The United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) began a four-day meeting in Brussels Monday to discuss a report which warns that global warming is already happening and the situation will soon deteriorate. Scientists and government officials from more than 100 countries are reviewing a 21-page summary of the panel's 1,400-page document. They will add the finishing touches to the report which warns policy makers of the consequences and dangers of climate change.

The summary predicts that global warming will cause the glaciers in the Himalayas to melt. Hundreds of millions of people, particularly in the poorer countries, will be threatened by water scarcity, hunger, flooding and the spread of tropical diseases.

The Brussels report is the second of a planned series of three IPCC reports on climate change. The first report was presented two months ago in Paris and it focused on the causes of climate change.

The third report, which focuses on solutions, will be presented at the end of April in the Thai capital of Bangkok.

The climate conference will be attended by Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and European Union Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas and Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnic.

Dimas has criticized the United States and Australia for refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol limiting greenhouse gas emissions. He called on Washington to cooperate instead of "having a negative attitude in international negotiations."

Last month, the 27-nation EU agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent by 2020 from the 1990 levels. ?