Posted on 2-12-2003
Billions
May Suffer As Global Warming Melts Glaciers
Agence France Presse, 28 November 2003
MILAN -- Billions of people will face severe water shortages
as glaciers around the world melt unless governments take urgent
action to tackle global warming, the environmental group World
Wildlife Fund (WWF) said, ahead of a UN conference on climate
change.
This photo shows a crack in the Larsen B ice shelf in
the Wedden sea, in Antarctica. Billions of people will face
severe water shortages as glaciers around the world melt unless
governments take urgent action to tackle global warming, the
WWF said. (AFP/EPA/File)
"Increasing global temperatures in the coming century
will cause continued widespread melting of glaciers, which contain
70 percent of the world's fresh water reserves," it warned
in a new study.
"An overall rise of temperature of four degrees
Celsius before the end of the century would eliminate almost
all of them," it said. Average temperatures have risen
between 0.6 and 0.7 degrees Celsius since 1860, according to
WWF, which urged countries to curb emissions of carbon dioxide
to ensure the increase stays well below a threshold of two degrees.
The Switzerland-based conservation group released its
study on climate change and global glacier decline in Milan
where more than 180 countries are due to gather from December
1-12 for the UN Climate Change Convention to assess progress
in addressing problems concerning global warming.
"The melting of glaciers will lead to water shortages
for billions of people, as well as sea levels rising and destroying
coastal communities worldwide," WWF said. Ecuador, Peru
and Bolivia, where major cities rely on glaciers as their main
source of water during dry seasons, would be worst affected,
it predicted.
In the Himalayas, there was a grave danger of flooding,
the group said, noting that glacier-fed rivers in the region
supply water to one third of the world's population.
"Glacial meltdown is a clear sign that we must act
now to fight global warming and stop the melting," said
Jennifer Morgan, director of WWF's climate change programme.
The environmental organisation called on the ministers who will
attend the Milan conference to act faster to combat global warming,
urging those from developing nations in particular to demonstrate
their will to tackle the issue.
WWF wants strong rules governing the use of forests,
which play a vital role in absorbing carbon dioxide. The group
also asked governments to ensure Russia ratifies the 1997 Kyoto
Protocol, which establishes a set of goals to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions.
Already ratified by 119 countries, the text just needs
a commitment from Moscow to become international law, it said.
On Tuesday, Italian officials said the European Union has pledged
390 million dollars (325 million euros) a year to help developing
countries from 2005 fight the damaging effects of climate change.
In 2001, 20 countries including the 15 EU members pledged
to provide 410 million dollars annually to poorer countries
until 2005.
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