A Day In The Life Of Mother Earth : A SPECIAL EARTH SUMMIT ISSUE OF WORLD REPORT

World leaders will gather for a global summit on environment and development in Rio de Janeiro on June 3. If it’s a typical day . . .

250,000 people will be added to the world’s population;

Up to 140 species of living creatures will be doomed to extinction;

Nearly 140,000 new cars, trucks and buses will join 500 million already on the road;

56 million tons of carbon dioxide will spew into the atmosphere;

Forest covering an area more than one-third the size of Los Angeles will be destroyed;.

More than 12,000 barrels of oil will be spilled in the world’s oceans . . .

Mother Earth has amazing recuperative powers. But scientists fear the load may now be too much . . .

The Staff for ‘Mother Earth’

SECTION EDITOR: Dan Fisher

NEWS EDITOR: Jane Engle

ART DIRECTOR: Paul Gonzales

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR: Denise Beeber

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Juanita Darling in Mexico, Maura Dolan in Los Angeles, David Holley in Beijing, Joel Havemann in Brussels, Sam Jameson in Tokyo, Rone Tempest in Paris

ARTISTS: Victor Kotowitz, Susan Mondt, Anders Ramberg

PHOTO EDITORS: Robert Durell, Jayne Kamin

GRAPHICS EDITOR: Chris Erskine

RESEARCHERS: Kevin Fox, Tom Lutgen