The soil of American farms has been improving . No discussion here of the global situation. Species extinctions: Simon and Kahn criticize Global 2000 for failing to provide evidence to support the claim that as much as 20 percent of all species may be lost by the year 2000, at which time 40,000 species/year may be driven to extinction. Other than this, they note that the extinction of species.
has been a biological fact of life throughout the ages, just as has been the development of new species, some or many of which may be more valuable to humans than extinguished species whose niches they fill. Climate change (specifically, ozone-depletion and global warming): Recent changes may reasonably be viewed as normal oscillation. The CO2 question is subject to major controversy and uncertainty about extent, causes, and effects. It would not seem prudent to undertake expensive policy alterations at this time because of this lack of knowledge, and because problems that changes in CO2 concentration might cause would occur far in the future (well beyond the year 2000).
The need to control CO2 emissions is, however an argument for increased use of nuclear power rather than fossil fuel. Indeed, the only two feasible possibilities for reducing CO2 are to reduce total energy consumption or to increase energy production from nuclear power plants. Acid rain: They grant that it appears to be getting worse, and there is some evidence of limited local ecological damage, but there is no proven threat to agriculture or human life.