Earth Equity News

Climate Change Threatens Water, Food Security of 1.6 Billion South Asians. Press Release, Asian Development Bank, September 2, 2009. "Melting Himalayan glaciers and other climate change impacts pose a direct threat to the water and food security of more than 1.6 billion people in South Asia, according to preliminary findings of a new study financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Analyzing current trends and scenarios based on projected temperature increases, the study warns that four countries in South Asia -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal -- are particularly vulnerable to falling crop yields caused by glacier retreat, floods, droughts, erratic rainfall and other climate change impacts. 'South Asia's vulnerability to climate change has extremely serious implications for agriculture and therefore food security,' Kunio Senga, Director General of ADB's South Asia Department, said today after a major climate change conference [Kathmandu to Copenhagen] in the Nepalese capital of Katmandu... Produced by the International Food Policy Research Institute [IFPRI.org], the study, Addressing Climate Change in the Asia and Pacific Region: Building Climate Resilience in the Agriculture Sector, will be officially launched by ADB on the sidelines of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting in Bangkok in late September."