Worried Scientists

The growing alarm at man's abuse of nature is having a significant effect on scientists. Instead of burrowing in their narrow disciplines, many are showing ever broader concern for social problems. In Boston last week, the trend was clear at the annual meeting of the 122,000-member American Association for the Advancement of Science, which staged more than 40 symposiums on issues affecting the quality of life. Among the highlights:

sb OVERPOPULATION. Biologist Barry Commoner, the Washington University eco-activist, warned that current projections of six to eight billion people on earth (twice as many as now) presage global catastrophe "probably within the next generation." The upsurge, he said, will strain the earth's dwindling resources while endangering the stability of ecosystems that supply food, oxygen and water--the necessities of life. Technology can ease the pressure for now, added S. Fred Singer, a high official in the Interior Department, but the cost will be enormous--for example, between $43 billion and $66 billion just to curb U.S. water pollution over the next five years. Sounding like a modern Malthus, Singer said: "A level exists beyond which a nation devotes too much of its productive capacity to simply keeping its head above dirty water."

sb AIR POLLUTION. Man is filling the air with more than 800 million tons of pollutants per year. Although the exact mechanism is unknown, scientists believe that the resulting dust particles help to form more clouds and rain. Said Charles L. Hosier, dean of Pennsylvania State University's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences: "There may be a threshold beyond which small changes in the weather could bring about major shifts in the earth's climate."

sb MISALLOCATED RESOURCES. Criticizing the space race, retiring A.A.A.S. President Walter Orr Roberts urged the U.S. to join Russia in a cheaper, mutual space program aimed at "an optimum balance of man and nature on this magnificent but imperiled planet." If the two countries directed their space efforts at earth, said Orr, teams of astronauts could chart ocean currents to help fishing fleets find their catch, discover just where air pollutants go in the atmosphere, and vastly improve weather forecasting. Dr. John H. Knowles, head of Massachusetts General Hospital, drew sustained applause by questioning the nation's current priorities. "We are spending twice on the supersonic transport what we spend on medical research in one year," said Knowles, "and that's going to cause more disease, more noise, air pollution and traffic congestion. And who the hell wants to get to London a few hours earlier anyway?"

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