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Bangladesh and India are the countries most vulnerable to climate change, according to an index on Wednesday that rates the Nordic region least at risk.
British consultancy Maplecroft said its rankings showed that several "big economies of the future" in Asia were among those facing the biggest risks from global warming in the next 30 years as were large parts of Africa.
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It said poverty and large low-lying coastal regions prone to floods and cyclones were among factors making Bangladesh the most exposed country. India, in second place, was vulnerable because of pressures from a rising population of 1.1 billion.
Madagascar was in third place, followed by Nepal, Mozambique, the Philippines, Haiti, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Myanmar. Vietnam, in 13th place and flood-hit Pakistan in 16th were also in the most exposed group.
"Understanding climate vulnerability will help companies make their investments more resilient to unexpected change," wrote Matthew Bunce, principal analyst at Maplecroft, who noted that many Asian countries were attracting large investments.
Norway was bottom of the list of 171 nations, least vulnerable ahead of Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Sweden and Denmark -- all rich north European nations which may initially gain from factors such as longer crop growing seasons.
The ranking combined exposure to extremes such as droughts, cyclones and mudslides, sensitivity to damage tied to poverty, population, internal conflicts and dependence on agriculture, and the capacity of a country to adapt.
The U.N. panel of climate scientists says it is at least 90 percent likely that a build-up of greenhouse gases, mainly from human use of fossil fuels, is responsible for most warming in the past 50 years.
Photo shows Bangladesh coastline. Credit: ESA
Article continues: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69I6LE20101019
This is a super-interesting theory about how climate change will affect different parts of the world, and why some countries are more at risk than others.
I think that no matter where we live in this world, we all have a responsibility to leave as small of an environmental footprint as possible.
Different countries have a variety of programs in place for reducing, reusing, recycling, repurposing, etc. There are significant changes we can all make in helping to keep our earth clean and beautiful. Are you doing your part?
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