Mankind: Earth's Greatest Threat

Green House gases, toxins polluting our water, extinction of entire species of animals and who is to blame for the downward spiral facing planet Earth today? Human beings. Greed, power and neglect are ultimately leading the human population into a grim future of our own. People need to start putting aside their petty differences and wake up to the rationale that we are currently staring down the barrel of a fully loaded, double-barrel shotgun. If we do not start acting responsibly and taking care of our only true home, we may soon be facing extinction ourselves.

PARIS: The human population is living far beyond its means and inflicting damage on the environment that could pass points of no return, according to a major report issued Thursday by the United Nations.

Climate change, the rate of extinction of species and the challenge of feeding a growing population are among the threats putting humanity at risk, the UN Environment Program said in its fourth Global Environmental Outlook since 1997.

"The human population is now so large that the amount of resources needed to sustain it exceeds what is available at current consumption patterns," Achim Steiner, the executive director of the program, said in a telephone interview. Efficient use of resources and reducing waste now are "among the greatest challenges at the beginning of 21st century," he said.