Beasts

The nutria is a nearsighted, ratlike, South American import that has been reproducing wildly and flourishing in the Louisiana wetlands. Several million of the creatures, closely related to the guinea pig, are destroying the vegetation that provides the crucial buffer zone for hurricanes sweeping in from the Gulf of Mexico. Officials estimate it eats only 10 percent of what it destroys. So far, control measures, including encouraging local chefs to serve them as delicacies in restaurants, have been only marginally successful.

Drugs

Drug use by young Americans increased in 1997, led by rising marijuana smoking. Teens view it as a low-risk, "soft drug." Similarly, many parents are relieved when they discover that their children are using marijuana instead of heroin or cocaine.

Earthquakes

Between July 16 and August 4, three quakes measuring 7.1 struck around the globe. They occurred in the Santa Cruz Islands, in Papua New Guinea (killing over 1,500 with more than 2,000 missing) and in Ecuador (3 killed, 40 injured). In 1998 there have been 81 earthquakes measuring 6.0 or stronger.

Famine

Three years of famine in North Korea has killed up to 2 million people, most from famine-related diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, and diarrhea rather than starvation. To survive, people are eating weeds, grasses and corn stalks mashed into powder.

Violence

» In twin bombing attacks on August 7, terrorists killed at least 250 people and injured 4,257 in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The attacks, thought to be carried out by Muslim extremists, were aimed at the U.S. embassies in those cities.

» In the deadliest single attack in Northern Ireland over three decades of conflict, a car bomb on August 15 killed at least 28 people and injured over 200.

» In St. Paul, Minnesota, 24-year-old Laotian mother of six, Khoua Her, admitted to killing her three boys and three girls on September 3 because she "was depressed over the amount of responsibility she had." A family friend told reporters that she regretted marrying so young, a common custom in her homeland.

Weather

» China's worse flooding since 1954, caused by weeks of rain, has affected almost one-fifth of its population and killed more than 2,000 people. More than 17 million homes and tens of thousands of square miles of farmland have been inundated. The government reported that dysentery, hepatitis and parasite diseases are likely to worsen in the next three months.

» Floods and landslides have killed more than 200 in India. One witness said, "I saw a hill on the east of the village virtually bursting. It was like a bomb exploding." Large-scale deforestation and development have loosened soil and severely weakened the lower Himalayan slopes.

World Economy

Economists and financial experts foresee in the near future a possible global economic meltdown which will be beyond anyone's reach to halt. Pointing to Asia's financial crisis, Russia's economic and political instability and new fears about South American weakness—not to mention the introduction of the euro in January—Greg Mastel of the Economic Strategy Institute in Washington, D.C., says, "This is a serious global emergency."