As climate negotiators gather in Geneva next month, they will face growing pressure to slow the pace of global climate change, says a new report from the Worldwatch Institute.
Most scientists believe that human activities are already shaping climate trends.
More disturbingly, these climatic shifts may soon affect the global economy. Weather extremes have reduced the harvests of China and the United States twice in the early 1990s, contributing to the depletion of global grain reserves and driving up prices. Island nations whose property values and very existence are threatened by rising seas, and insurance companies concerned that storm-related losses could bankrupt them, are calling on governments to take prompt action to slow climate change. All ten of the warmest years since record keeping began 130 years ago have occurred since 1980. Local and regional weather patterns seem to confirm the broader trend.