We recommend you read the accompanying captions, each of them written by an expert on sustainable development. The light they shed on individual photographs reveals the essence of their worth - that of a precisely documented testimony on the state of the Earth, a heritage both beautiful and fragile we must all endeavour to preserve.

After having been invaded by Iraq in August 1990, Kuwait was finally liberated on February 28, 1991, when a coalition of 28 countries headed by the United States intervened on January 17^th. During the Gulf War, a million impoverished uranium munitions will get fired. This particularly dense by-product of the nuclear industry can pierce through the tank's armour plating. When exploding, each uranium shell releases toxic dust in the air. This contamination, which is said to be the cause of the "Gulf" and "Balkan" Syndrome, also prevents anyone from approaching the 1400 irakian abandoned tanks in the desert to recycle certain pieces. The world budget for military expenditures for the year 2000 was more than $798 billion; the United States, western Europe, Japan, and Australia alone accounted for $517 billion. This same group of countries, which also make up the Aid and Development Committee, in 2000 provided public assistance for the development of the poorest nations to the tune of $53.7 billion, or roughly one-tenth of its global military expenditure.