EURENT

The spreading of new pests and diseases will be among the results of the climate changes that are going to affect Bulgaria in the following decades.

A drastic increase in the number ofwildfires in the country is expected, which may jeopardize the Bulgarianforests and arable land, according to Georgi Stefanov from the international environment protection organization WWF.

A higher risk of floods is also expected, as ice caps will melt intensively.

On Wednesday, Stefanov took part in a working group meeting on Bulgaria's National Climate Change Action Plan 2013-2020. By end-January 2012, Bulgaria is supposed to have a plan for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the period.

The average temperatures in Bulgaria's towns and cities has risen by between 1.2 and 2.5 degrees Celsius in the past 2 decades, while a 30% drop has been registered in average rainfall, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences revealed following a recent study.

Furthermore, as much as 13% of the country's forest territory has disappeared over the same period, while snow covers have started melting 40% faster.

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