"U.S. National Report on Population and the Environment" highlights:

These "U.S. population trends" have major environmental consequences, described below:

• Land-use:  Today, all U.S. land is converted for development about twice the rate of population growth. Each American effectively occupies 20% more developed land (for housing, schools, shopping, roads and other uses) than 20 years ago. The most predominant form of land use change is "sprawl"--low density development spread into suburban and rural areas, with high vehicle use and new roads, shops and other infrastructures.

• Water:  America is among the world's top ten in per capita water withdrawal, with each American using three times that of the world average. About 40% of the nation’s rivers, 46% of lakes, and 50% of the estuaries are too polluted for fishing and swimming. Over half of the nation's wetlands are lost, now mainly due to urban/suburban development and land use change for agriculture.

• Biodiversity:  About 6,700 known plant and animal species are considered at risk of extinction in the U.S.  Almost 1,000 species are listed by the U.S. government as endangered, and 300 as threatened (over twice the number listed a decade ago), mainly (85%) from habitat loss and alteration. Half of the continental U.S. can no longer support its original vegetation. The biodiversity decline, called the “sixth mass extinction” in the Earth’s history, is for the first time being attributed primarily to human activity.

• Forests:  Today nearly three times as many people are being supported by the same forested area that existed 100 years ago. The U.S. is the world's largest consumer of forest products, jumping 50% in the past 40 years.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Resources:  Thirty percent of assessed fish populations in U.S. coastal waters are either overfished or fished unsustainably. A third of all U.S. lakes, a quarter of rivers, all of the Great Lakes, and two thirds of the nation's coastline were under a fish consumption advisory from pollutants in 2004, many related to mercury contamination. About a third of America’s freshwater animal species are at risk.

• Agriculture:  Nearly 3,000 acres of U.S. farmland are lost every day to development, with the rate of loss increasing.  America's prime farmland was developed 30% faster than other rural land in the past two decades.

• Energy:  With only 5% of the global population, the U.S. consumes almost 25% of the world’s energy. America has the highest oil consumption worldwide, and is projected to use 43% more oil than current levels by 2025. Transportation is the nation’s fastest growing energy use sector.

• Climate change:  The U.S. is the single largest carbon dioxide (CO2) greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter in the world, accounting for nearly a quarter of all global emissions. These are predicted to increase by nearly 43% by 2020. The nation’s average temperature increase over the next 100 years is projected to be 5-9oF. Predictions of sea level rise and more severe weather events that will impact coastal areas are predicted, particularly in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.

• Waste:  Each American produces about 5 pounds of trash daily, up from less than 3 in 1960, five times the average amount in developing countries. Nearly half of the nation's 1,300 “Superfund” sites are linked to contaminated or threatened drinking water sources. The U.S. is the largest per capita municipal waste producer in the world.

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