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What are the effects of Climate Change?
According to Nasa, the Earth's average temperature has increased around 2 degrees Fahrenheit during the 20th century, which may sound like a small amount, but it's an unusual event in our planet's history. Earth's climate record shows that the global average temperature is stable over long periods of time, meaning small changes in temperature correspond to enormous changes in the environment.
Glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking up earlier, plant and animal ranges have shifted and trees are flowering sooner. Effects that scientists had predicted in the past would result from global climate change are now occurring: loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise and longer, more intense heat waves.
Heatwaves
A warming planet leads to many other changes in our climate. As the planet warms, heatwaves become more likely. Over the past few years, heatwaves have been the deadliest global weather hazard. During the UK summer heatwave of 2003, there were over 2,000 excess deaths over a 10-day period. In a 2006 heatwave, the Government estimated 680 excess deaths. And in 2009, there were approximately 300 excess summer deaths. Climate change will make hot spells more frequent and severe. By 2070, the chance of exceeding 30°C for two days or more increases—a lot. In fact, over the southern UK, it becomes sixteen times more frequent than it is today. That will have a large impact on our elderly
population and public health. That's prolonged heat, but extremes become more likely, too. By 2070, the chances of exceeding 40°C are similar to the chances of exceeding 32°C thirty years ago. For regions in the south, the average hottest day in summer could have temperatures reaching 40°C by the 2070s.
Flooding
The UK is now facing frequent record-breaking winter floods. People sometimes die in these floods, and they do untold damage to homes and livelihoods, sometimes year after year. February 2020 was the wettest February on record. That month, Storms Dennis, Ciara and George left thousands of homes flooded and many more without power. Since 1998, the UK has seen seven of the ten wettest years on record, and the winter storms in 2015 were at least 40% more likely because of climate change.
Floods can also happen when heavy rainfall overwhelms
drainage systems or bursts river banks. In heavily concreted urban areas and cities, the effect is more severe because the water cannot sink directly into the soil. Flooding causes severe damage to buildings and transportation, which can be very costly and hard to recover.Significant flooding could impact two or three million people across the country if temperatures reach 2ºC or 3ºC above pre-industrial levels, according to the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. Despite this, thousands of new homes are still being built within high risk flood zones, and thousands of flood defences are in poor condition.
Sea Level Rising
Oceans absorb 90% of the extra heat generated by human influence. However, when water heats up, it expands to take up more volume. So, when oceans heat up, they expand too, causing the sea level to rise. As well as this, we also have extra water flowing into the ocean from melting ice sheets and glaciers. The major impacts of sea level rise occur during high tides and storms, causing flooding along coastlines and estuaries. In 2018 the Climate Change Committee said that by the 2080s in England, “up to 1.5 million properties, including 1.2 million homes, may be in areas at significant level of coastal flood risk”. A rise in sea level can also increase coastal erosion because waves can extend further up and along beaches and cliffs.
Endangered and Extinct Animals
When animals can't migrate to areas with more favourable climates, their chances of extinction increase significantly. More animal species are becoming extinct due to the effects of climate change - their habitats are becoming less comfortable and sometimes even inhospitable, they are affected by the increase in pollution as it effects the food they eat and the habitats they live in, and some have to alter their breeding and feeding patterns in order to survive.
Animals like cheetah’s are currently listed as vulnerable animals
and their population numbers are declining dramatically, and in some areas, cheetahs’ prey populations are declining too. As a result, cheetahs have had to change their diets and prey on other animals that live in the same environment.
Due to climate change, the amount of bamboo that grows in pandas natural habitats in China has reduced, and when they exclusively feed on bamboo, this puts them at risk. While being their staple diet, bamboo also provides them with shelter, resulting in them being even more vulnerable.
Climate change is reducing the amount of Arctic sea ice, which is needed as it's what polar bear's live on, and where they hunt for seals. So, as more ice melts, polar bears have less access to food, and their habitats are becoming smaller.
Elephants are particularly affected by high temperatures, as they need to drink a lot of fresh water to survive. So, climate change and global warming make it more difficult for elephants to get the water they need. Warmer conditions also make it easier for invasive plant to thrive, and outgrow the elephants' regular food sources like bamboo leaves and bananas.
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