Global warming threatens to flood Manila – WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday that Asia’s “delta megacities” like Manila and Calcutta in India “could be threatened” by river and coastal flooding brought about by global warming.

April 9, 2008 - WHO noted that sea levels are expected to rise because of increasing temperatures, threatening those living in low-lying areas.“Millions of people could face disease, poverty and hunger if Asia’s arable lands become unworkable through changes in temperature, rainfall, river flows or pest abundance,” the agency added. WHO estimates that climate change and variability might be the cause of increase in the number of deaths – now at over 150,000 every year – from malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition and injury from floods. Half of them are in Asia and the Pacific.