COMMENT ⊗   VALID 00002 PAGES
C REC  PAGE   DESCRIPTION
C00001 00001
C00002 00002	%ecomad[s90,jmc]
C00006 ENDMK
C⊗;
%ecomad[s90,jmc]
\magnification\magstephalf
\centerline{Ecological madness of NAS (National Academy of Sciences)}
\medskip
The following is taken from the minutes of the 1989 meeting.
Class II passed the following resolution:

Whereas there is convincing evidence that the world is heading toward
biological catastrophe as evidenced by the following processes:

 - the rapid destruction of tropical rain forests globally and forest
decline due to acid rain in the northern hemisphere

 - the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

 - the depletion of the ozone layer

 - the progressive impoverishment of the world's biota

 - widespread pollution of land, water, and the atmosphere-even of the oceans,
vast as they are

 - soil erosion

 - chemical denudation of soils

 - groundwater depletion

 - salinization of soils and water

 - desertification

 - our own ever increasing numbers, already exceeding five billion and
bound to exceed eight billion by the year 2025, and

Whereas it is the responsibility of the world's scientists to alert the
people of the world and their governments to this clear and present
danger

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the President of the National Academy
of Sciences be urged to convene as early as practicable a global assembly
of National Academies of Science and equivalent bodies, each to be
represented by the President and a delegation of persons chosen by
the President, to make this predicament known everywhere and to
develop policies to halt the deterioration of the environment
worldwide and to restore the health of the habitat on whose integrity
the future of mankind depends.

Mr. Brown said that the resolution was not meant to imply that the
Academy is not presently involved in such matters, but that the
Section of Botany, which had proposed the resolution, wished to
suggest a novel approach for addressing the problem.
\bye