WORLD Health Organisation (WHO) reports that one in five children under the age of five around the world die because of unhealthy environments.
The organisation says that every year environmental risks such as indoor and outdoor air pollution, second-hand tobacco smoke, unsafe water, lack of sanitation and poor hygiene kill an estimated 1.7 million children under the age of five every year.
YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN : From my Hide: News from the past…
The WHO report says that main direct killers of these children are diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia, all preventable by interventions known to reduce environmental risks, such as access to safe water and clean cooking fuels like coal or dung. WHO says there are solutions, but it means many government departments working together to clean up environments.
And now to Australia, where the Great Barrier Reef, the biggest living structure in the world stretching 2,250 kilometers along the coast of Queensland, has suffered unprecedented ecological damage over the past year and vast sections of it are already dead.
Scientists who have been monitoring the reef say that rising sea temperatures caused by global warming are precipitating the worst coral bleaching and die-off ever. They say that nearly 50 percent of the reef is badly bleached and more than 90 percent showing signs of bleaching.**
Still in Australia, one of the most obstreperous animals in nature, the Tasmanian devil, has been brought back from the brink of extinction.
The devil, about the size of a large domestic cat, but seemingly all teeth, claws and mighty growls, was nearly wiped out in the wild by disease, but a sanctuary set up on Maria Island off the east coast of Tasmania has seen a population increase from just 15 to 80 in five years.**
I was introduced to the Tasmanian devil at a wildlife breeding facility near the state capital, Hobart. They were in an enclosure surrounded by a waist-high (for us) wall.
We were warned to not put hands or arms over the wall and to make sure nothing fell into the enclosure. At first we could see nothing, but then the devils exploded out of their night quarters. They came straight at us, hissing and roaring, eyes flashing, teeth and claws bared and ready for the kill.
They tried in vain (happily) to scale the wall between us, but fell back into a ball of passionate hate to start all over again. It was not a particularly pleasant experience and none of us tried to pat one of them. Our next meeting, to cuddle a koala bear, was far more genial, although mine relieved itself down my shirt.
YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN : From my Hide: Mainly bad news, but some good too…
Finally, a late snippet of news, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs has, with immediate effect, stopped the ‘donation’ of wildlife worth some R100-million to white game farmers by the North West Province MEC for Agriculture. The Committee has described the ‘donation’ as illegal and has ordered an investigation of all those involved.***
*Third World Resurgence, magazine of the Malaysia-based Third World Network. **The Week: The Best of the British and the Foreign Media. ***Conservation Action Trust.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
For news straight to your phone, add us on BBM 58F3D7A7 or WhatsApp 082 421 6033
