Received: from rivendell.vsta.com (rivendell.vsta.com [204.57.96.15]) by csf.Colorado.EDU (8.8.5/8.8.4/CNS-4.1p-nh) with ESMTP id MAA20980 for ; Sat, 7 Nov 1998 12:17:48 -0700 (MST) Received: from eglaze.vsta.com (eglazeADSL.vsta.com [204.57.96.81]) by rivendell.vsta.com (8.8.8/8.8.6) with SMTP id NAA27463; Sat, 7 Nov 1998 13:19:36 -0600 (CST) From: "Ed Glaze III" To: "Audubon Population" , "Population Forum, Sierra Club" , "KZPG Overpopulation News Network" , "PPN Listserv" Subject: People Count on CNN -- Sunday 1:30 EST Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1998 13:22:56 -0600 Message-ID: <01be0a84$05e977a0$516039cc@eglaze.vsta.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.71.1712.3 PEOPLE COUNT: FORGING AHEAD Jane Fonda hosts Turner Broadcasting's newest PEOPLE COUNT special, a half-hour look at the environment's past, present and future The special begins with a look at the ancient civilization of Easter Island, which offers a metaphor for what is being done to the planet today. According to one scientist who has spent 40 years studying the island and its mysterious 30-foot-tall statues, Easter Island's history offers a clear example of a culture that used up all of its natural resources, leading to an environmental meltdown. A team of scientists is now exploring a frightening theory, one that could affect all of us, about what destroyed the Easter Island civilization. In Atlanta, Ray Anderson, chairman and CEO of Interface, Inc., is taking climate changes into his own hands with a top-down vision of environmental responsibility, involving every one of his 7,500 employees. Innovative corporate policies, like dramatically reducing the greenhouse gases the Interface plants emit and attempting to achieve zero waste, are all part of his long-term strategy. We meet Prapa Kongton, whose life has been touched in a unique way by Ray's vision. The PEOPLE COUNT series of specials puts a human face on global issues debated at the United Nations. PEOPLE COUNT identifies solutions and profiles remarkable people who are having a positive impact in their own communities. Themes include stabilizing population, developing sustainable communities and cleaning up the environment. The half-hour special premieres on CNN Sunday, November 8th at 1:30 p.m. (ET). CNN International will carry the special in Asia on Sunday, November 8th at 10:30 (GMT) in Europe. To coincide with climate change negotiations on the Kyoto Climate Change Protocol, being held in Buenos Aires November 2-13, PEOPLE COUNT: FORGING AHEAD focuses on real solutions and real people getting involved with this complex issue. For more information on PEOPLE COUNT People Count is available to television stations worldwide and non-profit educational organizations, absolutely FREE. Each year, new programs become available. Specific issues include women's rights, the environment, population stabilization and reversing poverty through innovative job programs. ----------------------------- CNN Quick Vote question is: To vote go to: Results: Which best describes your environmental values? People first, Earth second 38% Earth first, people second 62% ________ Ed Glaze Port Mansfield, TX "If they don't understand the severity of the problem, they won't understand the severity of the solution. Overpopulation must be dealt with." Unofficial Easter Island Page A Brief History of Population and the Environment Facing The Future: People and the Planet Perhaps the most dramatic and best-documented example of overpopulation destroying a local environment - and ultimately the culture dependent upon it -- is Easter Island. This small island in the South Pacific -- now known primarily for its enormous carved stone figures, or moai -- was settled around 500 C.E. by Polynesian seafarers. Their culture flourished for several hundred years due to plentiful resources, including dense forests and abundant wildlife. But population growth caused the culture to exceed the island’s carrying capacity by about 1500 C.E., resulting in deforestation, exhaustion of the soil, and extinction of most species. By the time European explorers arrived in the early eighteenth century, the island was completely barren, and the culture had collapsed. The remaining people -- reduced by some two thirds from peak levels -- were engaged in constant warfare over the few remaining resources, and practiced cannibalism. As the history of Easter Island demonstrates, the decline of forests is not a modern phenomenon. What is unique today is the rate and extent of deforestation globally. Earlier in this century, forests covered around 40 percent of the earth’s total land area. Today, that forest cover is down to 27 percent - a loss of roughly one third. In developing regions, where population pressures have forced accelerated clearing of forests for agriculture and fuelwood, that loss is estimated to be nearer one-half.