The politicians are, in the main, sitting on their collective hands. Only in countries like China, faced with pollution on a widespread and diabolical scale, are there now attempts to wrestle with the effects of climate change and widespread pollution.
Wake up call time! If what is reported in this piece "Official prophecy of doom: Global warming will cause widespread conflict, displace millions of people and devastate the global economy" in The Independent is even half right, then things are looking grim for all of us down the track.
"Climate change will displace hundreds of millions of people by the end of this century, increasing the risk of violent conflict and wiping trillions of dollars off the global economy, a forthcoming UN report will warn.
The second of three publications by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, due to be made public at the end of this month, is the most comprehensive investigation into the impact of climate change ever undertaken. A draft of the final version seen by The Independent says the warming climate will place the world under enormous strain, forcing mass migration, especially in Asia, and increasing the risk of violent conflict.
Based on thousands of peer-reviewed studies and put together by hundreds of respected scientists, the report predicts that climate change will reduce median crop yields by 2 per cent per decade for the rest of the century – at a time of rapidly growing demand for food. This will in turn push up malnutrition in children by about a fifth, it predicts.
The report also forecasts that the warming climate will take its toll on human health, pushing up the number of intense heatwaves and fires and increasing the risk from food and water-borne diseases."
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