Intergovernmental panel on climate change: http://www.ipcc.ch/ By FT.com staff Published: February 19 2001 17:24GMT | Last Updated: February 19 2001 17:36GMT The UK government on Monday joined environmental groups in calling for immediate action to be taken over global warming after a report revealed that billions of people were at risk from widespread drought, flooding and famine. The report, released by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in Geneva, stated a large proportion of the global population would flee drought-stricken regions while malaria would break out in flooded regions. Within the next 25 years, 5.4bn people would be living in areas where water was hard to find. At present, there are 1.7bn people who live in such conditions. The report, compiled by a group of 700 scientists, said the "effects of climate change are expected to be greatest in developing countries in terms of loss of life and relative effects on investment and the economy". However, developed countries would not escape the effects of global warning, it warned. "Coastal settlements are particularly at risk, but urban flooding could be a problem anywhere that storm drains, water supply and waste management systems have inadequate capacity," the report said. John Prescott, the deputy prime minister, urged world leaders to double their efforts to find a solution to global warming. Mr Prescott said the adverse affects of global warming were now better understood, and enough was known to make it clear that action must be taken. Mr Prescott called on the global community to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol which required developed countries to scale down their emission levels. In December, environmental talks collapsed, partly because the US wanted more allowance for the buying and selling of emissions credits from other countries. In January, the international climate change panel predicted that temperatures could increase by as much as 5.8C during the 100 years. _______________________________________________ CrashList website: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base
