From The BBC News
By Roger Harrabin

The world is likely to suffer a temperature rise of more than 3C, says the UK government’s chief scientist. That would cause drought and famine and threaten millions of lives, said Professor David King in a report based on computer predictions.

Tony Blair wants a global consensus on stabilising greenhouse gas emissions, blamed for climate change. The government shares the EU’s 2C limit. The US refuses to cut emissions and those of India and China are rising.

The government report says a 3C rise would cause:

# A drop worldwide of between 20 and 400 million tonnes in cereal crops
# About 400 million more people at risk of hunger
# Between 1.2bn and 3bn more people at risk of water stress

At such a temperature, it said, few ecosystems (like natural forests) could adapt; half of nature reserves would cease to be worthwhile and a fifth of coastal wetlands would be lost.

Read more Climate Change