Rising, warming and increasingly acidic seas threaten the very survival of Pacific island countries.
The retreat of glaciers and snowfields in the Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau jeopardize these "water towers" on which 1 billion Asians depend for flows during the dry season and drought years. More than 450 million Asians live within the low-elevation coastal zone, including almost 20 percent of the region's urban residents.
There's no question that the scale of climate challenges facing Asia and the Pacific is daunting — especially since the fallout of regional climate-related calamities can be felt around the world.