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With diminished rice harvests, seawater seeping into aquifers and islands vanishing into rising oceans, Southeast Asia will be among the regions worst affected by global warming, according to a report scheduled for release on Monday by the Asian Development Bank.

Climate Change - ADB Programs: Strengthening Mitigation and Adaptation in Asia and the Pacific

"Imagine these scenarios: The rice bowl of Vietnam cracking. Popular diving spots in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia lying idle with no tourists. Nearly half of Bangkok inundated with water. Well, they could become a reality in 20 to 30 years-no thanks to the adverse effects of climate change in Southeast Asia exacerbated by forest fires particularly in Indonesia which recently blanketed the region with deadly smoky haze. Scientists warn in a new World Bank report of major impacts on the region if the temperature rises by up to 2 degrees Celsius-warming which they say may be reached in two to three decades-fueled by the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. The warming climate will push up the sea level in the region and cause an increase in heat extremes, a higher intensity of tropical cyclones, and ocean acidification stemming from excess carbon dioxide in the air, according to the latest edition of the bank's "Turn Down the Heat" report."

BEIJING (AP) - A dirty brown haze sometimes more than a mile thick is darkening skies not only over vast areas of Asia, but also in the Middle East, southern Africa and the Amazon Basin, changing weather patterns around the world and threatening health and food supplies, the U.N. reported Thursday. (November 13, 2008)

They'd come from the Arctic permafrost, the African plains and the jungles of Asia, but after five days of meeting, conferencing, dialoguing, blessing, praying and celebrating, the 400 attendees of the Indigenous People's Global Summit on Climate Change did not reach consensus on the how to move forward to combat the forces of climate change. Speakers over the week emphasized how much indigenous people have in common, whether they are from Borneo or Barrow, saying that they share a spiritual connection to the Earth, concern for plants and animal life and sense that for more than a century they have been left out of the decision-making process that is today eating away at the ground beneath their feet. They bear the brunt of erosion, changing migration patterns, rising sea levels, diminishing sea ice, drought, polluted air and water. But their common ground did not guarantee agreement on how to move forward.

Oxfam Australia says that climate change could leave up to 75 million people in the Asia-Pacific region homeless by 2050. The Future is Here: Climate Change says that these island nations are already suffering from drought, food shortages and rising water levels.

Scientists have been warning for years that climate change will bring higher temperatures and lower rainfall to Australia, increasing the likelihood of deadly wildfires. Some questioned whether Saturday's fire was a sign of things to come. "It's a sobering reminder of the need for this nation and the whole world to act and put at a priority our need to tackle climate change," said Bob Brown, the leader of Australia's minor Greens Party.