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A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world. The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents.

Why So Dry? Ocean temperatures alone don't explain droughts Patrick L. Barry The western United States continues to struggle with the worst dry spell since the 1930s, and an international report on climate change predicts more and worse droughts to come (see "From Bad to Worse," in this week's issue). As scientists work to understand what triggers droughts, a new finding suggests that the causes may be more complex than many have supposed. DUNE DATA. Beneath these grassy hills of Nebraska lie the remains of ancient sand dunes, remnants from centuries-long droughts that have stricken this area several times in...

Cooling trend could be on the way unless thwarted by greenhouse gassesLOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, February 28, 2011—There’s an old saying that if you don't like the weather in New Mexico, wait five minutes. Maybe it should be amended to 10,000 years, according to new research. In a letter published recently in the journal Nature, Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers and an international team of scientists report that the Southwest region of the United States undergoes "megadroughts"—warmer, more arid periods lasting hundreds of years or longer. More significantly, a portion of the research indicates that an ancient period of warming...