Global weather report
It is the year 2050, and April blizzards have gripped North Western Europe for the third successive year while violent storms batter the North Sea coast. The Gulf Stream, whose warming waters once heated these shores, has long since disappeared, destroyed by a deluge pouring south from the melting Arctic ice cap.

In the United States, much of Alaska has turned into a quagmire as permafrost and glaciers disintegrate. In Colorado, chair lift pylons stand rusting in the warm drizzle, reminders that the nation once supported a billion-dollar ski industry, while the remnants of Florida are declared America's second island state.

Further south in Amazonia, massive fires continue to consume the remains of what was once the largest rainforest region on Earth. Few clues remain to show that this desiccated landscape once teemed with life of all kinds.

Africa is faring badly. Its coastline from Cairo to Lagos is completely flooded and many of the major cities have been abandoned. Tens of millions of people have been forced to flee and are struggling to survive in a parched, waterless interior.

In Asia there is a similar, terrifying picture. Bangladesh is almost totally inundated.

The East Indies have been reduced to a few scrappy islands. Tens of millions stand on the brink of death.

It is a startling scenario worthy of a science fiction disaster film. And it would be nice to be able to dismiss it, were it not for the uncomfortable fact that these visions are the result of rigorous scientific analysis by some of the world's most distinguished climatologists.

Introduction
In this one-hour television special we explore the issues surrounding global warming and in particular, the role that water plays in influencing these complex processes. A 13 minute version of the programme will also be prepared for screening at the UN sponsored 3rd World Water Forum, to be held in March 2003 in Kyoto, Japan.

Through colourful imagery and powerful real world examples, Water & Climate Change examines how global warming and the subsequent changes in climate it is causing, is leading inexorably to the breakdown of the classic water cycle and eventually to further water shortages. The programme sifts scientific theory from scientific fact and presents the impacts this is having on ordinary people. Topics covered will include health, farming and wildlife, along with practical solutions to problems being faced in different parts of the globe.