CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBAL WARMING

Climate Pattern Changes

1) WARMER TEMPERATURES
· Average temperatures of countries around the world will rise, as will the frequency of heat waves.
· WARNING SYMPTOMS
~USA
-become warmer by as much as 4 degrees Fahrenheit
(Around 2.2 degrees Celsius)
- 2006 declared to be the second warmest year on the record (annual average temperature of 55 degrees Fahrenheit) (around 12.8 degrees Celsius)
~Taiwan - Average temperature increase.
-The average temperature has risen 1.8-2.5 degrees F (1-1.4 degrees C) in the last 100 years.
-The average temperature for 2000 was the warmest on record.
~Nepal - High rate of temperature rise.
-Since the mid-1970s, the average air temperature has risen by 1.8 degrees F (1 degree C), with high elevation sites warming the most.
~Afghanistan - 2001 - Warmest winter on record.
-Arid Central Asia, which includes Afghanistan, experienced a warming of 0.8-3.6 degrees F (1-2 degrees C) during the 20th century.

2) DROUGHT AND WILDFIRE
· Higher temperatures could increase the likelihood of droughts.
· Greater evaporation, especially during summer and autumn, could worsen drought conditions and increase the risk of wildfires.
· WARNING SYMPTOMS
~Pakistan - Longest drought on record, 1999-2001.
-The prolonged three-year drought, which covers much of South West Asia, has affected 2.2 million people and 16 million livestock in Pakistan.
~Korea - Worst drought in 100 years of record, 2001.
- It coincided with an average annual temperature increase in Asia’s temperate region, which includes Korea, by more than 1.8 degrees F (1 degree C) over the past century.
- The warming has been most pronounced since 1970.
~Khabarovsk, Russia -- Wildfires threaten tiger habitat, 1998.
-Drought and high winds fuelled fires that destroyed 3.7 million acres (1,497,337 hectares) of taiga and threatened two important nature reserves that are habitat for the only remaining Amur tigers.

3) MORE INTENSE RAINSTORMS
· Higher temperatures increase the energy of the climatic system and lead to more intense rainfall at times in some areas.
· WARNING SYMPTOMS
~Korea -- Heavy rains and flooding.
-Severe flooding struck during July and August, 1998, with daily rainfall totals exceeding 10 inches (25.4 cm).
~Sri Lanka floods kill 13; leave 150,000 displaced (NEW DELHI, 2 June 2008(RIA Novasti))
- 13 people have been killed and another 150,000 left homeless in Sri Lanka following floods triggered by torrential rains.
- Torrential rains have struck a total of eight regions in central and western parts of the country, damaging thousands of houses and roads, ruining crops.
~ Worst rainstorms in 50 years hit southeast China (BEIJING, 8 June 2008 (Reuters))
- The heaviest rainstorms in 50 years drenched parts of Guangdong province, killed at least 1 student and caused widespread flooding.
- More than 6,500 homes had to be evacuated from their homes.
- Torrential rains have affected the provinces over the past fortnight, with rainfall in some areas measuring more than 400 mm (15.7 inches) in just the past 2 days.


Health Effects

1) DEADLY HEAT WAVES AND THE SPREAD OF DISEASE
· More frequent and intensive heat waves could result in more heat-related deaths.
· These conditions could also worsen local air quality problems, already afflicting more than 80 million Americans.
· Global warming is expected to increase the potential geographic range and virulence of tropical diseases as well.
· WARNING SYMPTOMS
~ Southern India - Heat wave, May 2002.
- In the state of Andhra Pradesh temperatures rose to 120 degrees F, resulting in the highest one-week death toll on record.
~ Europe- Heat wave, 2003
- Extreme heat waves claimed an estimated 35,000 lives in Europe.
- In France alone, nearly 15,000 people died due to soaring temperatures, which reached as high as 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
~North America- Heat wave, July 2006
- contributed to the deaths of at least 225 people
~ Indonesia -- Malaria spreads to high elevations.
- Malaria was detected for the first time as high as 6,900 feet (2103 m) in the highlands of Irian Jaya in 1997.
~ Studies have found that a higher level of carbon dioxide spurs an increase in the growth of weeds whose pollen triggers allergies and exacerbates asthma.

Warming Water

1) MORE POWERFUL AND DANGEROUS HURRICANES (aka Cyclones or Typhoons)
· Warmer water in the oceans pumps more energy into tropical storms, making them more intense and potentially more destructive.
· WARNING SYMPTOMS
~ The number of category 4 and 5 storms has greatly increased over the past 35 years, along with ocean temperature.
~ The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in recorded history, with a record 27 named storms, of which 15 became hurricanes. Seven of the hurricanes strengthened into major storms, five became Category 4 hurricanes and a record four reached Category 5 strength.
~ Hurricane Katrina of August 2005 was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history.



2) MELTING GLACIERS, EARLY ICE THAW
· Rising global temperatures will speed the melting of glaciers and ice caps, and cause early ice thaw on rivers and lakes.
· WARNING SYMPTOMS
~At the current rate of retreat, all of the glaciers in Glacier National Park will be gone by 2070.
~According to NASA, the polar ice cap is now melting at the alarming rate of nine percent per decade. Arctic ice thickness has decreased 40 percent since the 1960s.
~Scientists at the U.S. Center for Atmospheric Research predict that if the current rate of global warming continues, the Arctic could be ice-free in the summer by 2040.
~Tien Shan Mountains, China -- Glacial ice reduced by one quarter in the past 40 years.
~Mt. Everest - Retreating glacier.
- The Khumbu Glacier, popular climbing route to the summit of Mt. Everest, has retreated over 3 miles (5 km) since 1953.
- The Himalayan region overall has warmed by about 1.8 degrees F (1 degree C) since the 1970s
~Lake Baikal, Russia - Shorter freezing period.
- Winter freezing is about 11 days later
- Spring ice break-up is about 5 days earlier compared to a century ago.
- Some regions of Siberia have warmed by as much as 2.5 degrees F (1.4 degrees C) in just 25 years
3) SEA-LEVEL RISE
· Current rates of sea-level rise are expected to increase as a result of:
- Thermal expansion of the oceans
- Melting of most mountain glaciers and partial melting of the West Antarctic and Greenland ice caps.
· Consequences include loss of coastal wetlands and barrier islands, and a greater risk of flooding in coastal communities.
· Low-lying areas, such as the coastal region along the Gulf of Mexico and estuaries like the Chesapeake Bay, are especially vulnerable.
· WARNING SYMPTOMS
~ Global sea level has already risen by four to eight inches in the past century, and the pace of sea level rise appears to be accelerating. The IPCC predicts that sea levels could rise 10 to 23 inches by 2100, but in recent years sea levels have been rising faster than the upper end of the range predicted by the IPCC.
~Greenland
- In the 1990s, the Greenland ice mass remained stable, but the ice sheet has increasingly declined in recent years. This melting currently contributes an estimated one-hundredth of an inch per year to global sea level rise.
- Greenland holds 10 percent of the total global ice mass; if it melts, sea levels could increase by up to 21 feet.
~ China - Rising waters.
- The average rate of sea-level rise was 0.09 +/- 0.04 inches (2.3 +/- 0.9 mm) per year over the last 30 years.
- Global sea-level rise was aggravated locally by subsidence of up to 2 inches (5 cm) per year for some regions due to earthquakes and groundwater withdrawal.
~Rising Sea Threatens Bapu’s Dandi (Posted on: Monday 9 June 2008; By Hitarth Pandya & Melvyn Thomas)
- on Friday its rising waters threatened to drown Saifee Villa where Mahatma Gandhi had taken on the British by picking up a pinch of salt at Dandi.
- Seawater also entered some coastal villages of Surat and Bhavnagar.
- In Bhavnagar, Katpur, Kotda and Jashwantpura villages saw seawaters entering their fields.
- Manish Lodhari, secretary of National Fish Workers' Association said the sea along coastal Saurashtra was volatile.
Ecosystem Disruption
1) ECOSYSTEM SHIFTS AND SPECIES DIE-OFF
· The increase in global temperatures is expected to disrupt ecosystems and result in loss of species diversity, as species that cannot adapt die off.
· The first comprehensive assessment of the extinction risk from global warming found that more than one million species could be committed to extinction by 2050 if global warming pollution is not curtailed.
· Some ecosystems, including alpine meadows in the Rocky Mountains, as well as tropical montane and mangrove forests, are likely to disappear because new warmer local climates or coastal sea level rise will not support them.
· WARNING SYMPTOMS
~ A recent study of nearly 2,000 species of plants and animals discovered movement toward the poles at an average rate of 3.8 miles per decade. Similarly, the study found species in alpine areas to be moving vertically at a rate of 20 feet per decade in the 2nd half of the 20th century.
~The latest IPCC report found that approximately 20 to 30 percent of plant and animal species assessed so far are likely to be at increased risk of extinction if global average temperature increases by more than 2.7 to 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit
~Some polar bears are drowning because they have to swim longer distances to reach ice floes. The U. S. Geological Survey has predicted that two-thirds of the world's polar bear sub-populations will be extinct by mid-century due to melting of the Arctic ice cap.
~Washington's Olympic Mountains-sub-alpine forest has invaded higher elevation alpine meadows.
~Bermuda and other places -mangrove forests are being lost.
~ California- shoreline sea life is shifting northward, probably in response to warmer ocean and air temperatures.
~ Over the past 25 years, some penguin populations have shrunk by 33 percent in parts of Antarctica, due to declines in winter sea-ice habitat.
- The ocean will continue to become more acidic due to carbon dioxide emissions. - Because of this acidification, species with hard calcium carbonate shells are vulnerable, as are coral reefs, which are vital to ocean ecosystems.
- Scientists predict that a 3.6 degree Fahrenheit increase in temperature would wipe out 97 percent of the world's coral reefs.
~ Philippines -- Coral reef bleaching
~ Indian Ocean -- Coral reef bleaching (includes Seychelles; Kenya; Reunion; Mauritius; Somalia; Madagascar; Maldives; Indonesia; Sri Lanka; Gulf of Thailand [Siam]; Andaman Islands; Malaysia; Oman; India; and Cambodia).
~ Persian Gulf -- Coral reef bleaching
Glossary
1) Heat wave- is a prolonged period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity. / When the daily maximum temperature of more than five consecutive days exceeds the average maximum temperature by 5 °C (9 °F), the normal period being 1961 – 1990. (World Meteorological Organization)
2) Coral Bleaching- refers to the loss of color of corals, due to stress-induced expulsion of symbiotic unicellular algae.
Coral bleaching is a vivid sign of corals responding to stress which can be induced by any of:
increased or reduced water temperatures (often attributed to global warming)
increased solar irradiance (photosynthetically active radiation and ultraviolet band light)
changes in water chemistry (in particular ocean acidification)
increased sedimentation (can be contributed to silt runoff)
pathogen infections
changes in salinity
More information on:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_bleaching
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_wave
Sources:
http://www.climatehotmap.org/asia.html
http://en.rian.ru/world/20080602/109072993.html
http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/fcons.asp
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSPEK275567

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1422685/rising_sea_threatens_bapus_dandi/

Posted by Evelyn

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