Are humans an endangered species? (Thinking Aloud).

On a global basis, the expansion of human activity and associated loss of habitat, rising emissions of greenhouse gases, rapid population growth aggravating poverty in developing countries, and scarcity of food and fresh water are real and undeniable signs that humans are at risk of extinction.

The likelihood that humans will become completely extinct is improbable, unless there is a nuclear war or an unpredictable meltdown. Fundamentally, our survival as a race will greatly depend upon our ability, as the most adaptable species, to react with immediate and concerted action to the conditions present in our global environment.

After thirty years of experience in the population field, William Ryerson founded the Population Media Center (PMC), a non-profit non-governmental organization that works with broadcast and print media worldwide to motivate people to use family planning. From its headquarters in Shelburne, Vermont (United States), PMC uses entertainment and news programming on radio and television to educate the developing world on the need to reduce population in order to conserve natural resources and sustain human existence.

Among its strategies, PMC uses a specific methodology of behavioural change known as entertainment-education. Developed and pioneered by Mexican playwright-director Miguel Sabido, these methodologies have been applied throughout the developing world and consist of characters in long-running television soap operas who evolve to become role models for the adoption of health and social development as well as preservation.

Population growth and environmental degradation are not the only threats facing humanity. Both Sabido and Ryerson agree that the loss of culture among nations is just as much a contributor to the extinction of the human race. Mr. Sabido teaches that culture is the real inheritance we have because it distinguishes us from animals. All the cultures of the world form our global community.

Culture is, therefore, also a species, and many traditions--such as the Bali dances, the sub-languages of China, the Mexican Pastorelas, and the greater wisdom of Greece and Egypt--which are no longer valued in societies, have already become extinct. Mr. Sabido strongly feels that "the time has come in which the fight for humankind in culture and environment, at a global capacity, is no] longer for charity reasons but for the sake of survival of mankind".

Issues of necessity, such as water, food and the environment, are essentially issues of financial origin. Four billion people live in poverty, while only two billion live in wealth. In order to address realistically the issue of necessity, we must begin to confront the inequality of financial distribution on a global level. Corruption is as much a threat to humanity as is the environment. The problems facing societies are deeply rooted in capitalism and, until we end the colonized way of "doing business", we cannot honestly begin to ward off extinction. "The only ones who can truly save humanity", according to Mr. Sabido, "are those with the most financial influence. In the history of the world, it has always been those who possess and control the monetary power who have the most influence and who, by this fact, are responsible and most able to provide the real solutions to the world's problems". In short, those who can, now more than ever, must.

Social and informational norms must be changed, and statistics prove that soap operas, not clinics, and discussions determine behaviour. Mr. Sabido believes that the problems of the human species can only be solved if the large masses behave in socially responsible ways, through joint efforts of Governments, universities, non-governmental organizations, radio and television. This is the mission of the World Entertainment-Education Foundation (WEEF).

PMC and WEEF continue to work internationally to promote the socially beneficial uses of technology, enabling men, women and children to value their culture and their environment, and in the process improve the quality of existence for all of humankind. Yet, theory is always rooted in reality and that is always the true test. Environment, population and corruption are the issues of the twenty-first century, and nations will have to come to terms with this. The question facing us as a global community is whether or not we can grasp and accept the real threat of extinction and take preventative measures now, at the edge of crisis, and not when water scarcity, food resources and cultural degradation have become issues of such grave proportion that a desperate act must be taken. In the words of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan: "We must do more than talk about our future ... we must start to create it."

Melissa A. Rizio is Director of the World Entertainment-Education Foundation. She is currently spearheading Initiatives with various organizations that promote the positive use of the media.