Mmm...where to start.

Acid rain...internation problem which often affects other nations other than the source nation. Currently being changed by increased emmision standards and retiring of extreme pollutors.

Power generators...these are probably the least reported upon. Although modern power generators use natural gas in NA rather than coal (as China and India do) because it burns cleaner the additional clearings required for the gas development etc. often result in greater damage than the coal method. This is the crux of the proposed Alaska pipeline arguement....how much cumulative damage. In addition there is the future power needs and sources...water is mostly out, solar, wind, and co-generation.

Urban sprawl and endagered species. The majority of endangered species in NA can be traced to urban development which land clearing, roads and powerlines have changed the habitat to the extent the animal populations face at the least local extinction. There should be numerous breeding programs etc to track down related to this issue (FL everglades are a prime example)

Fish populations....Fish are another rarely reported one other than Salmon on the west coast. But there exists too major problems...destruction of spawning beds (often again related to urban developments) for those species (include trout with them as well..they're of the salmonoid family) and the pressures placed upon they're "living area". Although national inshore waters exsist 20 miles from shore and the waters of influence exist 200 km(roughly 125miles) this still leaves huge areas of ocean availble for exploitation...including many of the most productive fisheries. OVerfishing of these uncontrolled waters has lead to the collapse of many of the commercial fish stocks including cod and halibut.

clean water...seems like a simple one right? well unfortunatly this is an increasing problem in the world due primarily to the lack of green drainages. Water which runs down the street into sewage system etc does not recieve the same cleaning that water than runs over grass does. For this reason many cities have institued green areas to help purify what water is there, cut down on C02 levels and smog (trees are a great filter) and provide aesthetic values. Contact the Society of American Foresters for more information.


Just a few to begin with....if you decide to get into tree issues or watershed stuff let me know