World ill-prepared to face new climate threats

Global warming is depleting fresh water and crops, destroying coral reefs and melting the Arctic, the UN has warned in a report that concludes the world is ill-prepared to face many new threats.

Climate change has brought “key risks” that endanger lives and health worldwide, including storm surges and coastal flooding worsened by rising sea levels; infrastructure destruction and the disruption of power networks, communications, and health services by extreme weather; and the depletion of crop production due to droughts and floods, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said.

“If you look around the world today, people, cities, businesses and nations aren’t prepared for the climate-related risk we face now,” said Chris Field, the US professor who co-chaired the 309 scientists who drafted the report