Acid Rain, Source: daac.gsfc.nasa.gov

Over the past several decades, the processes known as globalization have bulldozed across the planet and has altered much of whatever was found in its path. Many of these processes are beneficial: economic (albeit checkered) economic growth, enhanced communication systems, new modes of transportation, advances in medicine, science and industry.

But Modernization has come at a high price as we meld into something suggestive of world culture that is far from evenly spread. While new growth poles have emerged, the gaps between rich and poor remain.

Changes in climate and weather patterns, now broadly acknowledged, are not the only environmental manifestation of global change: There are numerous other "crises," some of which are related to changes in the atmosphere and others not. There is the reef crisis affecting habitats ranging from the Australian Great Barrier to the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat. The seas are being overfished and the oceans are absorbing large amounts of heat and carbon issued as the result of fossil-fuel use. Species loss in a myriad of environments is taking place faster than can be documented due to deforestation and changes in land use.

Some experts believe that we are courting catastrophe. Many more believe that the situation is worsening by the minute. As a geographer and as a concerned citizen of the world, I am committed to working for a sustainable future and influencing changes in society that will allow us to bequeath a viable biosphere to future generations.