstrating the untapped value of existing technologies.

Northern European countries achieved top scores in a recent assessment of children's well-being in industrialized countries. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) recently released Report Card 7: Child Poverty in Perspective, which ranks 21 rich countries based on 40 separate indicators relevant to the lives and welfare of children and young people. Although data availability and quality are problematic, Report Card 7 reflects a significant advance over previous studies due to its multi-dimensional approach to understanding child well-being.

A recent assessment by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) projects that orangutans will be virtually eliminated in the wild within two decades if current trends continue. Orangutans are native to the tropical forests of Indonesia and Malaysia, where rapid forest loss and degradation are threatening orangutans and other species, including the Sumatran tiger, the Sumatran rhinoceros and the Asian elephant. UNEP's Rapid Response Assessment: The Last Stand of the Orangutan evaluates recent trends and major threats to orangutans in Indonesia and recommends actions to protect this endangered species.

Between 2000 and 2005, 73,000 square kilometers (~28,000 square miles) of forest--an area approximately the size of Panama, Sierra Leone, or Ireland--were destroyed each year (FAO, 2005). The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) reports that 54 countries have lost 90 percent or more of their forest cover. Encouragingly, deforestation rates in Europe, North America, and China have slowed in the past decade due to reforestation and afforestation initiatives. However, rapid deforestation continues in the tropical regions of South America, Africa, and Asia, where socio-economic and political problems present formidable challenges to forest conservation.

Recent scientific studies estimate that commercial fish stocks will collapse by 2050 if overfishing and climate change are not immediately addressed. The Global Environmental Outlook (GEO) Year Book 2007 highlights declining global fisheries as a significant challenge facing governments in an increasingly globalized world. The Year Book, released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), explains that globalization poses both risks and opportunities for sustainable development and identifies strategies to help protect environmental integrity and human well-being in an economically and socially interconnected world.

Scientists from over 130 countries now agree with 90 percent certainty that global warming is the result of human activities. Released today by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), volume one of the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) is the first comprehensive global appraisal of climate change since 2001. The AR4 reflects major advances in climate modeling and data collection compared to the IPCC's third report, resulting in more precise predictions at a higher level of confidence.

New 2004 and 2005 data recently published by the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) show that mountain glaciers around the world are continuing to melt as the global temperature rises. Mountain ranges on almost every continent have been affected, including the Sierras in North America, the Andes in South America, the Alps in Europe and the Himalayas in Asia. The average rate of ice loss since 2000 is over half a meter per year, which is three times the annual rate of the 1980s. Scientists will continue to monitor these glacial trends as a leading indicator of global warming.