General+Global+Warming+Impacts


 * General Global Warming Impacts- 2/10/09**
 * Present**:
 * Sea level rise
 * Melting ice caps- rates exceeding even what was predicted a year or two ago.
 * Temperatures rising-summer heat waves, record strength hurricanes, out of season tornadoes, increased storm surges, unusual air current patterns bringing Arctic storms south, could be a weakening in the Gulf Stream, increased droughts and wildfires.
 * Migratory patterns of birds and insects are shifting significantly.
 * Dead zones in the ocean- thought to arise from changes in currents associated with changes in ocean temperatures- lead to mass die-offs of seabirds
 * Some bears aren’t hibernating-not getting cold enough
 * Polar bears are facing extinction because their habitats are melting out from under them
 * Northerly spread of insects that are significant vectors of disease such as the mosquitoes that carry malaria
 * Increasing acidification of the oceans from carbon dioxide- all shell based organisms and corals threatened as their shells will dissolve in the more acidic conditions. This could undermine the marine food web.
 * Tree die outs in forests because the populations of pests such as pine bark beetles are not being reduced by winter freezes
 * Winter snowfall is substantially reduced. More precipitation falls as spring rain. Lack of predictable snow melt combined with decreased precipitation generally leads to water shortages.
 * Extinctions
 * Future (about 2100):**
 * Devastating levels of sea level rise- most experts agree that a minimum of 1-2 feet of sea level will be inevitable by the end of the century. Increasingly, many experts are coming to believe that it could be many times as much, easily 20 feet.
 * The complete melt of the Arctic ice cap, which will change ecosystems dramatically in addition to contributing to sea level rise. Increased release of cold, fresh water from glacial melt will upset the thermohaline cycle that drives the North Atlantic current, which, were it to shut down, would plunge Western Europe into a new Ice Age.
 * Droughts lasting decades- possibly permanent changes in parts of some continents, including parts of the Southwestern United States- resulting loss of stable agriculture, leading to widespread famine
 * California, the breadbasket of the United States, may become largely unsuited for agriculture by 2100
 * Significantly increased water shortages
 * Potential for global warfare over forced migration and competition for resources
 * Some or all of these factors could force a catastrophic climate change tipping point that leads to irreversible, long-term climate change that is substantial enough to threaten civilization’s ability to adapt.
 * Mass extinctions