The dramatic photographs that appear in these pages were taken by astronauts aboard U.S. space shuttles. The pictures provide clear evidence that the earth is in grave danger as a result of human activity. Overpopulation, pollution and energy consumption have created such planet-wide problems as massive deforestation, ozone depletion and the global warming that is believed to be caused by the greenhouse effect. Yet these alarming trends, and how they interact with such natural phenomena as hurricanes and volcanoes, are still not fully understood by scientists.
Major help in studying the earth's environment is expected to emerge from a project being...