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Home , Accident, Disaster, Famine

Winter 2008 Vol. XX No.4

Available in English, Ukrainian/Russian, Chinese SPECIAL FOCUS: and Spanish : Natural or Man Made? IN THIS ISSUE:

1 SPECIAL FOCUS: Famine: Natural or Man Made?

5 Chronology of

6 Did you Know?

7 Diabetes Update: POPS now associated with diabetes

8 Good News

10 Chornobyl Update: OVERVIEW

Child victim of the , Poltava region, , 1933 11 “New Safe Confinement” SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor Structure All through human history, we see the frequent occurrence of famine 12 Voices dating back to 400 B.C. when data becomes first available. It is not difficult to understand the reasons for famine in the past centuries when poor tech- nology and static economic systems hampered human beings from getting Mexico and Clean 12 access to , especially in the face of regional natural . But why Development Mechanism does food insecurity persist? The number of countries currently experi- Projects encing severe food shortage has almost tripled since 1990. Even though current global food supplies are sufficient to feed the world’s population, 16 Point of View: an estimated 20 percent of people in developing countries – more than 800 The Greenhouse Effect million people -- still lack access to enough food on a regular and predict- on 9+ Billion People able basis. To understand this stubborn question, we first look at defini- tions.

What is Famine? Of course, the word “famine” is difficult to define and is a political “hot potato.” Famine is like insanity, hard to define but glaring enough when recognized. There are dozens of definitions, but not yet one that everyone Education brings choices. agrees on. No government likes to hear the “F-word” in connection with Choices bring power. its country; neither do agencies or international donors. It implies that they have failed to stop a food shortage from turning into a major humani- World Ecology Report is printed on recycled paper. tarian . • According to common usage as found in Wikipedia, • The international famine center (www.ucc.ie) defines famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to famine as follows: Famine may be seen as “the regional any faunal species, a phenomenon which is usually accom- failure of food production or distribution systems, leading panied by regional , , , to sharply increased mortality due to starvation and associ- and increased mortality. ated disease”. • According to Médecins Sans Frontières, famine is a The definitions above suggest the following points: situation where more than five people in 10,000 are dying First, it is regional, not family failure, and points to the every day due to malnutrition and . importance of markets and, by implication, of shifting • USAID says a famine is a “catastrophic food crisis that demand for different in addition to their results in widespread acute malnutrition and mass mortal- aggregate supply. Second, famine also identifies “excess ity. It is a process, rather than an event, with a beginning, a middle and an end.” • The World Food Program says a famine occurs when famine also identifies “excess ” - a serious food crisis is made worse by “governments’ fail- deaths that otherwise would not have occurred ure to deal with the situation”. In most of the 80 countries where WFP operates, people are on the brink of a food deaths”– deaths that otherwise would not have occurred crisis. as the core feature of famine; and attributes those deaths • According to the New Palgrave Dictionary of Eco- to morbidity as well as to seriously reduced consumption. nomics, Thomas Malthus, the eighteenth-century British Abnormally high mortality may be the hallmark of fam- economist, theorized that famine, along with and ine, but societal breakdown is its essence. Most famine-in- disease, was an adaptation to the imbalance between avail- duced mortality tends to occur after the worst of the food able food and population size. crisis is over but while the crisis of infectious disease per- • Stephen Devereux and Paul Howe, from the institute sists. Third, famine is the endpoint of a lengthy process of Development studies of of Sussex, in their ar- in which people in increasing numbers lose their access ticle about “Intensity and Magnitude Scales for Famine”, to food. Most famines have long gestation periods, typi- suggest the definition of famine is “where the number of cally covering two or more crop seasons. Because it is also people dying is between 2-4 people per 10,000 population typically shrouded in ambiguity, early detection is rarely per day, and/or is between 20-40 percent (that is definitive and seldom produces early response. the proportion of children aged between six months and Moreover, famine entails more than a severe shortage five years old who are less than 80 percent of the average of food and grotesque distortions of normal . weight-for-height). Coping strategies are exhausted and Famine features a deepening recession in the entire rural people adopt survival strategies. Markets begin to close or economy, one affecting production and exchange, em- collapse.” ployment, and income of farm and non-farm households alike. In , for example, the government reacted angrily to some reports calling the situation there a famine. Presi- dent Mamadou Tandja said Niger was not experiencing a famine but a “food shortage”. He put it this way in an interview in August 2005 with the BBC: “There are three signs of a famine: when people are leaving the countryside and going to live in shantytowns; people are leaving the country; and there are beggars all over the place. Those three things do not exist in Niger at the present time.” The U.S. government’s international development agency, US- AID, and the Washington-funded early warning service FEWSNET both describe the situation in Niger as a “very severe, but localized crisis”. Meanwhile, the World Food Program says Niger is experiencing “pockets of severe malnutrition”. Other agencies range between calling the situation a “humanitarian ” and “an acute livelihood crisis”. Food aid professionals have been known to debate whether a crisis was a famine or not for SOURCE: http://www.hizb.org.uk many years after the event. World Information Transfer World Information Transfer 2 World Ecology Report World Ecology Report 3 Winter 2008 Winter 2008 What are the major causes of Famine? history, most famines were caused by a combination of nat- Traditionally, famines are thought to be caused by re- ural, political, economic and biological factors. Famines duction in food output or a population outgrowing its can be exacerbated or even caused by poor governance or regional . In this perception, the opera- inadequate logistics for food distribution. tive cause of famine is an imbalance of population with re- Michael Chossudovsky, from the University of Ottawa, spect to food supply (and could thus be solved by popula- thinks that while “external” climatic variables play a role tion control methods). Famine could also come from the in triggering a famine and heightening the social impact problem of food distribution and poverty, as observed by of , famines, especially in the age of globalization, economist . are man-made. They are not the consequence of “a scar- And while food shortages can certainly cause famines, city of food” but of a structure of global oversupply which it does not follow that all famines must necessarily be undermines food security and destroys national food agri- caused by food shortages. Famine implies that some peo- culture. Tightly regulated and controlled by international ple do not have adequate access to food, it does not imply agro-business, this oversupply is ultimately conducive to that food itself is in short supply. the stagnation of both production and consumption of essential food staples and the impoverishment of farmers throughout the world. famine implies that some people do not have In some modern cases, it is political strife, poverty and adequate access to food, it does not imply violence that disrupt the agricultural and food distribu- that food itself is in short supply tion processes. Modern famines have often occurred in nations that, as a whole, were not initially suffering a short- age of food. One of the largest historical famines (propor- Nearly a century ago, Cornelius Walford in the Famines tional to the affected population) was the of the World Past and Present (1878-1879) listed 12 causes in Ireland, which began in 1845 and occurred as food was of famine, classifying them into natural causes beyond hu- being shipped from Ireland to England because only the man control and artificial causes within human control. English could afford to pay higher prices. Historically, natural causes include drought, excessive Some cases caused by the unintentional result of rains and , unseasonably cold , and government policy occurred in in the mid- other high winds, tidal waves, depredations by vermin and 1990s, and in the first years of the . such insects as , and plant diseases. They chiefly Famine is sometimes used as a tool of repressive govern- tend to reduce production of food and to destroy stocks. ments as a means to eliminate opponents, as in the the Occasionally, though mostly for short periods, or Ukrainian famine or Holodomor, of the 1930s when food frosts restrict the flow of foodstuffs from surplus to deficit was shipped by Stalin to Belgium, France and Germany areas. while starving the population of Ukraine. In other cases, The artificial causes were commonly political---poor such as , famine is a consequence of civil disorder governmental policies, misguided or deliberate public as food distribution systems break down. policies, and repressive political systems. They include warfare that involves siege or blockade or destruction of political strife, poverty and violence that disrupt food stocks or growing , and wartime strains on eco- the agricultural and food distribution processes nomics that diminish manpower, machines, or , thus reducing cultivated acreage, yields, and production. , particularly when they involve a struggle be- It is also important to note that famine occurs not only tween peasantry and officialdom, may reduce food acre- because a certain chain of events but also because noth- ages and yields and thus contribute to famine. Political in- ing prevents or curtails the process. It is rare for the gov- stability, armed conflict, corruption, misguided economic ernments of famine-prone countries to possess the means policies and mismanagement in handling food supplies, with which to intervene to prevent a famine. The most and trade policies that harm , political design effective way of preventing and preparing famine-prone to impoverish or marginalize certain populations are also areas is through economic development. We know how important causes. Today, in , AIDS is also having effective intervention works and it is through political will long-term economic effects on agriculture by reducing that the solution of famine can be resolve in the future. the available workforce, and is creating new vulnerabilities to famine by overburdening poor households. Future perspective of Famine People have learned to modify some of the natural On today’s Earth, approximately 40% of the world’s causes as well as to minimize their impact. And in recent agricultural land is seriously degraded. In Africa, if cur- World Information Transfer World Information Transfer 2 World Ecology Report World Ecology Report 3 Winter 2008 Winter 2008 rent trends of soil degradation continue, the continent now be contributing to the decline of arable land (e.g. might be able to feed just 25% of its population by 2025, persistence of leading to ). according to the University’s (UNU) Developed nations have shared these technologies with Ghana-based Institute for Natural Resources in Africa. As developing nations with a famine problem, but there of late 2007, increased farming for use in , along are ethical limits to pushing such technologies on lesser with world oil prices at nearly $100 a barrel, has pushed up developed countries. This is often attributed to an asso- the price of grain used to feed poultry and dairy cows and ciation of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides with a lack other cattle, causing higher prices of (up 58%), soy- of . bean (up 32%), and (up 11%) over the year. Food deficits which are already spurring heavy grain riots have recently taken place in many countries across imports in numerous smaller countries, may soon do the the world. An epidemic of stem rust on wheat caused by same in larger countries, such as or India. Various race is currently spreading across Africa and into water issues including falling water tables due to Asia and is causing major concern. overpumping and disappearing glaciers leading to floods Beginning in the , fertilizers, followed by , will eventually lead to cutbacks on new pesticides, , and other agricultural grain in the coming decades. technologies began to be used as weapons against fam- One study concludes that the agricultural crisis will only ine. Between 1950 and 1984, as the Green begin to impact us after 2020, and will not become critical until 2050. The oncoming peaking of global oil produc- tion (and subsequent decline of production), along with famine is sometmes used as a tool of repressive the peak of North American natural gas production will governments as a means to eliminate opponents, very likely precipitate this agricultural crisis much sooner as in the the Ukrainian famine or Holodomor.... than expected. Geologist Dale Allen Pfeiffer claims that when food was shipped by Stalin to Belgium, coming decades could see spiraling food prices without France and Germany while starving relief and massive starvation on a global level such as never the population of Ukraine experienced before. Famine looms as a potential threat to human beings in the new century. Whether this will result from nature, transformed agriculture around the globe, world grain human politics, or the combination of both, remains an production increased by 250%. These agricultural tech- obstinate question, just as it has over the millennia. The nologies temporarily increased crop yields, but there answer to whether famine can be prevented in the future are signs as early as 1995 that not only are these tech- depends on sound, humane planning as much as on per- nologies reaching their peak of assistance, but they may ceptions of a crisis.

References: 1. Global Policy Forum. “Why Is Famine so Hard to Define? By Alex Whiting, September 16, 2005 2. Wikipedia: Famine 3. Bongaarts and Cain 1982; Greenough 1976 and 1982; see also the studies cited by Dreze and Sen 1989, 44). 4.“Famine”. Encyclopaedia Britannica July .2008. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/ topic/201392/famine# 5.“Famine”. The New Palgrave: A dictionary of economics. 1st edition. 1987. 6.“Famine”. 6.The Macmillan Encyclopedia of and Dying. July 29, 2008. http://www.deathreference.com/En-Gh/ Famine.html 7.“Famine”. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 1968. 8. Encyclopedia of . 9. Sen 1981; Greenough 1982; Ravallion 1987; Desai 1988; Dreze 1990a. North Korean children suffering from malnutrition 10. Eicher 1987; Dreze and Sen. SOURCE: www.flatrock.org.nz World Information Transfer World Information Transfer 4 World Ecology Report World Ecology Report 5 Winter 2008 Winter 2008 Chronology of Famines* v 400 and 800, Rome, the population of the city of Volga region, lost about 1/3 of its population, or about Rome fell by over 90%, due to famine and plague. 9 million people, caused by drought and war. v 800-1000, Mayan Empire, severe drought killed v 1928-1929, Northern China, famine caused by millions of Mayan people. drought resulted in 3 million deaths. v 1315-1317, Great Famine in Europe. v 1932-1933, Soviet famine in Ukraine (Holodo- v 1601-1603, , famine claimed up to one-third mor), some parts of Ukraine and North Caucasus area Russian population. lost an estimated 10 million people killed by famine re- v 1630-1631, Deccan kills 2,000,000. sulting from Stalin’s policy of forced collectivization.** v 1693-1694, France, famine in which killed 2 mil- v 1932-1933, , famine killed 1.2-1.5 mil- lion people died lion, due to Stalin’s policies of collectivization as above. v 1696-1697, , famine wiped out almost a v 1936-1938, Sichuan, China, famine killed an esti- third of the population mated 5 million people. v 1708-1711, , famine killed 250,000 v 1942-1944, Bengali Famine in India took between people or 41% of its population 1.5-3 million casualties, partly due to war, British policy v 1783, , famine caused by (volcano) failures, crop failures, food hoarding. eruption claiming one-fifth of Iceland’s population v 1946-1947, , famine caused roughly 1.2 v 1810, 1811, 1846, and 1849, China, Four famines million deaths due to poor harvest and policy failures. together killed nearly 45 million people.** v 1959-1961, China, / The v 1830, Cape Verde, famine killed almost half the . The official statistic is 20 mil- population lion deaths caused by droughts, floods, and poor gov- v 1845-1849, Ireland, Potato Famine caused by enrment policy.** potato blight and crop destruction killed more than 1 v 1965-1967, , India, famine caused by drought million people. was responsible for 1.5 million deaths. v 1850-1873, China, as a result of Taiping , v 1967-1970, , famine took more than drought, and famine, the population of China dropped 1.5 million lives caused by . by over 60 million people.** v 1968-1972, drought created a famine that v 1866, India ( and Orissa), one million per- killed a million people,. causes were drought, but wors- ished due famined caused by limited rainfall. ened by corruption and mis-management of interna- v 1869, India (northwest and central provinces), 1.5 tional aid. million died due to famine caused by drought. v 1974, Bangladesh, famine claimed between v 1870-1871, Persia, famine is believed to have 500,000 to 1.8 millions lived due to drought. caused the death of 2 million people. v 1975-1979, Cambodia, under the , v 1876-1879, China, famine in northern China killed an estimated 2 million Cambodians lost their lives to 13 million people, caused by drought.** murder, forced labor and famine. v 1876-1878, India, 5.25 million died in the Great v 1983-1985, Sahel Belt, Africa, 22 million people famine, caused by drought. died in the region due to prolonged drought originat- v 1892-1894, China, famine in northern China ing in late 1970s.** claimed 1 million casualties, caused by drought . v 1984, , famine claimed 600,000 to 1 mil- v 1896-1902, India, famine estimated to have caused lion casualties, caused by war, and drought. 5 million deaths due to drought and widespread dis- v 1996, North Korea, famine killed roughly 0.6-1 mil- eases. lion casualties, due to poor and policy failures. v 1907, East-central China, famine claimed 4 mil- v 1998-2004, Congo, famine and disease killed about lion people due to excess of rain. 3.8 million people due to war. v 1914-1918, Mount region, famine during World War I which killed about a third of the popu- * The famines included in this list caused a minimum of one mil- lation caused by war and Ottoman Empire’s policy lion deaths or reduced the population by 20% according to available toward the population of region. data. v 1914-1918, Belgium, famine resulted from World ** The famines included in this list caused at least 10 million deaths War I. accordng to available data. v 1917-1919, Persia, as much as 1/4 of the popula- Sources: Famine. The International Encyclopedia of Social tion living in the north of died in the famine. Sciences. 1968; The Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and v 1921-1922, former USSR, especially Ukraine and Dying: http://www.deathreference.com/En-Gh/Famine.htm World Information Transfer World Information Transfer 4 World Ecology Report World Ecology Report 5 Winter 2008 Winter 2008 consumption of farmed seafood has 50 Percent of Food is increased nearly 1,000 percent since Wasted Causing Water, 1970, in contrast to per-capita meat consumption, which grew just 60 Food and Hunger percent. In 2006, fish farmers raised Crisis says SIWI, nearly 70 million tons of seafood FAO and IWMI worth more than $80 billion-nearly In order to meet the challenge of double the volume of a decade feeding the growing global popula- earlier. Experts predict that farmed tion and to combat global hunger, seafood will grow an additional 70 percent by 2030. the Stockholm International Water Farmed seafood currently pro- Institute (SIWI), the Food and Agri- vides an estimated 42 percent of the culture Organization of the United world’s seafood supply, yet there are Nations (FAO) and the International Precautionary no widely accepted standards for Water Management Institute (IWMI) Principle Ignored what constitutes “good” fish farm- released a policy brief this summer Although there was significant ing. By comparison, the organic titled, “Saving Water: From Field to agreement at IFCS Forum VI that the has strong interna- Fork – Curbing Losses and Wastage health and environmental problems tional and national standards, even in the Food Chain,” which calls on posed by the international trade of though it constitutes just 3 to 5 governments to reduce the amount lead and cadmium warrant coor- percent of the world’s food supply. of food that is wasted after it is grown dinated international action and The need for more sustainable fish by half and outlines attainable steps to support, many countries, especially farming is critical, according to the do so. developing countries and countries Worldwatch report, Farming Fish The Report highlights an often with economies in transition, are for the Future. Source: http://www.worldwatch.org overlooked issue: we are providing unable to address the problems via food to take care of not only our unilateral action. A sad illustration necessary consumption but also of this reality occurred just 13 kilom- Children’s Health our wasteful habits. Noting that eters from the Forum VI conference and wasting food also wastes the water site in Dakar, where 22 children died = There was a 68 percent reduction used to grow and transport the from over a three in measles deaths globally from food, the report draws attention month period, and in June a further 2000 to 2006. to the rising demand for water- 31 children were found to have po- = There was a 91 percent reduction tentially lethal levels of lead in their in measles deaths in sub-Saharan Af- intensive agricultural products, blood. To that end, the IFCS (Inter- rica from 2000 to 2006 such as beef and bioenergy. In governmental Forum on Chemical = In Nigeria, confirmed cases of poorer countries, a majority of ) secretariat included the wild polio virus dropped from 830 uneaten food is lost before it has a international transport of lead and to 286 from 2005 to 2007. chance to be consumed. Depend- cadmium via trade as a proposed = In India, confirmed cases of wild ing on the crop, an estimated 15- emerging issue in its submission to polio virus increased from 66 to 864 35 percent of food may be lost in the Chemical Safety Management from 2005 to 2007. the field. Another 10-15 percent Secretariat, or SAICM. = In 2007, 31 countries included is discarded during processing, Sources and more information: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?Rep key child protection indicators in transport and storage. In richer ortId=79291; http://www.chem.unep.ch their national plans, compared to countries, production is more ef- only 14 in 2005. ficient but waste is greater: people Fish Farming Industry = In 2007, 119 countries ratified the toss the food they buy along all the Optional Protocol to the Convention Fish farming has expanded to resources used to grow, ship and on the Rights of the Child on the in- meet the soaring global demand for produce it. The Report stresses volvement of children in armed con- seafood. On average, each person that the magnitude of current flict, compared to only 3 in 2000. on the planet is four times Source: UNICEF – Data Companion to food losses presents both chal- as much seafood as was consumed the Annual Report of the Executive lenges and opportunities. in 1950. The average per-capita Director (June 2008) Source: http://www.siwi.org/sa/node.asp

World Information Transfer World Information Transfer 6 World Ecology Report World Ecology Report 7 Winter 2008 Winter 2008 Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Diabetes Update: Safety (IFCS), Forum VI POPS now associated with diabetes Based upon the decisions of the UNEP Governing Council (22/4 and On July 10, 1976, a reactor at a chemical plant near the town of Seveso 24/3), paragraph 57 of the WSSD in northern Italy exploded causing the release of a toxic cloud that con- POI (Plan of Implementation), the Budapest Statement on Heavy Met- taminated close to 18 square kilometers of land with TCDD, an industrial als of the Fifth Forum of the IFCS, dioxin. The immediate effects of the explosion were relatively mild: 15 chil- the objective of the session titled: dren were hospitalized with skin inflammation; approximately 3300 small “International Transport of Lead animals were killed. The long term effects of the explosion have left far and Cadmium Via Trade: An Inter- more severe effects on the people of Seveso, including premature deaths national Concern?” was to provide a from cancer, cardiovascular disease, and surprisingly, diabetes. platform for further consideration of the question on whether the interna- A small group of scientists now believe that diabetes can be triggered tional transport of lead and cadmium by a family of toxic chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants, or via trade rises to the level of an inter- POPs. Ever since, the dioxin released near Seveso has been listed among national concern and thus warrants the most highly toxic POPs and has been banned by the Stockholm Con- coordinated international action. vention. U.S. veterans from the Vietnam war, who were exposed to dioxin- Source: www.IPEN.org, Report from IFCS meeting, Dakar, Senegal, contaminated Agent Orange, are among victims like those in Seveso who September 2008 have developed diabetes. Once POPs enter the food chain and are consumed by the body, Change: they take up residence in . They have long been known to cause birth = Threatens defects, cancer, immune dysfunction, and endocrine disruption. In spite indigenous populations of the ban of 12 of the worst POPs in 2004, POPs remain present in the An estimated 370 million people, environment and food chain due to their continued use in the developing representing at least 5,000 different world and because of the fact that the chemicals take decades to break indigenous groups in more than 70 down. countries, currently reside in ar- The standard explanation for the incidence of type 2 diabetes—that it eas particularly susceptible to global is a “lifestyle disease” caused by laziness and over eating—is being chal- warming. They are often the first to lenged by epidemiologists who, in the past decade, have found an associ- experience erratic weather and suf- ation between exposure to POPs and the risk of developing diabetes later fer its results. In food production, on in life. Research has been recently conducted (using the US National traditional knowledge and practices Health and Survey as their source of analysis) to analyze the rela- can facilitate adaptation to climate tionship between exposure to POPs and diabetes. While results indicate change. For example, in Peru, po- that those who are obese are no more likely to have or develop diabetes tatoes planted in the traditional ways were the only ones to survive record- than those who are not obese, the study suggests that POPs plus breaking frost temperatures. may trigger diabetes, and the fatter you are the higher the risk. Source: FAO Newsroom When the researchers examined the link with body mass index, they http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/ found that in people with high levels of POPs, the odds of being diabetic 2008/1000906/index.html were much higher for the obese than the lean. This suggests that some- = Global emissions totals thing about excess fat may be enhancing the toxicity of POPs. It is pre- The world’s carbon dioxide emis- mature to conclude that persistent organic pollutants themselves cause sions in 2007 grew 3 percent from diabetes, but the global of both obesity and diabetes raise 2006 according to an annual report the need for ongoing research into the role played by these highly toxic from the Global Carbon Project. chemicals. The climb in overall emissions last year was especially surprising given Source: From issue 2673 of New Scientist magazine, 15 September 2008 the economic downturn that was ex- World Information Transfer World Information Transfer 6 World Ecology Report World Ecology Report 7 Winter 2008 Winter 2008 pected to help curb emissions. For watt-hour. Solar: While solar tech- the first time, developing nations nologies generate current costs of took the lead in overall CO2 emis- $.08–$.012/kWh, future advance- sions, accounting for 53 percent of ments are expected to decreases the total, according to the report. costs to $.04–$.05/kWh. Wind: China took the lead as the world’s Wind power costs have decreased to less than $.05/kWh, and future largest CO2 polluter, accounting for approximately 60 percent of the technology is expected to make wind even more inexpensive. rise in worldwide emissions in 2007. Investment in renewable energy Alarmingly, the report found that has risen significantly in the past the world’s natural carbon sinks, in- year, with worldwide investment cluding oceans and forests that keep up to $71 billion in 2007 compared carbon out of the atmosphere, have to the $55 billion invested in 2006. been absorbing about 3 percent less Renewable Energy: Increased investment in Solar and CO since 2000 than they 2 Comparative Costs Wind energy sources accounted did in the first half of the 20th cen- Renewable Energy in the forms for the majority of the $16 billion tury. of hydro, solar, geothermal, biomass growth. Germany increased spend- Source: http://www.grist.org/news/ ing on alternative energy the most, 2008/09/26/CO2up/ and wind energy, have emerged as the world’s leading substitutes for followed by China and the United fossil fuel as the fight against climate States, respectively. Investment is = May be linked change continues. The economic expected to double from 2008-2010 to rise in Legionellosis costs and benefits of alternative en- as the global community becomes Legionellosis, the oldest of the ergy have been argued often on the more aware of the necessity and vi- “new and emerging” of fears of losing jobs or incurring pro- ability of alternative energy. the past few decades, has been clini- hibitively high expenses. A more ac- Source: Energy News Central, Sep- tember 22, 2008, “Renewable Energy cally present for more than 30 years. curate picture of renewable energy Technology” In the US, the incidence of legionel- forms comes into focus when we losis (calculated from voluntary compare the cost of generating nationwide reporting to the CDC) 1kWh of power with the potential remained steady at about 1250 cases gain on investing the generated unit International Group of power annually for 1990-2002, and then Commends PR’s Biomass: Co-firing systems suddenly soared to more than 2000 of biomass energy offers power Mercury-Free Health cases annually for 2003-2005. The plants low-cost/low-risk methods Care System surge reflected higher incidences in to increase production of energy. Health Care Without Harm the Northeast and Southern US and Currently, generation costs for (HCWH) - Southeast Asia commended a disproportionate increase among direct- biomass power plants the recent signing of an Administrative middle-aged people (age range, 45– are about $.09 /kWh, which are Order which will make the Philippine 64). Rates in men exceeded those in expected to decrease to $.05/kWh. health care system mercury-free by women in all age groups both before Geothermal: The lowest cost of 2010. Administrative Order 2008-0021 and after this surge, with the sex geothermal energy, the energy instructs all hospitals to stop the distri- disparity particularly notable among formed from the heat stored within bution of mercury thermometers in pa- older individuals. The rise in cases the earth, is $.015/kWh. However, tient admission /discharge kits. In ad- may be related to changes in local operation and maintenance costs dition, it requires all hospitals to follow result in a $.015-$.045/kWh price the guidelines for the gradual phase- weather patterns which should be range. Hydropower: Hydropower out of mercury in two years. Additional studied carefully, as hotter, muggier is the least expensive alternative provisions of the AO is the requirement conditions might well lead to more energy source, generating power of all new health care facilities applying cases, according to the researchers. for $.024/kWh. Small hydropower for a license to submit an inventory of Sources: Journal Watch General Medi- cine September 9, 2008(http://general- systems are somewhat more expen- all mercury-containing devices that will medicine.jwatch.org/cgi/content/citation/ sive, ranging somewhere between be used in their facility and a mercury 2008/909/1) three and twenty-five cents per kilo- elimination program corresponding World Information Transfer World Information Transfer 8 World Ecology Report World Ecology Report 9 Winter 2008 Winter 2008 to such. The Administrative Order oil and gas fields and into the recently Environment from 2006 to 2007, the also mandates that all other health more open banking industry. company managed to convert 50.7% care facilities other than hospitals shall Developed countries, mainly (by weight) of their containers to have a Mercury Minimization Program members of the European Union, non-petroleum products. Some of in place. The Department of Health remained the largest sources of FDI the switches it made are: Styrofoam (DOH) and HCWH agreed to come to the region. to paper, plastic to paper, plastic to up with the AO outlining the gradual Source: UNCTAD/PRESS/PR/2008/034 bioplastic, and polyethylene to paper. phase out of mercury devices in the 24/09/08; further information available Although it is no longer bound by online at: The World Investment Report country, including the thermometer and its database are available online at the agreement, MOS plans to help and sphygmomanometer, during the http://www.unctad.org/wir and mitigate global warming with future First Mercury in Health Care Southeast http://www.unctad.org/fdistatistics ecofriendly actions. Asia Conference in February 2006. Source: http://www.japanfs.org/db/ Source: Health Care Without Harm 2192-e (HCWH), Southeast Asia, August 19, World’s First Power- 2008, http://www.hcwh.org/us/mercury/ Free Circuit Board Saving endangered issue Developed species Rohm Co., a Japanese semicon- Lawsuits brought on by the Center Foreign direct ductor manufacturer, announced in for Biological Diversity against the investment may May of this year that it has developed Secretary of the Interior, Julie Mac- have peaked in 2007, a new technology that uses a non-vol- Donald’s violations of Marine Mam- annual Report reveals atile logic circuit in a register, which mal Protection Act and illegal Endan- is the available memory. The com- gered Species Act decisions made by Geneva, 24 September 2008 pany’s new technology allows for political interference during the past - Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) memory to store data even without years, is giving relief to a number of in South-East Europe and the Com- the power turned on. Rohm reports endangered species, including the po- monwealth of Independent States that when testing the technology lar bear, declared “protected” last May; (CIS) rose to US $86 billion in 2007, with the CPU of a game console, the the Hawaiian Monk Sea; and almost 60 reveals UNCTAD´s World Invest- CPU’s power consumption was re- imperiled animals and plants.. ment Report 2008. This was a 50% Source: Center for Biological Diversity increase over 2006, and the seventh duced by 70 percent. This is because a CPU with non-volatile memory - [email protected], consecutive year of climbing foreign Environment News Service investment in the region . needs no standby power, which is UNCTAD´s global investment otherwise required frequently dur- survey, subtitled “Transnational ing a game. The company expects Corporations and the that the CPU’s power consumption Challenge,” was released today. can be further reduced by 95 per- Inward FDI flows to South-East cent or more. This technology also Europe and the CIS remained concen- has potential with saving energy in trated in a few economies, with the top home electronics, since many use three recipients - the Russian Federa- standby power to store data when tion, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine, in that turned off. Source: http://www.japanfs.org/db/ order - accounting for 85% of the total 2195-e (figure 2). In the Russian Federation, investment opportunities in energy Japanese Burger Chain and other natural-resource-related ac- tivities, the fast growing local consumer Using More Petroleum- market, and the removal of restrictions Free Containers on foreign participation in some local MOS Food Services, Inc., a major industries, such as electricity genera- Japanese hamburger chain, is step- tion, drove FDI inflows up by 62%, to ping up its efforts to use non-petrole- $52 billion. Flows to Kazakhstan and um materials for its takeout containers Ukraine amounted to $10 billion each. instead of traditional plastics. During SOURCE: www.exzooberance.com In these countries, the largest invest- the course of a voluntary environmen- ments went into the development of tal agreement with the Ministry of the Good News continuing on page 11 World Information Transfer World Information Transfer 8 World Ecology Report World Ecology Report 9 Winter 2008 Winter 2008 Chornobyl Update: OVERVIEW On April 26th, 1986, steam explosions destroyed the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Station’s Unit Four Reactor. For the next ten days the reactor burned uncontrollably, releasing 100 times more radioactive emissions than both the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Na- gasaki combined. In an attempt to curtail continuing ra- diation leaking from the destroyed Chornobyl reactor, a “sarcophagus,” or covering, was built around the reactor. The sarcophagus, seen as only a temporary measure, was constructed very quickly (in only six months) and under extremely difficult conditions. The sarcophagus was constructed from a distance using large cranes to drop components into position. Consequently, these compo- nents were not welded together and gaps between them remained. One estimate noted there are as many as a thousand square meters of openings in the sarcophagus. These openings allow wind, water, and animals to go in and out carrying high doses of radiation into the sur- rounding area. Furthermore, the sarcophagus was built on top of the old reactor structure which was ravaged by the initial explosion and the resulting fire. As such, the sarcophagus’s foundation is not structurally sound and is susceptible to collapse. If the sarcophagus surrounding the Chornobyl Nu- WIT CEO Dr.Christine K.Durbak and Amb. Nina Kovalska in front clear Reactor were to collapse, the results would be strik- of the old sarcophagus. Source: WIT ingly similar to the initial Chornobyl nuclear spewing radiation throughout Europe. Therefore, it is areas. Second, communication networks capable of han- imperative that immediate action be taken. Most impor- dling evacuation and health care needs must be estab- tantly, a new shelter must be constructed. In 2003, a de- lished. Third, evacuation and medical resources need to sign was finally chosen. The new shelter is a dome, large be readily available. Fourth, provisions need to be made enough to hanger three 747 aircrafts. The dome is to be to ensure the continued mental health of the affected built off site and then slid into place over the reactor and populations. Finally, accurate monitoring of events must existing sarcophagus. Unfortunately, the cost of building be made available to the general public via the media. this new sarcophagus is estimated at $1.1 billion USD. It is important to realize that the issues regarding the Previous attempts to raise funds for a new sarcophagus Chornobyl sarcophagus have global ramifications. Not have been unsuccessful. There are two major reasons for only would a sarcophagus collapse affect all of Europe, Ukraine’s inability to raise the necessary funds. First, a but with the proliferation of nuclear power Chornobyl lack of awareness limits the avenues from which these provides a valuable case study for the handling of future funds can come. Second, any funds that are raised are nuclear disasters. The lessons learned from the initial mishandled; Ukraine like the other former Soviet Re- incident, as well as planning for a potential sarcophagus publics, is rampant with corruption. f the population of collapse, can be applied to any nuclear . Just last Europe was aware of the necessity for a new sarcophagus July, the Tokaimura nuclear fuel-processing plant in and of how the absence of one could have a grave impact experienced a severe uranium leak resulting in throughout Europe, these funds could undoubtedly be radiation levels 15,000 times higher than normal, thus raised and adequately administered. highlighting the very real risk faced world-wide. Nuclear In the interim period, before the new sarcophagus power is an essential energy resource that the world is built, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of continues to rely on. As a consequence, it is absolutely collapse by planning ahead to help mitigate the con- imperative that the world garner the knowledge from sequences of such a disaster. First, rapid modeling of the totality of the Chornobyl disaster and utilize it to radioactive plume dispersion will be necessary to aid prepare for, and protect against, the possibility of any in faster containment and evacuation of contaminated future nuclear . World Information Transfer World Information Transfer 10 World Ecology Report World Ecology Report 11 Winter 2008 Winter 2008 Good News, continuing from page 9 “New Safe Confinement” Structure

The The “New Safe UNICEF – Sustainable Confinement” Structure, Elimination of Iodine or NSC, will be an all steel hemispherical Deficiency building measuring Over the past 20 years, there have 150m long by 257m been increased efforts to reduce the wide and 105m tall. cases of iodine deficiency. A low Large tubular steel in iodine, is particularly detrimental pieces will be fabricated in the early pregnancies and is the off site and transported number one cause of preventable to the exclusion zone mental retardation. Other such ef- where the two halves of fects are stillbirth and miscarriage, the arch shaped struc- both increasing infant mortality. n ture will be separately constructed just 180m fact, every year, 38 million newborns west of the Unit 4 re- in developing countries are un- actor. Simultaneously, protected from the consequences a concrete and steel of brain damage associated with structure will be sunk iodine deficiency disorders (IDDs). into the radioactive soil Fortunately, this problem can easily around the perimeter of and inexpensively be prevented by the reactor. This struc- iodizing all salt for consumption. ture will serve two pur- poses. It will act as the foundation or anchoring “Information can be one of the point for the NSC. Also, phase will be completed in just under 24 hours. After most effective tools for overcoming it will have steel tracks which point the reactor will be essentially secure. political resistance.” - built into it which will The third and final stage of construction will in- UN Millennium Project: guide the two halves volve the installation of 4, 100 ton remote control- Task Force on Water and Sanitation, of the arch into position led gantry cranes inside the structure as well as : Earthscan, 2005, p.63 over the reactor. shielded cable cars for transportation of experts Once the track/ inside the NSC. These features will allow for the At the time of the World Summit for foundation has been safe deconstruction of reactor 4 and the original installed and the two sarcophagus. Children in 1990, less than one-fifth of arch halves have been While this design is likely the best possible solu- all households were using iodized salt. erected, they will be tion, there are an unfortunate number of issues Since then, iodized salt consumption pulled into position with its construction. First, as previously mentioned, increased in every region of the world. over the reactor using during the second phase there is a serious risk of There are a few especially notable computer controlled collapse which would have catastrophic results. cases; in Latin America and the Car- cable winches. This will Second, the installation of the foundation/track ibbean, 85 percent of the households be the most delicate system will require workers to be in the immediate are consuming adequately iodized phase of construction vicinity of the reactor and it will necessitate excava- salt and in East Asia, it is 84 percent. as there is a chance tion of highly contaminated soil. Third, because of By 2000, the international average that the movement of the immense logistics of moving a structure of this the two arch structures size, the fabrication will take place just 180m west had jumped to some 70 percent, a into position could of the reactor exposing workers to radiation. Finally, remarkable achievement considering cause a collapse of the the dismantling process, which will take place after that 48 countries with acknowledged original Sarcophagus. the NSC is in place, will at times, require specialists IDD problems had no salt iodization Further complicating to enter the structure. programs at all. the situation is the fact Right now, more than 120 coun- that a mobile structure Sources: World Information Transfer: 15th International tries have implemented salt iodiza- of this size has never Conference Commemorating Chornobyl - remember- tion programs, an increase of over been employed before. ing Hiroshima/Nagasaki; IEEE: Engineering Chornobyl 30 percent in just six years. A total In order to minimize www.theiet.org/engtechmag 9 February - 22 February of 34 countries have reached the this danger, this entire 2008 Engineering & Technology. universal salt iodization goal and an World Information Transfer World Information Transfer 10 World Ecology Report World Ecology Report 11 Winter 2008 Winter 2008 Good News, continuing from page 11 NEC’s New Data Center additional 28 are well on their way, Server Cuts Power Con- covering more than 70 percent of sumption by Up to 40% their households. Severe instances of NEC, a prominent Japanese elec- IDD have virtually disappeared from tronics company, announced in May rural Bhutan, Bolivia, China, Ecua- of this year that it has developed a dor, and Zimbabwe. , power-efficient two-way rack server Bangladesh, , Kyrgyzstan, and for data centers, and promptly began the Philippines have shown steady sales of its new Express5800/i120Ra- progress even during recent years. e1. Consuming only 126 watts during IDD is an extremely widespread operation, a reduction of 40 percent problem. However, it is not without a when compared to previous models, viable solution: iodized salt. Within a this server derives its efficiency by the mere two decades, the percentage of efficiency of the component parts, in- households consuming iodized salt cluding CPUs, chipsets, and memory. Mexico to Host 2009 jumped from a paltry 20 percent to a Not only is it environmentally friend- World Environment Day staggering 70 percent. With further ly, but it is economically beneficial as Mexico to Host 2009 World En- commitment to continuing the ef- well. Being extremely space efficient, vironment Day under the Theme forts of today, the children of tomor- more servers can be placed in the ‘Your Planet Needs You - ‘Your Planet same amount of physical space; be- row would not have to suffer the con- Needs You-Unite to Combat Climate ing electrically efficient, more servers sequences of the easily preventable Change, “on June 5th, 2009. World can be used without increasing total deficiency of iodine. Environment Day was established by power consumption. Source: UNICEF Publications: the UN General Assembly in 1972 to Sustainable Elimination of Iodine Deficiency: Source: http://www.japanfs.org/db/ www.unicef.org/publications/index_44271.html 2193-e mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environ- MEXICO AND CLEAN DEVELOPMENT ment. Another resolution, adopted by the General Assembly the same MECHANISM PROJECTS day, led to the creation of UNEP. Mexico accounts for about 1.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. New Mexico, a country at the crossroads findings on Mexico and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) estimate that Mexico’s CDM projects accumulated to 187 projects by September 2008, up from of the Green Economy and one in- 4 in 2004. In relation to other Latin American countries, Mexico is now second af- creasingly in the centre of regional ter with 303 projects. The lion’s share of Mexico’s CDM projects is currently and global affairs, will host the inter- agricultural and involves the flaring of methane produced by animal wastes. 55 per national 2009 World Environment cent of CDM projects are in this category. Close to 30 per cent of the projects are Day celebrations. renewables which includes wind, solar, biogas and biomass. Biogas represents 70 per cent of Mexico’s CDM renewable where the methane from wastes is harvested The decision in part reflects the to generate electricity rather than flared. growing practical and political role Source: UNEP News Release, Mexico City/Nairobi, 22 September 2008 of the Latin American country in the fight against , in- cluding its growing participation in the carbon markets. Mexico is also a leading partner in UNEP’s Billion Tree Campaign. Source: UNEP News Release, Mexico City/Nairobi, 22 September 2008

Progress for Children: A Report Card on Maternal Mortality (No. 7) Millennium Development Goal 5 is to improve maternal health, and its bold target is to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters be- World Information Transfer World Information Transfer 12 World Ecology Report World Ecology Report 13 Winter 2008 Winter 2008 tween 1990 and 2015. Still, each year popular YouthXchange Training Kit. data and scientific information; and more than half a million women die The 2008 Training Kit, now in its two new chapters: one on the UN from pregnancy-related causes that second edition, is a train-the-trainer Decade on Education for Sustainable are avoidable. At the present rate of tool that aims to promote sustain- Development and one on fashion. progress, the world will fall well short able consumption patterns among YouthXchange has been translated of the MDG 5 target. This report de- young consumers worldwide. This and adapted in 19 languages and is tails progress in maternal health and updated guide includes a chapter available in a bilingual (French and highlights areas where improvements on how to find a balance between English) website. youths’ consumer aspirations of Source: UNEP-UNESCO News Release, are needed. Paris/Nairobi – 1 October 2008; for more Source: Direct Link to Report: http: dressing cool and fashionable while information visit: www.youthxchange.net; //www.unicef.org/publications/files/ at the same time being aware of the http://www.time.com/time/specials/ Progress_for_Children-No._7_Lo-Res_ 082008.pdf impact of their consumption on, for packages/article/0,28804,1841778_ example, climate change. New to the 1841781_1841805,00.html guide are the following features: a For upcoming Renewable, INCHES (International Environmental, Demand Response clear link between our consumption and Energy Efficiency Events Network on Children’s patterns and climate change; a more subscribe: http://www.euci.com/mail_ Health, Environment substantial e-waste section; updated center/ and Safety), Launches International Film PLENTY: THE WORLD IN GREEN MAGAZINE Competition AND WEBSITE DISCUSS REDUCING METHANE As part of the 10th Anniversary GAS EMISSIONS FROM COWS celebrations starting from 15 Sep- A typical cow belches hundreds of liters of methane every day, accounting for tember 2008, the International more than 18 percent of global emissions coming from the world’s 1.5 billion cat- tle. Methane is 25 times as potent a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide, though Network on Children’s Health, its overall climate impact is nearly half as significant because there’s less of it in Environment and Safety (INCHES) the atmosphere. But with livestock emissions predicted to double by mid-century, is launching an International Film researchers are wording on a bovine version of Beano. Some flatulence-busting Competition on Health and En- technologies include: food additives to cow feed like sunflower , molasses, vironment, sponsored by several and garlic; high-tech grass containing highly concentrated organic acids; switch- organizations. The competition is ing cattle to a diet of grain, clover, and wild flowers; and harvesting the methane called “Focus on Children in a given off as the dung decomposes. The gas can either be used as a fuel or burned to convert it into less harmful CO2. Healthy Environment” and is cen- Source: http://www.plentymag.com/features/2008/10/bovine_beano.php tered on the themes “Climate” and “Environmental Health”. It will run until 1 March, 2009 and will be open to all nationalities and ages. Several cash prizes of 2500 euros will be awarded to the winners of both categories. There are also separate cash prizes for films up to 5 minutes of duration and up to 15 minutes. Full details of the competition’s rules and , information on how to submit films, and an appli- cation form can be read and down- loaded at www.inchesnetwork.net/ filmcompetition.html

Young Consumers Guide to Eco-Friendly Living UNEP and UNESCO Announced Illustration by Josh Cochran a new and updated edition of the World Information Transfer World Information Transfer 12 World Ecology Report World Ecology Report 13 Winter 2008 Winter 2008 Continuing from page 16 • This will also result in the sali- developing world, in the world’s of the century the net effect will be nation of costal fresh water supplies poorest places, where a child will largely negative. such as the Florida everglades. use the fewest resources and create • The Great Plains of the US and the smallest footprint. However the Canada are expected to be particu- large number of children may be larly vulnerable as will crops such and Biodiversity: equivalent to the one child in the as wine grapes which have already Phonological changes (changing developed world. reached their threshold for tem- in timing and growth) are already Just as we talk about reducing our perature. well documented in a plethora carbon emissions in daily life today, Energy use: of plant species, and because our and as leaders try to agree to inter- is interconnected, this is national carbon limits, we now might • It is expected that overall energy incorporate the notion of population demand will increase as demand for bound to have widespread effects reduction as another means to curtail energy for air-conditioning and other that are as of yet unknown. climate sensitive processes, such as The Intergovernmental Panel on greenhouse gasses. Typically, popula- pumping water for , in- Climate Change (IPCC) concluded tion issues are examined in relation crease as well. This is true even when that human activity has significantly to how global warming will harm taking into account the likely decrease caused the rise in greenhouse gasses. particular groups. What if another in demand for space heating. The steady expansion of the world’s question is asked: How does popula- • Because most of our energy population, from about 6 billion tion change affect global warming? is generated using technologies currently to 9 billion by mid-century, The answer is easy, if the current that emit GHGs, increased energy greatly complicates the efforts to con- status quo continues. More people demand will only perpetuate the trol and adapt to global warming. will flock to coastal cities where in- cycle. Global preferences for industrial tensified will cause death and growth and consumerism suggest that destruction on a wider scale than we Water resources: our current patterns of life will be know. As resources diminish, people • All regions show a net negative adopted by the 3 billion yet to be born will go to war with each other caus- impact on water resources. by 2050. It appears that we are leaving ing more death and destruction, and • In some areas it is expected that it to the next generations to figure out as new diseases emerge and known runoff, and therefore fresh water re- ones mutate, even more people will sources, will decline. how to adjust our consumer/shopper die. Thus, Nature will strike a new • In areas where runoff is ex- behaviors to their tougher environ- pected to increase, other issues will mental conditions. balance with the human species and arise such as increased variability of Humans have proven to be a 9 billion may not be realized. precipitation and seasonal shifts in malleable species, so one might One of the most difficult chal- supply, not to mention floods and conclude that our current doom lenges posed by our warming world risks to water quality. and gloom worries will get resolved - indeed possibly the hardest thing in the future. One thing we might of all - is to change the status quo Costal Zones consider, however, is how or wheth- behaviors that led us to our current and Sea Level Rise: er fewer people would have a posi- circumstances. And the surest way • In the last century, sea levels tive effect on our ecosystems and to accomplish that is through a fair rose between 5-6 inches, whereas in natural resources everywhere in education for each capable girl and this century, levels are projected to the world. We know that the carbon boy, emphasizing the value of every rise between .6-2 feet. footprint of a child born in a rich, person as a contributing member to • This will destroy sensitive costal developed nation is much greater a global society. Knowledge, after all, zones and their extreme biodiversity than the footprint of a child born is power. • It will also result in the reclama- in a less developed one. Population Source: The World Health Organization: Climate and Health, tion, by the sea, of large swaths of statistics demonstrate that popu- www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/ land which we currently inhabit. lations will grow the fastest in the fs266/en/index.html World Information Transfer World Information Transfer 14 World Ecology Report World Ecology Report 15 Winter 2008 Winter 2008 World Information Transfer World Information Transfer World Ecology Report is a Non-Profit, Non-Governmental World Information Transfer, Inc., (WIT) is a not-for-profit, non-gov- World Information Transfer, Inc. Organization in General ernmental organization in General Consultative Status with the United (ISSN #1080-3092) Consultative Status Nations, promoting environmental health and literacy. In 1987, inspired 475 Park Avenue South, 22nd Floor by the Chornobyl nuclear tragedy, WIT was formed in recognition of the with the United Nations, pressing need to provide accurate actionable information about our dete- New York, NY 10016 Promoting Health and riorating global environment and its effect on human health. WIT exercises TELEPHONE: (212) 686-1996 Environmental Literacy. its mandate through: FAX (212)686-2172 • World Ecology Report (WER). Published since 1989, the World Ecology E-MAIL: [email protected] Report is a quarterly digest of critical issues in health and environment, produced in four languages and distributed to thousands of citizens ELECTRONIC EDITION AVAILABLE ON: Board of Directors throughout the developing and developed world. http://www.worldinfo. org • Health and Environment: Global Partners for Global Solutions Con- FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Dr. Christine K. Durbak, ference. Since l992, WIT has convened what we believe to be one of the Dr. Christine K. Durbak CHAIR & CEO world’s premier forums for the presentation of scientific papers by in- ternational experts on the growing clinical evidence supporting the link MANAGING EDITOR: Roland DeSilva between degrading environments and diminished human health. The Dr. Claudia Strauss EXECUTIVE VICE CHAIR conference has been convened as a parallel event to the annual meeting CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Dr. Claudia Strauss of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. The scientific pa- pers presented at the conference are available on WIT’s web site. Barnett Koven, Lin Yang VICE CHAIR CIRCULATION MANAGER: • Health and Development CD ROM Library. This project consists of a library of CDs each of which focuses on a subject within the overall topic Carolyn T. Comitta Carolyn T. Comitta SECRETARY/TREASURER of Development and Health information. Our Human Information CD LANGUAGE EDITORS: ROM Library offers one bridge across the “digital divide” for both devel- CHINESE - Judy Kayee Sin Dr. Sophie Balk oped and developing countries. The project is continuous with future RUSSIAN - Halyna Solohub Dr. Ruth Etzel topics being developed. • Health and Development CD ROM Library for Ukraine. In conjunc- UKRAINIAN - Halyna Solohub Dr. Bernard D.Goldstein tion with UNDP, WIT has developed a country specific library disc for Amb. Nina K. Kovalska distribution in schools and centers in Ukraine. REGIONAL DIRECTORS Amb. Valeriy Kuchinsky • . WIT provides humanitarian relief to hospitals and AFRICA: Dr. Philip J. Landrigan orphanages in areas devastated by environmental degradation. Our ship- Dr. Mohamed El-Banna ments have included medical equipment for pediatric medical facilities, 74 Sawra St. Heliopolis, 11341 Cairo, Egypt Dr. Patricia Myscowski computer and telephone systems, clothing, toys, prosthetic devices for Tel: (202) 368-2887; Fax: (202) 365-0492 Dr. Maria Pavlova gifted children. E-mail: [email protected] Dr. Scott Ratzan • Internship Program. WIT provides an internship program for young people interested in international diplomacy, international health, and CANADA: Dr. William N. Rom sustainable development. Taras V. Boychuk Jay Walker • Scholarship Program. With the support of the K. Kovshevych Founda- 1028 Fredonia Dr, Mississauga, tion, WIT offers scholarships to intellectually gifted university students ON L5C2W5, Canada in need of financial assistance to continue their studies in areas related to Tel: 38-050-083-4901 health and environment. E-mail: [email protected] • www.worldinfo.org WIT provides through its web site up to date science based information on the relationship between human health and the CHINA: natural environment, including the papers from the WIT’s annual con- Judy Kayee Sin ference, the archived World Ecology Reports, and our new Ecology En- 3 Hop Yat Road 4th Floor, quirer, an e-newsletter written by our Interns targeted to young people. Kowloon, Hong Kong, China • Centers for Health & Environment. The aim of the Centers is to pro- E-mail: [email protected] mote research, education and solutions. The first center was opened in Ukraine in 1992, and the second center opened in Beirut, Lebanon in : 1997 at Bir Hasan, United Nations Street, Al-Salaam Building. Prof. Mykola Prytula K. Levychkoho11a, #15, Lviv, Ukraine Tel/Fax: (380) 322 76-40-39 & 76-68-18 E-Mail: [email protected]

EUROPEAN UNION: Dr. Michel Loots Oosterveldlaan 196 B-2610 Antwerp, Belgium Tel: 32-3-448-05-54; Fax: 32-3-449-75-74 E-Mail: [email protected]

MIDDLE EAST: Joseph Abou Rached Al-Salaam Building—United Nations St. Bir Hasan—Beirut, Lebanon E-mail: [email protected]

USA: Carolyn T. Comitta 18 West Chestnut Street West Chester, PA 19380 Tel: (610) 696-3896; Fax: (610) 430-3804 E-mail: [email protected] World Information Transfer World Information Transfer 14 World Ecology Report World Ecology Report 15 Winter 2008 Winter 2008 Point of View: THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT ON 9+ BILLION PEOPLE

Although fewer and fewer people deny the Health: facts of global warming, • Extreme cases of some continue to ignore heat and cold can cause the key role human potentially fatal illnesses progress plays in caus- such as heat stress or ing greenhouse gas emis- hypothermia as well as sions, the key source of increasing the severity our warming planet. of heart and respiratory The greenhouse diseases. As was the case effect, a natural occur- with the in rence, causes about 2/ Europe in 2003 which 3rds of the sun’s radia- was associated with hun- tion to become trapped dreds of deaths. in the earth’s atmosphere • Stagnant weather increasing temperatures traps airborne pollution to a level which makes Earth habitable to humans. How- which can impact respiratory health. ever, since the 1800s the concentration of carbon diox- • The range of vector borne diseases has increased ide, the green house gas (GHG) primarily responsible for with temperature. the greenhouse effect, has increased by over 30% which Agriculture and Food Supplies: has resulted in more solar radiation being trapped in the • The frequency of heat stress, droughts, and floods earth’s lower atmosphere. have had significant negative effects on crop yields and The significant increase in GHGs has profound the health of livestock. consequences besides the obvious increase in global • While some areas will benefit from slightly increased temperatures. GHGs affect health, agriculture and food temperatures in the next 50 years other areas will see a supplies, energy use, water resources, costal zones and comparable decrease in production. Towards the end sea levels, ecosystems and biodiversity. Continuing on page 14

This issue was made possible through the generous contribution of Merrill Corporation.

World Information Transfer 16 World Ecology Report Winter 2008