Wether climate change is man made or not (jury is still out and will be for another 50 yrs plus) trying to control it is a useless waste of money because it will never work. As for the ‘self appointed ‘ climate experts they will always be stating that we are almost sure it is happening but we need more research (more money). As for the ludicrous prediction that the sea levels will rise by cm I wonder wether these scientists have ever been on the Pacific or the Atlantic oceans. As far as I can see melting all the ice on the planet would be like spitting in a reservoir.Still some people believe this rubbish.

– Kenny70 , Solihull, United Kingdom, 16/1/2013 17:58

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Where do people get the idea that the planet has stopped warming? The ten warmist years ever recorded were in the last 15 years but now climate scientists tell us that the rate of increase has slowed by 20%. This does not mean global warming has stopped. If you have a burst pipe in your bathroom and you stem the flow by 20% your bathroom will still get flooded it will not stop. you my friend have fallen into the classic trap of “since records began” which seems like a big deal when printed in papers etc, in reality the records are only about 100 years old so far from being “the warmest year ever etc” its only the warmest year by 0.2 of a degree or so in the last 100 years hardly something to keep you awake at night, the world has existed for 100’s of millions of years and gone through many different phases of climate, some much greater than now so why is a tiny raise of fractions of a degree all suddenly man made and our fault?

– chugernought , derby, 16/1/2013 17:38

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The problem is we are all out of touch with what we consume and produce. The solution is local, local food, local waste, local employment, local energy. If your energy was produced at the end of your street what would you choose? Nuclear? Coal? Solar? If you had to dispose of all your own waste how many things would you buy in little plastic trays?

– Alastair , London, 16/1/2013 17:20

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Let me see: believe the majority of experts in the filed or believe some dumb DM punter?….errmmm – Andy HB , Hebden Bridge, 16/1/2013 10:38 – I don’t know how old you are Andy but I would guess pretty young. We are not all dumb, many have had a good education and have lived long enough to know not to listen to all you are told, particularly when the sums don’t add up. If history tells us anything its that when all say something is a certainty its not. Winston Churchill spent years in the wilderness telling us of the Nazi danger to be ignored. Here’s the lyrics from a song that I know that sums up “experts” perfectly. “I heard it on the radio too much of what they said wasn’t so and now we’ve got to do those things that they thought before were so wrong to be healthy and strong.” Think for yourself, many experts have an axe to grind.

– Eric Arthur Blair , Plymouth, United Kingdom, 16/1/2013 15:57

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They all went down the beach afterwards and did doughnuts on the beach in their SUVs.

– Jetty , London, United Kingdom, 16/1/2013 15:55

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Where do people get the idea that the planet has stopped warming? The ten warmist years ever recorded were in the last 15 years but now climate scientists tell us that the rate of increase has slowed by 20%. This does not mean global warming has stopped. If you have a burst pipe in your bathroom and you stem the flow by 20% your bathroom will still get flooded it will not stop.

– Working class hero , USSSR, 16/1/2013 15:49

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THE CLIMATE HAS *** A L W A Y S *** CHANGED – WHY DO WE NEED TO ‘SLOW’ IT DOWN? ABSOLUTE INSANITY AND WE ARE CALLING IT SCIENCE??????

– Bob , Earth, 16/1/2013 15:30

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Wish OUR leaders would ignore “climate change”, but that’s unlikely given the cart loads of cash they are making out of it! Will now go and start one of my v8’s to offset any “green” initiatives I have been forced to pay for by the government

– chuggernought , derby uk, 16/1/2013 14:24

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Eric Arthur ! Pity about the last name ! but you are correct regarding the religion you are talking about. It will take over, and that will be the end of all of us , unless steps are now taken to HALT its growth. It is THE most dangerous religion on this planet – C.M.Calvert , Poole, United Kingdom, 16/1/2013 10:32 It is but its self destructive and barbaric nature will ensure its demise,not ours.Churchill was right.While the rest of the planet reaps the fruits of perogress they’ll still be throwing stones.

– Keith , Crawley, United Kingdom, 16/1/2013 13:23

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Who cares really what a load of tosh

– Rob , Leeds, United Kingdom, 16/1/2013 13:06

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UXBRIDGE, Canada, Jun 20 2013 (IPS) – Extreme heat, flooding and water and food shortages will rock South Asia and Africa by 2030 and render large sections of cities inhabitable, if the world continues to burn huge amounts of coal, oil and gas, the World Bank is warning.

“Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts and the Case for Resilience“, a new report commissioned by the World Bank and released Wednesday, analysed the expected effects on South Asia and Africa if global temperatures increase by two and four degrees Celsius.

The report showed that a global temperature rise of two degrees Celsius will have a wide range of dangerous effects, including a loss of 40 to 80 percent of cropland in Africa and rising sea levels that will destroy significant parts of many coastal cities in South Asia.

“If the world warms by two degrees Celsius – warming which may be reached in 20 to 30 years – that will cause widespread food shortages, unprecedented heat waves, and more intense cyclones,” said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.

He pointed out that such change could “greatly harm the lives and the hopes of individuals and families who have had little hand in raising the earth’s temperature”.

The burning of carbon-based fuels has increased the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere by 40 percent. CO2 and water vapour in the atmosphere are crucial in retaining some of the sun’s heat energy; without them, the earth’s atmosphere would be more like the moon’s: 100 degrees Celsius in the daytime and -150 degrees at night.

Adding 40 percent more CO2, however, has increased the amount of heat energy the Earth absorbs, with more than 93 percent of it warming the oceans.

Bleak findings

One of the shocking findings in the new study is the enormous impact a two-degree rise will have on the urban poor, said Rachel Kyte, the vice president for sustainable development at the World Bank.

Urbanisation is increasing rapidly, especially in the developing world, with many more people living in slums and informal settlements, Kyte told IPS from London.

The report painted a bleak picture for many cities.

As climate change disrupts rainfall patterns and generates more extreme weather in the coming decades, leading to poor crop yields, rural populations will flood cities. Escalating numbers of urban poor will suffer, with temperatures magnified by the “heat island effect” of the constructed urban environments.

Safe drinking water will also be harder to find, especially after floods, contributing to greater water-borne diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea.

Coastal regions like Bangladesh and India’s two largest coastal cities, Kolkata and Mumbai, will face extreme river floods, more intense tropical cyclones, rising sea levels and very high temperatures.

“Huge numbers of urban poor will be exposed in many coastal cities,” Kyte said.

Meanwhile, a sea level rise of 30 centimetres, possible by 2040, will result in massive flooding in cities and inundate low-lying cropland with saltwater, which is corrosive to crops. Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, a global rice producer, is particularly vulnerable to sea level rise, and a 30-centimetre rise there could result in the loss of about 11 percent of crop production, the report found.

“We face a huge challenge over the next 20 years to…redesign our cities to protect them from climate change,” Kyte predicted, even as cities already face a huge infrastructure investment gap.

One trillion dollars a year needed to be invested every year by 2020 by some estimates, Kyte said, adding that “to build climate resilience into cities will take another 300 to 500 million dollars a year”.

A lack of water will be a problem in other regions. The projected loss of snowmelt from the Himalayas will reduce the flow of water into the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra river basins, which altogether threaten to leave hundreds of millions of people without enough water, food or access to reliable energy, the report said.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, by the decades of 2030 or 2040, drought mixed with destructive flooding will contribute to farmers’ losing 40 to 80 percent of cropland used for growing maize, millet and sorghum.

And while carbon emissions have already increased oceans’ acidity by 30 percent, by 2040, oceans will be too acidic for many coral reefs to survive. The death of coral reefs results in major loss of fish habitats as well as protection against storms.

“That will have significant consequences for ocean fish catches, which are already in decline today,” said Bill Hare of Climate Analytics and who was the lead author of the study.

Policy recommendations

The report is a science-based guide for the World Bank and governments for what these regions will face over the next 20 to 30 years, said Hare.

“Much of this can be avoided, and it will cost far less with urgent action to reduce carbon emissions,” Hare told IPS.

In a speech at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate Wednesday, U.S. President Barack Obama called climate change the “global threat of our time” and promised the United States would do far more to reduce emissions. A detailed announcement is expected next week.

Last week, the United States and China agreed to reduce phase out HFCs, a greenhouse gas used in air conditioners. China has also created a series of carbon trading regions to cut emissions.

“