Silent Human Crisis: Climate Change and The Survivors Club
The Survivors Club grows every day because of the impact of climate change and the number will double by 2030. What can be done about it?
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The Survivors Club grows every second of the day because of the impact of climate change, according to a report from a London-based think-tank led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Indeed, climate-change disasters kill around 300,000 people a year and cause about $125 billion in economic losses, the report says.
An estimated 325 million people are seriously challenged by climate change, according to the Global Humanitarian Forum — a number that will double by 2030 as climate-change-related natural disasters and environmental degradation strike more people.
"Climate change is a silent human crisis," Annan said in a statement. "Yet it is the greatest emerging humanitarian challenge of our time."
The report, titled "Human Impact Report: Climate Change -- The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis" comes just six months before the United Nations Climate Conference in Copenhagen to forge a post-Kyoto climate agreement for 2012 and beyond.
According to the Associated Press, the report suggests that rising sea levels, desertification and changing rainfall patterns are reducing many people's access to safe drinking water and food. This in turn increases diarrhea, malaria and malnutrition.
The report said 99 percent of all people who die due to climate-change related causes live in developing countries, even though those countries generate less than 1 percent of total emissions of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.
The report used existing data on weather-related disasters, population trends and economic forecasts to draw its conclusions. It was released ahead of climate change talks in Bonn, Germany, next week, that are to lead to a possible new global treaty on cutting greenhouse gas emissions in Copenhagen in December.
An estimated 325 million people are seriously challenged by climate change, according to the Global Humanitarian Forum — a number that will double by 2030 as climate-change-related natural disasters and environmental degradation strike more people.
"Climate change is a silent human crisis," Annan said in a statement. "Yet it is the greatest emerging humanitarian challenge of our time."
The report, titled "Human Impact Report: Climate Change -- The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis" comes just six months before the United Nations Climate Conference in Copenhagen to forge a post-Kyoto climate agreement for 2012 and beyond.
According to the Associated Press, the report suggests that rising sea levels, desertification and changing rainfall patterns are reducing many people's access to safe drinking water and food. This in turn increases diarrhea, malaria and malnutrition.
The report said 99 percent of all people who die due to climate-change related causes live in developing countries, even though those countries generate less than 1 percent of total emissions of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.
The report used existing data on weather-related disasters, population trends and economic forecasts to draw its conclusions. It was released ahead of climate change talks in Bonn, Germany, next week, that are to lead to a possible new global treaty on cutting greenhouse gas emissions in Copenhagen in December.
