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posted by jade
new un report out, possible headline
Monday, February 19 7:31 PM SGT
Climate change threatens water, agriculture, public health: UN report
GENEVA, Feb 19 (AFP) -
Climate change will cause more floods and more droughts, diminish agricultural yields and worsen sanitary conditions in the 21st century, a panel of scientists working for the UN have warned.
All parts of the planet will be hit by the negative effects of global warming, according to a report published here on Monday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Developing countries are most vulnerable as they are less well equipped to face the consequences of natural disasters, the scientists warn.
"Some extreme events are projected to increase in frequency and/or severity during the 21st century," the IPCC report said.
"Flood magnitude and frequency could increase in most regions as a consequence of increased frequency of heavy precipitation events," the scientists predicted, adding that mudslides and avalanches could also occur more frequently due to heavy rainfall.
"An increase in heatwaves, often exacerbated by increased humidity and urban air pollution (would) cause an increase in heat-related deaths and illness episodes," the report said.
It also lists a reduction in crop yields as a possible negative effect of climate change, which would "predispose food-insecure populations to malnutrition." Water resources and quality could also be affected.
The developing world is likely to face serious tropical storms more frequently, as well as floods and droughts. Subtropical countries will be hit by severe water shortages.
Coastal areas will be under particular threat from a rise in global sea level, leading to increased flooding and accelerated erosion. Seawater will intrude into fresh water sources.
The IPCC predicts economic consequences to global warming, mainly a widening of the rift between the developed and the developing worlds.
In rich countries, a limited temperature rise would produce some gains and some losses. A more extreme rise would have only negative effects.
In poor countries, climate change will have only negative consequences, which will worsen as the temperature rises.
Most tropical and subtropical regions will see their crop yields decrease, and in some cases these reductions will take place even if the change in temperature is almost imperceptible.
Tropical diseases will affect larger areas. In northern countries, heat-related deaths, humidity and pollution will worsen.
The IPCC researchers based their work on a report published in Shanghai, China, on January 22, which predicted an average temperature rise in the 21st century of 1.4 to 5.8 degrees centigrade, and a sea-level rise of 9 to 88 centimetres.
But the new IPCC report was more confident in its findings than a 1995 report. It states that there is evidence that "some social and economic systems have been affected by the recent increasing frequency of floods and droughts in some areas."
The impact of climate change on natural systems was also stressed. "Natural systems at risk include glaciers, coral reefs and atolls, mangroves, boreal and tropical forests, polar and alpine ecosystems, prairie wetlands and remnant native grasslands," the report noted.
Some trees have been blooming earlier and some animals have changed their behavioural patterns, the scientists explained.
Half of all Alpine glaciers could disappear, and several animal species could become extinct.
The IPCC listed a series of large-scale and possibly irreversible impacts to natural systems. Reductions in the ice sheets, for example, could lead to many islands being submerged and coastal regions being severely flooded.
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