Science
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A car sits on flood water on a flooded property at Burrowbridge on the Somerset Levels on February 9, 2014 near Bridgwater, England.
While not slated to be released until March 29 (one day after Darren Aronfsky's apolalyptic Bible epic, Noah, hits theaters), a draft of the forthcoming report on the impact of global warming by the UN's Interngovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) leaked on Tuesday to the UK's Independent.
The analysis, which is the second of three working group reports, focuses on the likely impacts of alterations in the earth's climate brought about by carbon emissions. It synthesizes the data from thousands of peer-reviewed scientific studies.
Among its conclusions:
- Median crop yields will fall by 2% per decade for the remainder of the century, even as demand increases, setting the stage for rising food prices
- Hundreds of millions of people will be displaced by rising sea levels, particular in Asia
- The global economy will shrink by between .2 and 2 percent
- Violent conflict from civil war, ethnic rivalries and protests will increase
- Territorial disputes due to shifting national boundaries will become more frequent
- Dry and subtropical regions will experience fresh-water shortages, leading to heightened risk for extinction of various species and conflict over water resources
The good news? The third IPCC working group report, focused on mitigation strategies, is due to be released a few weeks later.
More tips on dealing with catastrophic flooding are below: