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Climate change is already beginning to transform life on Earth. Around the globe, seasons are shifting, temperatures are climbing and sea levels are rising. And meanwhile, our planet must still supply us – and all living things – with air, water, food and safe places to live. If we don't act now, climate change will rapidly alter the lands and waters we all depend upon for survival, leaving our children and grandchildren with a very different world.
Some of the most dangerous consequences of climate change are listed here. Which one will have the most impact on your life, or on the places you care about?
- See more at: http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/global-warming-climate-change/threats-impacts/#sthash.O8QMfT2h.dpuf
The five hottest years on record have all occurred since 1997.
Heat-trapping gases emitted by power plants, automobiles, deforestation and other sources are warming up the planet. In fact, the five hottest years on record have all occurred since 1997 and the 10 hottest since 1990, including the warmest years on record – 2005 and 2010.
High temperatures are to blame for an increase in heat-related deaths and illness, rising seas, increased storm intensity, and many of the other dangerous consequences of climate change.
During the 20th century, the Earth’s average temperature rose one degree Fahrenheit to its highest level in the past four centuries – believed to be the fastest rise in a thousand years.
Scientists project that if emissions of heat-trapping carbon emissions aren’t reduced, average surface temperatures could increase by 3 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century.
Don’t let average temperatures fool you: A one-degree increase may be found in one place, a 12-degree increase in another place, and yet other areas may become much colder.
The planet’s oceans are also warming, which is causing dangerous consequences such as stronger storms, coral bleaching and rising seas.
- See more at: http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/global-warming-climate-change/threats-impacts/higher-temperatures.xml#sthash.dm0pTmL1.dpuf
Changing temperatures are causing vegetation shifts and conservation challenges.
Rising temperatures and changing patterns of rain and snow are forcing trees and plants around the world to move toward polar regions and up mountain slopes.
These vegetation shifts will undermine much of the work the conservation community has accomplished to date, with the potential to permanently change the face of Conservancy preserves, local land trusts, and even our national parks.
In the tundra, thawing permafrost will allow shrubs and trees to take root. In the Great Plains of the United States, grasslands will likely become forests. And New England’s fiery fall foliage will eventually fade as maple and beech forests shift north toward cooler temperatures.
As plant communities try to adjust to the changing climate by moving toward cooler areas, the animals that depend on them will be forced to move. Development and other barriers may block the migration of both plants and animals.
Some species and communities such as polar bears and alpine meadows may be left without any remaining viable habitat, putting much of our treasured wildlife at risk.
- See more at: http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/global-warming-climate-change/threats-impacts/changing-landscapes.xml#sthash.Dp0oUYNw.dpuf