Environmental News Network

China Announces New Plan for Combating Infectious Diseases Outbreaks
China, criticized for its secretive response in fighting SARS, plans to combat the spread of infectious diseases with better prevention efforts and research, according to a Ministry of Health plan. >> Read the Full Article
Winning Olympic Bid for Sochi Stirs Mixed Emotions for Russian Ecologists
Russian environmentalists have greeted Sochi's winning Olympic bid with patriotic pride but also warned that construction plans would destroy part of a protected mountain wilderness. >> Read the Full Article
China Environment Chief Says Pollution Fuelling Unrest
Chinese anger with worsening pollution is fuelling increasing protests, the nation's top environmental official said, criticising local governments who he said protected factories turning rivers into "sticky glue". >> Read the Full Article
Environmentalist Tapped To Lead California Air Board
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named a veteran environmentalist to lead a pivotal pollution board Tuesday, hoping to defuse criticism that the state is moving too slowly on its landmark legislation against global warming. >> Read the Full Article
World Bank Says Pollution Kills 460,000 Chinese a Year
About 460,000 Chinese die prematurely each year from breathing polluted air and drinking dirty water, according to a World Bank study. >> Read the Full Article
Asia-Pacific Countries See Effects of Climate Change on Health, Brace for More
Officials from more than a dozen Asian countries met Tuesday in Malaysia to outline health problems their populations are facing in relation to a rise in global temperatures. >> Read the Full Article
Texas Begins Desalinating Sea Water
On a one-acre site alongside a string of shrimp boats docked on the Brownsville ship channel stands a $2.2 million assembly of pipes, sheds, and humming machinery -- Texas' entree into global efforts to make sea water suitable to drink. >> Read the Full Article
WHO Estimates Smoking Could Kill One Billion this Century
One billion people will die of tobacco-related diseases this century unless governments in rich and poor countries alike get serious about preventing smoking, top World Health Organization (WHO) experts said on Monday. >> Read the Full Article
Indian Thriller To Prick Conscience on Poaching
An Oscar-nominated filmmaker will exhort Indians to conserve wildlife with a new film, but the message is contained in a racy thriller set in a famous tiger sanctuary instead of in a preachy documentary. >> Read the Full Article
EU Takes Action Against Italy Over Naples Waste Crisis
The European Commission took legal action against Italy on Wednesday over a growing crisis in Naples and the surrounding region where thousands of tonnes of uncollected waste have piled up high in the streets. >> Read the Full Article