18 December 2006Yahoo News! / Kyodo News
Global warming may cause serious effects in around 2050, including more than 1 billion people in Asia facing water shortages, coastal areas submerging under water, the spread of cholera and surging food prices, according to a draft international report obtained Monday.
In the draft report, the Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects that as a result of sea levels rising by about 40 centimeters around the end of the current century, 13-94 million people in Asia will suffer from flooding.
If sea levels rise by 1 meter, 4 million people in Japanese cities including Tokyo and Osaka will be put at risk of flooding, according to the draft report of the IPCC, an international organization established by the World Meteorological Organization and the U.N. Environment Program to scientifically advise policymakers.
The IPCC said the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions alone is insufficient to prevent the adverse effects of global warming and stressed the need to take other measures such as strengthening disaster prevention and reinforcing water preservation.
The greatest threat of global warming is water shortages due to rising temperatures and declining rainfall, according to the draft report.
The report projects that the amount of water available per person in India will be halved by 2025, due to reductions in glaciers in Tibet and the Himalayas, an important source of water.
In northern China, it is feared that only 70 percent of the current level of agricultural water will be available in the future, the draft report said.
Adverse effects of global warming will also include reduction in electricity production at hydraulic power plants, deterioration of water quality, declining agricultural production and erosion of coastal areas, it said.
In South Asia, crop production may decline by 10 percent by the end of the current century, while changes in sea current and rising sea water temperatures are projected to affect sea farming, and endemic areas of diseases including malaria, Dengue fever and cholera are expected to spread, the report said.
The three working groups of the IPCC, which assesses impacts, adaptation and vulnerability issues concerning climate change, are scheduled to release their fourth assessment reports between February and May next year.
The reports will then be compiled into a single report for release in November.
