Download SNC 2DI: Climate Change j

SNC 2DI: Climate Change
Note: How Climate Change Affects all Nations
of the World
1. Main fisheries are affected:
Aquatic products are the most widely traded food
worldwide. 40% of global production enters
international trade. Fish provides valuable protein to
many people. Climate change affects the diversity of
fish and marine life. Numbers of cold water fish such as
salmon and trout are expected to decline as a result of
rising temperatures.
2. Deforestation:
Rising temperatures can increase the risk of forest fires
due to a drying climate. Forest fires contribute to global
warming in two ways: i) the burning of forest quickly
releases CO2 into the atmosphere. ii) trees act as a
natural “sink” for CO2 gases. Less trees, means less
CO2 absorbed from the atmosphere. Logging
companies suffer financial loss when forests burn
down.
3. Rising Sea levels:
Rising sea levels reduce the amount of coastal lands
especially in areas that are near or below sea level
already.
Bangladesh:
Erosion of
coastal areas due
to rising sea
levels. Most of
Bangladesh is at
or only slightly
above sea level.
Many low elevation regions will flood causing loss of life
and loss of agriculture. This will cause many people to
try to relocate.
4. Decreasing Crop Yields:
Changes in agriculture and food supply will affect
international trade. Most crops do well when the
weather is warm (between 10 and 30°C) but
over 30°C crops lose too much water due to
evaporation and wilt.
Also, increased global temperatures increases the risk
of drought, and lower levels of precipitation in some
areas increase the rate of desertification (the spread of
deserts).
5. Water conflicts:
Changes in precipitation patterns will cause the demand
for water to exceed supply in some areas. The rising
temperature causes changes in the hydrological cycle.
More water evaporates from lakes and rivers when the
temperature is higher. Also, millions of people in India,
China and Nepal depend on water supplied by glaciers.
These glaciers are rapidly declining as a result of global
warming.
6. Greater risk of disease:
As temperatures increase, biomes change. Tropical
diseases restricted to tropical areas can spread further
north as the planet warms. Animals too, can also
increase their range north, possibly carrying diseases
not yet seen in other areas. Lack of water caused by
drought, weakens animals and people thus increasing
their susceptibility to disease.
7. Increased severity and frequency of storms:
Hurricanes such as Katrina cause economic loss as well
as loss of life. An increase in violent storms will force
people to move inland, thus adding population pressure
to other areas.