Tao Su, lead
author on the
paper and associate professor at Xishuangbanna Tropical Garden, discovered the fossils near his home in Kunming in southwest China when some road construction
exposed a rock outcrop from the late Pliocene.
Dr Dieter Gerten, research expert
on water scarcity, and lead
author of one of the three studies contained in the PIK
paper, said mean global warming of 2ºC − the target set by the international community − is projected to
expose an additional 8 % of humankind to new or increased water scarcity.