In the wake of a United Nations' report last week that declared a world water crisis, concerned Asian leaders are planning concerted action to deal with the lack of clean water in their region.
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Japan on Tuesday announced that it will invite heads of government from 47 countries to attend a summit next year on the subject of water in the Asia-Pacific region.
The summit is being organized by a new private group called the Asia-Pacific Water Forum. The group has reported that nearly two billion people in the Asia-Pacific region do not to have access to basic sanitation, and some 655 million are without safe drinking water.
Former Japanese PM Yoshiro Mori
The forum, launched in Manila in September, is headed by former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori. Mr. Mori addressed ambassadors and other representatives of some 50 countries and international organizations in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Mr. Mori says he feels, for the first time, that nations in the region are committed to confronting water-related crises.
The summit will also address water-related disasters, such as floods and tsunami, to which Asia-Pacific nations are particularly vulnerable.
Bangladesh's ambassador to Japan says countries such as his, which have long struggled with water-related crises, can contribute practical knowledge to help others in the region.
Bangladesh's Ambassador Ashraf ud-Doula at APWF summit announcement
Ashraf ud-Doula points to his country's success with providing nearly all of its people with access to clean drinking water, virtually eliminating water-borne diseases and significantly reducing flood casualties. But he says funding will have to come from the wealthier nations.
"We can share our experience, how we have been able to effectively control, tackle, these issues," he said. "But, on the other hand, there is a need to have a partnership between the countries which are affected by the water-related issues, and the countries which can afford to fund the projects."
The group and the summit will also be supported by a number of United Nations agencies and various regional organizations, including the Asia Development Bank and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
The summit meeting is to be held in the Japanese resort city of Beppu in December of next year.
2007年9月21日星期五
Indonesian Forest Fires Threaten Wildlife, Environment
Conservationists in Indonesia have warned that fires set to clear land have killed and injured hundreds of endangered orangutans. Environmentalists are also concerned the burning of rainforest and peat bogs is contributing to global warming.
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Smoke from land-clearing fires has closed several airports, threatening travel chaos as millions prepare to return home to celebrate the end of the Muslim holy month Ramadan in Indonesia, Oct.19, 2006
Widespread fires in Indonesia have claimed millions of hectares of land this year on Sumatra and Kalimantan - the Indonesian part of Borneo - destroying sensitive wildlife habitat and spewing out a thick haze that has choked neighboring countries.
Palm oil companies, loggers and farmers set fires during the dry season each year to prepare land for crops, but the blazes often rage out of control.
The area destroyed this year was some of the only remaining habitat left for orangutans, a protected species with a rapidly declining population.
The only great apes living outside Africa, orangutans can only be found on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, which is divided between Indonesia and Malaysia.
Willie Smits, coordinator of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, says time is running out for the endangered primates.
He said, "The populations are all extremely threatened because of the fragmentation of the forest. You need a minimum of three thousand orangutans to have a thousand year chance of survival and that forest has to stay intact in one big piece. There's only two or three years left in which we can prevent that these remaining populations are going to become extinct."
Smits says that only one in three orangutan young are estimated to live, and mothers only give birth on average once every eight or nine years.
Staff of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Center prepare to treat an orangutan after it came out of burning jungle, November 6, 2006 in Mantangai, Kalimantan, Indonesia
Smits adds that the forest habitat, in particular the sensitive peat moss bogs known as "domes", should not only be protected for the benefit of wildlife, but also to stop the rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
"If we look at the amount of carbon in the peat that is being released because of the collapsing domes and the fires, that amount is huge," he said.
"If we would lose the tropical peat swamps, of which Indonesia has more than 50 percent in the world, we would be looking at a doubling of global emissions for the next thirty years."
Fires in peat bogs are particularly hard to stop, because they can smolder underground for weeks without being detected.
Smits says orangutans that survive the fires often flee toward water, where they are more likely to encounter humans.
The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation rescued 137 injured orangutans in central Kalimantan from fires or from assault by humans during the land-clearing season, but discovered the remains of many more.
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Smoke from land-clearing fires has closed several airports, threatening travel chaos as millions prepare to return home to celebrate the end of the Muslim holy month Ramadan in Indonesia, Oct.19, 2006
Widespread fires in Indonesia have claimed millions of hectares of land this year on Sumatra and Kalimantan - the Indonesian part of Borneo - destroying sensitive wildlife habitat and spewing out a thick haze that has choked neighboring countries.
Palm oil companies, loggers and farmers set fires during the dry season each year to prepare land for crops, but the blazes often rage out of control.
The area destroyed this year was some of the only remaining habitat left for orangutans, a protected species with a rapidly declining population.
The only great apes living outside Africa, orangutans can only be found on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, which is divided between Indonesia and Malaysia.
Willie Smits, coordinator of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, says time is running out for the endangered primates.
He said, "The populations are all extremely threatened because of the fragmentation of the forest. You need a minimum of three thousand orangutans to have a thousand year chance of survival and that forest has to stay intact in one big piece. There's only two or three years left in which we can prevent that these remaining populations are going to become extinct."
Smits says that only one in three orangutan young are estimated to live, and mothers only give birth on average once every eight or nine years.
Staff of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Center prepare to treat an orangutan after it came out of burning jungle, November 6, 2006 in Mantangai, Kalimantan, Indonesia
Smits adds that the forest habitat, in particular the sensitive peat moss bogs known as "domes", should not only be protected for the benefit of wildlife, but also to stop the rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
"If we look at the amount of carbon in the peat that is being released because of the collapsing domes and the fires, that amount is huge," he said.
"If we would lose the tropical peat swamps, of which Indonesia has more than 50 percent in the world, we would be looking at a doubling of global emissions for the next thirty years."
Fires in peat bogs are particularly hard to stop, because they can smolder underground for weeks without being detected.
Smits says orangutans that survive the fires often flee toward water, where they are more likely to encounter humans.
The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation rescued 137 injured orangutans in central Kalimantan from fires or from assault by humans during the land-clearing season, but discovered the remains of many more.
UN Report Finds Majority in Asia Living Without Clean Water, Sanitation
Declaring "dirty water is a bigger killer than bullets" worldwide, the United Nations Development Program is calling for a global action plan for the more than one billion people with no access to clean water and sanitation.
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The United Nations is sounding the alarm - with more than a billion people without clean water and half of the developing world without basic sanitation.
In its annual human development report, released Thursday, the U.N. Development Program says old policies have failed and it is time for new national strategies and international aid to address the issue.
The U.N. agency estimates that deaths from diarrhea - usually caused by drinking foul water - is six times higher than people dying in armed conflict each year. Nearly two million children alone die annually because of water related diseases.
Shoji Nishimoto
Most of the people without clean water live in Asia. U.N.D.P's Shoji Nishimoto is the assistant administrator for development policy.
"Asia houses the largest number of people living below the poverty line. So, in an aggregate sense, the problem of water and sanitation is biggest in Asia-Pacific zone," he said.
There is some good news. Developing economic giants, India and China, are making progress in bringing clean water to the more than two billion people who live within their borders.
Nishimoto hopes that trend will spread to the rest of the region.
"The largest reduction in the poor people, in terms of number not the share, happened in India and China. So there is a great hope that the improvement even in this area is likely to take place more in Asia-Pacific."
The United Nations is also calling for clean water to be affordable regardless of income. The annual report notes the poor - who usually are not serviced by public utilities - pay significantly more for water. For example, the average person in Manila pays six times the rate the typical New Yorker spends for a cubic meter of water.
The report ranks 177 nations in terms of prospects for human development - based on factors such as life expectancy, education, and real income.
Nepal ranked 138th. East Timor ranked 142nd. Japan is the highest ranked Asian nation - in 7th place overall. That is one spot ahead of the United States and one behind Canada.
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The United Nations is sounding the alarm - with more than a billion people without clean water and half of the developing world without basic sanitation.
In its annual human development report, released Thursday, the U.N. Development Program says old policies have failed and it is time for new national strategies and international aid to address the issue.
The U.N. agency estimates that deaths from diarrhea - usually caused by drinking foul water - is six times higher than people dying in armed conflict each year. Nearly two million children alone die annually because of water related diseases.
Shoji Nishimoto
Most of the people without clean water live in Asia. U.N.D.P's Shoji Nishimoto is the assistant administrator for development policy.
"Asia houses the largest number of people living below the poverty line. So, in an aggregate sense, the problem of water and sanitation is biggest in Asia-Pacific zone," he said.
There is some good news. Developing economic giants, India and China, are making progress in bringing clean water to the more than two billion people who live within their borders.
Nishimoto hopes that trend will spread to the rest of the region.
"The largest reduction in the poor people, in terms of number not the share, happened in India and China. So there is a great hope that the improvement even in this area is likely to take place more in Asia-Pacific."
The United Nations is also calling for clean water to be affordable regardless of income. The annual report notes the poor - who usually are not serviced by public utilities - pay significantly more for water. For example, the average person in Manila pays six times the rate the typical New Yorker spends for a cubic meter of water.
The report ranks 177 nations in terms of prospects for human development - based on factors such as life expectancy, education, and real income.
Nepal ranked 138th. East Timor ranked 142nd. Japan is the highest ranked Asian nation - in 7th place overall. That is one spot ahead of the United States and one behind Canada.
UN: Water, Sanitation Crisis Killing Millions of Children
A new United Nations report says a growing water and sanitation crisis around the world is costing the lives of about two million children a year.
A child fills a container with water for domestic use in Delmas, east of Johannesburg, during a cholera outbreak in the area in Aug. 2006
The report's lead author, Kevin Watkins, summed up the world's water crisis during an interview with VOA.
"The inability of governments to provide children with a glass of clean water is going to cost two million lives," Watkins said. "Now that, to me, is a fairly powerful indictment of what governments are doing and what the international community is doing."
Watkins says most of these deaths are caused by diarrhea and dysentery, the result of water polluted by human waste.
Kevin Watkins
Watkins says the lack of access to clean water is also a powerful driver of inequality, with the wealthy, who are connected to utilities, paying the least per liter, and the poor, who buy water from local providers, paying the most.
The United Nations Development Programme report, called "Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis," calls on governments to increase spending on water and sanitation and to make clean water a human right. The report also urges the international community to double its annual contributions for water and sanitation.
The study blames the current crisis on governments and the international community.
"Many governments in the developing world simply do not take this problem seriously," said author of the report, Kevin Watkins. "If you look at the state of planning in water and sanitation, it is frankly abysmal in many countries."
Watkins adds there is very little international support or aid for the water crisis. He says the issue is not on the agenda of the Group of Eight countries and, in fact, never made it onto last year's communiqué at the Gleneagles summit of the world's richest nations.
According to the report, the reason behind the world's water crisis is not, as many argue, a shortage of water. Watkins says overpopulation and a growing demand for water are not the whole story.
"Water is a precious resource, it is a finite resource. The problem is that governments in the world do not treat it as a precious resource and the do not treat it as a finite resource," he said.
While the UNDP report is being welcomed by many groups concerned about the global water crisis, there is criticism.
Paul Hetherington is a spokesperson for WaterAid, a non-governmental and advocacy group in Britain. He says part of the problem is with the United Nations itself.
"In the situation of water, you have got 23 different U.N. agencies who all work in the water [and] sanitation sphere," Hetherington said. "But not one of them has an overarching responsibility. Not one of them monitors or evaluates what is being done. And very often, important issues are slipping under the table. And, of course, there is no United Nations body there standing up and naming and shaming governments, donors and recipients who are not performing on water and sanitation."
Hetherington adds that every year the United Nations writes in-depth reports on different topics, leaving little room for follow up.
This year's report says the solutions to the water crisis are easy and already well known. The UNDP's Watkins says governments need to invest in their water systems, putting grids and pipes in place as well as filtration systems. To do this, the report lays out a three point plan of action.
"Part one is that governments need to make water a human right and they need to mean it," he said. "And mean it in the sense of putting it in national legislation which provide citizens with an entitlement to 20 liters of water a day as a right of citizenship. Secondly, we call on governments to spend at least one percent of GDP on water and sanitation. If you compare this with military expenditure, countries like India, Pakistan, Ethiopia are spending 10 to 15 times more on military hardware than they are spending on water and sanitation."
Finally, Watkins' report says increased international aid is crucial to reach the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people without water and sanitation by the year 2015.
To accomplish all this, the report is calling for a global action plan under the leadership of the Group of Eight countries to mobilize resources and development for water and sanitation projects similar to the global fund for HIV and AIDS.
A child fills a container with water for domestic use in Delmas, east of Johannesburg, during a cholera outbreak in the area in Aug. 2006
The report's lead author, Kevin Watkins, summed up the world's water crisis during an interview with VOA.
"The inability of governments to provide children with a glass of clean water is going to cost two million lives," Watkins said. "Now that, to me, is a fairly powerful indictment of what governments are doing and what the international community is doing."
Watkins says most of these deaths are caused by diarrhea and dysentery, the result of water polluted by human waste.
Kevin Watkins
Watkins says the lack of access to clean water is also a powerful driver of inequality, with the wealthy, who are connected to utilities, paying the least per liter, and the poor, who buy water from local providers, paying the most.
The United Nations Development Programme report, called "Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis," calls on governments to increase spending on water and sanitation and to make clean water a human right. The report also urges the international community to double its annual contributions for water and sanitation.
The study blames the current crisis on governments and the international community.
"Many governments in the developing world simply do not take this problem seriously," said author of the report, Kevin Watkins. "If you look at the state of planning in water and sanitation, it is frankly abysmal in many countries."
Watkins adds there is very little international support or aid for the water crisis. He says the issue is not on the agenda of the Group of Eight countries and, in fact, never made it onto last year's communiqué at the Gleneagles summit of the world's richest nations.
According to the report, the reason behind the world's water crisis is not, as many argue, a shortage of water. Watkins says overpopulation and a growing demand for water are not the whole story.
"Water is a precious resource, it is a finite resource. The problem is that governments in the world do not treat it as a precious resource and the do not treat it as a finite resource," he said.
While the UNDP report is being welcomed by many groups concerned about the global water crisis, there is criticism.
Paul Hetherington is a spokesperson for WaterAid, a non-governmental and advocacy group in Britain. He says part of the problem is with the United Nations itself.
"In the situation of water, you have got 23 different U.N. agencies who all work in the water [and] sanitation sphere," Hetherington said. "But not one of them has an overarching responsibility. Not one of them monitors or evaluates what is being done. And very often, important issues are slipping under the table. And, of course, there is no United Nations body there standing up and naming and shaming governments, donors and recipients who are not performing on water and sanitation."
Hetherington adds that every year the United Nations writes in-depth reports on different topics, leaving little room for follow up.
This year's report says the solutions to the water crisis are easy and already well known. The UNDP's Watkins says governments need to invest in their water systems, putting grids and pipes in place as well as filtration systems. To do this, the report lays out a three point plan of action.
"Part one is that governments need to make water a human right and they need to mean it," he said. "And mean it in the sense of putting it in national legislation which provide citizens with an entitlement to 20 liters of water a day as a right of citizenship. Secondly, we call on governments to spend at least one percent of GDP on water and sanitation. If you compare this with military expenditure, countries like India, Pakistan, Ethiopia are spending 10 to 15 times more on military hardware than they are spending on water and sanitation."
Finally, Watkins' report says increased international aid is crucial to reach the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people without water and sanitation by the year 2015.
To accomplish all this, the report is calling for a global action plan under the leadership of the Group of Eight countries to mobilize resources and development for water and sanitation projects similar to the global fund for HIV and AIDS.
Nobel Prize Winner Launches Global Tree Planting Campaign
Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai Wednesday called on the world to plant one billion trees as part of a global effort to fight climate change. She launched the initiative at the United Nations' Climate Change conference being held in Kenya's capital.
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Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai and US Senator Barack Obama are planting an African Olive Tree at Uhuru Park Naiorbi, Aug. 28, 2006
Maathai, who is also Kenya's assistant environment minister, told reporters that the Billion Tree Campaign that she, Prince Albert II of Monaco, and the World Agroforestry Centre are backing is a practical, hands-on way to tackle an otherwise daunting problem.
She said, "This is something that anybody can do. Anybody can dig a hole. Anybody can put a tree in the hole and water it, and everybody must make sure that the tree they plant survives. There are six billion of us and counting, so even if only one-sixth of us each planted a tree, we would definitely reach the target."
Under the Billion Tree Campaign, individuals, communities, organizations, businesses, governments, and others are encouraged to plant anywhere from one to 10 million trees.
Pledges to plant a certain number of trees are recorded on the campaign's Web site, which the United Nations Environment Program is to manage. Participants are encouraged to keep updating the Web site on their tree-planting activities so that they could be awarded with a certificate.
Trees play a vital role in the earth's ecosystem. They absorb carbon dioxide, trap rainwater and moisture, stabilize soil, control avalanches, protect coastal areas, and perform other functions.
Forests cover some 30 percent of the earth's total land area, or about four billion hectares. The Democratic Republic of Congo is Africa's most forest-rich country.
But trees are being cut down at an alarming rate. Experts say to make up for the loss of trees in the past decade, some 130 million hectares - the size of Peru - would need to be planted with some 140 billion trees over a 10-year period.
Nobel Prize winner Maathai describes the changes she has seen in her home area of Nyeri near the Aberdare forest on the slopes of Mount Kenya.
"When I was growing up, the Aberdare was a pristine forest. It was thick with indigenous trees, indigenous vegetation. There were no roads, and rivers were flowing from the mountains," she said. "Today, of course, when a child looks at the Aberdare, it's very different. Many places have been cut down. Until very recently there were large farms where people were growing food crops. And so, the Aberdare forest of today is very different from the Aberdare forest of my childhood."
And such deforestation is very worrying. The United Nations says the loss of natural forests worldwide contributes more to global emissions each year than cars and other forms of transportation.
These emissions, or so-called greenhouse gasses, form a barrier that prevents the sun's energy from radiating back into space, raising the earth's temperature. This, in turn, contributes to rising sea levels, droughts, flooding, declining crop yields, and other effects.
The Billion Tree Campaign was launched at the United Nations' Climate Change conference being held in Kenya's capital.
Some 6,000 participants are looking at the problem of climate change and what to do about it. The conference ends November 17.
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Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai and US Senator Barack Obama are planting an African Olive Tree at Uhuru Park Naiorbi, Aug. 28, 2006
Maathai, who is also Kenya's assistant environment minister, told reporters that the Billion Tree Campaign that she, Prince Albert II of Monaco, and the World Agroforestry Centre are backing is a practical, hands-on way to tackle an otherwise daunting problem.
She said, "This is something that anybody can do. Anybody can dig a hole. Anybody can put a tree in the hole and water it, and everybody must make sure that the tree they plant survives. There are six billion of us and counting, so even if only one-sixth of us each planted a tree, we would definitely reach the target."
Under the Billion Tree Campaign, individuals, communities, organizations, businesses, governments, and others are encouraged to plant anywhere from one to 10 million trees.
Pledges to plant a certain number of trees are recorded on the campaign's Web site, which the United Nations Environment Program is to manage. Participants are encouraged to keep updating the Web site on their tree-planting activities so that they could be awarded with a certificate.
Trees play a vital role in the earth's ecosystem. They absorb carbon dioxide, trap rainwater and moisture, stabilize soil, control avalanches, protect coastal areas, and perform other functions.
Forests cover some 30 percent of the earth's total land area, or about four billion hectares. The Democratic Republic of Congo is Africa's most forest-rich country.
But trees are being cut down at an alarming rate. Experts say to make up for the loss of trees in the past decade, some 130 million hectares - the size of Peru - would need to be planted with some 140 billion trees over a 10-year period.
Nobel Prize winner Maathai describes the changes she has seen in her home area of Nyeri near the Aberdare forest on the slopes of Mount Kenya.
"When I was growing up, the Aberdare was a pristine forest. It was thick with indigenous trees, indigenous vegetation. There were no roads, and rivers were flowing from the mountains," she said. "Today, of course, when a child looks at the Aberdare, it's very different. Many places have been cut down. Until very recently there were large farms where people were growing food crops. And so, the Aberdare forest of today is very different from the Aberdare forest of my childhood."
And such deforestation is very worrying. The United Nations says the loss of natural forests worldwide contributes more to global emissions each year than cars and other forms of transportation.
These emissions, or so-called greenhouse gasses, form a barrier that prevents the sun's energy from radiating back into space, raising the earth's temperature. This, in turn, contributes to rising sea levels, droughts, flooding, declining crop yields, and other effects.
The Billion Tree Campaign was launched at the United Nations' Climate Change conference being held in Kenya's capital.
Some 6,000 participants are looking at the problem of climate change and what to do about it. The conference ends November 17.
Experts Warn Climate Change Threatens Heritage Sites
Experts at the United Nations' Climate Change conference in Kenya's capital have warned Tuesday that cultural and natural heritage sites in Africa and other parts of the world could be damaged or destroyed if climate change continues unabated.
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Cultural and natural heritage sites range from coral reefs, mountains and game parks to archeological ruins, concert halls and theaters.
A report released Tuesday by the Stockholm Environment Institute and the United Nations warns that drought, rising sea levels and other effects of global warming could seriously harm or destroy those sites.
Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UN Environment Programme
The executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, Achim Steiner, tells how climate change could affect the Cape Floral Region World Heritage Site in South Africa.
"We find there the largest number of indigenous species that are found anywhere on the planet," he said. "Any change in either temperatures or variations in rainfall will fundamentally affect the biodiversity of that Cape Floral kingdom, meaning a loss of species forever on the planet."
The report's co-author, a director with the Stockholm Environment Institute, Tom Downing, describes to VOA how world-famous ancient monuments in Alexandria, Egypt, are being threatened by coastal erosion and the inundation of the Nile Delta region, two events linked with global warming.
"With sea level rise, you have an added threat not only of inundation but also the salt water intrusion getting into the foundations of these ancient buildings," said Downing. "It's salty water, so it's a weak acid, and if it's based on anything that has a limestone base, it will just eat it up. Not only does it destabilize the ground so that it's softer and things move around, but the chemistry is dangerous to buildings."
Steiner said rising sea levels will also damage buildings in the historic coastal town of Lamu in Kenya, and warmer temperatures are reducing the amount of snow on Mount Kenya.
The report gives examples of destruction in all parts of the world. For instance, flooding in the Czech Republic in 2002 and other countries across Europe damaged concert halls, theatres, museums and libraries.
In northeastern Thailand, floods damaged the 600-year-old ruins of Sukothai and the ruins of Ayutthaya, which served as the capital from the 14th to the 18th centuries.
In Herschel Island, Canada, deterioration of the permafrost, linked to global warming, is leading to "ground slumping," affecting many of the historic graves and other sites.
The effect of climate change on world heritage sites is one of many topics on the agenda of this year's Climate Change conference being held in Nairobi.
Some 6,000 conference participants are looking at the effect that carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other so-called greenhouse gasses are having on the planet and ways to cut down on those harmful emissions.
The conference ends November 17.
----
Cultural and natural heritage sites range from coral reefs, mountains and game parks to archeological ruins, concert halls and theaters.
A report released Tuesday by the Stockholm Environment Institute and the United Nations warns that drought, rising sea levels and other effects of global warming could seriously harm or destroy those sites.
Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UN Environment Programme
The executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, Achim Steiner, tells how climate change could affect the Cape Floral Region World Heritage Site in South Africa.
"We find there the largest number of indigenous species that are found anywhere on the planet," he said. "Any change in either temperatures or variations in rainfall will fundamentally affect the biodiversity of that Cape Floral kingdom, meaning a loss of species forever on the planet."
The report's co-author, a director with the Stockholm Environment Institute, Tom Downing, describes to VOA how world-famous ancient monuments in Alexandria, Egypt, are being threatened by coastal erosion and the inundation of the Nile Delta region, two events linked with global warming.
"With sea level rise, you have an added threat not only of inundation but also the salt water intrusion getting into the foundations of these ancient buildings," said Downing. "It's salty water, so it's a weak acid, and if it's based on anything that has a limestone base, it will just eat it up. Not only does it destabilize the ground so that it's softer and things move around, but the chemistry is dangerous to buildings."
Steiner said rising sea levels will also damage buildings in the historic coastal town of Lamu in Kenya, and warmer temperatures are reducing the amount of snow on Mount Kenya.
The report gives examples of destruction in all parts of the world. For instance, flooding in the Czech Republic in 2002 and other countries across Europe damaged concert halls, theatres, museums and libraries.
In northeastern Thailand, floods damaged the 600-year-old ruins of Sukothai and the ruins of Ayutthaya, which served as the capital from the 14th to the 18th centuries.
In Herschel Island, Canada, deterioration of the permafrost, linked to global warming, is leading to "ground slumping," affecting many of the historic graves and other sites.
The effect of climate change on world heritage sites is one of many topics on the agenda of this year's Climate Change conference being held in Nairobi.
Some 6,000 conference participants are looking at the effect that carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other so-called greenhouse gasses are having on the planet and ways to cut down on those harmful emissions.
The conference ends November 17.
UN Climate Change Conference to Open in Kenya
The United Nations' Climate Change conference is set to open in Kenya's capital Monday. Topics expected to be covered include how countries can cope with increases in global warming and why the United States and Australia have not signed a protocol to curb outputs of heat-trapping gases said to be a direct cause of global warming.
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Global Warming map
The 165 countries that ratified the Kyoto Protocol, which took effect last year, are legally committed to reducing their output of six carbon gasses most responsible for causing global warming.
The worst of these gasses is carbon dioxide, the by-product of burning oil, gas, and coal. In industrialized countries, much of the emissions come from cars.
The United States withdrew support for the Kyoto Protocol in 2001 saying the agreement was flawed, and it would look to high technology measures to reduce emissions. Australia has also refused to ratify the protocol.
The United States' reluctance to sign on is expected to be a topic of conversation at the United Nations' Climate Change conference, set to open Monday.
Kenyan environmental activist Grace Akumu, who is the executive director of Climate Network Africa, explains why.
She said, "In the United States of America, the total number of cars in New York is equivalent to the total number of cars in the entire African continent. The entire African continent only emits three to four percent of the global total greenhouse gas emissions. So we need the big emitters - and the single biggest emitter is the United States of America - to be able to impact on the entire emissions of the world."
Scientists point to carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides as being three of several gases that, in excess, form a barrier in the atmosphere that traps heat from the sun, thus raising the earth's surface temperature.
Global Warming blocks of ice
Such climate change has been linked to more frequent occurrences of drought, flooding, hurricanes, forest fires, and increases in the number of malaria cases, with long-term impacts being rising sea levels and damage to crops.
And that has activist Akumu very worried. She says one major agenda item at this year's U.N. Climate Change conference will be looking at long-term solutions.
"One of the priority areas is that the Kyoto Protocol - that we want the U.S. government to ratify, the Australian government to ratify - the legal life-span is coming to an end by 2012, in six years' time. So, there is a need to discuss what's after Kyoto, what's going to be the post-Kyoto regime to govern greenhouse gas emissions," she said.
Also on the agenda are discussions on how especially developing countries can cope with climate change, and methods to reduce emissions of the so-called greenhouse gases, such as using power generated from wind, solar, and hydroelectric sources.
This is the first time that the United Nations' Climate Change conference will be held in sub-Saharan Africa. The gathering, which opens Monday and ends on November 17, is expected to draw some 6,000 participants worldwide.
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Global Warming map
The 165 countries that ratified the Kyoto Protocol, which took effect last year, are legally committed to reducing their output of six carbon gasses most responsible for causing global warming.
The worst of these gasses is carbon dioxide, the by-product of burning oil, gas, and coal. In industrialized countries, much of the emissions come from cars.
The United States withdrew support for the Kyoto Protocol in 2001 saying the agreement was flawed, and it would look to high technology measures to reduce emissions. Australia has also refused to ratify the protocol.
The United States' reluctance to sign on is expected to be a topic of conversation at the United Nations' Climate Change conference, set to open Monday.
Kenyan environmental activist Grace Akumu, who is the executive director of Climate Network Africa, explains why.
She said, "In the United States of America, the total number of cars in New York is equivalent to the total number of cars in the entire African continent. The entire African continent only emits three to four percent of the global total greenhouse gas emissions. So we need the big emitters - and the single biggest emitter is the United States of America - to be able to impact on the entire emissions of the world."
Scientists point to carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides as being three of several gases that, in excess, form a barrier in the atmosphere that traps heat from the sun, thus raising the earth's surface temperature.
Global Warming blocks of ice
Such climate change has been linked to more frequent occurrences of drought, flooding, hurricanes, forest fires, and increases in the number of malaria cases, with long-term impacts being rising sea levels and damage to crops.
And that has activist Akumu very worried. She says one major agenda item at this year's U.N. Climate Change conference will be looking at long-term solutions.
"One of the priority areas is that the Kyoto Protocol - that we want the U.S. government to ratify, the Australian government to ratify - the legal life-span is coming to an end by 2012, in six years' time. So, there is a need to discuss what's after Kyoto, what's going to be the post-Kyoto regime to govern greenhouse gas emissions," she said.
Also on the agenda are discussions on how especially developing countries can cope with climate change, and methods to reduce emissions of the so-called greenhouse gases, such as using power generated from wind, solar, and hydroelectric sources.
This is the first time that the United Nations' Climate Change conference will be held in sub-Saharan Africa. The gathering, which opens Monday and ends on November 17, is expected to draw some 6,000 participants worldwide.
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