The author can be excused from some of the references to climate change - even scientists in the field spout the most incrediable nonsense about this. But it is difficult to let Jai P. Narain's assertion that an increase in temperatures will result in an increase in communicable diseases, notably malaria, go by. This is known not to be the case and, I thought, had been largely dropped from the alarmist literature. There was malaria in Europe and the US during the height of the little ice age (it just had different names). In fact there have been epidemics above the artic circle. Note this recent paper from the US CDC..
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol6no1/reiter.htm
Malaria is known to be strongly associated with income levels, not temperatures - albeit there has been some counter arguement that the malaria causes the low income levels.
Narain is a senior office in WHO and, years after the argumetn has been sent packing, he's still repeating it. This is not a great moment for WHO.

Wizard!

Oh right, warmer temperatures are good for plants but not for insects?

Nice one Mark.

Science fiction may be a great art genre and at times can be most entertaining. Good escapist reading!

Since huge populations of mosquitoes are found in Finland, it's hard to see why a few tenths of a degree of warming -- if it occurs -- should make any difference to their habitats or behaviour. This is clutching at straws.

Anyone else want to have a go at stirring the pot? Here is a complete list of all the things (allegedly) caused by global warming:

http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm

There should be a few articles in there for our diehard credulists.

Bugsy - it was a surprise to me you can get malaria above the artic circle but apparently you can, although I doubt that you will in winter .. the disease was known in america in recent decades but was eliminated with the use of the much-maligned DDT.. In Europe I believe it was marshlands being drained, but the paper cited will say more.. the reason it is associated with hot climes is that it hasn't been eliminated from those places.. temperatue may be a factor but it is far outweighed by others..