CLIMATE CHANGE
Times atlas altered to reflect climate change
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
The prestigous Times Atlas' editor has said that the 2007 edition will include significant changes to reflect rising sea levels, drying-up lakes and desertification caused by global warming
By AFP
Creators of the Times Atlas have had to make significant changes to their latest edition because of changes to the world's landscapes caused by climate change, their chief said Sunday.
Cartographers have had to redraw coastlines and reclassify types of land to reflect changes to geographical features like Lake Chad in Africa, which is now 95 percent smaller than it was in 1963.
The last edition of "The Times Comprehensive Atlas Of The World" was published in 2003.
"We can literally see environmental disasters unfolding before our eyes," said Mick Ashworth, the editor-in-chief of the atlas, which is published in Britain.
"We have a real fear that in the near future, famous geographical features will disappear forever."
He added: "The outline of places are changing, like Bangladesh. Sea levels are rising about three millimetres a year, which has strange effects on the coastline."
Some of the changes are influenced by irrigation schemes, like the Aral Sea in central Asia which has shrunk in size by three-quarters in the last 40 years as waters have been diverted to help a cotton-growing scheme.
Cartographers have had to redraw coastlines and reclassify types of land to reflect changes to geographical features like Lake Chad in Africa, which is now 95 percent smaller than it was in 1963.
The last edition of "The Times Comprehensive Atlas Of The World" was published in 2003.
"We can literally see environmental disasters unfolding before our eyes," said Mick Ashworth, the editor-in-chief of the atlas, which is published in Britain.
"We have a real fear that in the near future, famous geographical features will disappear forever."
He added: "The outline of places are changing, like Bangladesh. Sea levels are rising about three millimetres a year, which has strange effects on the coastline."
Some of the changes are influenced by irrigation schemes, like the Aral Sea in central Asia which has shrunk in size by three-quarters in the last 40 years as waters have been diverted to help a cotton-growing scheme.
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