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Article: Can global health weather global climate?(UN Secretary General G.O.P. Obassi's speech)(Transcript)
- Article from:
- UN Chronicle
- Article date:
- March 22, 1999
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 United Nations Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Secretary-General G. O. P. Obasi of the World Meteorological Organization asks: Can Global Health Weather Global Climate?
Changes in temperature and rainfall patterns perturb ecological processes with some beneficial but largely adverse impact on health. The geographical range and seasonality of infectious disease shift especially when the source is small vectors and insects such as mosquitoes and ticks. Even a marginal fall in agricultural productivity can endanger well-being in areas of food insecurity. Warmer weather worsens urban-industrial air pollution; if it is moist as well, air concentrations of allergenic pollens and fungal spores increase. But, on the ...