by Playfuls Staff |
7th February 2007
Global warming will require more robust
monitoring of hurricanes, typhoons and other disasters,
mirroring systems in place to watch for tsunamis, a top United
Nations official said on Wednesday. [more]
Salvano Briceno, director of the U.N.'s International
Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), said new scientific
evidence presented last week in Paris signaled temperature and
sea level increases that would "very likely" make natural
disasters more frequent and more intense.
Better weather tracking and early-warning systems could
help mitigate the impact of heat waves, heavy rains, mudslides
and drought, Briceno said, while warning climate-related
hazards cannot be prevented ' outright.
"Being prepared and being aware does not mean that we can
avoid disaster," he told journalists in Geneva.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.N. panel
of 2,500 scientists, said in a February 2 report that average
world temperatures would likely rise between 1.8 and 4.0
degrees Celcius (3.2 and 7.8 Fahrenheit) in the 21st century.
That group said more heatwaves and sea level increases
could continue for more than 1,000 years even if greenhouse gas
emissions -- released mainly by burning fossil fuels in power
plants, factories and cars -- were capped.
Replicating monitoring efforts strengthened after the
deadly 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami could help address the
"multi-hazards" expected to stem from climate change, Briceno
said.
International donors should be careful to ensure the
world's poorest countries are ready for natural disasters
linked to global warming, he said, noting sub-Saharan African
countries were especially vulnerable to disruption.
Aid ought to be well-coordinated to ensure houses, schools
and hospitals are built away from landslide-prone areas, to
protect coasts and farmlands and educate vulnerable people
about ways to deal with natural disasters, he said.
Simple measures such a shift in Bangladesh to raise ducks
-- which can float -- instead of chickens, which drown in
floods, could help, he said. Efforts to plant drought-resistant
crops in Cuba and India and to reinforce Costa Rican homes with
storm-resistant bamboo were also good steps, he said.
By Laura MacInnis(c) Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
