Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Special council to look into global warming

Malaysia will set up a special council to discuss and adopt the measures decided at the climate conference in Bali on Saturday.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Azmi Khalid said the council would comprise Cabinet ministers as well as Mentris Besar, as most matters were under state jurisdiction.

Speaking to reporters in Lenga, he said there was an urgent need for Malaysia to be committed in resolving problems caused by global warming, which had already started affecting the nation.

"Within one year - in January and December - we have had two big floods; and I have been informed we may face another round of floods following the high tidal season this week," he said after visiting flood victims at SK Lenga relief centre on Monday.

Azmi, who was accompanied by his wife Normala Shamsuddin, said scientists from 180 countries who met in Bali predicted the world would be a lot warmer in the next 10 or 20 years.

He said it was initially predicted the world would be warmer in 2050 but latest information on climate change shared in Bali shortened the time frame to 2030.

He said many low-lying areas along the deltas in Bangladesh had been flooded and hundreds of islands in the Maldives had been badly affected by rising sea levels.

Source: the Star

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