zondag 7 oktober 2007

Klimaatverandering 112


Two girls rescue a dog in floods in Trinidad, Bolivia. Photograph: Aizar Raldes/AFP
Misschien kan mevrouw Halsema van GROEN LINKS wakker worden en hier een spoeddebatje voor aanvragen. Hirsi Magan/Ali is weer terug naar haar reactionaire denktank en haar beveiliging zal uiteindelijk toch moeten worden betaald door haar aanhangers, en die zullen dat - met het oog op het belang van het vrije woord - natuurlijk maar al te graag doen. Nu dit probleempje is opgelost kan mevrouw Halsema zich met werkelijke problemen gaan bezighouden. Let u op wat ze gaat doen!
De Guardian bericht:
'Climate change disaster is upon us, warns UN
· Emergency relief chief calls for swift action · 12 out of 13 'flash' appeals in 2007 related to weather · In pictures: floods, droughts and storms across the world· World in crisis map, 2007
A record number of floods, droughts and storms around the world this year amount to a climate change "mega disaster", the United Nation's emergency relief coordinator, Sir John Holmes, has warned.
Sir John, a British diplomat who is also known as the UN's under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said dire predictions about the impact of global warming on humanity were already coming true.
"We are seeing the effects of climate change. Any year can be a freak but the pattern looks pretty clear to be honest. That's why we're trying ... to say, of course you've got to deal with mitigation of emissions, but this is here and now, this is with us already," he said.
As a measure of the worsening situation, Ocha, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - part of the UN secretariat that employs Sir John - has issued 13 emergency "flash" appeals so far this year. The number is three more than in 2005, which held the previous record.
Two years ago only half the international disasters dealt with by Ocha had anything to do with the climate; this year all but one of the 13 emergency appeals is climate-related. "And 2007 is not finished. We will certainly have more by the end of the year, I fear," added Sir John, who is in charge of channelling international relief efforts to disaster areas.
More appeals were likely in the coming weeks, as floods hit west Africa. "All these events on their own didn't have massive death tolls, but if you add all these little disasters together you get a mega disaster," he said.
The only one of this year's emergency appeals not connected to the climate was an earthquake in Peru, in August. The others arose after an unprecedented string of catastrophic floods across much of Africa, south Asia and North Korea, and followed severe drought in southern Africa, Nicaragua's category-five hurricane, and extreme climate conditions in Bolivia, which brought both drought and floods.

Geen opmerkingen:

Peter Flik en Chuck Berry-Promised Land

mijn unieke collega Peter Flik, die de vrijzinnig protestantse radio omroep de VPRO maakte is niet meer. ik koester duizenden herinneringen ...