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Global warming will kill third world children first

Suffer, little children
Tuesday, 29 April 2008, 18:10

UNICEF HAS JUST RELEASED a report which claims that climate change hurts the world’s poorest children the most, making them more likely to fall victim to severe flooding, droughts and diseases.

The report, put together by the UN’s child watchdog, reckoned that while first world countries had the infrastructure to cope with such situations, third world countries did not, because they lacked the proper resources and funds. This basically means that the poorest and most underdeveloped nations will be paying the price for the damage mankind has done to the environment.

David Bull, executive director of Unicef UK noted that "those who have contributed least to climate change - the world's poorest children - are suffering the most," and begged governments of developed nations to slash carbon emissions whilst sending cash relief to poor countries. His plea will very likely fall on deaf ears, just like the Kyoto Protocol, signed 10 years to the day before Unicef’s damning report.

The Unicef report included the 2006 Stern Review, which predicts that global warming will hike the number of child fatalities up by a staggering further 160,000 across South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, just resulting from loss of GDP.

Sir Nicholas Stern warned in the report’s introduction that "all the essential effects we are seeing now are associated with a temperature increase since 1850 of less than 1°C," ominously adding that "past actions and the likely trend of emissions... imply that another 1-2°C will be hard to avoid”.

The report comes as boffins from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu announced their discovery that the Earth had once been able to self regulate the amount of carbon dioxide using a natural balancing mechanism, but that mankind had produced so much Co2 in the last few hundred years, that the system could no longer cope.

The scientists, whose findings are published in the journal Nature Geoscience, reckoned that thousands of years ago, any carbon that had been released into the atmosphere (mainly through volcanic eruptions) would slowly disappear from the air through the weathering and erosion of mountains, which were then swept down into the seas and oceans, leaving the carbon buried under sediments on the Ocean floor.

The boffins came to their conclusions after studying an Antarctic ice core and working out that, over a time span of 610,000 years, the world had only seen a 22 ppm rise in Co2 (long term, not including transitions between ice ages), whereas humans have managed to raise levels by 100 ppm in just 200 years.

One of the researchers who worked on the University of Hawaii study, Richard Zeebe told BBC news that “we have put the system entirely out of equilibrium".

As usual, it’s the world’s poor that will take the brunt of the punishment. µ

L’Inqs
Unicef
BBC

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Comments
Correction:

"As usual, it’s the world’s poor that will take the brunt of the punishment"
I believe that should be spelled 
"burnt," but I'm a tad lisdexic.
Bah-humbug! Chestnuts roasting on an open fire... for the children, of course! How many third world childrens' footprints will fit in mine?

posted by : Karlsbad, 29 April 2008 Complain about this comment
Corn

Oh, but the solution is corn ethanol! That way more fossil fuels are used, more pressure is applied to food agriculture (with farmers stopping food crops for fuel crops, reducing food supply). We already have shortages of different food crops so perhaps disease and climatic strife will just be joining famine.

posted by : anon1mat0, 29 April 2008 Complain about this comment
Master Plan

That's exactly why they don't do anything about it. Neo-Final Solution! It's brilliant!

Uh, oh.

BRB, FBI.

posted by : lainofthewired, 29 April 2008 Complain about this comment
"Ban it...it's for the children!"

As usual, kids get to be the unwitting mouth-piece for certain organizations to push their agenda. Call me suspect of anyone who resorts to tugging at the heartstrings instead of resting on the merits of their research.

BTW, want to know how to get guaranteed grant money for your scientific work? Say it's to prove global warming is caused by man...

posted by : Russell, 29 April 2008 Complain about this comment
The sky is falling !!!

Oh my god we raised the CO2 from 22 to 100 ppm in the last 200 years...oh no..run away run away!! The temperature must be a way up because of our wasteful polluting ways...we are such horrible creatures to damage the earth this way !! ....what ??..you mean the temperature has only gone up about 1 degree ??...but Al Gore said we are all going to burn to ash and everything will die !!!...what ?...the 1 degree is well with natural variation ??..huh?...what do you mean the 3rd world always suffers first because they live in crappy places ? really ? you mean this isnt anyones fault ?...thats not what Al Gore said !...what ?...Al Gore can go pound sand....oh...

Please people get a grip. Last year was the cold ever recorded and wiped out almost all of the supposed human forced temperature change. Maybe... just maybe...we are not the terrible people we are being told we are and poverty in the 3rd world is just that...poverty.

posted by : Ed, 29 April 2008 Complain about this comment
Most Children Die in Hospitol

I Like Dinosaurs & that era is where all Carbon formed being Burnt today. Plants EAT Carbon, One Atom at time. So its unlikely to be long lasting problem.

On Short Side, Most Disenfranchised people, Children, often Kidnapped by Wannabes, Visected by Insurance regulations for maximum mo, are being Tortured until Dead in OUR civilized Nations by Tens of Millions every Year.
Criminal Practictioners, NO Concept of Purpose, Rampaging Thru US Like Gifted Cattle.
Drashek M.D.

posted by : Ultie_Pain, 30 April 2008 Complain about this comment
Focus on the real problems

It is far better to focus on the things that are actually effecting these people now then to spend time thinking about the things that might be. Global warming harms them the most because rich countries insist that growth in these countries be 'green' and as a result they are unable to get the kinds of cheap energy that they need.

posted by : Ben Kaster, 30 April 2008 Complain about this comment
Dont be in denial.

"As usual, it’s the world’s poor that will take the brunt of the punishment."

this is sheer denial and ignorance... 

if u push the system out of equilibrium there could be enormeous consequences.

it is possible that even if we only raise the temperature just a few degrees the big ocean current that deposits co2 to the floor might stop... and then the climate can spiral into an ice age only very few tentousands of the human species get to live underground for tousands of years

we cant predict the weather 1 week ahead... the science is just way too week to give certain answers... 

bottom line is .. if we mess with the enviroment in a big way... were gambling... we just dont know what might hit us...

it might already be too late... we might have alreade released too much co2 to breake the equilibrium ten years ago and its all set in stone for the humanity... or the whole global warming thing might go down in history as just another marketnig trick

..but to say that the poor people are going to get screwd and the rich are going to be fine is just dumb... its like believing in luck

posted by : bbb, 31 January 2008 Complain about this comment
Forgive is oh Lord for we are stupid

Oh God the horror! In the name of all the poor corporations that are making billions off ignorance, and and oh ya the poor little children please stop the corrupt 3rd world governments, uh uh I mean pollution from causing all this carnage.

posted by : sqweekyclean, 31 January 2008 Complain about this comment
Sound bites.

First of all the expert have NO idea what effects the climate changes bring due to the complexity of interacting systems, and second you should not first warn about floods and in the same line come with droughts perhaps.
Since the climate change means there's a change one can just as easily assume that due to increased clouding there will be more rain and more fertile land in dry areas where the poor people live now and they will greatly benefit as they can grow crops and keep cattle and sell the crops for biofuel or food.

posted by : W.-, 30 April 2008 Complain about this comment
Of Course

My good man, sometimes you just HAVE to gate the lower decks. I mean REALLY...........

posted by : T. C. Reginald III, 30 April 2008 Complain about this comment
Global Warming isnt the Real Threat

I really dont think its worth getting too worked up over global warming, when there are plenty of severe pollution problems already happening on a large scale. For example, PCB's are still floating around in large amounts, CVC use in third world countries, or the electronics industry 'recycling' programs in poor areas of Asia, where no effort is made to limit the release of extremely toxic substances. These things do real harm to many people every day, and are much easier to tackle than 'global warming'.
I'm of the 'scientific' persuasion, and I do agree its a concern, but global warming isn't deserving of the amount of attention it receives; there are plenty of other things that could be improved that would give an immediate improvement, for much less cash outlay.
Also, the politics surrounding global warming has made it difficult to get grants to do research on anything else, effectively harming everyone.
Chem C

posted by : Chemical Chris, 30 April 2008 Complain about this comment
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