Grim picture of global warming

SCIENTISTS predict that by the year 2100, the world’s temperature will increase by at least four degrees Centigrade and the sea levels are most likely to rise by 49cm while global warming is likely to influence the intensity of tropical storms.
This prediction was disclosed on Wednesday by climate change adviser to the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme Espen Ronneberg at the media training for climate change in Apia, Samoa.
Mr Ronneberg told reporters from all over the Pacific Islands that this figure might be even worse with ice-sheets melting.
Mr Ronneberg said the global climate change was “very likely” to have a human cause and Pacific Island countries were starting to have the direct effects from this global phenomenon.
It was shown that the effects of the climate change had been obviously evident where 75% of Kosrae in Kiribati was experiencing coastal erosion.
Other impacts of climate change in the islands were the bleaching coral reefs, decline in total tuna stocks due to migration from current routes, sea-level rise exacerbates inundation, storm surge erosion, and coastal hazards.
Mr Ronneberg said climate change was also having threatening impact on infrastructure, settlements and facilities such as international airports, food security, human health, water resources, insurance and tourism intensity.
He said tropical cyclones were on the increasing trends, giving rise to significant damage to food crops.
Mr Ronneberg said some of the current high health burdens were also worsened by climate sensitive diseases such as morbidity/mortality from extreme weather events, vector-borne diseases, food and water-borne diseases.