Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts and heatwaves that nations should prepare for an unprecedented onslaught of deadly and costly weather disasters, an international panel of scientists has said.

PUTTING a price on something that is priceless is, well, tricky. It is, however, possible to assign a number to how much damage is being done to that thing. In the case of the oceans, a conservative estimate of the cost of climate change is that by the year 2100 it will amount to nearly $2 trillion annually in 2010 dollars, or about 0.4% of global GDP. Any number that purports to describe an economy nine decades hence must be taken with a dollop of salt, of course. But it should not be dismissed out of hand. 

Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts and heat waves that nations should prepare for an unprecedented onslaught of deadly and costly weather disasters, an international panel of climate scientists says in a report issued Wednesday.

 

Climate change report: Watch out Mumbai and Miami 

It’s bad news for all – from farmers to policymakers. Yields of tea, coffee and cardamom from high altitude plantations in the Western Ghats are falling because of the changing regional climate. Worse, the region is likely to see a 1.7-1.8 degrees C rise in temperature by 2030. Rainfall may increase in most parts, but the number of rainy days will go down. If that is not all, sediment yield is on the rise with the increasing intensity of rainfall.

 

Climate change in Western Ghats to hit water supply 

BANGKOK, Mar 27 (IPS) – India, like other Asian countries, has focused its climate change adaptation strategies on rural and urban areas while neglecting the urban fringes, say experts. Peri-urban areas are characterised by haphazard, accelerated expansion and are farthest from basic urban services and infrastructure, according to United Nations-Habitat’s ‘The State of Asian Cities 2010-11′. By 2020, of the projected 4.2 billion urban population of the world, 2.2 billion will be living in Asia, many in peri-urban areas, the U.N. report says.

 

Climate Change Threatens the Poor in Cities 

The world’s surging population is a big driver of environmental woes but the issue is complex and solutions are few, experts at a major conference here say.  Answers lie with educating women in poorer countries and widening access to contraception but also with reforming consumption patterns in rich economies, they say.

 

Population adds to planet’s pressure cooker, but few options 

The potential impact of climate change on the environment and socio-economic systems can be understood in terms of sensitivity, adaptability and vulnerability of our existence on this planet. Based on a recent scientific report, it stresses the magnitude and the rate of climate change that could directly impinge on the industrial, commercial and agricultural sectors. Although much progress has been made to improve both air and water quality and there are still grave doubts when it comes to predicting regional climate changes, one thing is certain about the long term effect on general living standards. This is expected to be negative due to higher temperatures and the possible erosion of coastal areas, including sandy beaches.

 “We have to draw up plans to study the influence of the warming Indian Ocean on monsoons, cyclones and one-day heavy rainfall events that lead to flash floods with measurements and computer modelling. The atmosphere and ocean interact closely during the active-break cycle of the monsoon on which modelling studies should be undertaken so as to predict monsoons well in advance,” said P V Joseph, Emeritus Professor, Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) and former Director of India Meteorological Department.

Climate change has accelerated in the past decade, the UN weather agency said Friday, releasing data showing that 2001 to 2010 was the warmest decade on record. The 10-year period was also marked by extreme levels of rain or snowfall, leading to significant flooding on all continents, while droughts affected parts of East Africa and North America. 

The world is close to reaching tipping points that will make it irreversibly hotter, making this decade critical in efforts to contain global warming, scientists warned on Monday.  Scientific estimates differ but the world’s temperature looks set to rise by six degrees Celsius by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions are allowed to rise uncontrollably.