Thursday, April 01, 2004

Asian dust storms grow in frequency, wreaking havoc far from home – UN

31 March 2004 – In “a globalization of environmental problems” dust and sand storms in northeast Asia have grown vastly in frequency and intensity, leading to widespread loss of livestock and crops, disrupted communications, respiratory problems and deaths far from their source, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said today.

"We are worried about the creep of environmental problems – their disrespect of political boundaries – and the way they threaten to compound and disrupt the functioning of major natural systems," UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer told the 8th Special Session of the agency’s Governing Council and the Global Ministerial Environment Forum in Jeju, Republic of Korea.

"We are seeing a globalization of environmental problems, linked to intensity and pattern of economic development, and we need urgent and coordinated action from governments, business and civil society groups to address it,” Mr. Toepfer said, noting that northeast Asia’s dust and sand storms were part of a trend of increasing natural disasters across the globe.

The storms, which originate in the dry regions of northern China and Mongolia and blow across the Korean peninsula and Japan, are occurring nearly five times as often as in the 1950s and are also growing in intensity. Scientists predict large storms over the coming spring months as cold air masses from Siberia whip deserts and soils eastward after the dry continental winter.

In April 2002 dust levels in Seoul, 1,200 kilometres from the source, reached 2,070 micrograms per cubic metre, twice the level deemed hazardous to health.

Full Story:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10266&Cr=Dust&Cr1=Storm

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