Global warming is already underway, but it is not too late to slow it down and reduce its harmful effects, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi following the release of a report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II on the effects of climate change.

"The new scientific report on global warming warns that global warming is already affecting the earth and that the effects are likely to be significant and widespread in this century, causing increased drought, drinking water shortages, and widespread extinction of species," Pelosi said, "Poor people around the world are especially vulnerable to the hazards of climate change."

Hunger and water shortages will hit worst the poorest countries, according to the latest report approved Friday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and released in Brussels, Belgium.

Global warming is already having observable impacts worldwide - from massive floods and avalanches in Asia to species extinction - and if temperatures continue to rise will be more dramatic unless nations adapt to climate change and halt its progress, Today's Global Warming Report Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, says.

IPCC report indicates that as temperatures rise, the impacts of global warming get more severe. Just 2 degrees of warming will lead to increased mortality from heat waves, floods and droughts and puts 30% of the world's species at risk for extinction.

"We must base our actions on the moral imperative and the scientific record, free of political interference in scientists' assessments of the effects of climate change on society and the environment," Pelosi said.

"In this Holy Week, we are reminded of these words in the Old Testament: 'To minister to the needs of God's creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.' We must move quickly to honor God's creation by reducing greenhouse gas pollution in the United States and around the world."

The final IPCC report is the clearest and most comprehensive scientific statement to date on the impact of global warming mainly caused by man-induced carbon dioxide pollution. More than 120 nations attended the meeting. Each word was approved by consensus, and any change had to be approved by the scientists who drew up that section of the report. However, the governments of some of the world's biggest polluters and oil producers, China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, tried to water down some aspects of the report.

The summary will be presented to the G8 summit of the world's richest nations in June, when the European Union is expected to renew appeals to President Bush to join in international efforts to control emissions of fossil fuels.