Recent development in information and communication technology
provides an opportunity for public access to environmental
information in a cost-effective manner. In this video, UNEP
logos depict 120 environmental hotspots around the world—as part
of UNEP's mandate to keep the state of the environmental situation under review.
Following are four examples:
Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania—Melting Glacier:
• Mt. Kilimanjaro's fabled snows have
been disappearing since at least the early 20th century
• These images from 1976
and 2000 shows how rapidly things can change
• Projections indicate
that if this recession continues at the present rate,
the remaining snow and ice will completely vanish in the next 15 years
• Little remains of
the snow and ice that Hemmingway described as "wide as
all the world, great, high, and unbelievably white in the sun"
Extensive Deforestation in Paraguay—Iguazú:
• Between1973 and 2003, dramatic changes of
forest to agriculture was observed in Paraguay
• Iguazú National Park—a World
Heritage Site - contains remnants of the highly endangered
Paranaense Rain Forest bordering Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina
Almeria, Spain—From Rural to Greenhouse-based Agriculture:
• This is a dramatic visualization of rural agriculture
being converted to intensive greenhouse-based agriculture between 1987 and 2004 in Almeria, Spain
Restoration of the Mesopotamia Marshlands in Iraq:
• On a more positive note, here is one of the world's
great wetlands that had experienced significant reduction of water between 1973 to 2000,
that led to the collapse of the ecosystem, has shown signs of revival between 2000 and 2004
