When this century began, neither human beings nor technology had the power radically to alter planetary systems. As the century draws to a close, not only do vastly increased human populations and their activities possess that power, but we are also faced with major unintended changes that are occurring in the atmosphere, in soil, in water, among plants and animals, and in the relationships among all of them.

This paper examines the widespread environmental effects, sensu stricto, that would result from a large-scale nuclear war and the resultant ecological impacts. Singled out for analysis are the effects of wildfires, radioactive fallout, enhanced ultraviolet radiation, loss of atmospheric oxygen, gain in atmospheric carbon dioxide, and reductions in sunlight and temperature; also of combinations and ramifications of these adverse phenomena.

The Ganga's unique and numerous virtues appear to be based on myths, but the reasons for its importance are traceable to scientific premises. The Ganga, symbolizing Indian culture and civilization, is regarded by the Hindus as the holiest amongst the rivers, and it is the Indo-Gangetic plain's most significant river owing to its mighty basin and course, and extraordinarily high self-purifying powers. The Ganga originates from Gangori in the Uttrakhand Himalayan glacier as an upland stream, emerges as a river of the plains at Rishikesh, and, after traversing almost the entirety of India from West to East, finally merges into the Bay of Bengal.

The state of the environment and its proper management is a prerequisite condition for the sustainable development of any country, and Pakistan is no exception.

Thus, availability of appropriate quantities of water and energy on a reliable basis in Pakistan is essential for improving the quality of life. This means that the policies formulated and actions taken must ensure that the developments taking place should not endanger the overall resource and environmental bases of the country, on which the development process itself depends. Currently, some serious environmental problems exist in Pakistan in terms of salinity development, waterlogging, and inefficient water-use, in the water sector, and deforestation in the energy sector—especially so far as fuel-wood availability is concerned. Furthermore, deforestation in the upper reaches of the catchment areas is contributing to high sediment-loads in the rivers of Pakistan, which in turn is reducing the reservoir capacities and their designed economic lives.

National park managers have to make difficult and often controversial decisions regarding how best to protect parks' resources and provide for their continuing use and enjoyment. Strictly speaking, resolution of parks' problems must be based on whether the NPS is adhering to its legislative mandate to regulate development and use and to protect parks' resources. The most basic fiduciary duties of the NPS are to manage resources in natural conditions, provide for use and enjoyment, and provide benefits for present and future generations. However, neither the legislation, judicial interpretations, nor the NPS, has defined the terms natural, appropriate forms (values) of use and enjoyment, or how to resolve intergenerational conflicts between present and future generations. Because neither scientific standards nor criteria of appropriate use have been defined, the NPS traditionally has fashioned policy by compromise—to reflect different citizen constituencies with preferences for different and often conflicting values.

The ever-increasing amount of marine debris in the Southern Ocean gives cause for concern, but the subject is little studied. I surveyed beaches on Tristan da Cunha, Inaccessible, Gough, and the Prince Edward Islands, in the African sector of the Southern Ocean, for stranded artefacts during 1984. The types of debris, their origin, and probable fate, were recorded and are reported in this paper.

A method is described of applying institutional arrangements to an individual environmentally significant area (ESA). It is assumed that an ESA has been recognized by park, wildlife, or other groups, on the basis of abiotic, biotic, and/or cultural, characteristics, as well as judgements about significance and constraints. National park, wildlife reserve, or other, institutional arrangements, may also have been suggested for the ESA. The goal is to decide whether these or other arrangements are appropriate— through analysis of relevant: (1) legislation; (2) agencies; and (3) reserve designation or land management types.