One of the most pressing challenges the world will face in the next few decades is how to alleviate the growing stress that human activities are placing     21    the environment. The consequences are just too great to     22    . Wildlife habitats are being degraded or disappearing altogether as new developments     23    more land. Plant and animal species are becoming     24    at a greater rate now than at any time in Earth's history.     25    many as 30 percent of the world's fish stocks are over-exploited. And the list goes on.
        26    , there is reason to have hope for the future. Advances in computing power and molecular biology are among the tremendous increases in scientific capability that     27    helping researchers     28    a better understanding of these problems. Recent development in science and technology could provide the     29    for some major and timely actions that would     30    our understanding of how human activities affect the environment.
    One priority for research is improving hydrological forecasting. It has been     31    that the world's water use would triple in the next two decades. Already, widespread water     32    have occurred in parts of China, India, and North Africa. The need for water also is taking its toll on fresh water ecosystems in the United States. Only 2 percent of the nations' stream are considered in good     33    , and     34    to 40 percent of native fish species are rare to extinct.
    To prevent outbreaks of     35    diseases in plants, animals and human, more study is needed on how parasites and disease-carrying species—as     36    as humans and other species they     37    — are affected by changes in the environment. The overuse of antibiotics both in humans and in farm animals has     38    to the growth of antibiotic-resistant micro organism. Researchers can take     39    of new technologies in genetics and computing to better monitor and     40    the effects that environment changes might have on diseases outbreaks.