Impacts of Global Warming - Nature at risk
Global warming will have serious impacts on the environment and on
society. High temperatures will cause a melting of ice in Greenland and
Antarctica. This phenomena will speed up the rise of sea level. The
velocity at which global warming is expected to occur in the 21st
century is faster than most plant and animal species will be able to
cope with. A number will adapt but others will suffer and may become
extinct.
Agriculture will obviously be affected by global warming. Variation
of crops will be able to be grown in areas that are currently too cold
to support them. Yet, more pests and diseases may offset any benefits
higher temperatures may have. Many resources of water will also be
affected. Many reservoirs may dry up if temperature increases,
especially if rainfall also decreases. The rising sea levels may pollute
fresh groundwater supplies with salt water.
Furthermore, global warming will also affect human health. There may
be more occurrence of heat-related illnesses in hotter summers, and
increased breathing problems as higher temperatures increase air
pollution in cities, reducing air quality. The deadly malaria mosquito
may also be able to spread to other regions of the world where it is
currently too cold to survive and breed.
It is expected that more extreme weather, for example storms, floods
and droughts will have severe impacts on the environment and on society.
Surely, the poorest people in society will unfortunately be those least
able to cope with the impacts of global warming.
Plant and animal casualties
Man-induced climate change has already sounded the death knell for
its first victims. Species of frogs like the golden toad (Bufo
periglenes) and the harlequin frog (Atelopus varius) of Costa Rica have
disappeared as a direct result of global warming. Many species are under
threat in more than one way.
Irreversible changes to ecosystems and animals
As climate change wreaks its havoc across the globe, ecosystems could
disappear altogether, or they may undergo serious and irreversible
changes, such as those happening to coral reefs.
The warming affects cold seas and polar communities as well: Polar
bears in the Hudson Bay area of Canada are losing weight and getting
less fit because the ice breaks up 2 weeks earlier in spring, robbing
them of 2 weeks’ hunting. Fishes that used to stay in Cornwall in south
England have moved as far north as the Shetland Islands.
As temperature increases, optimum habitat for many species will move
higher up mountains or further towards the Poles. In places where there
is no higher ground or where changes are taking place too quickly for
ecosystems and species to adjust, local losses or even global
extinctions will occur.
Glaciers
Some of the most intense climate change-related habitat alterations
are those that affect glaciers and ice-fields. Glaciers are melting at
an unprecedented rate, changing the entire ecology of mountain habitats.
Managers of conservation are powerless to prevent this loss and have to
stand by as the ecology transforms before their eyes.
Seasons are changing
Rapid temperature changes affect the seasons, causing variations in
season length. Some changes such as shorter winters can lead to
mismatches between key elements in an ecosystem, such as feeding periods
for young birds and availability of worms or insects for food. This
phenomena also impacts on farmers’ growing seasons.
Climate records put together with long-term records of flowering and
nesting times show clear warming trends.
Flowering time and leaf-break records in Britain date back to 1736,
thus providing solid evidence of climate-related changes. The long-term
trends towards earlier bird breeding, earlier spring migrant arrival and
later autumn departure dates have been observed in North America, along
with changes in migratory patterns in Europe. |
