From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Dec. 30, 1988:

In a departure from what was then referred to as its annual “Man of the Year” designation, Time magazine this week named “the endangered Earth” its “Planet of the Year.” It was only the second time the magazine had chosen an inanimate object instead of a person or group for the yearly cover, the first having been “The Computer” in 1982. In its Jan. 2 cover article, released this week, Time warned of a series of impending environmental disasters, including the “greenhouse effect,” toxic and radioactive waste, chemical pollution and depletion of the ozone layer, and the clearing of tropical rain forests and the resulting extinction of thousands of species. “Most of these evils had been going on for a long time, and some of the worst disasters apparently had nothing to do with human behavior,” the article said. “Yet this year’s bout of freakish weather and environmental horror stories seemed to act as a powerful catalyst for worldwide public opinion.”