All of the above initial effects of global warming set into motion the following more directly adverse effects. Every human being, animal and plant on planet Earth feels these second tier effects.
Decreased crop yields
For a short time it was hoped that a byproduct of global warming would be increased yields of agriculture. The obvious conclusion was that plant life through photosynthesis would make good use of the increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and produce a lush abundance of flora. Certainly areas such as Iceland, which due to an overall warmer climate can now support the growth of crops such as barley, have benefited from global warming. Regions such as Siberia are now able to produce food. But overall the effect of global Warming on agriculture is decidedly negative. Floods and droughts do not make suitable growing fields. In Africa, areas that historically received two rain falls yearly now receive more resulting in increased yields, but areas receiving one rainfall per annum now receive less. This of course results in a non existent growing season and a 33% decrease in harvestable crops. While an increase in rainfall may increase yields for those already able to produce a harvest a decrease in rainfall results in a complete lack of food for others.
Flooding of coastal areas results in coastal growing plains being destroyed. For many poorer countries these are the only fertile areas accessible to transportation via waterways. Poor countries like Bangladesh are completely at risk to massive starvation caused by coastal flooding.
Many Pacific Island nations will be completely eliminated as sea levels rise. It is already planned to evacuate the peoples of Tuvalu to nearby New Zealand as flood defense in not economically or agriculturally possible.
Many Pacific Island nations will be completely eliminated as sea levels rise. It is already planned to evacuate the peoples of Tuvalu to nearby New Zealand as flood defense in not economically or agriculturally possible.
Species Migration and Extinction
People will not be the only living things on the move due to global warming. As regional ecosystems change many species will be unable to find historical food sources. This will result in mass migrations to climates hoped to support those species as well as mass extinction of those animals unable to migrate an /or adapt. Polar bears, emperor penguins, gyrfalcons and snowy owls are just a few of the species current in peril in the new warmer Arctic and Antarctic regions. Longer warm seasons result in such basic changes as a Polar bears loss of natural camouflage. A white bear on brown earth is easy for a seal to avoid.
Birds and butterflies have shifted the range of their migrations almost 200 kilometers in North America and Europe. Plant life is unable to shift regions as quickly and as such will die out unless manually replanted in more conducive settings. When herbivores migrate to find a genetically compatible climate they face the risk of starvation when their traditional foodstuffs have not migrated with them. Many species are simply unable to migrate to better climes and as such will suffer the fate of Australia’s white possum. Unable to survive in temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius the entire species was destroyed during a surprisingly excessive heat wave during 2005. Their loss is directly attributed to global warming.
Severe winters in British Columbia have always managed to keep in balance the voracious effect of the Pine Beetle. Warmer temperatures have now allowed the beetles to profligate and destroy 33 million acres of Canadian pines.
Severe winters in British Columbia have always managed to keep in balance the voracious effect of the Pine Beetle. Warmer temperatures have now allowed the beetles to profligate and destroy 33 million acres of Canadian pines.
Mountain run off of melting snows is expected to result in seasonal flooding followed by seasonal drought in every mountain range in the world. Mountains cover one fourth of the Earth’s land mass. As upper mountain areas warm it is expected that over heated lower level animals and plants will simply move up to a higher elevation. But what of life already situated at the upper threshold? Once they reach the top of the mountain where will they move up to?
The Human Condition
Of course we tend to realize the plight of animals as we can easily see their need to migrate to better stomping grounds. But, what are the direct effects of increased temperature on homosapiens?
Disease spreads in an overheated environment. Ever notice that there isn’t a lot of malaria in Buffalo, New York or Moscow, Russia. Cold kills germs. Global warming will extend the favorable zones for many infectious diseases. Encephalitis, Lyme disease and the aforementioned malaria will join with other bacteria based carriers of illness to spread throughout areas previously thought of as safe zones.
Our bodies must work harder to cool off when placed in a higher ambient temperature. Cardiovascular function is directly reduced by even a 1-degree temperature increase.
Higher concentrations of greenhouse gases in the air we breathe are also directly damaging to lung tissue and lung capacity.
he effects of global warming are in some ways less definable than the causes. It seems odd that such huge manifestations of change such as rising sea levels, glacier retreat, and Arctic shrinkage somehow manage to filter down so that when members of western civilization safely tucked away in homes and apartments look at the effects they are so remote as to become invisible. What we may well bear watching are the effects of the effects of global warming. These secondary results are so non-linear as to be a random harvest of environmental and economic dilemmas that, when fully formed and in place present a definitive short-term danger.
Still, let us once again follow a chain of events so as to be able to completely envision the scale and scope of the problem.
Rising sea levels
Rising sea levels are an easily measurable effect of global warming. As Polar ice melts down the water created obviously must go somewhere. Aside from that ice which joins inland fresh water reservoirs, the vast majority of melted ice joins the pool of the oceans. Most people misunderstand the effect of polar meltdown and consider that this addition to our oceans creates the overall rise in sea levels. This is hardly the case. The rise in sea levels due to global warming is primarily caused by thermal expansion. In short when you heat a liquid (such as sea water) it expands. Sea levels are currently on a pace to rise at a rate of approximately 1 inch every ten years. Such a small change seems as if it could never affect quality of life for people living in such distant from the oceans locations as Denver, Colorado.
Yet this is precisely the scenario by which we are all affected. Obviously people living in low laying areas such as coastal Florida and Louisiana will most directly be affected. A one hundred year model that allows for the current progression of global warming factors would result in millions of acres of land mass lost in these areas. Still we have set our viewpoint in the Rocky Mountains not Holland or the eastern coast of England, both of which are teetering at or below sea level.
Salt water intrusion
Our Denver citizen might enjoy bottled water from Zephyrhills, Florida or any of the hundreds of fresh water springs gushing forth in the sunshine state. Salt-water intrusion as a result of rising sea levels could easily destroy a huge percentage of the potable water available in this and other coastal states. Agricultural products of low-lying areas around the world will face shortfalls. Production of fruits and vegetables is dependent on a stable set of environmental conditions. Ever hear of the Indian River? Well most of America’s grapefruit is grown there along the Florida coast and should we follow the expected loss of coastline for all of the Southern US which is projected at a possible 2 mile inward loss of coastline over the next 75 years. Both the Indian River and Indian River Grapefruit will no longer exist. 50% of American produce is grown in our low laying areas. A major effect of global warming is that agricultural production will be decreased. Our planet will be unable to grow as much food.
Beach erosion
A major secondary effect of rising sea levels is massive beach erosion. Our Colorado vacationer will find the endless stretches of sandy beaches he enjoys on his winter vacation have withered away to a few hundred yards here and there. But a shortened tourist base is hardly a world catastrophe…is it? Tourism pumps over 50 Billion dollars a year into Florida’s economy. North Carolina and Louisiana earn 15 billion dollars each through tourism. In fact every US state and every nation on Earth with mild climate and a sandy shore depends upon financial gain from tourism to sustain its economy.
Lest we dwell only on financial impact consider that loss of coastal acreage will displace thousands of species of animal and plant life.
Extreme weather
Perhaps the most commonly conceived notion as to the effects of global warming is that of cataclysmic weather. In fervor to promote the cause, too often we see graphic depictions of raging floods, category 12 hurricanes and dozens of tornadoes sweeping the landscape. These same depictions seem to serve those who accept the threat of global warming and those who reject the possibility. One agenda hopes to frighten the world into an austere program of self-denial so as to instantly curb global warming causes. The other faction points out that currently there are no typhoons sweeping across Kansas so therefore global warming is a but a myth. As always when dealing with scientific anomalies the truth lies nicely hidden in between.
Category 4 and 5 hurricanes have risen in frequency from 20 to 35% over the last 30 years. Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, frequency of hurricanes overall has risen by almost 40% and the those hurricanes now making landfall deposit almost 10% more rainfall than their pre 1970 counterparts. As an effect of global warming hurricanes are stronger, wetter and more numerous. Hurricane Fay from 2007 created massive flooding over a dozen states. This increase in storm activity is directly related to a wider variance between warm and cold ocean waters. Consider that the measurement of temperature rise in ocean waters is based on an overall average. Storms are created by the extremes that create that average.
Global warming produces as byproducts, variance in the jet stream, wind sheer, greater quantity of cyclones, and drought.
Global warming produces as byproducts, variance in the jet stream, wind sheer, greater quantity of cyclones, and drought.
Increased rainfall
If we increase the temperature of the air it is able to absorb more moisture in the form of water vapor. If we cool the air that vapor becomes liquid and falls to the earth as rain. The greater the amount of water vapor the atmosphere absorbs the greater the amount of rainfall we will receive during the normal process of reaching a dew point or other yard stick of precipitation. This increased rainfall results in drastically increased erosion. Areas such as Colorado’s Platte River long noted for the devastation following its hundred-year floods can in no way accommodate that same volume of water arriving every decade. Erosion is vulnerable tropical areas such as Africa results in native plant life dying off and a resultant desertification.
Evaporation, by definition is a cooling process. So why then is this increased evaporation not countering global warming? Because the water vapor that enters the atmosphere counters the cooling process while acting as a greenhouse gas. It should be pointed out that change in climate for targeted areas can often result in a plus side modification meaning that adding water to dry areas usually results in those areas being able to support vegetation.
Evaporation, by definition is a cooling process. So why then is this increased evaporation not countering global warming? Because the water vapor that enters the atmosphere counters the cooling process while acting as a greenhouse gas. It should be pointed out that change in climate for targeted areas can often result in a plus side modification meaning that adding water to dry areas usually results in those areas being able to support vegetation.
Destabilization of local climates
The overall destabilization of local climates is a major effect of global warming. The Arctic is home to over 4 million people. Canada, Russia, and Alaska are dealing with a tremendous rise in bacterial growth as permafrost regions warm.
Glaciers in the northern hemisphere have decreased in size by 50% over the last 100 years. This particular meltdown has resulted in landslides; flash floods and lake overflow through out the Andes, Alps, Pyrenees, Himalayas, and Rocky Mountains. These seasonal meltdowns are followed by seasonal droughts. Global warming creates climate extremes. We may measure the average but we live with the outcome of the extremes. The slow steady melting of the Himalayas results in the steady flow of water of the Ganges River. The Ganges is the lifeblood of over 500 million people. To say this plainly, if we melt all of our fresh water too quickly and send it out to blend with the ocean billions of people, including our friend in Denver, Colorado will go thirsty.
Glaciers in the northern hemisphere have decreased in size by 50% over the last 100 years. This particular meltdown has resulted in landslides; flash floods and lake overflow through out the Andes, Alps, Pyrenees, Himalayas, and Rocky Mountains. These seasonal meltdowns are followed by seasonal droughts. Global warming creates climate extremes. We may measure the average but we live with the outcome of the extremes. The slow steady melting of the Himalayas results in the steady flow of water of the Ganges River. The Ganges is the lifeblood of over 500 million people. To say this plainly, if we melt all of our fresh water too quickly and send it out to blend with the ocean billions of people, including our friend in Denver, Colorado will go thirsty.
Acidic Oceans
Our Oceans are the Earth’s largest sink for the absorption of CO2 from our atmosphere. As excess CO2 is dealt with, the oceans in an effort to balance the ecosystem have become saturated with CO2. This has resulted in production of mild carbonic acid and is known as ocean acidification. While this is an extremely slight change in the ph (acid to base) balance of the seas it does result in damage to corals. Coral reefs are home to the vast majority of undersea life.
Ocean acidification coincides with Oxygen depletion in our oceans. Heavier CO2 molecules are supplanting oxygen. Less oxygen equals less fish.
Ocean acidification coincides with Oxygen depletion in our oceans. Heavier CO2 molecules are supplanting oxygen. Less oxygen equals less fish.
Drought
As temperature swings increase we are left with flooding in some areas and drought in others the drought creates correct conditions for forest fires. These fires, like our hurricanes, are suddenly emerging on a much grander scale. The 2009 fires raging through Australia and the 2002 fires in Florida serve as excellent examples. Massive fires release much more carbon as both particle and molecule than can readily be absorbed. Once again prevalent anti global warming as reality belief is that these fires can only be considered a natural effect of the ecosystem and as the forests are a naturally renewing resource should be discounted as an effect of global warming. However with global warming defined as a premise of additional stress on our environment we come to realize that it is not the existence of a naturally made fire but the scale of that event that matters.
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