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Friday February 9, 1:03 PMDraft report notes global warming poses threat to human health, lives(Kyodo) _ Global warming is posting a threat not just to nature but also to human health and lives, seen in the increasing number of deaths caused by heat waves and the proliferation of allergy symptoms among people, according to a report recently drafted by a multilateral panel on climate change.If global warming continues at the current pace, these forms of threat will further intensify while other problems are also anticipated to emerge, including a rise in the number of people who may be affected by water shortages, the draft report by Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says. The report projects that by around 2050 as many as 2 billion additional people may be affected by water shortages. It has been said global warming will cause the severest damage on developing countries and small island nations where infrastructure has not been fully built up. The latest report acknowledges industrialized countries will not be able to escape potential damage from abnormal weather and heat waves. The draft report by the working group to examine the impact of climate change comes after a report last week by Working Group I that predicted a temperature rise of up to 6.4 C by the end of this century. Working Group I addresses the science of climate change. These reports may well have a major impact on policy formation by governments and also on the course of international negotiations on climate change. The latest draft report -- the fourth by Working Group II -- goes beyond its third report in 2001 in stressing that the impact of global warming is seen in nature in the form of shore erosions as a result of sea level rises and is also beginning to manifest itself in human lives. The IPCC is taking note of the heat waves that hit Asia and elsewhere, including a 2003 heat wave in Europe that, according to one estimate, killed 30,000 people. It also cites an increasing volume of pollen in mid-latitude regions in the northern hemisphere and the resultant spread of allergy symptoms. If reliance on fossil fuel energy continues to achieve high economic growth, temperatures will rise 2-3 C by around 2050 compared with 1990 and 20-30 percent of creatures will face the risk of extinction, according to the draft report. Up to 2 billion more people will also face water shortages. |
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