Also under threat is the polar ice edge ecosystem that provides habitat for polar bears, walrus, seals and penguins. Other species under threat from climate change are forest birds in Tanzania, the mountain gorilla in Africa, the spectacled bear of the Andes, and the resplendent quetzal in Central America. The report shows that the worst impacts will hit developing countries, which have the least capacity to adapt. The report lists a string of small island states in the Pacific and Indian oceans and the Caribbean, threatened by climate change and where unique cultural and conservation sites have already been destroyed. Himalayan glaciers are the major source of water for the rivers Ganges and Indus on which 500 million people, just under one-tenth of the world's population, depend.
Industrialized nations can also expect significant impacts.
The United States, Canada and Australia could well see an expansion in diseases such as malaria, tick-borne Lyme disease, Ross River virus and Murray Valley encephalitis respectively. Many regions of the world will experience heat waves that will compound the effects on health in polluted cities. Much of Europe will have to endure increased hazards of floods. In January, governments accepted an IPCC report on climate science that contained the first internationally-agreed acknowledgement of the human footprint on global climate. It's time for governments such as the United States to get serious about reducing their carbon dioxide emissions.