Melting glaciers start countdown to climate chaos

[jpak]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/16/glaciers.climatechange

For centuries, writers, painters and photographers have been drawn t the wild and seemingly indestructible beauty of glaciers. Mor practically, they are a vital part of the planet's system for collecting storing and delivering the fresh water that billions of people depend on fo washing, drinking, agriculture and power. Now these once indomitabl monuments are disappearing. And as they retreat, glacial lakes will burst debris and ice will fall in avalanches, rivers will flood and then dry up, and se levels will rise even further, say the climate experts. Communities will b deprived of essential water, crops will be ruined and power stations which rel on river flows paralysed

As a result, people will have to change their lifestyles, their farming, even move their homes, says Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). He also fears the problem could exacerbate tensions over inadequate supplies between neighbouring states and countries, possibly spilling over into conflict.

'We're talking about a major transformation, from household livelihood to big industries,' says Steiner. 'While I'm always cautious about "water wars", certainly the potential for water to become a trigger for more tension and, where there's already conflict, to exacerbate conflict is another issue that's not hypothetical.'

The scale of the problem so alarms Lester Brown, a leading environmental thinker, that he fears huge populations dependent on glacier-fed rivers in Asia - 360 million on the Ganges in India and 388 million on the Yangtze in China alone - will not be able to feed themselves, with devastating effect on already rising global food prices.

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1. But February has been much colder...

It would appear that those that claim GW is a hoax are claiming that worldwide temperatures have been actually colder the past two February's and thus this shouldn't be happening..