Table of contents : Content: PART I: THE LITANY: Things are getting better -- Why do we hear so much bad news? -- PART II: HUMAN WELFARE: Measuring human welfare -- Life expectancy and health -- Food and hunger -- Prosperity -- Conclusion to Part II Unprecedented human prosperity -- PART III: CAN HUMAN PROSPERITY CONTINUE? : Are we living on borrowed time? -- Will we have enough food? -- Forests: are we losing them? -- Energy -- Non-energy resources -- Water -- Conclusion to part III Continued prosperity -- PART IV: POLLUTION: DOES IT UNDERCUT HUMAN PROSPERITY? : Air pollution -- Acid rain and forest death -- Indoor air pollution -- Allergies and asthma -- Water pollution -- Waste: running out of space? -- Conclusion to part IV: The pollution burden has diminished -- PART V: TOMORROW'S PROBLEMS: Our chemical fears -- Biodiversity -- Global warming -- PART VI: THE REAL STATE OF THE WORLD: Predicament or progress?