By Christmas, the situation will have become severe.
But, Professor Stern cautioned, "the schism between the ultra-Orthodox and Israeli society might become more severe; the schism between those who have and those who have not might become more severe; and the schism between Palestinians and Israelis will become more severe".
The questions will get tougher and the consequences will become more severe.
Today's disruptions to trains, tubes and buses, which resulted in one in five people not making it to work, will probably persist until Friday, although the weather will become less severe as the week progresses.
There is, it says, "no doubt that climate change will affect the agriculture sectors and food security and that its negative impact will become more severe as it accelerates.
And even if the economic recovery is causing budget deficits to shrink, there are plenty of negative signals about our political ability to address longer-term fiscal concerns, which will become more severe as the population ages.
"With the European debt crisis spreading and the global economy recovering at a slower than expected pace, we expect China's trade situation in the second half will become more severe and we are facing more pressure to meet the annual target for trade growth," Mr. Shen added.
The National Research Council noted that, while water scarcity in the delta will become increasingly severe, "failure to acknowledge this problem, and craft plans and policies that address water scarcity for all needs, has made delta water management more difficult than is necessary".
