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\ L 



8 



CONCLUSION: 



KNOWLEDGE AND LEADERSHIP FOR THE FLTTURE 



The recent United Nations Conference on Environment and Development 

 in Rio de Janeiro focused the attention of world governments and the inter- 

 national public on the new and continuing threats to our global environ- 

 ment. The agreements achieved at that Earth Sununit are steps in the right 

 direction, but the meeting also served to highlight just how serious the con- 

 tinuing threats to the biosphere are and how massive and complex the task 

 of overcoming them will be. 



KNOWLEDGE AND PROGRESS 



Solving the problems highlighted at the conference— the decrease in bio- 

 diversity, global climate change, the pressure of growing global population 

 on forests, freshwater supplies, and food, and many more —will require huge 



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