Enviro chaos on the way

The wire service has obtained a copy of a report on how global warming will affect daily life within the next 30 years. The report has been written and reviewed by more than 1 000 scientists, the A.P. reports, but government officials haven't signed off on it yet. The report is scheduled to be presented at an April meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in Belgium.

Among the climate changes that may adversely affect millions of people within the next few decades are:

• Major water shortages by 2050 or earlier in Latin America, Africa and Asia
• An increase in fatalities caused by tropical diseases and conditions, such as malaria and diarrhoea
• Increased flooding every year, with more than 100 million people losing their homes annually by 2080
• The loss of the polar bear's natural environment. The bears will probably be seen only in zoos.

Many of the scientists feel a sense of urgency, the A.P. reports. "Things are ... happening faster than we expected," the wire service quotes Patricia Romero Lankao of the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, as saying. – (HealthDayNews)

March 2007