Warming puzzle for Tibetan plants

and its tourist industry, a new report, commissioned by the UN Development Programme, with British and Caribbean partners, highlights the threat to other tropical islands. Released at the Cancún meeting, it estimates in detail the impacts of rising sea level on the 15 member Caribbean states of the Caricom regional community. While many of the islands are mountainous, the report highlights that much of the population, infrastructure, agriculture and economy are in the low-lying areas. A rise of one metre, which is widely considered possible later this century is estimated to lead to damage of around $187 billion. The report was carried out at the University of Oxford. The authors also included insurance experts who calculated the huge potential costs of future sea-level rises. At Cancún, the Association of Small Island States (Aosis), of which the Maldives is a member, called for an enormous insurance policy funded by the developed nations to help these small states to pay for future damage from rising sea levels. The states at risk would pay a premium but payout for damage would largely be met by developed countries. “We are the most vulnerable countries in the world, although pollute the least,” Antonio Lima from the Cape Verde islands, vicechairman of Aosis, told the Cancún meeting. “We want to survive and to survive we need solidarity from those who can do something about the weather.” Warming puzzle for Tibetan plants