Climate change: Will Cost Least Responsible

Study: Climate change affects those least responsible

Mar 07, 2011 - Climate change will have the greatest impact on people least responsible for causing it, new research shows.

In an eye-catching map, researchers at McGill University show the irony long suspected by scientists -- that countries producing the least greenhouse gases per-capita are often the most vulnerable to climate change.

The areas in red, those closest to the equator, will likely be affected the most. They include central South America, the Arabian Peninsula and much of Africa. Areas in yellow are expected to have a moderate impact and those in blue, the least effect. The United States and western Europe, which emit high greenhouse gases per capita, are projected to have moderate-to-mild impact. Areas in white lack either data or people. {continued}