State of the world, 1987

This is the fourth in an annual series of reports that measure worldwide progress in achieving sustainability -examining the counterpoint of urgency and uncertainty that has I come to dominate world affairs in an age when the environmental conse quences of human activities trans cend national boundaries. Institute President Lester R. Brown and Senior Resear cher Sandra Postel says: "Our relationship with the earth and its natural systems is changing, often in ways that we do not understand. The scale of human activities threatens the habitability of the earth itself. A sustainable society satisfies its needs without diminishing the prospects of the next generation. But by many measures, contemporary society fails to meet this criterion".
Each new edition of State of the World covers different topics that bear on prospects for sustainability. The 1987 report assesses human caused disruption of global chemical cycles; evaluates the worldwide reappraisal of nuclear power after the Chernobyl accident; profiles the accelerating urbanization of the world's population; discusses the shift to reliance on markets in a growing number of countries; and advocates new initiatives in recycling materials and raising agricultural productivity. In contrasting State of the World 1986 with the state of union address, Times wrote: "arguably a more accurate and provocative picture of the globe than the one sketched by the President".