-Caveat Lector- From http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/front/RTGAM/20020812/whaze812/Fron t/homeBN/breakingnews
'Asian Brown Haze' threatens millions: report By ALLISON LAWLOR Globe and Mail Update Monday, August 12 � Online Edition, Posted at 4:15 PM EST Scientists warn that a vast blanket of pollution stretching across South Asia is damaging agriculture and could lead to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths. The "Asian Brown Haze" � a three-kilometre-deep blanket of pollution � is disrupting weather systems including rainfall and wind patterns and triggering droughts in western parts of the Asian continent, a report released Monday by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says. The South Asian region includes the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. While the study focuses on the impacts on South Asia, the scientists say that the haze problem is comparable, if not more severe, in South East and East Asia including China. "More research is needed, but these initial findings clearly indicate that this growing cocktail of soot, particles, aerosols and other pollutants are coming a major environmental hazard for Asia," Klaus Toepfer, executive director of UNEP, told a news conference in London where the report was released. "There are also global implications not least because a pollution parcel like this, which stretches three kilometres high, can travel half way around the globe in a week." The haze, say scientists is a growing cocktail of soot, particles, aerosols and other pollutants. It is caused by, among others, forest fires, increases in the burning of fossil fuels, and emissions from the burning of wood and cow dung. The haze is having significant impacts on the climate and weather patterns of the region, in part by reducing the amount of sunlight or solar energy hitting the Earth's surface by as much as 10 to 15 per cent. It may also be reducing precipitation over north west India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and western China by as much as 40 per cent, the report says. The release of the report comes two weeks before the world's decision- makers come together in Johannesburg at the World Summit on Sustainable Development and 10 years after the Rio Earth Summit of 1992. The pollution that is forming the "Asian Brown Haze" could cause higher levels of respiratory diseases, leading to "several hundreds of thousands" of premature deaths, the report says. Study results from seven cities in India estimate that some kinds of air pollution were responsible for 24,000 premature deaths annually in the early 1990s and by the mid-1990s that number jumped to an estimated 37,000 premature deaths. Scientists worry that the impacts of the haze will intensify over the next 30 years as the population of the Asian region reaches an estimated five billion people. About 60 per cent of the world population now lives in Asia. The UN report is the first comprehensive study of the South Asian haze and its impact on climate. Scientists say that more research is needed to determine the precise role of the blanket of pollution. Interactive � Web Sites: UN Environment Programme Copyright � 2002 Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. 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