Includes bibliographical references (p. [435]-505) and index.

PART I: THE LITANY: Things are getting better -- Why do we hear so much bad news? -- PART II: HUMAN WELFARE: Measuring human welfare -- Life expectancy and health -- Food and hunger -- Prosperity -- Conclusion to Part II; Unprecedented human prosperity -- PART III: CAN HUMAN PROSPERITY CONTINUE? : Are we living on borrowed time? -- Will we have enough food? -- Forests: are we losing them? -- Energy -- Non-energy resources -- Water -- Conclusion to part III; Continued prosperity -- PART IV: POLLUTION: DOES IT UNDERCUT HUMAN PROSPERITY? : Air pollution -- Acid rain and forest death -- Indoor air pollution -- Allergies and asthma -- Water pollution -- Waste: running out of space? -- Conclusion to part IV: The pollution burden has diminished -- PART V: TOMORROW'S PROBLEMS: Our chemical fears -- Biodiversity -- Global warming -- PART VI: THE REAL STATE OF THE WORLD: Predicament or progress?

Bjorn Lomborg, a former member of Greenpeace, challenges widely held beliefs that the global environment is progressively getting worse. Using statistical information from internationally recognized research institutes, Lomborg systematically examines a range of major environmental issues and documents that the global environment has actually improved. Throughout the book, his sources are fully referenced, allowing discerning readers to investigate the facts used to support his argument. Lomborg criticizes the way many environmental organizations make selective and misleading use of scientific data to influence decisions about the allocation of limited resources. Written by a nonpartisan, independent thinker, The Skeptical Environmentalist is a useful corrective to the more alarmist accounts favored by green activists and the media.

Originally published in Danish as Verdens sande tilstand, 1998.