Speculates that almost half of the world's wildlife species may become extinct in the next fifty years as a result of loss of habitat, climate change, predation by humans, and other human activities. Suggests possible strategies for averting such a catastrophe. Examines the situations of lowland gorillas in Africa and in the Bronx Zoo, grizzly bears in the Blackfoot River valley of Montana, migrating birds and wetlands habitat in the Florida everglades,...

State of the planet -- Are populations soaring out of control? Today the Earth's population has surged to nearly 6.5 billion and is increasing by nearly 80 million people each year. Yet the population explosion that began in the mid 1900s is finally slowing down - and it is happening in some of the most unexpected places. Are we running out of water? Over 97% of our planet's water is undrinkable seawater and another 2% is locked up in polar ice caps....