Effects of Global Warming
More frequent and severe weather
Rise in Sea Level
Desertification
Tree lines
Ecosystem's Change
Food Security
1. More Frequent and severe weather
Due to global warming, overall temperature of the Earth has risen and it is intensifying many disasters, such as storms, heat waves, droughts and hurricanes. Warmer climate can collect more water which can cause favorable condition for storms and hurricanes to form and and drop heavier precipitation on us. As a result, many people’s life and property are at risk due to intensified severe weather events.
For example, United States is already experiencing these effects due to more intense rain and severe storms as evidenced by increased percentage of storms that bring heaviest precipitation about twenty percent in United states. This is more than three times the amount of precipitation between 1958 to 2007. Furthermore, more severe droughts are being caused due to more evaporation of water in the atmosphere, which dries out the soil in summer- intensifying drought over many areas. These droughts can limit our access to drinking water and cause wildfire that can’t be controlled easily.
2. Rise in Sea Level
Thanks to rise in global temperature due to emissions of heat-trapping gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, ice in both Arctic and Antarctica have melted significantly in recent years. This prompted a rise in sea level globally. According to World Meteorological Organization, sea level has risen to 0.12 inches per year world-wide. Also, global average sea level has increased by 8 inches since 1880. The bad news is that in the future, melting of ice will accelerate even more and it will threaten to take over many coastal systems and low altitude cities including New York, Los Angeles and Sydney. Also, unfortunately many countries such as Bangladesh, Maldives, and Vietnam are in trouble because of their low-altitude.
3.Desertification
The definition of desertification is that the process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture. Climate changes are really influenced by global warming, nowadays. Because of the climates, some areas are suffered from the floods and some are suffered from the droughts. In the case, droughts, if droughts problems have happened for long years, it starts desertification. In addition, The Sahara Desert has grown significantly over the past century due to climate change.
Lake Chad is the most famous case that shows this problems’ seriousness. Lake Chad suffered from no rainfalls and people keep using its water, so it starts to decrease its size. Moreover, not only that reasons, the temperature goes up and the evaporates speeds are rapid more. This lake was the 6th biggest lake in the world, but because of those reasons, the lake becomes much smaller than before.
4. Tree Lines
Tree lines means the limit that trees can grow. Trees cannot grow in a desert nor cold place. However, due to the global warming, tree lines in North hemisphere is growing up to the top. Scientists are expected that in 2100, half of the Tundra’s area will be covered with new tree lines. The reasons why tree line is extending is, because, Earth’s temperatures go higher than year by year. Therefore, trees are supposed to not grow in cold side, which is close to the north pole, however, as the temperature grows, it can grow and expands its forest’s size than before. Which can means that North pole and Alaska's areas are not longer to become cold than before and it also means that those area’s ecosystems are changing because of the temperature’s changes.
5. Ecosystems’ change
Because of global warming, many animals and plants are having differences. The high temperatures and weird climates make ecosystems mess up. Some of animals and plants are in endangered or already extinct because of the global warming. Many of scientists predicts that a lot of changes will be come in the futures. The big problem is, those kinds of situations are effects not only ecosystems but also humans’ life. This ecosystem’s problems are happened in every ecosystem, not only the parts of ecosystems. For example, in the sea, decreases of coral species and amounts are already issues. Some of the scientists are predicts that 50% of the coral might disappear in the future.
Not only sea animals, global warming affects the Arctic ice to melt, which extorts polar bears’ food source and their habitats. As it is commonly known, ice is important place for the polar bears as they spend a lot of time; they hunt seals, rest and breed. Due to the global warming, polar bears are being endangered.
6. Reduced food security
Due to more extreme weather and increased global temperature, global agriculture is affected significantly. In the world of agriculture, different crops grow best at specific temperature and any change in temperature would change their overall productivity either positively or negatively.
For example, in North America, rise in temperature would hinder the production of corn and wheat but further accelerate the production in Canada. Rice production decreases by 10 percent every time the temperature rises by one degree. Also, as temperature increases, Thailand will also experience loss of productivity of rice by 25% by 2050.