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Will the poor have to fight the rich for water and food?

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report 2007 says:

  • 75-250 million people across Africa could face water shortages by 2020.
  • Crop yields could increase by 20% in East and Southeast Asia, but decrease by up to 30% in Central and South Asia.
  • Agriculture fed by rainfall could drop by 50% in some African countries by 2020.
  • Glaciers and snow cover expected to decline, reducing water availability in countries supplied by melt water.

The nightmare scenario is:

  • Unchecked global warming creates drought, higher sea levels and expansion of deserts.
  • Drinking water becomes scarce for millions of people.
  • Poor and developing countries blame industrialised, rich ones for drought-causing emissions.
  • Rich nations protect their resources - with violence if necessary.
  • Environmental refugees try to move to where the water is controlled, from poor to rich countries.
  • Rich countries close their borders and add more protection for their own citizens.
  • A new arms race between old and new world breaks out.

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