News and Views

Presents environmental news and commentary briefs. Report that Dr. Reid Bryson of the University of Wisconsin told two U.S. Senate agriculture sub-committees last week that the era of surpluses and benign climate is over due to the effects of man-made pollution and volcanic activity; Discussion of the interaction between prey and predator from an ecological perspective; Report that Thomas Weaver described at a meeting of the American Physical Society a new nuclear fission pathway for obtaining enormous amounts of energy without producing radioactive byproducts; Report that seven West African countries have adopted a $120 million plan to eradicate river blindness among people living in the Volta river basin; Discussion of the search for protein-rich dietary alternatives to meat; Discussion of ecological problems in Greece; Report that the United Nations has convened a World Population Conference; Report that a unified transport scheme connecting the cities of Munich and Hanover in Western Germany is being considered by planning authorities; Discussion of efforts by the Australian government to decentralize its cities.