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 ...