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Published on September 1, 2007

In Thailand, consuming honey, certain jungle plants and mushrooms can actually harm the planet, according to Asst Prof Jiraphol Sinthunawa, of Mahidol University.

For example, smoking bees out of their hives generates both heat and smoke, producing carbon dioxide.

He also referred to local villagers who now grow the vegetable phak wan (Melientha suavis Pierre) because it sells for Bt120 a kilogram.

However, growing phak wan requires "heating the stalks" in order to stimulate growth. Meanwhile, the delicious and popular mushroom, hed phor (Astreus hygrometricus) grows well on dried soil, but farmers are now using blow torches to quicken the drying process.

Jiraphol also warned that more heat waves could seriously affect Thailand after thousands of people world-wide were killed by soaring temperatures this year, including 103 in "nearby India".

Prof Dr Therawat Hemajutha, of Chulalongkorn University, said global warming could spread animal-born outbreaks much further.

He cited a report as saying that rabies was found to have been spread through bats, and that two people in Australia had died of it after being bitten.

The doctor added that shorter winters caused by global warming had caused mosquitoes to grow faster and live longer, thus resulting in a greater risk of malaria.

The Nation