UN Highlights Hotspots - Nations & Regions Most Vulnerable To Climate Breakdown & Consequences

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The study maps hazards associated with climate change, focusing on floods, cyclones and droughts, to identify the most likely humanitarian consequences of climate change over the next 20 to 30 years. It says the intensity, frequency, duration and extent of weather-related hazards will increase, although their location is unlikely to change much. But a bigger problem is likely to be vulnerable people's decreasing capacity to cope with disasters, the report says.

It points to a growing gap between countries that have invested in preparing for disasters, like Bangladesh, and others that have yet to start, like Myanmar, which was devastated by Cyclone Nargis in May. Bangladesh has made great strides in cutting deaths caused by extreme weather, through measures like building evacuation shelters along its coastline. More than 4,200 people died when Cyclone Sidr hit last November, but in the past similar storms killed hundreds of thousands.

The report identifies areas with the highest levels of human vulnerability to hazards in three regions. In Africa, the hotspots are the Sahel, Horn of Africa and Central Africa. In Central and South Asia, it singles out Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and the Caspian region; and in Southeast Asia, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia.

The report calls on policy makers to boost the resilience of populations in these climate change hotspots, including by improving services like health and education. And it urges the aid community to become more flexible in responding to new and increased disaster risks arising from climate change.

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http://www.alertnet.org/db/an_art/20316/2008/07/22-091626-1.htm