Landslides could worsen with global warming
Off Reuters: Landslides could worsen with global warming
Landslides kill 800-1,000 people a year and climate change may be adding to the risks from hillside slums in Latin America to Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, U.N. experts said on Tuesday. Asia suffered most with 220 landslides in the past century out of about 500 that caused human deaths, they said. Many of the most deadly mudslides were in Latin America and the costliest in Europe.
About 800-1,000 people died in landslides in each of the past 20 years, the U.N. University said in a statement.
About 100 experts will meet in Tokyo on Jan. 18-20 to discuss ways to prevent and ease damage from landslides amid worries that global warming may make slides more frequent by bringing heavier downpours that loosen soils.
“If climate change predictions are accurate you will expect…more intense and extreme rainfalls,” said Srikantha Herath, senior academic officer of the U.N. University.
-DS
Technorati Tags: climate change, eco, environment, global warming, landslides, UN
