Increased Poverty, Hunger, Violence Among Dire Predictions in Leaked Climate Change Report (VIDEO)
(Source: YouTube/BBC)
Poverty, hunger, sickness and violence will worsen as man-made global warming continues in the coming years, according to a leaked international climate change report.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is set to issue a report in March 2014 on how global warming will impact current lifestyles including predictions of the future. A copy of the report's draft summary has been leaked and posted on a Web site of a climate change skeptic. The leaked information also contains a possible drop in worldwide income.
Governments around the world are supposed to comment on the draft in the next few months before the report will be released to the public. Climate scientist Chris Field from the Carnegie Institution said the world has seen a lot of climate change effects and more will be noticeable in the future.
Mr Field, who also heads the climate change report, said cities will be the most vulnerable along with the world's poor.
The leaked report said the impact of climate change will affect economic growth, food security and poverty. Global warming is seen to worsen poverty in low and lower-middle income countries while new poverty-stricken areas will emerge in upper-middle to high-income countries.
Michael Mann, a climate scientist from the Pennsylvania State University said the leaked report only confirms what many scientists and researchers have known. He said climate change threatens human health, food and water security.
The leaked report uses the word "exacerbate" to describe the worsening effect of global warming on key areas of human life. The report suggests that climate change indirectly promotes the formation of civil war, protests and other forms of group violence.
Long-term risks for specific countries were also cited in the report. North America may have the highest risks due to flooding, heat waves and wildfires. Australia and New Zealand are in danger of losing coral reef formations, according to the leaked information, while small island nations may be looking at continuous rise in sea levels.
Mr Field said he was not "depressed" about the report because he knows the world can still do something about the situation.
