From: Reuters
Published April 7, 2008 05:05 AM

http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/29980

MANILA (Reuters) - Climate change is one of the factors causing an increase in the incidence of diseases like malaria and dengue fever, the WorldHealthOrganization said on Monday.

At least 150,000 more people are dying each year of malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition and floods, all of which can be traced to climate change, said Shigeru Omi, the head of the WHO's Western Pacific office.

More than half of those deaths are in Asia, Omi told reporters.

"Malaria-carrying mosquitos are now found in areas where there was no malaria before," he said, saying they were spreading to cooler climes from the tropics.

"For dengue, there are many other factors responsible for the rise of the mosquitos. But I am sure that climate change is certainly playing one of the many roles, that much we can say."

Malaria kills at least 100,000 people each year. WHO also estimates that there may be 50 million cases of dengue infection around the world every year, of which half a million will require hospitalization.

About 12,500 of the cases will be fatal.

Climate change is also causing sea levels to rise, rivers to dry up and weatherpatterns to become erratic, Omi said. Floods, drought and heatwaves are taking a toll on human health, he said.

Omi said the WHO is setting aside $10 million for an advocacy program to inform people and governments about the health dangers of climate change.

Less consumption of energy and advances in technology to lower carbon emissions will be crucial, he said.

"In my office, we don't wear neckties any more, unless it is a very formal occasion," he said, adding that this led to less use of air conditioning.

"There are many things ordinary citizens can do to avoid unnecessary use of electricity."

(Reporting by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

From: United Nations Environment Programme
Published April 7, 2008 08:14 AM

http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=530&ArticleID=5764&l=en

Brussels -The illegal international trade in environmentally sensitive items such as ozone depleting substances, toxic chemicals, hazardous waste, and endangeredspecies is a serious problem with global impact. This scourge which affects all countries threatens human health, deteriorates the environment, and results in revenue loss for governments in some cases. In fact the illegal trade in wildlife can be as profitable as dealing in narcotics. Shawls made from the wool of Tibetan antelope, the sale of which is completely illegal, are sold for up to 20,000 Euros each, while caviar from endangered sturgeon approaches 8,000 Euros per kilo on the retail market. Added to this is the alarming rise in virulent wildlife diseases, such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and avian influenza that cross species lines to infect humans and endanger public health.

Ozone depleting substances (ODS) such as those used in refrigeration and air conditioning systems not only destroy the earth's protective shield (the stratospheric ozone layer), but if released into the atmosphere also contribute to climatechange since they are also powerful greenhouse gases. Illegal trade in ODS has become a global phenomenon. Toxic waste too causes long-term poisoning of soil and water, affecting people's health and living conditions, sometimes irreversibly. Unscrupulous waste trade has become a serious concern since the 1980s and has now become a criminal offence under the Basel Convention on the "Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal". The waste may pass through several countries before reaching its final destination, making it more difficult to pinpoint responsibilities.

Mar 13th 2008
From The Economist print edition

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10853534 
China's hunger for natural resources is causing more problems at home than abroad

HERE is no exaggerating China's hunger for commodities. The country accounts for about a fifth of the world's population, yet it gobbles up more than half of the world's pork, half of its cement, a third of its steel and over a quarter of its aluminium. It is spending 35 times as much on imports of soya beans and crude oil as it did in 1999, and 23 times as much importing copper---indeed, China has swallowed over four-fifths of the increase in the world's copper supply since 2000.

What is more, China is getting ever hungrier. Although consumption of petrol is falling in America, the oil price is setting new records, because demand from China and other developing economies is still on the rise. The International Energy Agency expects China's imports of oil to triple by 2030. Chinese demand for raw materials of all sorts is growing so fast and creating such a bonanza for farmers, miners and oilmen that phrases such as "bull market" or "cyclical expansion" do not seem to do it justice (see special report). Instead, bankers have coined a new word: supercycle.

Not all observers, however, think that China's unstinting appetite for commodities is super. The most common complaint centres on foreign policy. In its drive to secure reliable supplies of raw materials, it is said, China is coddling dictators, despoiling poor countries and undermining Western efforts to spread democracy and prosperity. America and Europe, the shrillest voices say, are "losing" Africa and Latin America.

This argument ignores the benefits that China's commodities binge brings, not only to poor countries, but also to some rich ones, such as Australia. The economies of Africa and Latin America have never grown so fast. That growth, in turn, is likely to lift more people out of poverty than the West's faltering aid schemes. Moreover, China is not the only country to prop up brutish regimes. Witness the French troops scattered around Africa, some of whom recently delivered a shipment of Libyan arms to Chad's embattled strongman, Idriss Déby.