Britain could be one high rise city by the end of the century due to the number of migrants who will move here because their own countries have become too hot, scientists have predicted.
Louise Gray, The Telegraph 26 Feb 09;
If the world warms by an average of 4 degrees Celsius in the next 100 years, the worse case scenario suggested in certain climate change models, it is expected many areas in the south of the world will become too dry to support human life.
James Lovelock, who developed the "Gaia" theory which sees the Earth as a self-regulating "superorganism", said people from these countries will come to countries like Britain as "climate change refugees". He said infrastructure will have to be built to support the increase in population including more housing, hospitals and schools.
"Because we will be one of the life boat nations we should be preparing for a flood of people who will be refugees from climate change even from Europe," he said.
"The nation is already a large city and it will become even larger, with that will come the need to support people. We do not want starving refugees - that will be worse - so we have to spend a lot of money on infrastructure."
His comments were supported by a number of scientists writing in the New Scientist, some of whom said the human race may not even survive the increase in temperatures.
Perhaps as early as 2050 human habitation will be becoming difficult across central America, southern Europe, north Africa, southern Asia and Japan as well as southern Africa, the Pacific islands, and most of Australia and Chile. Only the far north and south of the planet will remain wet enough to allow large scale human settlement and agriculture.
"These precious lands with access to water would be valuable food-growing areas, as well as the last oases for many species, so people would need to be housed in compact, high-rise cities," said the article.
The scientists agreed that curbing the flow of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is essential to avoid further damage to the world that could threaten human survival.
However the latest reports from the U S National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found the amount of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the atmosphere accelerated last year with the growth of developing countries like China.
The new data will dampen hopes that a slowdown in industrial output and carbon emissions caused by the recession would deflect climate change.
