1) Many nations have been faced with the problem of ...

　　2) Recently the problem has been brought into focus.

　　3) Recently the phenomenon has become a heated topic.

　　4) Recently the issue has aroused great concern among ...

　　5) Nowadays there is a growing concern over ...

　　6) Never in our history has the idea that ... been so popular.

　　7) Faced with ..., quite a few people argue that ...

　　8) According to a recent survey, ...

　　9) With the rapid development of ...