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TechnoratiGlobal Warming Causes 300,000 Deaths a Year, Says Kofi Annan thinktank
Climate change is greatest humanitarian challenge facing the world as heatwaves, floods and forest fires become more severe
Global Warming is already responsible for 300,000 deaths a year and is affecting 300m people, according to the first comprehensive study of the human impact of global warming.
![[A family wades through flood waters to catch a relief boat, north-east of Patna, India. Photograph: Manish Swarup/AP]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/warming_0.jpg "warming.jpg")
It projects that increasingly severe heatwaves, floods, storms and forest fires will be responsible for as many as 500,000 deaths a year by 2030, making it the greatest humanitarian challenge the world faces.
Economic losses due to climate change today amount to more than $125bn a year - more than the all present world aid. The report comes from former UN secretary general Kofi Annan's thinktank, the Global Humanitarian Forum. By 2030, the report says, climate change could cost $600bn a year.
Civil unrest may also increase because of weather-related events, the report says: "Four billion people are vulnerable now and 500m are now at extreme risk. Weather-related disasters ... bring hunger, disease, poverty and lost livelihoods. They pose a threat to social and political stability".
If emissions are not brought under control, within 25 years, the report states:
• 310m more people will suffer adverse health consequences related to temperature increases
• 20m more people will fall into poverty
• 75m extra people will be displaced by climate change.
Climate change is expected to have the most severe impact on water supplies . "Shortages in future are likely to threaten food production, reduce sanitation, hinder economic development and damage ecosystems. It causes more violent swings between floods and droughts. Hundreds of millions of people are expected to become water stressed by climate change by the 2030. ".
The study says it is impossible to be certain who will be displaced by 2030, but that tens of millions of people "will be driven from their homelands by weather disasters or gradual environmental degradation. The problem is most severe in Africa, Bangladesh, Egypt, coastal zones and forest areas. ."
The study compares for the first time the number of people affected by climate change in rich and poor countries. Nearly 98% of the people seriously affected, 99% of all deaths from weather-related disasters and 90% of the total economic losses are now borne by developing countries. The populations most at risk it says, are in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, south Asia and the small island states of the Pacific.
But of the 12 countries considered least at risk, including Britain, all but one are industrially developed. Together they have made nearly $72bn available to adapt themselves to climate change but have pledged only $400m to help poor countries. "This is less than one state in Germany is spending on improving its flood defences," says the report.
The study comes as diplomats from 192 countries prepare to meet in Bonn next week for UN climate change talks aimed at reaching a global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in December in Copenhagen. "The world is at a crossroads. We can no longer afford to ignore the human impact of climate change. This is a call to the negotiators to come to the most ambitious agreement ever negotiated or to continue to accept mass starvartion, mass sickness and mass migration on an ever growing scale," said Kofi Annan, who launched the report today in London.
Annan blamed politians for the current impasse in the negotiations and widespread ignorance in many countries. "Weak leadership, as evident today, is alarming. If leaders cannot assume responsibility they will fail humanity. Agreement is in the interests of every human being."
Barabra Stocking, head of Oxfam said: "Adaptation efforts need to be scaled up dramatically.The world's poorest are the hardest hit, but they have done the least to cause it.
Nobel peace prizewinner Wangari Maathai, said: "Climate change is life or death. It is the new global battlefield. It is being presented as if it is the problem of the developed world. But it's the developed world that has precipitated global warming."
Calculations for the report are based on data provided by the World Bank, the World Health organisation, the UN, the Potsdam Insitute For Climate Impact Research, and others, including leading insurance companies and Oxfam. However, the authors accept that the estimates are uncertain and could be higher or lower. The paper was reviewed by 10 of the world's leading experts incluing Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change, Jeffrey Sachs, of Columbia University and Margareta Wahlström, assistant UN secretary general for disaster risk reduction.
29 Comments so far
Show AllIf you put on a heavy coat, you're going to get warm. Carbon dioxide acts just like a coat: it insullates. The more carbon dioxide, the warmer it gets. And the more acidic the ocean becomes.
As to population...one of the best methods so far for regulating population is to educate women. The more education, the fewer children they have.
Women in third world countries are not adverse to limiting or "spacing" children: but it really helps to have contraceptives to do that. Anybody here remember the Bush administration cutting funding to world-wide organizations that distribute contraceptives?
population reduction, reduction of consumption, switching to "greener" energies, are not mutually exclusive options.
even if "man-made global warming" were a myth, highly unlikely, it's still undeniable that industrialization is destroying other vital parts of the environment (waters, forests, etc., etc.)
it's tempting to say the global economic downturn is a "god/gaia-given" golden opportunity to reassess our economic priorities. but don't hold your breath (unless air-quality forces you to.) our leaders see the coming chaos in the form of a big dollar sign.
Hallelujah! Praise algore!
Global warming is a secular religion. Nothing more.
comment withdrawn
This issue of global warming is a serious threat to our greener environment & needs to be taken up with immediate & utmost importance. We need to also include the emerging countries like India & China in this effort to make sure we get appropriate solution to this grave problem.
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A strong source, "The Great Ice Age", by Chapman, Drury and others, a 10 yr old glossy, scientific book tells us that 4/5 of the ice sheet on Greenland was laid down since the last interglacial maximum 110ky ago. Other things being equal, we would have a bit of melting to do before we get the beginning of the next climate reversal...place your bets.
They also indicate that Antarctica leads the N Hemisphere by some period 100-2000 yrs in the climate break.
But 10 years ago, all were talking about centuries for this or that trigger. The time limits are shortening. And like the man said... climate is a nasty beast, and we are poking it with a stick.
300,000 doesn't sound like many, but its just the beginning.
Left unchecked, the twin effects of CO2 pollution, global warming and ocean acidification, will result in thousands of species becoming extinct and the dislocation and deaths of millions or billions. We need to take responsibility for the environment of the future.
IF WE ARE CAUSING GLOBAL WARMING.......
Why are all 9 planets warming up?
Answer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab5JlovA-I8&feature=PlayList&p=C7AADE39259E9B76&index=1
"IF WE ARE CAUSING GLOBAL WARMING.......
Why are all 9 planets warming up?"
Another religious nut.... All nine planets? There are only Eight.
1. Pluto is not a planet. It is a Kyber belt ice object in a crazy retrograde orbit. It heats up because it's orbit is eliptical. Some years it comes close to the sun, some years not.
2. Theoretical Astrophysics is not the same thing as the accepted theory of Global Warming. All "nine" planets warming up is speculation, not verifiable or repeatable by independent scientists.
You Oil/Coal lobbyists lost the AGW argument. The poles are melting. Entire villages have sunk into the permafrost. This new canard of yours: of blaming the Sun will not work. It still does not eliminate the obvious conclusion that, if only for health reasons only we must abandon coal immediately, we must abandon oil consumption immediately.
Rooftop residential solar, no matter what the cost (gov subsidy). No private autos. No Nuke; that's worse than being in the dark.
Or, we do your plan: Stick our heads in the sand and go extinct.
TJ
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
Beautiful graphics!
global warming causes 300,000 deaths a year?
between 13 and 18 million people die each year due to starvation
In 2004, there were 553,888 deaths from cancer
Coronary heart disease caused 445687 deaths in 2005
3.1 million (0.6 million children) AIDS related deaths a year
440,000 annual deaths each year are smoking-associated (CDC)
and the list goes on and on and on. so my question is, when the masses finally accept that solar cycle 24 is going to have a cooling effect on the planet (not to mention is hasnt heated up since 1998) how many global cooling deaths will there be a year?
more global warming propaganda to line al gores pockets with carbon credit gold.
Dear Giggles,
There is no cooling trend. It is a statistical lie dreamed up by oil monopolies. ALL scientific bodies in the world agree with this. If I lost 5 pounds weight this week, but this month I tip the scales 50 pounds heavier than any time in my life, is it a cooling (or weight loss) trend?
No.
The poles are melting. Ocean Liners and Supertankers are driving through CANADA, throught the before ice-locked Northwest passage from Europe to Asia!
Your crazy thermometer tricks don't dismiss the fact that the low Marshal Islands and the low Maldives Islands have been evacuated because they are under water!
TJ
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
"Your crazy thermometer tricks don't dismiss the fact that the low Marshal Islands and the low Maldives Islands have been evacuated because they are under water!"
TJ, I need to see where you are getting your data?
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/marshall-islands
http://www.mymaldives.com/
Seems like the tourism industry is doing well in both locales.
Yes, any fire breathing, smoke belching conservative christian will tell you from high atop their hummer that these end times are only a theory. The Cedar Forests are Sacred - you cut them at your own risk my friend.
There is no debate as to whether the earth is warming or not. Ice core samples prove this is the warmest time in tens of thousands of years.
Mans contribution is more difficult to quantify.
Fossil Fuels are poisonous and only become depleted and more expensive and harmful to extract.
So just from the inherent properties of fossil fuel any healthy thinking person would switch to renewables.
Ocean acidification alone is sufficient reason.
Joe
"Ice core samples prove this is the warmest time in tens of thousands of years."
I would like to see the data on that statement.
Gilgamesh:
I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU!!!
So you suggest we wait until global warming is the leading cause of suffering? How idiotic. It may already be too late to prevent tragedy, but not too late to mitigate it. Your reference to Al Gore, who is not actually responsible for his old money, and could do much worse with it, reveals your opinions for what they are: right wing feces. Sell your Exxon-Mobil stock now while you still can. Whenever I see the "vast liberal conspiracy" argument I laugh, and cry. If the left could actually agree enough to conspire to do anything, perhaps they would accomplish something. Just mentioning Ralph Nader on here is almost a guarantee of huge numbers of incoherent, off topic replies, for example. When you suggest that global warming information is propaganda you fail to notice that NO ONE profits from this. There will be no way to hide or ignore the problem very soon. Global Warming is like a black hole with an invisible event horizon, which you must exceed the speed of light to escape. Are we beyond this horizon? There is no way to tell. Take away the paranoia of the right wing, and there is nothing left. These people are so used to disingenuously crying wolf that they ignore real warnings. If the causes of global warming involved non-traditional sex, or odd looking, non-Christian foreigners, they would be all over it. Sadly, they may delude themselves and everyone else to death. Although global warming threatens everyone, it more severely threatens wealthy energy corporations and their immoral grip on power. Fighting it threatens the real agenda and base of the right, which is funneling money upward and supporting the ultra-wealthy and powerful authoritarian Fascists they worship. Since the early stages of global warming only impact poor people, they not only ignore it, they welcome it. These folks are not satisfied with merely ruining the USA, they want to spread their filth and destruction everywhere.
Here in Guyana South America I watched as my neighbors crop of cabbages (worth about 10K USD) were ruined by floods. All their work for nothing. Never before were the rains so harsh. But farmers have been noticing the change in weather over the past 10 yrs.
For citizens in the US Driving an SUV is worth it.
We are devils.
Time to revolt
Since the number of people on the planet is the 'real' biggest cause of the problems life experiences on this planet, I would say that due to that large number, it is nature's way of correcting the problem because there is no way any person or group of people will ever be able to resolve the issue of all people being equally able to provide for themselves with the dwindling resources and the encroaching climate changings in this politically, economically and culturally inept world ruled by emotions.
If greedy people are the rulers and/or the populations even small populations would be and are disfunctional.
Intelligent use of resources can support all peoples.
The problem is the greedy monopolists are only to aware that finite resources as fossil fuels and water are the best ones to monopolize.
There are ample renewable energy supplies if there is a will to tap them( Scientific American Jan. 08).
Water supplies judiciously used are sufficient, but we should look forward to developing new sources,interior earth, atmosphere, asteroids, etc.
glenn ford May 29th, 2009 10:02 am
""Intelligent use of resources can support all peoples.""
********************************************************
To what end? Because then you will run into that what is called the 'quality of life'.
And don't believe that 'science' will have an answer to and for all problems because science is based now more on the commercialization of the answer to a problem and that tends to muddy the use of science; to wit the continuous outpouring of new(and untested drugs and chemicals) devices and means to 'save the world', but for a profit.
"Intelligent use of resources can support all peoples."
I disagree. This is untrue. This is a religious fabrication of the Church. Clearly, the emissions from 6 billion people have put the thermodynamics of the planet in peril for most species living on it. If you save them all, their huge numbers will continue to expand as long as you feed them (Malthus.) Peasants in the third world cause one-third of the global carbon footprint. They rely on slash and burn, and they cook by smoking huge logs for days just to get the charcoal necessary for cooking. They can't pay ExxonMobile 500 pesos a week for LP gas! That was yesterday. Today most of the islands in the pacific are on fire since the oil monopolies have priced them out of the market.
Since "Man of Wisdom" is apparently not so wise, the only biological mechanism that will come into play is FAMINE. Crazy schemes like snagging Asteroids (or Ice Comets) are about as smart as using Star Wars shields instead of disarmament. We must embrace population control, (babie tax?) or else we WILL experience an extinction event.
My money is on the later unfortunately.
TJ
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
"Intelligent use of resources can support all peoples."
I disagree. This is untrue. This is a religious fabrication of the Church. Clearly, the emissions from 6 billion people have put the thermodynamics of the planet in peril for most species living on it."
Interesting opinion... but again I would like to see the data on this as well.
If I remember right there are other organisms that outnumber us in number and tonnage and they would output more methane and CO2 than we do. (Biologically that is. I'm not factoring Industrial output for us)
What happened? Do you not know how to Google? Do you not know how to Wiki?
Hanging around and saying there's no data is like letting a smile be your unmbrella on a rainy day. The evidence is everywhere that you're all wet, but still you choose to question the very rain itself.
TJ
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
TJ,
Funny way to respond to a simple question.
I didn't say three is no data, I asked where you are getting yours.
I am at this point not disagreeing with you but you answer back with a snotty response. So can the rhetoric and give me your sources.
I suggest we invade somewhere.
Joe
snydly
Others may be having the same idea...
I know un pequito de Espanol, but no Mandarin...