A massive new United Nations report on the state of the Earth's ecosystems has just been released. After 4 years, a team of over 1300 scientists has published the results of a detailed look at ecosystems around the world, a project called the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.

The researchers found that of the 24 'ecosystem services' they looked at (items such as capture fisheries, water supply, waste treatment and detoxification, regulation of erosion, and aesthetic enjoyment), 15 of the services were being degraded or used unsustainably. "The full costs of the loss and degradation of these ecosystem services are difficult to measure, but the available evidence demonstrates that they are substantial and growing," wrote the authors. The researchers also found that "over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable period of time in human history." In this hour of Science Friday, we'll take a look at the report, and what it might mean for Earth's inhabitants.

Plus -- paper or plastic? It's a question you might often face at the local supermarket. But what is the 'right' answer? And can we learn to live with less packaging?

Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (3-4 Eastern). Teachers, find more information about using Science Friday as a classroom resource in the Kids' Connection.

Guests:
Don J. Melnick
Executive Director, Center for Environmental Research and Conservation
Thomas Hunt Morgan Professor of Conservation Biology
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology
Columbia University
New York, New York

Robert T. Watson
Chief Scientist
The World Bank
Washington DC

Carmen Revenga
Senior Freshwater Scientist
The Nature Conservancy
Arlington, Virginia

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Daniel Imhoff
Author, "Paper or Plastic: Searching for Solutions to an Overpackaged World"
Watershed Media
Healdsburg, California

Books/Articles Discussed:

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis Report (6.6 MB PDF)

UN Millenium Project Task Force 6 on Environmental Sustainability Final Report Summary (863 kB PDF)

'Paper or Plastic : Searching for Solutions to an Overpackaged World,' by Daniel Imhoff and Roberto Carra.Sierra Club Books, 2005.

(find books discussed on previous broadcasts)

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This segment produced by Annette Heist