United Nations Radio

Cities from Beijing to New Delhi are getting darker, glaciers in ranges like the Himalayas are melting faster and weather systems are becoming more extreme, says UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme.

This is do in part, says the Organization, to the effects of atmospheric brown clouds. Just as the build-up of greenhouse gases and the resulting global warming pose major environmental threats to Asia's water and food security, increasing amounts of soot, brown clouds, are causing the same effect. Both phenomena are fuelled by growing population, globalization and the information revolution. And brown clouds are wreaking havoc, says UNEP's Nick Nuttall, on Asia's weather systems:

Nuttall: In Asia, you have this phenomenon known as the monsoon. And it is clear that the soot particles, this huge brown pollution over Asia - is drying out the monsoon in northern Asia and leading to massively increased rainfall in southern Asia.

Mr. Nuttall says the solution is simple - stop the burning - burning of fossil fuels, of forests, animal waste, charcoal and more.

Nuttall: So it's all about burning. So if we can stop the burning, or the unsustainable burning, or the over-dependence on carbon-based fuels, then we can turn off ....this brown cloud trap.

Nick Nutall. Gerry Adams, United Nations.

(duration: 1'31")