IPCC report outlines threat to 'The Future We Want'

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By David Singh

GENEVA, 30 March 2012 - UNISDR today welcomed the full publication of the Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) and said "it provides us with the impetus for action to save the world from the worst that climate change can bring to our planet in the coming years."

Speaking at a launch event in Geneva, Helena Molin-Valdes, acting Director, UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), described the new report as the most comprehensive analysis yet of the interplay between the impacts of extreme weather and socio-economic vulnerability. She said its publication was well-timed for the debate on resilience and risk reduction in the run-up to the UN Sustainable Development Conference in Rio de Janeiro or Rio+20.

According to Molin-Valdes, "The report is the strong evidence needed to ensure that the nexus between poverty, disasters and climate change is understood loud and clear. It categorically tells us why and how management decisions and institutional capacities for early warning, risk assessments and improved surveillance as well as water supply are feasible solutions to avert the impending crises.

"The only way to effectively manage risk is with hard evidence. And UNISDR has struggled with lack of evidence for years, basing our arguments on anecdotal data. This is certainly not the best way to ascertain the causes of vulnerability.

"Today, we are extremely pleased, because this growing convergence of scientific research and data that is being provided by the IPCC, the UN Environmental Programme and the World Meteorological Organization is what we need to drive policy. Our mantra is Connect and Convince -- well now we really can do this armed with this evidence.

"The SREX shows us how we can provide critical help to sustainable development through the combination of scientific findings and the application of appropriate policies. In light of all of this there is really no excuse for not ensuring that vulnerable populations become more resilient before extreme weather events strike.

"The sad fact is that we are a long way from a 'climate smart' world, a world where greenhouse gas emissions are reduced. Where are we? We are increasing risk on a daily basis. The theme for Rio +20 is 'The Future We Want'. But really, this is not the future that is laid out for us in this Special Report. Sustainable development has to be about disaster proofing societies as an integral part of the future we want", said Molin-Valdes.

According to the IPCC, in the last 50 years, evidence suggests that climate change has led to increases in extremes such as heat waves, record high temperatures, and high precipitation in many regions. "Climate extremes or even a series of non-extreme events, combined with social vulnerabilities and exposure to risks can produce climate-related disasters," states the IPPC.

According to Chris Field, Co-Chair of the IPCC's Working Group II, "The main message from the report is that we know enough to make good decisions about managing the risks of climate related disasters. Sometime we take advantage of this knowledge, but many times we do not."

Field believes the future challenge is two-dimensional - focusing on improving the knowledge base and empowering good decisions, even for those situations where there is uncertainty.

While acknowledging that some extreme weather and climate events may or may not lead to disasters, the report stresses the importance of having policies in place to avoid, prepare for, respond and recover from disasters if these events are to be effectively reduced and the resilience of people increased.

According to the SREX there is evidence on increases in greenhouse gases which have likely caused changes in some types of extremes. Since 1950, for example, extreme hot days and heavy precipitation have become more common while more frequent hot days are projected throughout the 21st century. There will be more heavy rainstorms this century and increases in the intense rains that occur every 20 years. Droughts will intensify in the Mediterranean, central Europe, southern United States, Northeast Brazil and southern Africa.

The report recommends that risk assessment now needs to include analyses of how hazards are changing, human activities that drive environmental changes, the creation of new hazards, irreversible changes and the increasing probability of hazard occurrence. Furthermore, it calls for risk assessments to be multidimensional and informed by socioeconomic, environmental and institutional factors

Last year the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its report Environmental Outlook to 2050, warned that global greenhouse gas emissions are continuing to increase and that "The world is heading for irreversible and potential catastrophic climate change." The report categorically stated, "We must act now or face the consequences".

Last week's "Planet Under Pressure" conference in London heard that urban emissions are forecast to grow to 36.5 billion metric tonnes by 2030 if no action is taken, from 25 billion in 2010 and 15 billion in 1990.

Few cities have yet to follow the example of Vancouver in Canada which sources 90 percent of its energy from renewable sources like wind, solar and tidal energy and has developed a 100-year sustainability plan.

--

Watch the SREX overview

• Website: IPCC Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX)

Date:

30 Mar 2012

Sources:

• United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR)

Related Links

• View more climate change news and information on PreventionWeb

Keywords

Themes:

Climate Change, Early Warning, Environment, Information Management, Risk Identification & Assessment, Disaster Risk Management, Social Impacts & Resilience

Source:- http://www.unisdr.org/archive/26022

Mumbai, Miami on list for big weather disasters, panel says

Climate change to inflict major crises, panel says San Francisco Chronicle - ‎36 seconds ago‎ Washington -- Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts and heat waves that nations should prepare for an unprecedented onslaught of deadly and costly weather disasters, an international panel of climate scientists says in a report ... Managing risk in a warming world Moneycontrol.com - ‎30 minutes ago‎ One of the most interesting facets of a new United Nations climate change report is what's not in it: much mention of curbing the greenhouse gas emissions that trap heat in Earth's atmosphere and in turn can spur some natural disasters. Mumbai, Miami on list for big weather disasters, panel says Boston Globe - ‎1 hour ago‎ By Seth Borenstein | AP Flooding submerged cars in Thailand's Ayutthaya Province last November. Extreme weather will increase, the panel said. WASHINGTON - Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts, and heat waves that nations should ... Global warming linked to extreme weather Sky News Australia - ‎1 hour ago‎ Global warming linked to extreme weather Updated: 15:07, Thursday March 29, 2012 One of the federal government's leading climate change experts says a United Nations report is an early warning that the world will face more deadly extreme weather events ... Extreme weather: it's about to get worse, say scientists Brisbane Times - ‎5 hours ago‎ As La Nina weather patterns subside the east coast can expect to stay wet right into April, reports Weatherzone's Josh Fisher. Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts and heatwaves that nations should prepare for an unprecedented ... Plan for climate change disasters, urges UN panel Irish Times - ‎6 hours ago‎ GOVERNMENTS NEED to have policies to “avoid, prepare for, respond to and recover from the risks of disaster” posed by extreme weather events such as floods and heatwaves, according to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, reports Frank ... Report: Nations should prepare for weather disasters Salt Lake Tribune - ‎6 hours ago‎ By SETH BORENSTEIN | AP Washington • Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts and heat waves that nations should prepare for an unprecedented onslaught of deadly and costly weather disasters, an international panel of climate... Climate change report: time to start preparing for the worst Christian Science Monitor - ‎6 hours ago‎ It's time to start protecting people from the impact of severe-weather events, a panel says. The report offers further evidence of how the climate change conversation is shifting. By Pete Spotts, Staff writer / March 28, 2012 Fearing that climate ... UN climate panel ties some weather extremes to global warming msnbc.com (blog) - ‎6 hours ago‎ First for breaking news and analysis: Compelling world news stories from msnbc.com and NBC News journalists. Follow us on Twitter. By msnbc.com staff and news services Warming has led to changes in climate extremes such as heat waves, ... Mumbai, Miami on Weather Disasters List TIME - ‎8 hours ago‎ By AP / SETH BORENSTEIN Wednesday, Mar. 28, 2012 (WASHINGTON) — Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts and heat waves that nations should prepare for an unprecedented onslaught of deadly and costly weather disasters, an international ... All 140 related articles »

NDMA encourages private sector involvement in disaster management

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Thursday urged the corporate sector to connect proactively for managing disaster.

The National Stakeholder Council meet of the Corporate Disaster Resource Network (CDRN) was held at NDMA Bhawan to engage private sector in the process for disaster mitigation and response activities.

Speaking at the occasion, M Shashidhar Reddy, vice chairman, NDMA, said, "CDRN is a platform that provides real time information which is critically required in times of emergencies to reach out to people and NDMA assures full support to CDRN for private sector dialogues on disaster preparedness and response."

J K Sinha, member of NDMA, said, "During the time of disaster, there is a lot of requirement of relief materials, services, personnel etc. However, lack of information about the available resources makes it complex and challenging. CDRN has helped to provide resources effectively and efficiently preventing disasters within disasters".

Dr. Muzaffar Ahmed, member, NDMA, said, "Private sector has pool of resources in all major areas with pan-India reach and to leverage the same in disaster management by supporting through NSC would definitely make an impact. Disaster management can only be successful when everybody joins hands together to support in any manner."

Read in detail at :- http://www.cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=23398

Time to redefine: urban aid sets fundamental challenge

Over the last two days I’ve been reminded, whilst participating in the 27th ALNAP annual meeting, that a shared professional language can be a hindrance as much as a help. This is especially the case when the topic is the challenge of urban disasters, until recently largely overlooked by (and therefore fairly new territory for) development and humanitarian NGOs and donors. Your mission, should you choose to accept: find a colleague working on disaster risk reduction or development and ask about ‘resilience’ or ‘vulnerability’. Does their definition tally with yours? These artificial gaps in our approach only serve to exacerbate problems in the complex, compressed environments of cities.
Meetings like this – with over 130 NGO and government participants from across the globe – are also a good chance to get a feeling of what the aid sector has on its collective mind. Most people here have their eyes very squarely fixed on how international aid agencies urgently need to work in new and different ways with government agencies and local CSOs. The words ‘demand-driven’, ‘collaboration’, ‘information sharing’ and even ‘disengagement’ have popped up more than a few times.
Robert Piper, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nepal, gave an excellent keynote address on the situation in Kathmandu, Nepal. He really painted a rich picture of what it might mean to tackle the ‘wicked problem’ of urban disaster planning and response in a country with two armies, a complex political setting and ongoing development challenges. The bottom line seemed to be: the underlying issues that perpetuate vulnerability are just as important as responding to immediate disaster situations. Within cities there is also increased likelihood that multiple local actors have established their own development and/or emergency priorities and can organise effectively to resist agendas they perceive to be imposed by international agencies.
This means that, in reality, these concepts – increasing focus on disaster risk reduction and closer working with local NGOs and authorities within cities – appear to challenge some fundamental tenets of humanitarian aid. To engage fully with them, it may mean rethinking who we directly work with (affected populations), andwhen we move in (after a disaster). Is the sector ready to answer these difficult questions? Such a paradigm shift would transform aid as we know it, perhaps expanding into the remit of disaster risk management and development actors.


http://www.cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=23145

Natural disasters should be top risk concern

Natural disasters should be top risk concern

By Enterprise Innovation Editors | Jan 5, 2012

Headline news in 2011 on the devastating impact of catastrophic events have led businesses to reflect on their IT resilience standing. More than ever, they are questioning their preparation for natural disaster not only in their home country; but also how to stay connected and in business with their partners and supply chain around the globe.

IBM shared six tips that individuals and businesses can use to help prepare their IT environments for natural disasters and a wide range of other threats.

According to some estimates, 2011 has become the year of billion-dollar disasters. This is apparent by the series of hurricanes and tornados in the United States' Midwest and Southeast, combined with the earthquakes on the East Coast, Colorado and Peru. Closer to home, there were the tsunami in Japan and the devastating flood in Queensland, Australia, and more recently in Bangkok. With all of these activities, it is a safe assumption that natural disasters should be a top risk concern.

In preparation, many people in high risk areas are rushing to buy emergency supplies like flashlights, water and wood to board up their houses, but it is important to also consider the preparedness of businesses and government agencies.

Given these impending natural disaster and other top causes of disasters like power outages and network failure that disrupt the flow of information, businesses and individuals should also be assessing their business and disaster recovery plans before it is too late.

The following are IBM's tips for disaster preparedness:


Continue reading at :- http://www.cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=23092

Fire crisis: Only few hospitals in city prepared

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:� Ninety-three lives were lost in the blaze that engulfed the AMRI Hospital, Kolkata, last week. How many hospitals in fast-growing Thiruvananthapuram can tackle a similar disaster? ‘Few’ would be the answer. Flawed or non-existent fire-fighting mechanisms and absence of hospital contingency and mass casualty management plans will prove fatal for many hospitals in the city in the event of a similar disaster, experts say.

And this is not a problem confined to hospitals alone.

"The problem is that there is no periodic review of fire safety mechanisms in high-rises. The safety certificate is issued when giving building permit, and there is no subsequent inspection after that. This is a major handicap,’’ says R Viji, project officer of the City Corporation’s Disaster Management Cell.

Last month, the Corporation issued notices to high-rises, including hospitals, to pull� their act vis a vis safety together. The first periodical safety assessment in high-rises, including hospitals, will be carried out this month.

"It will focus on fire safety aspects as well as earthquake preparedness. Many high-rises even lack emergency exits such as fire escapes,’’ she said.

Unlike hotels and apartments, evacuation in hospitals assumes an altogether different dimension. Hundreds of patients, many of them incapacitated, have to be extricated in a matter of minutes, which calls for coordinated effort. But it is a fact that few hospitals have even emergency escape routes marked out.

Absence of hydrants, timely replacement of fire-fighting equipment and general complacency in the matter of fire safety are issues faced by the Fire and Rescue Service Department.

"Periodical inspection is crucial,’’ said K Sivanandan, Director (Technical), Fire and Rescue Service Department. "We have now framed rules for periodical checks in buildings. This will soon come into force,’’ he said.

But it’s not as if the issue of disaster management has never been discussed in hospitals. A few private hospitals have staged mock drills with the help of the Fire and Rescue Service. But government hospitals are more vulnerable when it comes to handling disasters on home patch, according to a senior disaster management official in the state.

On December 2, the Institute of Land and Disaster Management under the Revenue Department, in association with GeoHazards, the global partner of the World Health Organisation (WHO), organised a one-day workshop at the Government Hospital, Peroorkada, on disaster management in hospitals. In Phase II, mock drills are also planned.

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Source :- http://ibnlive.in.com/news/fire-crisis-only-few-hospitals-in-city-prepared/211884-60-123.html

Simple tools speed up quake warnings - December 12, 2011

Researchers have developed a new technique for quickly assessing the magnitude of large earthquakes, cutting down the time required in the case of the recent quake in Japan, for example, from about 20 minutes to just 2-3 minutes. Those crucial minutes would have helped with tsunami warnings and in making sure that even far-away communities like Tokyo had proper alerts as soon as possible, says Yehuda Bock of the University of California, San Diego, who developed the technique.

The strategy involves tying together real-time data coming from seismic instruments, which detect shaking, as well as Global Positioning System (GPS) instruments, which detect the absolute movements of the ground. Both devices are already installed in places such as Japan and California — the key is to ensure that they are delivering the right sort of data simultaneously, says Bock, who reported on his progress at theAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in San Francisco, California, on 8 December. Bock and his colleagues this month received funding to build and test a prototype upgrade device, and hope to have an initial system in place in California within six months.

Seismic instruments are very sensitive, but have a hard time discriminating between large quakes of magnitude 7 or higher in the first seconds or minutes of an earthquake, because the shaking simply goes off the scale. In the case of the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake in Japan, for example, the Japan Meteorological Agency estimated the quake's magnitude as just 6.8 after 38 seconds, and 8 after a few minutes, says Bock. It was not until weaker seismic readings from much further away were added to the analysis that they could say, 20 minutes after the quake began, that it was a devastating magnitude 9 — 30 times stronger than a magnitude-8 quake.

Accelerometers add another layer of information, but their data take too long to process to be of use. GPS instruments are more useful. The station closest to the epicentre, for example, showed a 1.5-metre drop of the ground in the first 100 seconds of the quake. "That's huge," says Bock. This provides a quick and obvious indication of large vertical ground displacement — the thing that causes tsunamis — and can be combined with seismic data to quickly assess quake size. But most GPS networks were designed to provide long-term data about ground movement, not short-term information during earthquakes; they may be designed to take readings once every 30 minutes and deliver data once a day, for example. And they aren't necessarily installed next to seismometers. Of Japan's 1,200 GPS stations — all of which are real time — only 180 are close enough to seismic stations to be of use in this sort of system, and so far they haven't been utilized this way.

"Japan's earthquake system is one of the best in the world. But their GPS system, which is also the best in the world, is ignored," says Bock. This is partly because flowing the data together and interpreting them is tricky, and partly because the seismic community hasn't communicated much with the 'geodesy' community that works with GPS signals, says Bock. "There's a separation between communities that we need to fix," he says.

Read in detail at :- www.cdrn.org.in

Anchor climate change policies on protecting poor

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Steam billows from a coal power station in Germany. We need to see the social face of the fight against climate change whose pain is greatest among the poor. File

By Collins Aseka (email the author)

Posted Friday, December 2 2011 at 00:00

In development circles, climate change policies are being informed by many factors. There are instrumental concerns that climate change will slow down progress in poverty reduction, especially achievements made in the Millennium Development Goals and Human Development Outcomes. Extreme weather events are more frequent and with them come significant erosions of physical, natural, financial, social and human assets critical to people’s well-being.

Closely related to this is the fact that policy efforts should be integrated with existing wider poverty reduction efforts. This is because climate change is interacting with other challenges such as rapid population growth, high prevalence HIV/Aids and malaria, weak or fragmented markets, seasonality, unplanned urbanisation, scarcity of resources and economic shocks. The combination makes life most difficult for the poor.

There are also the inherent injustices that are being felt hardest by those who have least contributed to climate change particularly in Africa and Asia. Consequently, climate change is causing serious human rights violations. Seen from this perspective, on the one hand are the duty-bearers — those responsible for the high level of carbon emissions — who should be compelled to take bigger responsibility in financing and facilitating coping with and adapting to climate change activities. On the other hand are the rights-holders — the most affected by climate change — who must be allowed to participate fully in decision making.

Lastly, is the importance of the differentiated nature of poverty in any poverty reduction effort. In the climate change context, its impacts are not evenly distributed due to the multifaceted nature of the hazards in different parts of the world and also due to people’s varying abilities to cope with and adapt to the shocks and stresses. To this end, the extent of vulnerability to climate change is largely determined by inequalities in income, education and healthcare, and accessibility to economic opportu­nities.
Therefore, while acknowledging that climate change is a reality whose impacts will be felt across generations, efforts to fight the problem should be integrally mitigating and adaptive. In other words, we cannot halt climate change — it is already with us. Rather our real chances of fighting climate change lie in ability to come up with effective ways of reducing its impact on life.
These efforts are grouped into three; disaster risk reduction strategies, climate change adaptation and adaptive social protection.
Firstly, disaster risk reduction encompasses the development and application of all policies, strategies and practices that minimise impacts of hazards and unfolding disaster impacts throughout a society in the broad context of sustainable development.

Apart from mitigating impacts of on-going climate change effects, one of its other priorities for action is reducing underlying risk factors.

Disaster risk reduction activities include development of sound early warning systems; collection and analysis of potential risk information; identification of differentiated vulnerabilities of different sectors within the society; strengthening of local resilience and capacity to prepare and respond to hazard events; creation of a catastrophe financial pool; and supporting of pro-poor financing mechanisms such as microfinance and micro-insurance.

Secondly, climate change adaptation strategies are those employed in design and implementation of processes that help people learn to live with impacts of climate change. In agriculture for example it includes efforts such as development of drought-resistant and early-maturing crop varieties and alternative crop and hybrid varieties (this is where biotechnology comes in handy), investment in water-harvesting, dam building and drip irrigation, diversification of livelihoods, strengthening of existent social networks and social capital, public education in risk awareness and assessment, expanding agricultural education and extension services, continuous improvement in the state of the infrastructure, and efficient use of fertilizers and irrigation.

Social transfers

Thirdly, social protection describes all public and private initiatives that transfer income or assets to the poor, protect the vulnerable against livelihood risks, promote access to economic activities and enhance the social status and rights of the marginalised. As a policy, social protection has become a key response to risk and vulnerability, including those related to climate change.

Read the detailed article at :- http://www.cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=22923

World Bank Launches “Apps for Climate” Competition

Press Release No:2012/181/SDN

New Bank climate change data book also released in margins of Durban conference DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, December 2, 2011 – Software developers and development practitioners are being brought together by an “Apps for Climate” competition launched today by the World Bank. The competition, launched at the Durban climate conference, is asking entrants to use open data to create innovative software applications that can help solve some of the development problems that climate change poses. “The competition aims to discover new and extraordinary ways to use open climate data,” saidAndrew Steer, World Bank Special Envoy for Climate Change. “We hope to unleash the creative energy out there which will make “apps” that help create solutions to weather-related disasters, risks for agriculture, food and water supplies, rising sea levels and other climate related challenges.” “This latest challenge builds on our earlier “Apps for Development” competition which also drew some very creative ideas related to adaptation,” Steer continued. “One called “save the rain”,” calculates how much rainwater you could save based on your geographic location and the surface area of your roof! We’re hoping for similar ‘out of the box’ ideas this time around, too.” The “apps” for this latest competition can be created for the web, for mobile devices, for sms, for a desktop, or a tablet. The competition includes cash prizes to the winning entries. Apps must be submitted by March 16, 2012 (go to: http://www.worldbank.org/appsforclimate) At the launch of the competition today, Steer also released the latest edition to the World Bank’s Little Data Book series, The Little Data Book on Climate Change(http://data.worldbank.org/products/data-books/little-data-book-on-climate-change). This pocket size book provides summary national, international and regional data that cover the gamut of climate-relevant topics, including current and projected climate conditions, exposure to climate impacts, resilience, greenhouse gas emissions, climate finance, and current national and international efforts to take action. Read the detailed article at :- http://www.cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=22924

DISASTER MANAGEMENT PLAN -LEH DISTRICT

Leh district experienced disaster in the form of cloud burst and flash flood and swelling of river due

to snow mealt during summer. The cloud burst and the flash flood disaster of 2010 has taken away

many lives and created huge damage to property as well. Leh is also vulnerable to Road blockade

due to land slides, Snow avalanche, earth quake and Drought. With reqard to earth quake, it is in

Zone IV of Damage Risk Zone as strike-slip fault is running along Zanskar and Ladkh ranges. As

the district is very remote, it adds further complication as help may take some time before it reaches

which was witnessed in the previous disaster. So there is need for a proper planning to deal with

such disasters to avoid loss of life and property and also to get back to normality at the earliest

possible.

Read in detail at :- http://cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=22815

High-risk South Asia inks pact on disaster response

11 Nov 2011 16:56

Source: Alertnet // Krittivas Mukherjee

Taj Mohammad, 80, displaced by floods, sits with his siblings in a school building where they have taken refuge in the Badin district of Pakistan's Sindh province September 22, 2011. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

By Krittivas Mukherjee

ADDU CITY, Maldives, Nov 11 (AlertNet) - Eight South Asian countries agreed a pact on Friday to provide one another with quick assistance during natural disasters aimed at boosting response in a region that is among the world’s most disaster prone.

South Asia sits on a high-risk seismic zone and is home to one fifth of the world's population. It is susceptible to massive seasonal floods and storms and the dangers from climate change are probably the greatest in this poverty-blighted region.

Yet inertia, lack of funds and lax law enforcement have meant any progress in disaster preparedness has been slow. The Rapid Response to Natural Disasters agreement, signed off by the foreign ministers of the eight nations, seeks to change that by greater cooperation among each other.

"The agreement essentially aims to provide effective regional mechanisms for rapid response to natural disasters," said Vikram Doraiswami, an official from the Indian foreign ministry.

"The idea is to create the modalities by which countries in the region can provide each other assistance teams, how the assistance teams are to move, to build capacities to deal with post disaster relief delivery, and also to create contingency planning and post-disaster measures."

Six out of eight South Asian countries – India, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan – are located within the seismically active Himalayan-Hindukush belt.

The region witnesses around 100,000 minor quakes every year, and one of magnitude 8 or greater every 25 years. The last major earthquake in the region was in Pakistan in 2005, measuring 7.6 and killing more than 73,000 people.

CLIMATE CHANGE

South Asia is also prone to floods with millions displaced almost every year from seasonal rains and deluge. In Pakistan, the second consecutive year of flooding has killed 430 people and disrupted the lives of nine million.

But climate change is possibly the region’s greatest long-term security threat as rising temperatures and droughts dry out farmlands which are then inundated by intense floods and storms.

Sea levels are also rising unevenly in the Indian Ocean, placing millions at risk along low-lying coastlines in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives among countries in this region, scientists say.

For instance, the Maldives, a chain of low-lying sandy islands in the Indian Ocean famed for its diving and luxury resorts, fears being swamped by rising seas as the planet heats up.

The highest point of land here is two meters or about 6 feet above sea level. Future sea level is projected to rise within the range of 10 to 100 centimeters by the year 2100, which means the entire country could be submerged in the worst-case scenario, the World Bank says.

"By embracing climate change as an opportunity to do things differently, we can tackle emissions and earn a competitive advantage in the rapidly growing clean economy," Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed told a summit of the heads of state of the eight-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

The grouping has India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and the host country, an archipelago of nearly 1,200 mostly uninhabited atolls.

(Editing by Nita Bhalla)

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Source:- http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/high-risk-south-asia-inks-pact-on-disaster-response/