In 2023, the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) recorded a total of 399 disasters related to natural hazards. These events resulted in 86,473 fatalities and affected 93.1 million people. The economic losses amounted to US$202.7 billion. The 2023 earthquake in Türkiye and the Syrian Arab Republic was the most catastrophic event …
Death and disease are closely linked to economic well-being. The greatest number of people in sub-Saharan Africa or India die due to communicable diseases, which have close associations with poverty and lack of health care. Communicable diseases do not kill so many in the developed parts of the world, such …
There has been an alarming rise in noise pollution in most Indian cities. This can be attributed to the increase in number of vehicles, urbanisation and industrialisation. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), New Delhi, has set standards for ambient noise levels in residential, commercial and industrial areas and in …
Infectious and parasitic diseases such as acute lower respiratory diseases, tuberculosis, diarrhoea, HIV/AIDS and malaria were responsible for at least 75 per cent of the 50 million deaths that occurred worldwide in 1997, according to the World Health Organisation. While deaths due to circulatory diseases came down from 51 per …
Satellites perform a number of roles in modern society. According to the Washington Post , communications in the United States were disrupted when the Galaxy 4 satellite spun out of position recently throwing everything into confusion. This event illustrates how much communication relies today on satellites. Galaxy 4 is one …
In January 1998, Toronto-based Environics International conducted a special survey focussed on the Third Conference of Parties (COP-3) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC) which concluded in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997. The survey involved 152 experts from across 30, mostly Organisation for Economic Cooperation …
There has been an alarming rise in cases of childhood cancers in the last two decades. According to reports in Environmental Health Perspectives and The Ecologist, this has been attributed to several environmental factors - prominent among them being the high levels of chemical pollutants in the environment. A number …
India lost about 5,550 sq km of forest cover in the last two years. According to the State of Forest Report 1997, brought out by the ministry of environment and forests, forest cover has gone down from 638,879 sq km in 1995 to 633,397 sq km in 1997. Of the …
Nearly 600,000 women die of pregnancy-related complications every year. One woman in 30 who develop chronic, debilitating problems, dies. Each year, nearly 3.4 million infants die in the first days of their life. And for every baby that dies, another is stillborn. These deaths are due to poor health and …
In 1990, the US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were 5.41 tonnes per capita. In 1993, President Clinton said that the US would bring down GHG emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000. The Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP), which is a part of the Presidential directive, said that the …
The largest of all cats, tigers, are gradually dying due to a loss of habitat, diminishing stocks of prey and poaching. About 100,000 tigers lived in the Asian wilderness at the beginning of this century. Only about 5,000 or about five per cent are believed to remain today. Poaching is …
industrial disasters continue to claim human lives in India. Since the Bhopal tragedy, India has witnessed over 119 industrial disasters that have claimed over 3,000 lives across the country. Data prepared by the ministry of environment and forests show that all major disasters took place between 1985 and 1997. The …
Industrial production has grown in India by more than 50-fold over the past century. The Central Pollution Board (CPCB) has identified 17 categories of most polluting industries which contribute to the environment in terms of suspended particulate matter, gases and effluents. About 77 per cent of the industries contribute to …
Seventy-four developing countries, where the population of those under 15 years is one-third of the total will double their population within 30 years or less. This is in spite of death rates having gone up and fertility rates having decreased in many Third World countries. According to the United Nations, …
The bulk of pesticides used in India are organochlorines which have an immense capacity to persist in the environment and accumulate within living bodies. Pesticides like dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT), hexa-chloro cyclohexane (HCH), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) enter the body through intake of grains, vegetables, fruits, edible oils, dairy …
China has found its biggest threat yet. Pollution. With 178,000 annual deaths being attributed to urban pollution, the nation's leaders have become keenly sensitive to the issue and going by the rhetoric and new regulations, are indeed concerned about the problem. The blood-lead levels in Chinese children are 80 per …
Seafood is a part of the human diet and harvesting of marine species provides a source of income to millions. Products from marine species are used as food additives, animal feed, fertiliser, clothing, jewellery and cosmetics. But development, overfishing, pollution and introduction of exotic species in marine habitats have jeopardised …
The World Bank (WB) in its 50-year history has supported more than 6,600 development projects worth US $337 in about 140 countries. These projects have supported sectoral growth in various economies. The WB has been instrumental in improving poverty reduction in East Asia, increased food production in South Asia and …
Funding and technology cooperation in the past 17 years indicate that research and development (R&D;) is becoming increasingly globalised. Foreign funding of industrial R&D; in the US increased almost 800 per cent between 1983 and 1990
Labour union membership has declined substantially over the past decade around the world. Even in European countries which traditionally had strong unions, the membership is decreasing. However, the Scandinavian countries have seen a steady growth of union membership. As a result, there have been fewer strikes in the past decade. …
As the number of vehicles produced around the world increase every year, so does the pollution from these vehicles. The number of automobiles on the roads around the world have increased around ten-fold in the past 50 years. Analysts predict that the number will double in the next 25 years. …
