From: UniversityofCalifornia - San Diego
Published March 2, 2008 08:30 AM

 http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/32104

Their study, published online February 28 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, provides a guide for conservationists of the areas of our planet where conservation investments would have the most impact in the future to limit extinctions and damage to ecosystems due to rapid human-driven climate and land-use change.

The researchers found that many of the regions that face the greatest habitat change in relation to the amount of land currently protected such as Indonesia and Madagascar are in globally threatened and endemic species rich, developing nations that have the fest resources for conservation. Conversely, many of the temperate regions of the planet with an already expansive network of reserves are in countries such as Austria, Germany, and Switzerland with the greatest financial resources for conservation efforts, but comparatively less biodiversity under threat.

 ...

"While many details still have to be worked out, our study is a first baseline attempt on a global scale to quantitatively demonstrate the urgent need to plan reserves and other conservation efforts in view of future global change impacts," he added. "Reserves have often been set up haphazardly, following some national goal, such as to preserve 10 percent of a country's area, or in response to past threats. But little consideration has been given to the actual geography of future threats in relation to biodiversity. Yet it's those future threats that expose biodiversity to extinction."

To conduct their study, the researchers examined the impact of climate and land use changes on networks of biological reserves around the world and contrasted them to four projections of future globalwarming, agricultural expansion and human population growth from the global Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. They discovered that past human impacts on the land poorly predicted the future impacts of climatechange, revealing the inadequacy of current global conservation plans.

From: Reuters
Published March 1, 2008 07:26 PM

http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/32096

By Alistair Lyon, Special Correspondent

BEIT HUJAIRA, Yemen (Reuters) - Black-clad women trudge across a stony plateau in the Yemeni highlands to haul water in yellow plastic cans from wells that will soon dry up.

"We come here three or four times a day," says Adiba Sena, as another woman draws water six metres (20 feet) to the surface and pours it into jerry cans lashed to her grey donkey. "We use it to clean, cook, wash -- we have no pipes that reach us."

These women are at the sharp end of what Yemen's water and environment minister describes as a collapse of national water resources so severe it cannot be reversed, only delayed at best.

"This is almost inevitable because of the geography and climate of Yemen, coupled with uncontrolled population growth and very low capacity for managing resources," the minister, Abdul-Rahman al-Iryani, told Reuters in an interview.

...

Staving off disaster on this scale would challenge even a richer nation. For Yemen, where 45 percent of the population survives on less than $2 a day, the odds are much worse.

Nearly 75 percent of Yemenis still live in the countryside, but an accelerating drift to the cities has overwhelmed urban utilities, including water. Sanaa has mushroomed to more than 2 million people from just 60,000 in the 1940s.

Financial Times: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/860d590e-e8ac-11dc-913a-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1 

By Andrew Bounds in Brussels

Published: March 3 2008 01:33 | Last updated: March 3 2008 01:33

Climate change poses "serious security risks" and fighting it should be part of "preventive security policy", according to the European Union's top diplomats.

The warning is contained in a paper prepared for an EU summit this month by Javier Solana, the bloc's foreign policy chief, and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, external relations commissioner.

The paper, seen by Financial Times Deutschland and the FT, says increased natural disasters and shortages of water, food and other resources in the developing world could affect European security.

The threat of water wars is particularly grave in the Middle East. Two-thirds of the Arab world relies on external supplies.

"Existing tensions over access to water are almost certain to intensify in the region, leading to further political instability with detrimental implications for Europe's energy security and other interests. Water supply in Israel might fall by 60 per cent over this century," the paper says.

SIPA: The United Nations and Climate Change: New Divisions
Date: March 04, 2008 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm EST
Location: Columbia University
Morningside Campus
International Affairs Building, Room 1501
420 West 118th Street, New York, NY
Contact: For further information regarding this event, please contact Steve Vigil by sending email to sdv2102@columbia.edu .
 
The United Nations Studies Program invites you to join the Ambassadors of Bangladesh, Grenada, India, Mexico and Switzerland for a discussion on climate change and the role of the United Nations. 
 Ambassador Angus Friday, Permanent Representative of Grenada to the United Nations

Ambassador Claude Heller, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations

Ambassador Ismat Jahan, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations & Chairman of the Least Developed Countries (LDC)

Ambassador Ajai Malhotra, Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations

Ambassador Peter Maurer, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations

Juanita Casteno, Director of UNEP Office in New York

Moderator: Elisabeth Lindenmayer, Acting Director, UN Studies Program, SIPA

Seating will be on a first come, first served basis.
Reception to follow

Co-sponsored by: United Nations Studies Working Group