Where Will The Water Come From?
Climate change may diminish North American water supplies and trigger disputes between the United States and Canada over water reserves.
More heat waves like those that killed people across the United States in 2006, killer hurricanes that struck the Gulf of Mexico in 2005 and wildfires are likely in North America as temperatures rise, according to a new report that provided regional details on a U.N. climate panel study on global warming.
Severe weather already costs North America tens of billions of dollars annually in productivity and damaged property, and those costs are expected to rise.
The broadest effects of climate change will be water problems across the entire continent. Droughts across the region will increase, urban flooding and a possible fight for water from the Great Lakes, which border both the United States and Canada.
Unlike many continents, North America has no east to west mountain ranges that limit droughts by forcing rapidly moving wet air to release rain. Tensions could be heightened by the fact that a majority of the Canadian population lives close to the Great Lakes, while only a small part of the U.S. population reside near the basin.
April 12, 2007 6:52 AM | Category: Global Warming