Effects of climate changes

 Effects of climate change

The effects of climate change span the impacts on physical environment, ecosystems and human societies due to ongoing human-caused climate change. The future impact of climate change depends on how much nations reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. Effects that scientists predicted in the past—loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise and longer, more intense heat waves—are now occurring. The changes in climate are not expected to be uniform across the Earth. In particular, land areas change more quickly than oceans, and northern high latitudes change more quickly than the tropics. There are three major ways in which global warming will make changes to regional climate: melting ice, changing the hydrological cycle (of evaporation and precipitation) and changing currents in the oceans.

A complex issue

The impacts of climate change on different sectors of society are interrelated. Drought can harm food production and human health. Flooding can lead to disease spread and damages to ecosystems and infrastructure. Human health issues can increase mortality, impact food availability, and limit worker productivity. Climate change impacts are seen throughout every aspect of the world we live in. However, climate change impacts are uneven across the country and the world — even within a single community, climate change impacts can differ between neighborhoods or individuals. Long-standing  can make  underserved groups, who often have the highest exposure to hazards and the fewest resources to respond, more vulnerable. 

The projections of a climate change-impacted future are not inevitable. Many of the problems and oare known to us now, and ongoing research continues to provide new ones.  Experts believe there is still time to avoid the most negative of outcomes by offsitand reducing emissions to zero as quickly as possible. Reducing our emissions of greenhouse gases will require  in new technology and infrastructure, which will spur job growth. Additionally, lowering emissions will harmful impacts to human health, saving countless lives and billions of dollars in health-related expenses.

Our changing climate

We see climate change affecting our planet from pole to pole. NOAA monitors global climate data and here are some of the changes NOAA has recorded. You can explore more at the Global climate.

• Global temperature rose about 1.8°F (1°C) from 1901020. Sea level rise has accelerated from 1.7 mm/year throughout most of the twentieth century to 3.2 mm/year since 1993.
• Galcire are shrinking: average thickness of 30 well-studied glaciers has decreased more than 60 feet since 1980.
• The area covered by sea ice in the Arctic at the end of summer has shrunk by about 40% since 1979.
• The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen by 25% since 1958, and by about 40% since the Industrial Revolution.
• Snow is melting earlier compared to long-term averages.   

Food security, agriculture and marine food production

• Food security, agriculture and marine food production Climate change will impact agriculture and food production around the world due to the effects of elevated CO₂ in the atmosphere; higher temperatures; altered precipitation and transpiration regimes; increased frequency of extreme events; and modified weed, pest, and pathogen pressure. Droughts result in crop failures and the loss of pasture for livestock. The rate of soil erosion is 10–20 times higher than the rate of soil accumulation in agricultural areas that use no-till farming. In areas with tilling it is 100 times higher. Climate change makes this type of land degradation and desertification worse.

  Climate change is projected to negatively affect all four pillars of food security: not only how much food is available, but also how easy food is to access (prices), food quality and how stable the food system is.

  In many areas, fisheries have already seen their catch decrease because of global warming and changes in biochemical cycles. In combination with overfishing, warming waters decrease the maximum catch potential. Global catch potential is projected to reduce further in 2050 by less than 4% if emissions are reduced strongly, and by about 8% for very high future emissions, with growth in the Arctic Ocean.  

  Between 1.5 and 2.5 billion people live in areas with regular water security issues. If global warming would reach 4 °C, water insecurity would affect about twice as many people.Water resources are projected to decrease in most dry subtropical regions and mid-latitudes, but increase in high latitudes. However, as streamflow becomes more variable, even regions with increased water resources can experience additional short-term shortages. The arid regions of India, China, the US and Africa are already seeing dry spells and drought impact water availability.

• Water resources
  

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  total amount of freshwater available can change, for instance due to dry spells or droughts. Heavy rainfall and flooding can have an impact on water quality: pollutants can be transported into water bodies by the increased surface runoff. In coastal regions, more salt may find its way into water resources due to higher sea levels and more intense storms. Higher temperatures also directly degrade water quality: warm water contains less oxygen.