EARTH CHANGES

UN says globe drying up at fast pace

The world is turning to dust, with vast tracts of land becoming desert wasteland every year and the problem threatening to send millions of people fleeing to greener countries, the United Nations says. The global dessication is driving people into cities and destroying agriculture in vast swaths.
"It's a creeping catastrophe," said Michel Smitall, a spokesman for the U.N. secretariat that oversees the accord. "Entire parts of the world might become uninhabitable."

Hotter city summer nights may be more frequent

Analysis by researchers at Britain's Hadley Center for Climate Prediction in Exeter has shown that the so-called "urban heat island" effect, of heat generated from buildings and vehicles being retained by asphalt and concrete at night, will intensify.
"Cities that now release an average of 20 watts of heat per square meter (yard) will in future release 60 watts more," New Scientist magazine said.

About one billion people at risk of flooding

"On one hand, we have a sea-level rise, a product of global warming. That is happening and will continue to happen.
"More and more people will face a greater likelihood of flooding. The likelihood is that areas already subject to high rainfall will be hit."
-- Dr Roger Few, an environment expert at the University of East Anglia