January 6, 2011. WRI President Jonathan Lash briefing for journalists to preview key environmental issues in 2011. Find out more about this series at http://www.wri.org/storiestowatch

1. Environmental Stories to Watch: 2011Jonathan LashWorld Resources Institute January 6, 2011Global Vision for a Sustainable EarthPractical Solutions for People Twitter Hashtag: #stw11 - www.wri.org/storiestowatch

3. (Khalid Tanveer/Associated Press)

4. NASA satellite image of the ice island (top-left quadrant of image) that recently broke off the floating ice shelf of the Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland. Credit: NASA.

5. NASA Russia burning, August, 2010 REUTERS / Denis Sinyakov

6. Flooding in Pakistan, August, 2010 (AP)

7. Image: www.ohvec.org The Associated Press

8. BP's Oil Spill, April 20-July 15, 2010

9. Petroleum Products: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/energy_in_brief/foreign_oil_dependence.cfm Source: EPA, http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usinventoryreport.html

13. http://theblindedeye.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/the-mccain-palin-generational-challenge-clean-burning-coal/ http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2008/07/la-regions-powe.html Coal-Fired Power Plant Gas-Fired Power Plant http://www.solar-green-wind.com/archives/tag/photovoltaic-power-plant Nuclear Power Plant Solar Power Station

17. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=FAOFOODI:IND

19. http://www.potash1.ca/s/Fundamentals.asp

20. Total Global Liquid Biofuel Production (megatonnes), 1980-2008 Source: International Energy Agency, Online Data Services, 2010, http://data.iea.org/.

21. Projected Increase in Global Fertilizer* Consumption Source: FAO data cited in Selman, M. and S. Greenhalgh. 2009. Eutrophication: Sources and Drivers. Water Quality: Eutrophication and Hypoxia Policy Note Series No.2. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute *Fertilizer consumption includes nitrogen, phosphates, and potash.

22. Irrigation has allowed us to feed more people using the same amount of land…

23. Pollution to rivers is increasing % Increase in nitrogen flows in rivers since the mid-1990s 22 source: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

24. Source: USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service, Commodity Intelligence Report: http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2009/03/Indonesia/

25. Lalo de Almeida for The New York Times A soybean shipment at a farm in Brazil. The new link between Brazil and China marks a profound shift in world agricultural trade. Once the biggest bilateral food trade flowed between the United States, the world's largest food exporter, and Japan. But countries with vast arable land for expansion, particularly Brazil, are now racing to meet demand in China.

26. More than a billion hectares of degraded forest landscapes offer opportunities for restoration Source: Oedekoven, 1980 (in Williams 2006)

27. GM Chevrolet Volt:$41,000 Coda Sedan:$44,900 Ford Focus EV:TBA Nissan Leaf:$32,780

28. Source: Andrew Simpson

29. Photo: AP

30. By 2012, China will have more kms of HSR than the rest of the world combined. Photo by Philip Roeland

31. Global Impact Cumulative results: 129.3 kilometers of high-capacity transit built 720,000 tons of CO2 reduced 1.1 billion passengers served 39% travel time reduced per trip 355 million hours saved SOURCE: EMBARQ EMBARQ’s projects have served more than a billion passengers. Photo by SUM-Turkiye.

32. http://allworldcars.com/wordpress/?p=11866 http://allworldcars.com/wordpress/?p=11866 Rio de Janeiro Sao Paulo

34. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (L) speaks at a seminar on drawing up China's 12th Five-Year (2011 to 2015) Plan in Ningbo City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Dec. 7, 2010.

39. Photo via Fulton County Republicans

44. Environmental Stories to Watch: 2011 Twitter Hashtag: #stw11 www.wri.org/storiestowatch