Crowdsourced backend of the Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential
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Abuse of tourism for sexual purposes
Tourism for the purpose of casual homosexual or heterosexual encounters, particularly in the...
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Cruel treatment of animals for research
Biomedical research makes use of considerable numbers of animals in experiments, the majority of...
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Peripheral vascular disease
A narrowing or clogging of arteries in the arms or legs.
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Permafrost instability
Permafrost is rock and soil material that has remained below zero centigrade for two or more...
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Stereotypes
There is a tendency to identify individuals or groups with general, impersonal terms that allow one... -
Cruelty to animals
Inhumane treatment of animals takes on various forms. Domestic and captive animals often live in...
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Excessive consumption of fats
Diets high in saturated fat and dietary cholesterol are linked to heart disease, strokes,...
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Radiation accidents
Nuclear or radiation accidents are occasions on which irradiation or radioactive contamination...
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Looting
Looting is a common part of the aftermath of social confusion—war, disaster, coups, revolutions...
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Unhealthy cities
By the turn of the century, half the 6.2 billion population of the planet will be urban. The...
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Classified public information
Information is kept secret by authorities for reasons ranging from risk to national security to...
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Shortage of natural resources
Certain of the earth's resources, such as oil and coal, are non-renewable and sooner or later...
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Parasites
Human parasites are the cause of many diseases. There are ectoparasites, like mites and lice,...
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Indoor air pollution
For centuries people have suffered polluted and stale air inside cramped dwellings and huts. A...
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Sclerodactyly
Sclerodactyly is a tapering deformity of the fingers in which they become tight, stretched, wax-... -
Gluten intolerance
Gluten intolerance produces a wasting disease of childhood in which there is an inability to...
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Structural failure
The failure of engineering materials and structures may have detrimental effects on safety and...
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Threatened coral reef ecosystems
Coral reefs are under attack by enormous numbers of starfish of the variety called 'crown-of-...
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Genocide
Genocide is a crime under international law and condemned by the civilized world. It includes...,
1. Killing members of the group;
,2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
,3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its...,
4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
,5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
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Impropriety
Debates about public (and even private) morality are curiously selective. This is often not...
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Representative arts
It is through the fine arts that man portrays in material and concrete shapes his total...
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Rheumatic fever
Rheumatic fever is a multisystem inflammatory disease that occurs as a delayed sequel to group A...
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Clothing waste
The fashion industry has nurtured people's desire for new clothes to the point that trends shift...
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Ageism
The systematic oppression of older people by younger ones. People of advancing age are silenced by... -
Fibrous dysplasia
Fibrous dysplasia is a chronic disorder of the skeleton which causes expansion of one or more bones... -
Misuse of mangroves
Mangroves are highly productive ecosystems which provide a range of valuable forest products as...
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Cutaneous leishmaniasis
The single or multiple lesions of cutaneous leishmaniasis commonly occur on the face, arms and legs... -
Chronic wasting disease
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is the deer equivalent of "mad cow disease". -
Urban poverty
Urban poverty is, in a sense, an overflow of rural poverty. Because rural people in the low-...
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Unprotected migrant workers
In the wake of the failure, or unwillingness, of state attempts to control migratory flows, worker... -
Soil erosion
Soil erosion is the deterioration of soil by the physical movement of soil particles from a...
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Pneumothorax
A collection of air or gas in the pleural cavity.
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Ethnic conflict
Conflict of a physical nature or in the form of overt discrimination on ethnic grounds (which...
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