NEW YORK, July 14 (OneWorld) - Despite unprecedented growth in recent years, the world economy has not only failed to take care of the planet and its health, but also the basic needs of billions of its inhabitants, most of whom are condemned to live in slums with no safe water to drink, according to a new study released by a U.S.-based independent think tank.

Economists and environmentalists associated with the Washington, DC-based Worldwatch Institute, which authored the 160-page study, say last year the global economy experienced record increases in production, consumption, and growth, but that trend did not translate into any improvement in the living conditions for a vast majority of the world's population.

"Nearly one billion people still live without the barest essentials," says Erik Assadourian, who directed the project. "1.1 billion live without access to an improved water supply while 2.6 billion live without improved sanitation facilities, including even a simple pit latrine."

On the other hand, the study, entitled "Vital Signs 2006-2007 - Economic Gains Mask Underlying Crisis," shows that last year gross world product hit a record $5.9 trillion. One billion people used the Internet and cell phone sales reached more than 800 million units. In 2005, the auto industry built 64 million new vehicles, advertisers spent $570 billion, and meat production rose to a record 265 million tons.

Above all, according to researchers, the energy industry--including oil, gas, coal, nuclear, hydro, wind, solar, and biofuels--"hit a record" in production and consumption levels.

Are these signs of prosperity or are they warning signs?

"Many of these trends offer benefits to the people," says Assadourian, "but all of them have significant impacts on the environment, which at too high a level can also harm directly."

Assadourian agrees that increased use of cars can increase personal mobility, but argues that it also increases the use of oil, which causes air pollution, climate change, and traffic and suburban sprawl, which is linked with obesity and the erosion of local communities.

"Business as usual is harming the Earth's ecosystems and the people who depend on them," says Assadourian, adding that if everyone consumed at the average level of high-income countries, the planet could support only 1.8 billion people. The study suggests that today's 6.5 billion population is likely to grow to nearly 10 billion by 2050.

Environmentally, the world has become more vulnerable than ever before, the study's authors note.

The research shows that 2005 was the warmest year ever recorded since measurement began in 1880. Last year also saw three of the 10 strongest hurricanes ever recorded. It shows that over 62 percent of ecosystem services were degraded.

Moreover, the study's findings also point to the fact that last year 70 percent of coral reefs were either destroyed or faced the threat of destruction, with about 12 percent of bird species and three percent of plant species facing a similar fate. In the past five years (2000-2005) about 37 million hectares of forests disappeared from the surface of the Earth.

"These trends--both environmental and economic--are connected. They are warning signs," says Assadourian. "They are trends we must alter if we expect to create a better world. Booming economies do not need to spell environmental doom."

The study points out that nearly 80 percent of the world's energy comes from oil, coal, or natural gas--fossil fuels that contribute to the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. Fossil fuel burning continued to rise despite soaring energy prices over the past two years.

In 2004, according to researchers, coal use jumped 6.3 percent and natural gas consumption increased by 3.3 percent. Similarly, in 2005 oil use increased 1.3 percent.

While much of the world continues to use fossil fuels to spur economic growth, the study also shows some positive trends for renewable energy sources. Last year, for example, global wind power capacity increased by 25 percent, solar photovoltaic production rose by 45 percent, and biofuel use was up 20 percent.

"These developments are impressive and are likely to provoke far reaching changes in world energy markets within the next five years," says the Institute's president Christopher Flavin. "But the transition will have to move even faster to prevent the kind of ecological and economic crises that may be precipitated by continuing dependence on fossil fuels."