Friday, April 6, 2007

UN Warns of Global Warming Consequences

Apparently Bush's representatives at this meeting are still fighting to water down the conclusions of the report, especially regarding what has to be done to reverse global warming:

Brussels, Apr 6 (Prensa Latina) Global warming will cause massive damage earlier than predicted, temperatures will increase between 1.5 and 2.5 degrees, 30 percent of species will disappear and the sea level will rise.

This apocalyptic prediction comes not from astrologists, but from a UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on Friday in Brussels.

The UN IPCC warns that coral reefs, the poles, boreal forests, and Mediterranean regions, as well as oceans, will be negatively affected.

The Artic, Sub-Saharan Africa, smaller islands, and large deltas in Asia will be the worst hit, with the poor as the main victims..

It also estimated that drought and thaw will leave one billion people without fresh water, with 50 million of them in the basins of southern, eastern, and central Europe, while hundreds of thousands are already doomed to face floods resulting from the rise of seas.

Global warming could also lead to decreased crops in Africa, melting of Himalayan glaciers, more heat waves in Europe and North America, and augmented deaths from hunger and disease worldwide, the report adds.

The ecological organization WWF-Adena sustains the document represents a "devastating outlook" for the environment and world economy, unless urgent measures against climate change are taken.

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Federation call the text a definite warning, and urged governments and organizations to increase investments to help communities most vulnerable to climate change outcomes.

From Prensa Latina


--Joel W.

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