Effects of Global Warming

As Earth has gotten warmer, sea ice has melted. This has raised the level of water in the oceans.

Change in sea level from 1870-2010. Graph courtesy of CK-12.

Other effects of global warming include more extreme weather. Earth now has more severe storms, floods, heat waves, and droughts than it did just a few decades ago. Many living things cannot adjust to the changing climate. For example, coral reefs are dying out in all the world’s oceans.

Earth’s temperature will keep rising unless greenhouse gases are curbed. Since the glacial periods of the Pleistocene, average temperature has risen about 4° C. That's just 4° C from abundant ice to the moderate climate we have today.  Warming will affect the entire globe by the end of this century. As temperature rises, more sea ice will melt.  This would cause sea level to rise even higher. Some coastal cities could be under water. Millions of people would have to move inland. How might other living things be affected?

In the 2050s, there may be only half as much sea ice as there was in the 1950s. Map courtesy of CK-12. 

Source: Climate Change. Retrieved from http://www.ck12.org/section/Climate-Change-%253A%253Aof%253A%253A-MS-Climate/ on August 28, 2013. 

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Last modified: Friday, 16 December 2016, 6:26 PM