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In The
News
5 Deadliest Effects
of Global Warming
Tue, Sep 11, 2007
Global Warming
effects
Green house gases stay
can stay in the atmosphere for an amount of years ranging from
decades to hundreds and thousands of years. No matter what we do,
global warming is going to have some effect on Earth. Here are the
5 deadliest effects of global warming.
5. Spread of
disease
As northern countries warm, disease carrying insects migrate
north, bringing plague and disease with them. Indeed some
scientists believe that in some countries thanks to global
warming, malaria has not been fully eradicated.
4. Warmer
waters and more hurricanes
As the temperature of oceans rises, so will the probability of
more frequent and stronger hurricanes. We saw in this in 2004 and
2005.
3. Increased
probability and intensity of droughts and heat waves
Although some areas of Earth will become wetter 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, global warming will exacerbate the conditions
and could lead to conflicts and war.
2. Economic
consequences
Most of the effects of anthropogenic global warming won’t be good.
And these effects spell one thing for the countries of the world:
economic consequences. Hurricanes cause do billions of dollars in
damage, diseases cost money to treat and control and conflicts
exacerbate all of these.
1. Polar ice
caps melting
The ice caps melting is a four-pronged danger.
First,
it will raise sea levels. There are 5,773,000 cubic miles of water
in ice caps, glaciers, and permanent snow. According to the
National Snow and Ice Data Center, if all glaciers melted today
the seas would rise about 230 feet. Luckily, that’s not going to
happen all in one go! But sea levels will rise.
Second,
melting ice caps will throw the global ecosystem out of balance.
The ice caps are fresh water, and when they melt they will
desalinate the ocean, or in plain English - make it less salty.
The desalinization of the gulf current will “screw up” ocean
currents, which regulate temperatures. The stream shutdown or
irregularity would cool the area around north-east America and
Western Europe. Luckily, that will slow some of the other effects
of global warming in that area!
Third,
temperature rises and changing landscapes in the artic circle will
endanger several species of animals. Only the most adaptable will
survive.
Fourth,
global warming could snowball with the ice caps gone. Ice caps are
white, and reflect sunlight, much of which is relected back into
space, further cooling Earth. If the ice caps melt, the only
reflector is the ocean. Darker colors absorb sunlight, further
warming the Earth.
So what is the
solution? Are we just being negative? Are there any positive
effects of global warming? What about all the stupid global
warming solutions. We welcome your thoughts. |
