Temperature Extremes ‘Virtually Certain’ to Rise: UN

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-15/temperature-extremes-virtually-certain-to-rise-un-draft-says.html

Global daily temperature extremes are “virtually certain” to become warmer this century, a panel of about 200 UN scientists said in a draft of their most comprehensive study of weather-related natural disasters.

Extreme weather events such as downpours and storm surges may make parts of the planet “marginal” for inhabitants, and residents may have to leave some low-lying atolls, according to the 18-page draft by the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that was obtained by Bloomberg. The UN declined to confirm the document’s contents.

“It is very likely that the length, frequency and/or intensity of warm spells, including heat waves, will continue to increase over most land areas,” the scientists wrote. Drought may intensify in the Mediterranean region, central Europe, southern parts of North America, northeast Brazil and southern Africa, they said.

The final report is due for release on Nov. 18 and is aimed at guiding debate at the annual round of climate talks, taking place this year in Durban, South Africa, beginning on Nov. 28. Delegates from more than 190 countries plan to work on ways to limit climate change after average temperatures last year were tied with 2005 for the warmest on record.