IPCC Update - "It's Now The Choice Between A Damaged World, Or A More Damaged World"

[hatrack]

A crippling tropical disease spread by mosquitoes has taken a foothold in Europe and could be heading for Britain, climate change scientists have warned. In the last few weeks, more than 200 people in northern Italy have been infected with chikungunya - a disease that causes crippling muscle pain and fever. One died.

Health officials say it is the first time an outbreak of the disease has been confirmed outside the tropics. There are fears that a succession of warm summers and mild winters could allow it to spread to Switzerland, France and the UK.

The warning came as United Nations scientists predicted rising world temperatures would bring more exotic diseases to Europe. A 980-page report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, launched yesterday in London, forecast more deaths from heatwaves, an increase in skin cancer and higher pollen counts.

EDIT

Professor Martin Parry, a British co-author, said a rise in world temperaturesof 2C, the maximum target-set by the European Union, was almost inevitable. The report says this temperature rise would cause water shortages for two billion, put a fifth of the world's species at risk of extinction, damage almost all the world's coral reefs and put an extra three million men and women at risk of flooding. "A 2C increase will be difficult to avoid," he said. "It's now the choice between a damaged world - or a more damaged world."

EDIT

Dry spell: Lake Chad photographed in 1972 (left) and in 1987


Rising waters: China's Yellow River in 1979 (left) and in 2000


Sea of change: The Aral Sea in 1973 (left) and 2004


http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23412755-details/The+deadly+disease+bound+for+Britain+on+the+warming+wind/article.do

[redqueen]

1. *sigh*

And I still talk to British people who say that "not all scientists agree" that it's man made... so why worry about doing anything about it.

[phantom power]

2. I think "profoundly damaged" and "completely totaled" are also on the table.

[greenman3610]

3. dont forget

"major planetary extinction event"

[tom_paine]

4. Unfortunately, this seems to be the most likely event

Hell, I am pretty sure I have read and seen on more than one occasion that our species extinction rate is the highest since the Cretaceous Era...ALREADY.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/01/020109074801.htm

Ahhhh...the power of calculus.

Could the dinosaurs have tracked their yearly decline in the years after the comet? Could they have made pretty powerpoint presentations showing, "If dieoffs continue to increase in rate, and global mean temperature falls more than 2.0 degrees C or even if the rate of cooling speeds up, then it is possible that we could be facing a major planetary extinction even."

I think not. Now THAT'S progress.

I wonder what will next fill the major niche(s) after the mammals? Insecta, maybe? Who knows. Biology is unpredictable. I would say it's an even toss that the mammals are displaced as the dominant evolutionary niche within a million years, possibly 100,000, and an outside shot at 10,000 years, though I suspect it will take longer.

That's what the dinosaurs would've thought, too, if they could think about it, so only time will tell.