Insurance Journal has an article out on a little light reading put out by the U.K. National Academy of Sciences:
In one of the most somber assessments yet of the consequences of global warming, scientists at the U.K.’s University of Bristol [...] warned: “As temperatures rise with global warming, an increased risk of forest fires, droughts and flooding is predicted for the next 200 years.”
They concluded that “despite the commitment we have already to global warming, even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases now the researchers predict that Eurasia, eastern China, Canada, Central America, and Amazonia are at risk of forest loss [...], while the far north, Amazonia and many semi-arid regions will become more susceptible to wildfires.”
The study also indicated that “less freshwater availability, and with it more intense droughts, are likely to occur in West Africa, Central America, southern Europe and the eastern USA. Other regions, particularly areas north of 50 degrees N, tropical Africa and northwest South America, will be at significant risk of excessive runoff as trees are lost, increasing the chances of flooding as temperatures rise.
If the study is right, it would seem to me to be prudent to divert some of the energy spent campaigning against global warming to start preparing for the effects of climate change. Perhaps the tipping point has already passed….