Desertification

How global warming affect the desertification process is not 100% understood, but it is clear that an elevation in atmospheric and ground-level temperatures is likely to aggravate soil and vegetation loss in already hot climes. An increase in evapotranspiration and the decrease in rainfall mean that already semi-arid and sub-humid areas found across the world would face a future barrenness that is almost irreversible. This would negatively affect biodiversity and have a major impact on local human cultures and wildlife.

Devastating tsunamis

Global warming does not influence directly the formation of tsunamis, BUT they can be generated by events that are brought by an increase of the planet's temperature.An example is the melting of the ice sheets. Because they are extremely heavy and massive, glaciers apply a considerable amount of pressure to the Earth’s surface. This weight decreases as the glaciers diminish, resulting in a ‘freeing up’ of tectonic masses that can lead to huge earthquakes and significant volcanic activity, both of which are capable of creating deadly tsunamis. 

Migration, conflincts and wars

It is possible that future centuries could see increased friction between nations and ethnic group as decreasing resources lead to migration and conflict. Countries would seek to control the resources, provide safety and shelter for the citizens, with any cost. In the same time, previously populated places would become uninhabitable due to heat or other factors, displacing millions of people. These refugee hordes might be corralled into semi-permanent camps or even suffer because of unwelcoming native groups.  

 

More outbreaks of diseases

Maybe we do not realize, but warmer weather brings more diseases. Climate influences some of the most deadly diseases that are currently affecting millions of people worldwide. Some insects, such as mosquitoes are more prone to multiply even at small increases of temperature.

The climate change is set to engage the spread of Malaria, Dengue fever and West Nile to some parts of the globe that did not face such diseases before.The increased number of sick people could overwhelm public health services, especially in poor and unprepared countries. The Deadly Dozen is known to be a group of 12 diseases which have been identified as those most likely to spread due to global warming. It includes Plague, Ebola, Tuberculosis and Avian Flu.

Animal extinction and decreases in biodiversity

 

As the plant heats up, animals that are entirely dependent of cold environments will retreat to more northerly locations. The result is advancing to other eco-systems and displacement of animals from their natural habitat. Ultimately, a warmer climate will lead to the complete loss of polar-ice edge communities. Along with this, polar bears will have no longer were to live and the obvious consequence is for sure their extinction.


A strong relationship to oceanic warming, will conduct to declines in reproduction and increases in mortality rates among seals, sea lions and various seabirds. Acid rain is also known to have a negative influence. An example would be the death of large amounts of snails in areas that experiment acidic precipitation. There are several species of birds that eat snails because they are rich in calcium, but without a compatible replacement for this loss in their diet, these birds will lay eggs with a much higher chance of defective shells.

Harming the marine life

Oceans absorb approximately 30% of all carbon dioxide existent in the atmosphere, therefore, as more fossil fuel gets burned, ocean life will continue to be impacted negatively by the global warming. One critical change brought by climate change is the continuous reduction of phytoplankton. These are some small plants that serve as a food source for the entire ocean life, being responsible for almost half of the world's photosyntehic activity.

 Also ocean's warmer surface and acidification increase the danger to many marine species, such as  molluscs, coral reefs and crustaceans. Because coral reefs are so sensitive to higher temperatures, we can already observe that many have died due to global warming.

Some pollution facts

I decided to make a small parenthesis and give you some information on pollution, the main cause for global warming.
Recent studies show that 40% of global deaths occur annually due to water, air and soil contamination. If we look deeper into it, we would see that 3 million people die due to contaminated air and 2.7 million because of over-polluted water. Other 3.7 billion people are daily exposed at risk of diseases or are already infected with poisoned food.
If we analyze some of the globe's regions we would see that China is the world's top polluter, being responsible for 6.2 million tons of CO2 emissions per year. America comes up in the 2nd position, having 2.56 million tons of CO2 emission only from its power plants (the number is equivalent with 449 million cars). On the other extreme, is Africa, the lowest polluter, being connected only to 3% of the global emissions. Although it is not influencing as much as China or America, the continent still gets heavily impacted by the climate change because of its poverty, lack of medicine and technology.

What is "grashopper effect"?

Mainly, it is a consequence of global warming. It is a phenomenon that allows pollutants to travel from one ecosystem to another. Because of high temperatures, the toxic chemicals evaporate and ride the wind until they reach colder temperatures where they ultimately condense and fall down to the ground. This is why the antarctic region gets it the most.
As a result, both human ingest the toxins and develop various diseases.
I also attached a picture which hopefully will give you a better view over the grasshopper effect.

Destructive hurricanes and storms

As the ocean temperature is an important element in hurricane formation, the results of climate change will include a powerful generation of hurricanes and storms, at a higher frequency.
The power of hurricanes increased with 50% over the last 30 years, a number that is connected with the rising temperature of the oceans worldwide.
Warmer water lead to more extreme weather including devastating storms.

Wildfires

As the temperatures continue to rise, dry lands are more prone to wildfires. Due to a long summer that created arid conditions, More than 3.500 fires destroyed significant areas from Southeastern Europe in 2007. This scenario is mostly linked to climate change and the greenhouse effect.

Among with deforestation, carbon dioxide (CO2) and the so called "black carbon" released by these fires help to the air pollution.

Lower water and food supplies

With extreme reduced rainfall, frequent droughts and loss of soil fertility, water and food supplies are constantly decreasing. A result would be higher prices, famine, malnutrition, starvation and eventualy, death. 

Poor and politically unstable countries are the endangered ones, having high chances for governmental collapses and shifhts in authority as those in resources become more powerful. 

Countries that still have enough water and good food might part with these vital commodities, accepting millions of refugees which would seek for new homes.

Dangerous animal atacks

Animals that are driven out from their natural habitats by environmental factors could easily come into contact with human population. This fact may lead to many deaths whithin our communities as wel as some of the already endangered animal species.

As an example we have the atacks on humans by tigers in India, which occur more often because climate change affects the mangrove forests in Indias's Sundarban region. Sharks are also moving into new areas to find stable food sources. Researchers show that sharks are now more in the waters of California and Florida than ever before.

More frequent floods

 

At this point water begins to use much more space than before, making the sea's surface level increase. This process already raised the height of the ocean by 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm), according to National Geographic.

Flooding  represents one of the most dangerous hazards to human settlements, being one of the most concerning impacts of global warming. Heavier rainfalls, sea level rises and the melting of polar caps, are just some of the numerous issues that will increase probabilities of flooding. As the climate changes, the seas get warmer creating the so called "thermal expansion".

 Continuously melting glacial ice also boosts up the numbers, therefore many coastal or low-lying cities are under the threat of eradication.  An increase of only 3 feet (1 meter) would cover up with water major sectors of the American eastern seaboard, while 1/6 of Bangladesh could be lost permanently.

Economic consequences

An expected result of the global warming would include droughts, floods, rise in sea level, crop failure, storms as well as ecosystem disruptions and threats to human health.

Most of the effects will have a huge negative impact on global economy, costing as much as 20% of the total economic output.
A good example would be the more frequent and severe hurricanes, which caused in the last couple of years billions of dollars in damage. In addition to this, only floods and droughts could displace 200 million people from all over the worlds by 2050.

Severe drouhts and heat waves

Extreme weather induced by global warming has terrible consequences in public health, heat waves already threatening the vulnerable side of the society. Even if some areas of Europe will become wetter due to climate change, other areas will be hit by droughts and heat waves.


Water is already an extremely rare commodity in underprivileged countries such as Africa, therefore it is the most vulnerable and will receive the worst of it. If we take a look at this we might consider it ironic, thinking at the fact that such regions contributed the least to global warming.

Researchers say that climate change and global warming will aggravate the conditions and could lead to conflicts and war.

Incresed chances of asthma and allergies

More unnoticeable is the gradual climatic change that can damage our health. In the last two decades the predominance of asthma in the United States has quadrupled, in part because of climate-related factors. For islanders, respiratory irritants come in dust clouds that originate from Africa's expanding deserts.
Another reason for this aggravation is because of the increased levels of plant pollen. With double the ambient level of carbon dioxide, plants can produce up to 60% more pollen.

Warmer waters and more hurricanes

Ocean heat content and water vapor have both increased over the past several decades. This is because of human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and the clearing of forests, which have significantly elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere.
CO2 and other heat-trapping gases act like an insulating blanket that warms the land and ocean and increases evaporation. As the temperature of oceans rises, so will the probability of more frequent and stronger hurricanes.Warmer surface waters generate more powerful and destructive storms.

In a tropical cyclone, air rotates inward to the center (or eye), then rises to higher altitudes. As warm, moist air rises, the air cools and condenses to rain, releasing heat. This cycle of evaporation and condensation powers the storm. Adapted from a figure of courtesy of NOAA.                                  
 

 

Spread of vector-borne diseases

Extreme temperature spread out vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, leishmaniasis and tick-borne diseases. These climate-sensitive diseases are among the largest global killers. We are talking about infections transmitted by the bite of an infected arthropod species, such as mosquitoes, ticks, bugs or sandflies.

These mosquitoes are very sensitive to climate change. If their environments gets warmer, it boosts up their rate of regeneration and the number of blood meals they take, emphasizing the number of diseases they transmit.

Polar ice caps melting

The ice caps melting is probably the last thing we want to happen and this because of four reasons.
At first, the sea level will increase. Ice caps and glaciers contain 5,773,000 cubic miles of water. According to the researchers from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, if  all glaciers melted at once the seas would rise approximately 230 feet. Fortunately this thing is not going to happen all at one, but it is a fact that sea levels will rise. 

The second effect of melting ice caps will be the one of unbalancing the entire global ecosystem. The ice caps are made out of fresh water and when they melt, they will make the ocean less salty. This desalinization process will disturb the ocean current, which regulate temperatures. The stream irregularity would cool down the area around Northeast America and Western Europe. Luckily, that will slow some of the other effects of global warming in that area! 

Another consequence will be the temperature rise. Changing landscapes in the Arctic Circle will endanger many species of animals. Only the most adaptable will survive.

Ultimately, global warming could snowball with the ice caps gone. Ice caps are white and reflect sunlight, much of it being reflected back into space, further cooling Earth. If the ice caps melt, the only reflector is the ocean. Darker colors absorb sunlight, contributing to the global warming.

Welcome!

As we all know, global warming is a major threat to our planet's future. When we talk about this subject, we are not talking about how hot were the temperatures this summer compared to the last year. We are talking about climate change, effects that are or will be visible in our health, environment and weather over time. 
Besides some of the effects of the global warming, this blog will include statistics and latest news regarding our behavior with our planet.
You are invited to share your opinion and beliefs.