‘Nobody on this planet is going
to be untouched by the impacts of climate change.’ So said Rajendra Pachauri, chair
of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as the panel’s
latest report warns of ‘severe,
pervasive and irreversible’ effects.
The dangers it anticipates
include greater flooding in some areas, along with water shortages in others.
It foresees declining crop yields just as the world’s population races up to 9
billion. The panel says the amount of evidence on the effects of global warming
has doubled since its last report in 2007.
There are plenty of people who
still deny that climate change represents a threat at all, but this latest IPCC
report has been criticised by others for being too optimistic. Apparently a
view has been taken that if the panel paints too gloomy a picture, politicians
will just give up trying to do anything.
The report is based on more than
12,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies, and is said to be the most
comprehensive assessment ever of the threat to the world from global warming.
*See my book Flood: Nature and Culture for more on how global warming may increase the risk of flooding.
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