Environment

Posted Apr. 19, 2016 at 2:01 AM 

Zika is all over the news. Zika is surely dangerous, but it has its limitations and is likely to be well contained. However, its greater significance extends beyond any current spread. Instead, it exemplifies the crucial emerging trend of a novel infectious agent that has swiftly become a global threat.

A new report released by the White House warns that climate change is an imminent and growing threat to public health, and that extreme heat will kill around 27,000 US residents per year by 2100.

A science advisor to the Obama administration by the name of John Holdren commented on the report at a recent press conference, noting that extreme heat waves will make outdoor work periodically “impossible:”

“People who work outdoors will be unable to control their body temperature and will die. This is a really, really big deal.”

[NAIROBI] The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) will convene in Kenya next month (23-27 May) to discuss the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the environmental challenges facing today’s world.

In preparation for the global meeting, representatives to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) attended a meeting in Kenya on 15-19 February this year, focusing on the environment, sustainability andhealth and discussed the link between conflicts and an increasingly over-exploited natural world.

“Strong political leadership is essential to create the legislative and regulatory environment to address the environmental dimension of the world’s current humanitarian crises.”

 

Judy Wakhungu, Kenya