Report: Canada safest from climate change

LONDON, July 4 (UPI) -- A British consultancy group has concluded Canada is the safest place to survive global climate change, while the Comoros Islands is least equipped.

The Maplecroft group's "The Climate Change Risk Report" studied likely climate change effects in 168 countries and ranked survivability on six factors: the economy; natural resources and ecosystems; poverty, development and health; agriculture; population, settlement and infrastructure; and institutions, governance and social capital.

The Independent newspaper in Britain quoted the report as ranking the top five countries to be in as Canada, followed by Ireland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. The United States ranked 11th, while Britain was 12th.

Dr. Andy Thow, one of the report's authors, explained why the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean ranked last.

"It scores particularly poorly in the agriculture and natural resources and ecosystems components," he said. "Canada, on the other hand, is extremely well equipped to adapt to changes in climate."

The report can be seen online at climate@maplecroft.com.