WEEK 21 May 8th to 14th

   DRAMATIC INCREASE IN ENVIRONMENTAL REFUGEES

   The chief of the UN environmental program (UNEP), Klaus Topfer, is expecting a dramatic increase in human created environmental disasters in the years to come. According to Topfer it is 22 million environmental refugees in the world today. This number will rise dramatically fast. The general situation for both the environment and life on the planet is worsening with much greater speed and magnitude than what was expected merely a few years ago. One fifth of the world’s human population are lacking the benefit of clean drinking water. The number of people poisoned by human activity is on the rise, also in record breaking numbers. And the new development is that it’s happening everywhere where there earlier was only in smaller, isolated areas. Many known diseases are once more tightening their grip. The list of threats and self inflicted ills to mankind is long and terrifying, by the start of the new millennium.
   Doctor Klaus Topfer, not exactly your usual Doomsayer, is seriously worried about the future.