Five Disasters Waiting to Happen

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Science Documentary published by BBC in 2006 - English narration

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The Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina forced the world to sit up and take notice of the almighty force of Mother Nature...and further prompted scientists to look seriously at how to guard against the threat of 'climate change catastrophe'.

And now, as the world swaps theories on global warming, Five Disasters Waiting To Happen looks at how a bunch of leading cities are dealing with the reality of climate change.

This documentary, part of the BBC Climate Chaos series, examines five locations: London, Shanghai, Mumbai, Paris and Tuvalu. All have been identified by experts as vulnerable to the effects of climate change...and all seem to be doing something about it. The major climate threats identified include rising tides in the Thames, heat waves in Paris and erratic monsoons in areas such as Mumbai and Shanghai.

In Five Disasters Waiting To Happen, experts discuss the measures taken to monitor them, for example: London is already building on stilts to counter the threat of river flooding. Furthermore, Paris is searching for new ways to beat the heat after 15,000 heat-wave deaths in 2003. Shanghai and Mumbai's economic expansion could be threatened by a lack of preparation in face of growing typhoons and monsoonal flooding, and a tiny South Pacific island may provide a warning to the world with the first climate change environmental refugees.

The hour-long documentary also features anecdotal evidence from people who have experienced extreme conditions caused by climate change... reinforcing the fact that the problem is very real... and has the capacity to impact severely on the human race.

Moreover, Five Disasters Waiting To Happen answers many questions...but asks many questions too: Where will the next disaster strike? And what can we do about it? Is enough being done to safeguard our livelihoods against the planet we depend on to live?

And then there's the question that relates directly to the documentary's core: Should the worst-case scenario strike - and the "five disasters waiting to happen" actually "happen", will we be ready?