Accra, June 04, GNA - Ghanaians must join the World Environment Day celebrations on Tuesday, to help reduce emissions of green house gases and desist from activities that degrade the ecosystem, a statement issued in Accra said on Monday.

It said the release of gases from improperly combusted fossil fuel and fumes from the exhaust pipes of poorly maintained vehicles led to global warming.

This year's celebration which will be on the local theme: "Rising Temperature- A Cause for Environmental Concern", is meant to draw the attention of the general public to linkages between bad environmental practices and rising global temperatures that affect coastal ecology. The statement said the earth had warmed by approximately 0.75 degree Celsius since pre-industrial times and the warmest temperature in the past 125 years was recorded in 2005. It said between 1960 and 2002, annual human induced global emissions of carbon dioxide also tripled, adding that the year 1987 alone witnessed a 33 per cent increase in such emissions. "Warming in this century is projected to be between 1.4 and 5.8 degree Celsius. The impacts of climate change are already visible in Ghana and it is evident by the rising sea levels which effect low lying coastal areas in the country", the statement added. It also identified deforestation, which eliminated the forest cover as prominent among bad environmental practices. The 2007 World Environment Day which would be celebrated on the international theme "Melting Ice-A Hot Topic" would be addressed by Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng, Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment would address a durbar at Breman Asikuma in the Central Region.

The United Nations General Assembly established the event in 1972 to give a human face to environmental issues and empower people to become active agents of sustainable development.