I read an article from National Geographic on AOL today about the effects of global warming, and what we can expect in the next 20 years at our continued rate of global warming. I find the subject of global warming’s effects (the Greenhouse effect, it’s sometimes called) interesting and scary at the same time. I suppose that climate changes are part and parcel of history, but to think of the radical changes I could see in my lifetime:
- An average increase of 1 degree by 2030 doesn’t sound like much, but look at the repercussions. (And it took a century for the last average climate change of 1 degree.)
- Global warming could increase the amount of CO2 in the air. Dramatically.
- Glaciers in Montana could disappear. Since 1910, they’ve already lost 120 of the 150 glaciers originally there in Montana’s Glacier Park.
- The snows on Mount Kiliminjaro could be completely gone. They’ve already lost 80% of the snow on the mountain since 1910.
- Temperature increases are projected to be much higher (a 4 to 7 degree increase) in Arctic reaches. This can cause massive infrastructure problems for people living in those regions.
- Global polar bear populations could be reduced by 30%.
- Major ecosystem changes are in store. Animals can move with the climate, but vegetation can’t. Since the two affect each other, the results could be dramatic. For example, if birds move to a cooler climate, the insects that feed on the trees there could wreak havoc. More dead wood means more fires.
- Global temperature increases would likely result in additional droughts, which would also lead to more fires.
- Florida and Louisiana could be underwater 100 years from now because of rising sea levels as the ice in Greenland melts.
- More than a million species of plants and animals could be extinct in the next 40 years. One species becoming extinct can have an effect on an environment. Biological diversity is essential to a functioning ecosystem. The idea that we could lose a million species is mind-boggline, and the potential fallout from this could be worse than anything else mentioned in this summary.
The original source for most of this summary came from the National Geographic. There were three articles in particular I read for info on the effects of global warming. I hoped that by publishing some data here, it might get into a larger audience, even if it’s only slightly larger. I also tried to ‘dumb it down’ a little bit and just hit the highlights.