Climate report prompts action call

GENEVA, Switzerland (CNN) -- Environmentalists have demanded action after a United Nations report spelled out the potentially devastating effects of global warming.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report calculated that the so-called "greenhouse effect" would cause the Earth's atmosphere to warm by up to 5.8C (10.4F) by 2100.

Environmental pressure groups said the report indicated governments needed to begin action against global warming now rather than just talking about the issue.

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The report, issued on Monday, said: "No country can afford to ignore the coming transformation of its natural and human environment. The poor and vulnerable are at greatest risk."

Roger Higman, Friends of the Earth's Senior Climate Campaigner, said: "This report shows that climate change will be a disaster for the world in general and for the poorest countries in particular.

"Governments in industrial countries must agree radical cuts in our use of coal, oil and gas, and big increases in the use of renewable power. If we don't act now it may be too late."

Greenpeace International said the report revealed a "climate emergency" which the world's richest nations needed to tackle urgently.

Bill Hare, climate policy director of Greenpeace, said: "It is time for governments, particularly the new Bush administration, to show that they are taking the reality of climate change seriously."

The World Wildlife Fund's Climate Change Campaign director Jennifer Morgan said: "It is time for governments such as the United States to get serious about reducing their carbon dioxide emissions."

The IPCC report said tropical islands could be wiped out by rising sea levels while warmer weather could melt Alpine ski slopes.

It predicts harsher droughts for southern Europe and more severe storms hitting U.S. coastal areas.

The report said: "The effects of climate change are expected to be greatest in developing countries in terms of loss of life and relative effects on investment and the economy."

It added that over the next 25 years the number of people living in regions where water resources are tight is likely to rise from 1.7 billion to about 5.4 billion.

Scientists outside the wide embrace of the IPCC, say the work the panel has done over the past 10 years has effectively ended debate on whether warming is taking place or not and moved the issue on to the measures that need to be taken.

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United Nations
Global Change
Friends of the Earth
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
WWF International
Greenpeace International

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