UN warns that climate change is releasing pollutants into air and water

Daily Mail : Melting glaciers and ice sheets are releasing cancer-causing pollutants into the air and oceans, scientists say. The “persistent organic pollutants,” as they are called, are manmade and include pesticides such as DDT and chemicals called PCBs. Donald Cooper, of the United Nations Environment Program, which published the report at the UN climate talks in Cancún, Mexico, said, “In the past pollutants have travelled long distances and become trapped in ice in glaciers and ice sheets. But as the ice melts, or when temperatures go up, they are released back into the seas and atmosphere.” Achim Steiner, the executive director of UNEP, said freak weather events were releasing stockpiles of dangerous pesticides and other pollutants.