Without action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, average global temperatures will rise by 1.4oC to 5.8oC between 1990 and 2100.
Along with increases in precipitation, average global sea levels will rise between 9 and 88 cm by 2100, which has implications for the 50 to 70 percent of the world's population that currently live in low-lying coastal areas, mainly in developing countries.
By the year 2015, over half of the world's people will live in urban communities; by 2030 that figure is estimated to rise to 95 percent.
In developing countries, the majority will live in under-equipped, substandard housing and will suffer from the environmental impacts of over-crowding and lack of basic infrastructure.