The warming will bring more floods and epidemics
If global warming continues at the current rate, floods, famine, epidemics and other disasters are expected around the world in the coming decades. This is what scientists working for the United Nations warned yesterday in a thousand-page report aimed at national policy makers.
The authors of the report predict the mass of glaciers and ice caps; extinction of multiple species of animals, birds and plants; Continue the desertification process; destruction of coral reefs that serve as habitat for fish; and sinking below sea level of countries located on islands in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean.
This possible scenario, which predicts disasters that may have a decisive impact on the world economy in the next century, was formulated by the "Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations" - IPCC, made up of hundreds of scientists from around the world, who have been studying the problem of global warming since 1990. Last week, IPCC scientists and officials sent on behalf of more than 100 governments from around the world gathered in Geneva and approved the report.
The document states, among other things, that "the changes in climate in the polar regions will probably occur more radically than in any other region on Earth. It seems that physical, ecological and economic effects will appear at a fast pace".
The report published yesterday is the second of four. Last week the first report was published - in Shanghai - which stated that the Earth's atmosphere is warming faster than the IPCC predicts. The report brought evidence, which according to some experts is unequivocal, that the warming was caused by human activity, such as the use of fossil fuels , industrial pollution, and the destruction of forests and swamps.
The IPCC is sometimes criticized by some of the scientific community. Some critics claim that the organization does not provide actual evidence for the existence of extraordinary global warming. This criticism comes mainly from the direction of industrialists who produce or consume fuels. Other critics claim that the IPCC is part of a plan to establish a world government of international bureaucrats.
Diplomats present at meetings held behind closed doors in Geneva last week claim that Saudi Arabia, a major oil producer, delayed the approval of the summary of the report - aimed at policymakers - by disagreeing with almost every sentence in it.
However, mainstream scientists, even those not affiliated with the IPCC, claim that the research conducted by the organization over the past ten years has put an end to the debate about the existence of warming, and shifted the discussion towards the question of what steps should be taken. Indeed, next month the IPCC will publish its third report in Accra, Ghana, which will propose ways to adapt to irreversible climate change. The report will refer to the flora and fauna.
Supporters of the IPCC hope that the new reports will encourage the governments of the world to take action. This, after a meeting held in November in The Hague failed to reach an agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. That meeting focused on trying to implement a protocol that was decided in Kyoto in 1997, which stated that emissions, which are seen as the main cause of global warming, must be reduced.
The report published yesterday warned that the USA - skeptical about the magnitude of the problem - and especially the new Bush administration, will also suffer from the increase in "extreme events", such as floods and storms. These have already caused damages worth billions of dollars in recent years.
In September, the IPCC will publish the fourth and final report. Scientists and activists for the preservation of the environment hope that this report will stimulate the governments to take measures that will slow the warming of the earth.
