World Bank considers the impact of our warming world

The World Bank has released a new climate change report titled: "Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience."  It is the second of a series of in depth studies focusing on the likely impacts of our warming world.  And though it focuses on Africa and Asia it's reporting on the world we will be inhabiting

Considering that the Republican power-politics PR pro's continue to misrepresent this issue with transparent and deeply cynical arguments dedicated to pretending we don't have a profound problem that must be faced.  I thought it would be good to add this study as further evidence that we need to stop wasting time arguing about the "if" and finally get down to dealing with this reality we've created.

It's over forty years now, that I been watching this Reaganomics inspired PR campaign attacking the science regarding our grand geophysical experiment - the one we are conducting within our thin atmosphere.  Every year has brought more understanding along with more refined questions, it's the way of science.  All that time scientists have been building their understanding to a point comparable to that MD's have regarding our human body. 

I'm at a loss watching our biosphere along with our society's infrastructure getting pummeled with ever more ferocity - while cynical manipulators and their crazy-making continue to be humored and accepted.  Look around at the world, the drum beat of extremely damaging weather events - also consider that this is the kind of behavior climatologists were projecting.  It's for real!  When will we the people start getting real?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO9uGejvS3Q

WorldBank  |  1:21  |  Nov 18, 2012

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Reuters Newsmaker: A Conversation with World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim

On June 19th, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim sat down with Reuters President and Editor-in-Chief Steve Adler for a one-on-one, live-streamed interview about poverty, sustainable growth, and the dangers of climate change. 

Kim spoke on the day the World Bank launched a new climate change report: Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience. 

The Thomson Reuters Newsmaker interview delved into the far-reaching economic and social consequences of climate change, as well as the Bank's work on sustainable growth in the developing world, financing of investment, and mobilizing of capital in international financial markets.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/06/17862361/turn-down-heat-climate-extremes-regional-impacts-case-resilience-full-report

Turn down the heat : climate extremes, regional impacts, and the case for resilience - full report (English)

ABSTRACT 

This report focuses on the risks of climate change to development in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and South Asia. Building on the 2012 report, Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided, this new scientific analysis examines the likely impacts of present day, 2°C and 4°C warming on agricultural production, water resources, and coastal vulnerability for affected populations. 

It finds many significant climate and development impacts are already being felt in some regions, and in some cases multiple threats of increasing extreme heat waves, sea level rise, more severe storms, droughts and floods are expected to have further severe negative implications for the poorest. Climate related extreme events could push households below the poverty trap threshold. High temperature extremes appear likely to affect yields of rice, wheat, maize and other important crops, adversely affecting food security. 

Promoting economic growth and the eradication of poverty and inequality will thus be an increasingly challenging task under future climate change. Immediate steps are needed to help countries adapt to the risks already locked in at current levels of 0.8°C warming, but with ambitious global action to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, many of the worst projected climate impacts could still be avoided by holding warming below 2°C.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

What Climate Change Means for Africa, Asia and the Coastal Poor

WORLD BANK  |  June 19, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

1. A new climate report looks at likely impacts of present day, 2°C, and 4°C warming across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and South East Asia. 

1. It describes the risks to agriculture and livelihood security in Sub-Saharan Africa; the rise in sea-level, loss of coral reefs and devastation to coastal areas likely in South East Asia; and the fluctuating water resources in South Asia.

1. Turn Down the Heat warns that poor communities will be the most vulnerable to climate change.

~ ~ ~ 
A new scientific report commissioned by the World Bank and released on June 19 explores the risks to lives and livelihoods in these three highly vulnerable regions. Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience (Read it in Issuu, Scribd, Open Knowledge Repository) takes the climate discussion to the next level, building on a 2012 World Bank report that concluded from a global perspective that without a clear mitigation strategy and effort, the world is headed for average temperatures 4 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial times by the end of this century.
~ ~ ~ 
The report, based on scientific analysis by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics, uses advanced computer simulations to paint the clearest picture of each region’s vulnerabilities. It describes the risks to agriculture and livelihood security in Sub-Saharan Africa; the rise in sea-level, loss of coral reefs and devastation to coastal areas likely in South East Asia; and the fluctuating water resources in South Asia that can lead to flooding in some areas and water scarcity in others, as well as affecting power supply.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~