Download Effects to Global Warming

Effects to Global Warming
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Spread of Disease
Precipitation Patterns Change
Hurricane strength
Melting of Ice Caps (Many Problems)
Spread of Disease
Spread of Disease
• As northern countries warm, disease
carrying insects migrate north, bringing
plague and disease with them. Not only
up in latitude but also up in elevation.
Precipitation Patterns Change
• Although some areas of Earth will become more
wet due to global warming, other areas will
suffer serious droughts and heat waves. Africa
will receive the worst of it, with more severe
droughts also expected in Europe. Water is
already a dangerously rare commodity in Africa,
and according to the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC), global warming will
exacerbate the conditions and could lead to
conflicts and war.
Hurricanes
• Studies show that the number of
hurricanes may stay the same but the
strength of the hurricanes will increase
because of the warmer temperatures of
the ocean.
Melting of the Ice Caps
• SEA LEVEL RISING:
• "We live in constant fear of the adverse
impacts of climate change. For a coral atoll
nation, sea level rise and more severe
weather events loom as a growing threat to
our entire population. The threat is real and
serious, and is of no difference to a slow and
insidious form of terrorism against us."
• -Saufatu Sopoanga, Prime Minister of Tuvalu,
at the 58th Session of the United Nations
General Assembly New York, 24th September
2003
Melting of the Ice Caps
• Tuvalu is one of the places on earth
that is most vulnerable to the affects of
global warming. The threat of sea level
rise may bring complete disaster to the
10,000 Tuvaluans residing on nine
extremely low-lying coral atolls.
Melting of the Ice Caps
• EFFECTS THE OCEANIC CONVEYER
BELT:
• Freshwater from the ice caps can stop
the oceanic conveyer belt, making it
colder in some areas such as England,
which relies on the flow of warm ocean
water for their summers.
Melting of the Ice Caps
• ECOSYSTEMS ARE CHANGING
• An example is the Penguins, which
have seen a 33% reduction in their
population in the past decade.
Melting of the Ice Caps
• POSITIVE FEEDBACK LOOP
• Ice caps are white, and reflect sunlight,
much of which is reflected back into
space, further cooling Earth. If the ice caps
melt, more water will absorb more heat,
melting the ice caps even more and
making the situation worst.
Dealing with Global Warming
Pgs. 472-474
• Kyoto Protocol: US got out because it cost $
• Mitigation vs. Adaptation
– Mitigation is finding ways of reducing CO2 being put
into the air and CO2 that is already in the air
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Alternative Energy
Energy Efficiency
Planting Trees
Carbon Management
Adding Iron to Oceans (not smart)
– Adaptation
• Shifting agriculture due to climate change
• Genetically engineering plants to adapt to climate change
• Adding levees, dikes and canals to keep cities from flooding