WORLD : Warming Has Begun, U.N. Says

U.N. scientists today warned that global warming has begun, that temperatures will rise in the next century faster than in the last 10,000 years and that urgent measures are needed to curb “greenhouse” gases.

In addition, a separate report warns that warming poses serious threats to the planet, including rising sea levels, the spread of disease and mass starvation in poor countries.

The world temperature is likely to increase about 1.8 degrees in the next 35 years and 5.4 degrees before the end of the next century, said a report released by a working group of the U.N.’s Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change.

Sea levels were predicted to rise by 2.3 inches each decade, or 8 inches by 2030, and 25.5 inches by the end of the next century.

These conclusions represent something of an international consensus on the scientific certainty of global warming.

A number of governments, led by the United States, have been skeptical of the phenomenon and reluctant to take severe economic and policy steps to deal with it. The United States has called for more study.