The Effects of Climate Change

As long as people continue to add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, the effects of human-caused global warming will only get worse. They are already being felt and cannot be reversed for those who are alive today.

The issue of global climate change is not one for the future. Geographic ranges of plants and animals are shifting, glaciers and ice sheets are receding, river and lake ice is breaking up earlier, and plants and trees are blooming sooner as a result of changes in Earth's climate brought on by increased human emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

Scientists have long anticipated that global climate change would have effects like melting sea ice, faster sea level rise, and longer, more intense heat waves, all of which are now happening.

"The magnitude and rate of climate change and associated risks depend strongly on near-term mitigation and adaptation actions, and projected adverse impacts and related losses and damages escalate with every increment of global warming."

- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The problem of climate change will not go away. Changes in Earth's climate brought on by increased human emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases are causing plants and trees to bloom earlier, glaciers and ice sheets to recede, plants and animals to shift their geographic ranges, and river and lake ice to break earlier.

The effects of global climate change, which are already occurring, have long been predicted by scientists. These effects include melting sea ice, a faster rise in sea level, and longer, more intense heat waves.

The course that human activity takes in the future will determine how severe the effects of climate change will be. Increased greenhouse gas emissions will cause more extreme weather events and have detrimental effects that will spread throughout the entire planet. But the overall amount of carbon dioxide we release will determine those consequences in the future. Therefore, we might be able to prevent some of the worst effects if we can lower emissions.

"The scientific evidence is unequivocal: climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and the health of the planet. Any further delay in concerted global action will miss the brief, rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future."

- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

More Droughts and Heat Waves

The most recent National Climate Assessment predicts that heat wave periods of unusually hot weather lasting days or weeks droughts in the Southwest will get worse, while cold waves will get weaker and less often.

It is predicted that temperatures will rise throughout the year. If greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current pace, extreme heat events which previously happened only once every 20 years are predicted to become yearly by the end of this century.

Climate Changes Will Continue Through This Century and Beyond

It is predicted that the world's climate will continue to warm through this century and beyond. The amount of heat-trapping gases that humans emit and how sensitive Earth's climate is to those emissions ultimately determine the degree of climate change and severity of impacts.

Longer Wildfire Season

In the West, where a protracted drought has increased the risk of fires, warming temperatures have prolonged and intensified the wildfire season. According to scientific estimates, the area of forest burned in recent decades has already doubled due to climate change caused by humans. It is estimated that by 2050, wildfires in Western states will have consumed two to six times more land. There is an approximate 30% increase in wildfires predicted, even in rainy regions like the Southeast.

Seasons for fire weather have extended globally. Although warmer temperatures have made vegetation more flammable, fire activity has recently increased in several tropical and temperate regions. Nevertheless, drought is still the primary cause of fire emissions. Earth's northernmost forest, the northern boreal zone, is located close to the Arctic.

Changes in Precipitation Patterns

In the US, precipitation (rain and snow) is changing unevenly due to climate change; some areas are seeing more precipitation and flooding, while others are experiencing drought. Over this century, scientists predict that the northern United States will see more winter and spring precipitation while the southwest will receive less.

The Growing Season and Frost-Free Season Will Lengthen

Since the 1980s, the length of the growing season and the period of frost-free weather have increased, with the biggest increases taking place in the western regions of the United States. The growing season is expected to keep getting longer across the United States, which will have an impact on agriculture and ecosystems.

By the end of the century, it is predicted that most of the United States will have a growing season that is one month longer than it was before, with somewhat smaller increases in the northern Great Plains, if heat-trapping gas emissions keep increasing at their current rate. Certain parts of the western United States, especially those near high elevations and coasts, may see an extension of the frost-free season of more than eight weeks.

Global temperatures will keep rising.

The summer of 2023 was the hottest summer on record for Earth, rising 0.41 degrees Fahrenheit (F) or 0.23 degrees Celsius (C) above all previous summers recorded by NASA and 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 C) above the average summer of 1951–1980. This new record is being set amidst a global heat wave that is expected to cause severe rainfall in Italy, Greece, and Central Europe. The heat wave is also escalating deadly wildfires in Canada and Hawaii, as well as scorching heat waves in South America, Japan, Europe, and the United States. All told, this summer's intense heatwave caused hundreds of heat-related illnesses and fatalities, and it placed tens of millions of people under heat warnings.

Arctic Is Very Likely to Become Ice-Free

Sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean is expected to continue decreasing, and the Arctic Ocean will very likely become essentially ice-free in late summer if current projections hold. This change is expected to occur before mid-century.

conclusion

Let's embrace sustainability, water and energy efficiency, and green promotion which reduces carbon emissions. let's save the planet from global warming. as we are directly affected by all these.