Earlier this week, Purdue University issued a press release that has raised a vast echo on the media throughout the world. A team of researchers has projected that "most nations of the world are threatened by the interaction of regional climatic changes with one or more relevant socioeconomic factors", in particular those "nations that have the highest levels of poverty, wealth, and population". Their article, entitled "Indicators of 21st Century Socioclimatic Exposure," was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, December 18, 2007, vol. 104, No. 51, 20195-20198. Among the authors of the article are Noah Diffenbaugh, Assistant Professor at Purdue University, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, a former visitor to ICTP's Earth System Physics Section, Filippo Giorgi, Head of ICTP's Earth System Physics Section, and Bi Xunqiang, Assistant Research Scientist in the same Section.