- Email: [email protected]
Pollution ‘could cause cholera’ claim
Volume 12/Number 9/September 1981
\
J
,
,t/,,>.
. . I rF,,
J
. ~ | J J.f.,/l.~
t
:.. ,,
,':."
"
"That's lucky! From the stink I thought the tide was out!"
Pollution 'Could Cause Cholera' Claim Clams collected from the inner Tolo Harbour in Hong Kong are unfit for human consumption, a university biologist has claimed. Pollution in the waters is more than 50 times the accepted safety levels, and tests have shown the presence of viruses and bacteria which could cause cholera and typhus. Shellfish in the harbour easily collect the pollutants because the flushing efficiency there is very low, says Dr Mark Kai-keung, senior lecturer of the Department of Biology at the Chinese University, Hong Kong. Because of that he said clams collected there for sale were not safe, and warned that things will get worse unless something is done. Dr Mark said that the Lam Tsuen River and Shing Mun River, which flow into the inner harbour, were very polluted, and that Taipo market and Shatin were other major sources of contamination. Taipo and Shatin, which have a joint population of 400000, should develop a sewage treatment system to counteract pollution, and Dr Mark promised that a detailed report on the situation would be handed to the Government.
Action Urged to Save Mangrove Forests A "Global Status Report" intended to draw the attention of governments and aid agencies to the need for conservation of the world's mangrove forests was issued after a meeting of experts in Singapore.
Their continuous disappearance is a matter of enormous concern to ecologists. The forests, together with coastal wetlands and estuaries, provide food and shelter for an estimated two-thirds of the world's fish catch. They are valuable breeding grounds for fish, provide barriers against erosion and a habitat for wildfowl and other wildlife• Their disappearance is attributable, among other things, to urban and tourist development, indiscriminate gathering of firewood and the effects of herbicide pollution• In India alone an estimated 16000 square kilometres of mangroves have been lost since the turn of the century, while it is believed their widespread destruction has contributed to catastrophic flooding in South Asia. However some 20 million hectares remain throughout the tropics and the report by the experts, all members of IUCN's Commission on ecology, makes a series of recommendations on their long term management.
'Quake Threat to Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef of Australia could be indirectly destroyed by a massive earthquake which could happen at any time, a researcher has warned. The tremor could hit the coastline nearby and many oil refineries and chemical plants there could spill their products into the sea and permanently damage the reef. The possibility of a big quake in the region has been ignored, Mr J. Rynn, of the University of Queensland department of minerology and geology, told a seminar.The meeting, on environmental engineering, held 287
\
J
,
,t/,,>.
. . I rF,,
J
. ~ | J J.f.,/l.~
t
:.. ,,
,':."
"
"That's lucky! From the stink I thought the tide was out!"
Pollution 'Could Cause Cholera' Claim Clams collected from the inner Tolo Harbour in Hong Kong are unfit for human consumption, a university biologist has claimed. Pollution in the waters is more than 50 times the accepted safety levels, and tests have shown the presence of viruses and bacteria which could cause cholera and typhus. Shellfish in the harbour easily collect the pollutants because the flushing efficiency there is very low, says Dr Mark Kai-keung, senior lecturer of the Department of Biology at the Chinese University, Hong Kong. Because of that he said clams collected there for sale were not safe, and warned that things will get worse unless something is done. Dr Mark said that the Lam Tsuen River and Shing Mun River, which flow into the inner harbour, were very polluted, and that Taipo market and Shatin were other major sources of contamination. Taipo and Shatin, which have a joint population of 400000, should develop a sewage treatment system to counteract pollution, and Dr Mark promised that a detailed report on the situation would be handed to the Government.
Action Urged to Save Mangrove Forests A "Global Status Report" intended to draw the attention of governments and aid agencies to the need for conservation of the world's mangrove forests was issued after a meeting of experts in Singapore.
Their continuous disappearance is a matter of enormous concern to ecologists. The forests, together with coastal wetlands and estuaries, provide food and shelter for an estimated two-thirds of the world's fish catch. They are valuable breeding grounds for fish, provide barriers against erosion and a habitat for wildfowl and other wildlife• Their disappearance is attributable, among other things, to urban and tourist development, indiscriminate gathering of firewood and the effects of herbicide pollution• In India alone an estimated 16000 square kilometres of mangroves have been lost since the turn of the century, while it is believed their widespread destruction has contributed to catastrophic flooding in South Asia. However some 20 million hectares remain throughout the tropics and the report by the experts, all members of IUCN's Commission on ecology, makes a series of recommendations on their long term management.
'Quake Threat to Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef of Australia could be indirectly destroyed by a massive earthquake which could happen at any time, a researcher has warned. The tremor could hit the coastline nearby and many oil refineries and chemical plants there could spill their products into the sea and permanently damage the reef. The possibility of a big quake in the region has been ignored, Mr J. Rynn, of the University of Queensland department of minerology and geology, told a seminar.The meeting, on environmental engineering, held 287