Heat waves

This is a pretty obvious one but heat waves are going to be common and dangerous. Due to the urban heat island effect (concrete is great at trapping heat) cities will be worse off than the rest of the surrounding area. According to Alan Buis from NASA, "At 2 degrees Celsius warming, the deadly heatwaves India and Pakistan saw in 2015 may occur annually". When they say 2 degrees warming that means since the Industrial Revolution (1750 to 1850) and according to Buis we have already warmed 1 degree. Not only that, global warming wont stop there. The effects of global warming are exponential and heatwaves and other problems will continue to get worse.

Coral loss

Coral will be one of the hardest things hit by global warming in its earlier stages. Alan Buis says, “Ocean warming, acidification and more intense storms will cause coral reefs to decline by 70 to 90 percent at 1.5 degrees Celsius warming, becoming all but non-existent at 2 degrees warming”. Remember 2 degrees is not that far away. If you have ever watched a nature documentary you would know that coral reefs are just beautiful and hold so much life, so to lose them would be devastating.

Dead zones

Oceans will also get more dead zones. As Alan Buis puts it dead zones are, “areas where normal ocean waters are replaced by waters with low oxygen levels that won’t support most aquatic life”. This is just sad, the fact that we would be creating places in our oceans that just cannot hold life.

Sea level rise

I will say that sea level rise is hard to calculate. Organizations/scientists are not exactly certain of how high it will be but we do have some good guesses. The WWF or World Wildlife Fund, says that at 1.5 degrees warming the sea level will rise by 1.5 feet and 1.8 feet at 2 degrees. Again global warming will not stop there and sea levels will continue to rise. Sea level rise can put many people in danger of flooding.

Forest loss

“Warming of 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius will lead to a reduction of rainforest biomass and will increase deforestation and wildfires”, Alan Buis. Trees will be dying, becoming perfect firewood ,and for those of you who don’t know, trees are pretty much made up of carbon and when they burn the carbon will be released. Forests, like coral reefs, contain so much life. Wondrous creatures live in forests so to to lose them is just so sad. Forests also keep our air clean. I have had personal experiences with forest fire smoke and it is scary. That smoke gets into your lungs because it is such a fine substance and once it is in your lungs it is very difficult to get out.

Habitat loss

6% of insects, 8% of plants and 4% of vertebrates will see their habitat reduced by halve at 1.5 degrees warming. At 2 degrees it is 18% of insects, 16% of plants 8% of vertebrates (Alan Buis). Imagine having to leave your home and seeking out other places to live. All those poor animals.

Water stress

Still Alan Buis from NASA, “By limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, up to half as many people around the planet may experience water stress caused by climate change”. That is not good. However in other regions there will be tons of rain and flooding hazards. According to WWF at 1.5 degrees there will be a 100% increased risk of flooding and 170% at 2 degrees.

Heat illness

According to Alan Buis there will be a “risk of heat-related illness and death”. And again the urban heat island effect will make this worse in cities. I would be crushed to have a loved one fall ill to climate change, something we have the power to stop.

Food availability

Alan Buis basically says that there will be food shortages and that they will be worse at 2 degrees warming than at 1.5. This will lead to consequences that will really hurt peoples lives.

Iceless summers

WWF says that at 1.5 degrees warming there will be iceless summers in the Arctic at least once a century and at 2 degrees at least once a decade. Can you imagine your home just melting away from you before your very eyes. We can’t let this happen. Again what about the poor animals that live there?

Economic impacts

All this also has impacts on the economy. “The United States could lose 2.3 percent of its Gross Domestic Product for each degree Celsius increase in global warming” Alan Buis. When the economy hurts everyone hurts and there is no exception here. That is why we must stop climate change!

Earth is a very huge and diverse place and I can’t list every single effect of global warming. there are many more problems that global warming will cause like mass migration.

Know this: global warming is going to hurt Humans and nature alike in so many ways. We either have to stop it or suffer the consequences!

sources:

Alan Buis from NASA in his article called “A Degree of Concern: Why Global Temperatures Matter”. A Degree of Concern: Why Global Temperatures Matter – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet (nasa.gov)

WWF article called “Our planet is warming. Here’s what’s at stake if we don’t act now”. Our planet is warming. Here’s what’s at stake if we don’t act now. | Stories | WWF (worldwildlife.org)