The effects of global warming are felt by people, wildlife, and ecosystems. In no continent was spared.
• In Antarctica, shrinking sea ice has reduced the Adélie penguin population by 33% in 25 years.
• In the Canadian Arctic, the Peary caribou population has declined from 24,000 in 1961 to 1,100 in 1997 in islands due to heavy rainfall.The US is the fourth country in the world responsible for
CO2 emissions
• Estimates from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) project reports
increase mean global temperatures between 1.4 0C and 5.8 0C by the year 2100.
• A slight increase in temperature, even by 1 0C, can have negative
effects on sea levels. This sea level rise would threaten coastal cities and some
some 60 island countries such as the Maldives, Bangladesh, etc.
• There will be further changes from hurricanes, cyclones, and floods that will damage lagoons, estuaries, and coral reefs.
• Climate change may also bring about various other problems such as cropping patterns and reduced agricultural yields, food shortages, growth of microorganisms and spread of disease, etc. In the United States, Chicago experienced one of the worst weather-related disasters in the history of Illinois when a heatwave in July 1995 claimed 525 lives in 5 days.
Predicting the consequences of global warming is one of the most difficult tasks for climate scientists. This is because the natural processes that cause rain, snowfall, hailstorms, and sea level rise depend on many different factors.
Water vapor present in the atmosphere falls back as rain, causing flooding in different regions of the world. As the weather gets warmer, the evaporation process from land and sea increases. This leads to drought in regions where the increased evaporation process is not compensated by the increase in precipitation. In some areas of the world, this will lead to crop failure and famine, particularly in areas where temperatures are already high.
Villages that rely on meltwater from snow-capped mountains can suffer from drought and water shortages. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), about one-sixth of the world’s population lives in regions that will be affected by meltwater decline.
Warmer weather is likely to cause more heatwaves, heavier rains, and an increase in the severity of hailstorms and thunderstorms, sea level rise.
We are currently experiencing extreme weather events in the form of thunderstorms, floods, and earthquakes. This destruction will take a sharp increase if nothing is done to stop this threat.
Erzsebet Frey (Eli Frey) is an ecologist and online entrepreneur with a Master of Science in Ecology from the University of Belgrade. Originally from Serbia, she has lived in Sri Lanka since 2017. Eli has worked internationally in countries like Oman, Brazil, Germany, and Sri Lanka. In 2018, she expanded into SEO and blogging, completing courses from UC Davis and Edinburgh. Eli has founded multiple websites focused on biology, ecology, environmental science, sustainable and simple living, and outdoor activities. She enjoys creating nature and simple living videos on YouTube and participates in speleology, diving, and hiking.