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Global Warming Effects

As described above, the Earth is warming and climates are changing due to human influences, although the degree of change anticipated and what exactly will occur where are debatable. The general thought by reputable scientists is that the Earth's average temperature should not rise more than 2°C over pre-industrial levels or else there may be drastic changes occurring. This is what it is assumed is the level at which climate change becomes dangerous and the costs of adapting to a warmer climate may be unbearable. Scientists claim that there is about a 50% chance of keeping to this level if total greenhouse gas concentration remains below 450ppm. Regardless of whether or not this occurs, there are a number of possible effects from any warming, which will occur to different extents in different areas of the world. A map compiling the state of these effects can be seen at http://www.climatehotmap.org/ (173).

• Heat waves and periods of unusually warm weather: Frequent and severe heat waves lead to increases in heat-related illness and death, especially in urban areas and among the young, ill, and elderly. There are a large number of areas of the world that have shown long periods of heat waves or warming over the last 100 years. This is expected to be one of the largest effects in the United States, especially in the northern states such as Alaska, where effects have already been felt.
• Ocean warming, sea-level rise, and coastal flooding: Warmer temperatures increase the melting of mountain glaciers, increase ocean heat content, and cause ocean water to expand, all of which cause global sea level rise. On average, global sea levels have risen 4-10 inches in the past hundred years. During the next hundred years, it is estimated that sea level will rise half a foot to 3 feet. On average, 50 to 100 feet of beach are lost for every foot of sea-level rise. There are a number of areas of the world that would be devastated with this sort of rise in sea level and encroachment of oceans. There may need to be a relocation of a large number of people, especially in low-lying islands if this sort of rise actually occurs.
• Glaciers melting: Over the past 150 years, the majority of mountain glaciers that are monitored have been shrinking. Many glaciers at lower latitudes are now disappearing and its possible that most glaciers will be gone by 2100. As glaciers shrink, summer water flows will drop sharply, disrupting an important source of water for irrigation and power in many areas of the world.
• Arctic and Antarctic warming: Parts of Canada, Alaska, Siberia, and the Antarctic have been experiencing warming well above the global average for the past few decades causing melting permafrost, which is forcing the reconstruction of roads, airports, and buildings, and increasing erosion and the frequency of landslides.
• Spreading disease: Warmer temperatures allow mosquitoes that transmit diseases such as malaria and dengue fever to extend their ranges and increase their ability to infect humans. This is especially a concern if there is any increased risk of flooding with even small global temperature increases. In addition, there is likely to be an increase in smog-related disease due to increases in temperature. This could use some expanding, why smog increases and what it will do
• Early spring arrival: Spring now arrives earlier in many parts of the world, resulting in earlier thaw dates for bodies of water, earlier plant blooming and leafing dates, and earlier animal egg-laying, spawning, and migration. This may disrupt animal migrations and alter balances between species that have developed over millenia through slow co-evolution Make sure this is a good term . One expected change as a result of this early spring may be the growth of opportunistic plant species at the expense of scarcer species with narrower or more specialized ecological requirements. Many plants have an early growing and flowering season before competing weeds can develop, but milder winters may allow weeds to overwinter as adult plants or germinate sooner.
• Coral reef bleaching: Reefs can bleach from losing microscopic algae that color and nourish living corals, but water that is warmer than normal by only 2-3 degrees F can be linked to bleaching.
• Downpours, heavy snowfalls, and flooding: A warmer climate will bring an increase in worldwide precipitation, especially during winter and in mid to high latitudes. In addition, more of this precipitation is expected to fall in downpours and heavy snowstorms, leading to an increased level of flooding. The area of the US affected by extreme rainfall has increased significantly since 1910. Warmer temperatures can also lead to an increase in the strength of major storm events such as hurricanes. While many areas may see more precipitation, there are some areas may see reductions in overall precipitation and others that will see an overall increase, but that increase will come in more downpours, creating water shortage problems.
• Droughts and fires: As the climate heats up in many areas of the world, droughts are expected to become more frequent and severe in some locations, making wildfires more likely as well as making crops and trees more vulnerable to pest infestation and disease. These effects will be exacerbated by land use changes and land clearing practices that make drought more likely.
• Increase in Earth's average albedo: The albedo is the amount of solar radiation the Earth reflects back to space. The average is currently .31, meaning that the Earth reflects 31% of the solar radiation that hits the surface. This varies between different sorts of ground covers, with forests having an albedo of 0.07-0.15, deserts are around 0.3, oceans about 0.1, and ice and clouds ranging between 0.6-0.9. Global warming will cause melting of ice and elimination of year-round snow cover in some areas, reducing the albedo and increasing the warming.
• Economic Effects: The US is expected to see increased precipitation and evaporation and drier soil in the middle parts of the country, affecting our agricultural system that has optimized crops to our current climate. A survey of 100 estimates found that the estimated cost of global climate change is from $10-350 per tonne of carbon, with a mean of $43 per tonne of carbon. The Stern Review suggests that extreme weather may reduce GDP by up to 1%. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) predicts that banks, agricultural, and transport sectors will be greatly affected and that developing countries dependent on agriculture will be particularly harmed by global warming.
• Effects on Plants and Wildlife: The ability of many species to adapt to changing climate is very difficult. In the past, many species have adopted to changing climate through migration, but this is increasingly difficult given how broken up habitats and migration routes are by housing, industry, roadways, and other development. The ability to adapt in place is difficult due to the rapid rate of increase in temperature change. Over the past 16,000 years, the rate of global temperature increase has been about 1°C every 4,000 years, but now some predictions have been made that we could see a 1°C increase in temperature over the next century. There have already been attempts by species to shift their ranges, but there has been some difficulty, and with it increases in problems with new pests being introduced and with human-wildlife conflict Get more info on pests and HWC There are also going to be effects seen because of seasonal synchronization difficulties, drought destroying certain plant species, heat killing off some less tolerant species, and wetter, milder winters preventing hibernation during times when food is scarce.
• Ocean Acidification: Increased atmospheric CO2 increases the amount of CO2 dissolved in the oceans, which reacts with water to form carbonic acid, decreasing the pH of the oceans. This is dangerous because of the extreme sensitivity many organisms have to changes in pH.

Global Warming vs. Climate Change

The terms Global Warming and Climate Change are often used interchangeably to describe the climate crisis being caused by an increase in the release of greenhouse gases by human activities, however there is a distinction between what these two terms actually mean that is important in understanding what the climate crisis is actually about. Global warming is an overall warming of the planet based on the average temperature of the surface, whereas climate change is a change in a regional climate, including factors such as temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind, and severe weather events. Global warming properly describes the major problems associated with our current climate crisis, including heat waves, droughts, floods, melting glaciers and snow caps, a rise in sea levels, etc., but climate change is becoming increasingly popular in the scientific community because it stresses that there are other problems besides warming going on and that the problems are often regional changes, not global averages. The primary problem is that local climates are changing and are changing so quickly that it may not give the species that live in those regions time to adapt, making the regions inhabitable.

US Climate Policy

In the US, about 75% of our human-generated greenhouse gas emissions are from energy-related activities, with more than half of those from sources such as power plants and about a third from transportation. (172) The US policy on addressing climate change has involved three basic components: Slowing the growth of emissions; Strengthening science, technology, and institutions; and Enhancing international cooperation. To implement this policy, the Federal government is using voluntary and incentive-based programs to reduce emissions such as ENERGY STAR, Climate Leaders, and Methane Voluntary Programs. In February 2002, the US announced a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions per unit of economic activity 18% from 2002 to 2012. (172) The US has been very slow to take part in world talks about climate change, not ratifying the Kyoto Protocol because of its exclusion of developing countries such as India and China. There is debate over how much developing countries should be made to reduce carbon emissions, because while India and China have near or more than the same emissions as the US, the per capita emissions are about 1/5 that of the US (174).

Things to do

Carbon Sequestration

Carbon Sequestration is the storage of carbon either in soils, plants, and microorganisms or underground, in the oceans, or in minerals to prevent it from being released to the atmosphere and contributing to global warming. Explore Carbon Sequestration

Cap Carbon

A carbon tax or cap and trade system take into account the economic effect of global warming to give less carbon-intensive technologies an economic advantage in the free market. Explore Cap Carbon