What environmental threats really kill people in numbers in the world today? Not RAL or dioxin or nuclear wastes, although these issues are real. The environmental threats that really kill people are diarrhea and dung smoke by a fantastic numerical margin. Approximately one billion people in the world have no access to safe drinking water uncontaminated by pollutants or actively containing disease. About 1.3 billion people in the world live in what is classified as dangerous areas of air pollution according to the World Health Organization. Easterbrook describes the magnitude of environmental challenges facing us in the developing world in the new century, but optimistically concludes that the developed countries will cooperate with developing countries to meet the challenges because it is in everybody's best interest.