Aug. 17, 2007 — Rising sea levels, melting glaciers, floods and hurricanes: global warming means urban planners need to rethink how and where to build cities, water experts warned at a conference in Stockholm this week.
Almost 80 percent of the world's population lives less than 30 miles from a coastline, a jarring fact given that one of the effects of global warming is rising sea levels, according to the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).
"Thermal expansion of the oceans and melting of glaciers and ice-sheets might endanger low-lying coastal cities if adaptation and mitigation measures are not taken now," SIWI said.
"We should really try to insist that national planning include the climate dimension. We should have vulnerability maps and develop action programs," Johan Kuylenstierna, the director of the World Water Week conference said.
Some 2,500 international experts are gathered in the Swedish capital to discuss water issues, with climate change as the main theme.
"Water management is one important tool to deal with climate change. If you manage water well, you also prepare well for climate change," Kuylenstierna said.
He said the world was facing the double-whammy of a rapidly growing population and global warming.
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