The global cost of disasters is growing: The economic burden of disasters is intensifying. While the direct costs of disasters averaged $70–80 billion a year between 1970 and 2000, between 2001 and 2020 these annual costs grew significantly to $180–200 billion. But the real cost is far higher. Disaster costs …
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 …
Nearly 37 countries are facing food emergencies as against 31 countries that had faced food shortages towards the end of last year. The food shortages are mainly due to the effects of El Ni
fresh water supply is gradually becoming a matter of serious concern, says a report of the United Nations ( un ). With nearly 900 million people affected by diarrhoea each year and an equal number suffering from diseases caused by round worms, unclearn water ranks at the top of the …
global warming is causing a resurgence in mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever across the world. These diseases are spreading from Kenya to New Guinea and South America
are scientists free from scientisation and cultural influence? Can they be completely objective? To be sure, scientists have acknowledged their personal limitations. Even great physicists like Newton and Einstein acknowledged it. But when it comes to placing our species in evolutionary terms, scientists along with the humanists have believed that …
The Commission on Sustainable Deve--lopment ( csd) meets every year in New York in April to take stock of the world's progress towards sustainable development. Discus-sions centre around a few select chapters of Agenda 21, the global action plan chalked out in Rio. The last csd (see Special Report: How …
efforts to cut global carbon dioxide ( co 2 ) emissions have not yielded much success. Recent findings indicate that the emission from burning of fossil fuels has continued to increase. The highest levels of co 2 were recorded in the Asia Pacific, which include India, China and the Middle …
the Food and Agriculture Organisation ( fao ) has recently said that low global cereal stocks for a third year in a row could signal an imminent food crisis. This warning comes despite a good wheat crop anticipated in India, western Europe and north Africa. In a special "Food Outlook' …
scientists in the us have discovered why Asians often do better at school. Parents and children in Asia think that one has to work hard to do well while those in the West think one must have a good teacher. Researchers trying to understand why children from Eastern cultures excel …
global emissions of greenhouse gases may pose serious threats to coral reefs the worldover, warn scientists. Increasing levels of carbon dioxide (co2) are reducing the ability of coral animals to make the limestone skeletons that build reefs. This warning has come in the wake of a report from Australia's Great …
a list of hazardous wastes that had been compiled in a bid to prevent their export to third world countries is likely to be revised and drawn up afresh. Nearly 100 countries would revise the list at a meeting held in Malaysia. The exercise will be a follow-up to the …
The World Commission on Dams (WCD) has been formed to review the efficacy of large dams in various countries. It will be chaired by Kader Asmal, the water affairs and forestry minister of South Africa. The Indian high commissioner to South Africa, Laxmi Chand Jain will be its vice chair-person. …
the population division of the United Nations' (un) economic and social affairs department has recently predicted that the world population may reach nearly 9.4 billion by the year 2050 and stabilise at about 11 billion by 2200. During 1995, the world population was 5.7 billion. Under a medium fertility scenario …
a report of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (fao) shows that 31 countries faced food emergencies during 1997 as against 25 countries in 1996. The report blames bad weather, poor crops and civil war for such calamities. Of the affected countries, Africa accounted for 20, Asia - five, eastern Europe …
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 …
according to a study conducted by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (oecd), nearly half of American adults have trouble with common mental demands of life in reading newspapers, filling out job applications or balancing a chequebook. "Low literacy is a problem everywhere,' the report said. The oecd …
according to the United Nations Children's Fund ( unicef) annual report, malnutrition kills more children in the world than any infectious disease, war or natural disaster. Malnutrition kills more than six million children every year around the world. More than half the number of children under-five in South Asia and …
electronic commerce is the ultimate entrepreneurial vehicle, used by individuals the worldover, from artists in New Mexico to rug weavers in Morocco to basket makers in Botswana. Moreover, the Internet has created new avenues of communication for those who have encountered high entry barriers in traditional media. One of the …
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or sexually transmitted infections (STIs), have been recognised as a major public-health problem for a number of years. In 1912, Prince Morrow, chair of the US committee looking into the problem of venereal diseases, was quoted as saying "it is a conservative estimate that fully one-eighth …
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 …
