1.
Skills for tomorrow: In the future,
even more emphasis will be placed on skills that cannot
be automated. These "hyper-human" skills include caring,
judgment, intuition, ethics, inspiration, friendliness,
and imagination. Instead of a "secretary," for instance,
you might become an "administrative response specialist"
by developing your situation-management and problem-anticipation
skills. --Richard W. Samson, "How to Succeed in the
Hyper-Human Economy," Sep-Oct 2004, p. 40
2. Skills for right now:
Can you work in a team? Solve complex problems? Communicate
clearly in print and in person? These are skills that
employers are increasingly demanding, according to Syracuse
University public-affairs professor Bill Coplin, author
of 10 things Employers Want You to Learn in College.
Among the skills that will help keep workers marketable
in the near term are self-motivation, time management,
strong oral and written communication, relationship building,
salesmanship, problem solving, information evaluation,
and leadership. --Futurist Update, Feb 2004
3. Worm shortage ahead.
Increasing worldwide demand for fish is creating a shortage
of worms to supply anglers and fish farmers. To supplement
dwindling fresh-worm supplies from local worm farmers,
exporters are developing new high-tech worm-storage methods
such as cryogenics. --Environment in Brief, Nov-Dec
2003, p. 7
4. Winning the battle against the desert.
For less than a dollar a tree, Tunisia is planting 40
million trees a year to combat desertification. The government-sponsored
"green wall" project uses military manpower to keep costs
low; soldiers are also being deployed to help nomads adapt
to farming. Observers believe Tunisia's program could
serve as a model for its Saharan neighbors. --World
Trends & Forecasts, Government, May-June 2004, p.
6
5. All-day eating.
Rigid distinctions among breakfast, lunch, and dinner--and
of the times of day they occur--are fading as individuals
fit their dining habits around more flexible and fluid
work and life schedules. Restaurants accommodating these
blurred dining habits will offer a mix of big, little,
and medium meals during all hours. --Art Siemering,
"Cooking Globally, Eating Whenever: The Future of Dining,"
May-June 2004, p. 52
6. Coral reef loss may rival that of
rain forests. Hurricanes, disease,
climate change, pollution, and overfishing are decimating
the coral life on many of the world's reef ecosystems.
The loss of 80% of Caribbean coral reef cover in the past
three decades exceeds the rate of tropical forest loss.
Researchers now predict that, with global climate change,
coral reef ecosystems will se greater changes in the next
50 years than they have faced in the last half million
years. --World Trends & Forecasts, Environment,
Jan-Feb 2004, p. 14
7. The global wage gap is closing.
Rapid income growth in China and southern Asia is helping
to narrow average income inequality worldwide. This represents
a turnaround over historic trends, according to Penn State
sociologiest Glenn Firebaugh. --World Trends &
Forecasts, Economics, Mar-Apr 2004, p. 7
8. Children's aggressiveness may increase
as they spend more time with video games than television.
Because gaming is more participatory than watching TV,
children exposed to violence in video and computer games
are more at risk of acting out on aggressive impulses.
--World Trends & Forecasts, Society, July-Aug 2004,
p. 16
9. Older workers could help expand the
business day. A steadily growing
cadre of older workers could expand the productive working
days of businesses. Older people--whose numbers are rising
rapidly--tend to be early risers and at their sharpest
in the morning. An early-riser work shift of 6:30 a.m.
to 2:30 p.m. could expand commerce in cities as more businesses
offer services for the early birds. --World Trends
& Forecasts, Economics, May-June 2004, p. 19
10. Water "wars" could prevent the real
kind. Working out their conflicts
over water may help countries and regions resolve other
conflicts. Cooperation among Israelis, Jordanians, and
Palestinians on water issues in the Jordan River basin,
for instance, involves processes of negotiation and decision
making that could serve as a model of collaboration, says
one researcher. --World Trends & Forecasts, Government,
Mar-Apr 2004, p. 9