Climate change and its impacts: growing stress factors for human societies

Humankind has been dependent for a long time on the quality of the environment and the resources it provides in terms of water, food, and favourable health conditions. This life-support system is as vital as ever, despite current levels of technology and apparent resilience in the face of often degraded environments in many parts of the world. Today, the conditions for human sustainability are potentially under threat as a result of numerous human induced factors; among these, climate change. This article focuses on the possible evolution of climate and on a number of key climate impacts that may determine the future course of human societies, as well as issues that may confront them such as rivalries over natural resources and possible environmentally driven conflicts and migrations.It is available at:http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/review/2010/irrc-879-beniston.pdf