Income disparity, debt lead risk list

Experts surveyed by the World Economic Forum say rising income gaps between rich and poor and burgeoning government deficits are the risks most likely to have a global impact over the next decade.

Climate change, water shortages and aging populations rounded out the WEF's top five risks.

The over 1,000 experts surveyed for the Switzerland-based forum's annual risk report also warn that risk factors could combine to produce unique problems. These risk combinations included climate change putting a heavy burden on a global economy and a declining economy in turn hurting efforts to fight global warming.

The experts also identified increasing resistance of germs to antibiotics as a global health threat.  Another new worry is a ``digital wildfire'' of wrong or controversial information going viral across online communities.

(AP)