Extreme weather wakes US up to climate change: US public opinion is rapidly waking up to the threat posed by global warming, despite the best efforts of the Bush Administration and much of industry to deny the problem. There has been a double-digit increase in the proportion of Americans who say environmental problems are a major global threat – from 23 per cent to 37 per cent, according to a comprehensive survey published this week by the Pew Centre in Washington. Independent

77,000 die annually in Asia-Pacific from climate change: International experts will meet next month to discuss the threat to health posed by global warming, which directly or indirectly contributes to about 77,000 deaths annually in Asia-Pacific, the World Health Organization said Thursday.