Crowdsourced backend of the Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential
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Water insecurity
The water cycle makes available only so much water each year in a given location. That means...
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Waste of resources
In a society in which a high standard of living demands particularly rapid consumption of new...
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Erosion of journalistic immunity
Pressure to make journalists reveal their sources of information may take the form of arrest,...
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Fistulas
A fistula is an unnatural, narrow channel, leading from some natural cavity in the body to the...
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Diseases of the nervous system
Diseases of the human nervous system underlie a large number of symptoms of disorders, ranging...
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Asthma
Asthma is a disease involving airway inflammation. It is characterised by airway...
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Waste paper
Pre-consumer waste paper has long been a by-product of paper manufacture. It is produced from...
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Agricultural pollution
By-products and wastes from agriculture pollute water, soil, and air. The use of pesticides and...
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Electronic waste
Electronic waste comprises everything from old computers, photocopiers and stereos to telephones...
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African horse sickness
African horse sickness is an acute or subacute febrile disease of equines found in humid or...
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National public debt
Public debt is the obligation on the part of the government, one of its agencies, or of local...
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Electromagnetic pollution
Electronic smog occurs when electromagnetic waves from equipment like computers and electronic...
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Hypoglycaemia
Symptoms of hypoglycaemia include extreme hunger, irritability, dizziness, depression, lethargy...
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Decadence
Decadence revels in an excess of sensual pleasure which may be obtained through alcohol, drugs,...
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Exile
Prolonged absence from one's country of origin, either enforced by government authorities or by...
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Soil pollution
Many metals and organic substances have an affinity for organic matter or mineral particles....
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Perinatal mortality
Perinatal mortality comprises neonatal deaths and still-births. It overlaps somewhat with foetal...
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Tsunamis
Tsunamis (the Japanese name) are often called tidal waves, but this term is a misnomer. Unlike...
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Pneumonic plague
Pneumonic plague is a highly infectious disease which can destroy a victim's lungs within hours...
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Aerial piracy
Hijacking is the unlawful seizure of a vehicle, plane, or boat, by force or threat. Recently,...
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Juvenile prostitution
The range of child prostitution varies from individual cases to mass victims of organized crime...
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Münchausen by proxy syndrome
Suffers of this mental disorder arrange for another person to have fake symptoms of illness and...
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Ozone layer depletion
The ozone layer is a thin layer of oxygen-related gases in the part of the atmosphere known as...
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Eclampsia
A hypertensive disease of pregnancy which affects one in ten women and is a major cause of...
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Sleep-wake schedule disorder
The more common sleep phase disorder is delayed sleep phase, where sleep occurs later each day....
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Environmental hazards of pharmaceutical products
Pharmaceutical drugs given to people and to domestic animals – including antibiotics, hormones,...
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Cat fleas
Cat fleas are capable of transmitting plague and murine typhus to humans, though such reports...
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Environmental degradation of inner city areas
Central areas, especially in the major cities of the west, are those parts of urban settlements...
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Pollution
Put simply, pollution is the damage caused to any environment by harmful substances or waste....
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Lysosomal storage diseases
Lysosomal storage diseases are a group of around 40 different inherited diseases that affect...
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Political police
Under totalitarian regimes, thought police may be created to monitor publications and other...
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Fish stress
Stress is of central concern in aquaculture, as various stressors which accompany intensive fish...
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Endangered cultures
There are an estimated 15,000 cultures remaining on earth, many doomed or significantly...
The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential was initiated in 1972 following a collaboration between two international non-profits, the Union of International Associations (UIA) and Mankind 2000. It is the result of an ambitious effort to collect and present information on the problems humanity is confronted with, as well as the challenges such problems pose to societies' values, development strategies and concept formation.
The online version of the resource is currently undergoing significant transformation, and the publishing model is changing in exciting new ways. The main points are:
- Whilst the above NGOs remain equal copyright holders of the data, it is becoming possible for partners to re-publish any content on presentation sites under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA)
- Content of the database is being made centrally editable at edit.ewphp.org — to allow content changes on this site to propagate to any and all presentation sites
Please feel free to get in touch if you want to know more about the project, the ongoing transformation, or if you aspire to join the volunteer team as a database editor, presentation site developer or any other skill you feel might benefit the project!
News
- March 2016: An initial version of an API that allows retrieval and licensed re-use of the data is ready at demo.ewphp.org. We are currently working with selected developers, and a first public implementation of the API is taking shape as well. News about launch of both will follow soon!
- June 2015: Read the paper and presentation "Loop Mining in the Encyclopedia of World Problems" prepared for the 17th International Futures Conference "Futures Studies Tackling Wicked Problems" in Turku, Finland, 11-12. June 2015 — www.futuresconference.fi/2015