What are the causes and effects of climate change?

Answer 1

Causes:

Global warming is caused by burning fossil fuels and deforestation. Climate change is caused by global warming.

Effects:

Effects of climate change are: glaciers melting, sea levels rising, low lying lands flooding, human and animal habitats destroyed, droughts, wild fires and desertification, starvation of whole nations, increasingly violent storms, refugee movements like never before.

A: The Main Causes of Global Warming:

Global Warming is caused by the greenhouse effect in Earth's atmosphere. The greenhouse effect is what keeps the planet warm enough for life. This worked well till about 1750 when humans started burning coal for industry, the start of the Industrial Age.

Since then, the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) has put more and more of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The destruction of forests has also contributed. This is known as the enhanced greenhouse effect.

The IPCC (the InterGovernmental Panel on Climate Change), set up by the United Nations, reports:

"Human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests, have greatly intensified the natural greenhouse effect, causing global warming."

The demand for a Western lifestyle from the world's 7 billion people is putting enormous pressure on governments to generate more and more electricity as well as consumer goods to satisfy the demand. This is a huge cause of the increase in greenhouse gases.

The Main Effects of Global Warming: It is difficult to predict the future, but in 2001 the IPCC issued a Report: Climate Change 2001: Working Group II: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (See the link below).

Here are some of the suggested impacts:

• Climate change will have impacts on human health: weather-related mortality, Infectious Diseases and air-quality respiratory diseases.
• Climate change will affect crop yields and irrigation demands.
• Climate change will affect the composition and geographic areas of forests as well as product health and productivity.
• Water Resources will be affected: water supply, quality and competition for water.
• Coastal areas and islands will be affected through beach erosion, flooding of coastal lands and economic costs to protect local communities.
• Species and Natural areas will be impacted through habitat loss and species loss, and also the Polar ice caps and snow cover and the disappearance of glaciers which often sustain rivers.
• "Climate-stressed" areas will lead to habitat loss, and species, animal and man will have to adapt or move in order to survive.

• The following quote illustrates how much we rely on our ecosystems for goods and services: "Forests and woodlands provide many goods and services that society values, including food, marketable timber and non-wood products (fuel, fiber, construction material), medicines, biodiversity, regulation of biogeochemical cycles, soil and water conservation (e.g., erosion prevention), carbon reservoirs, recreation, research opportunities, and spiritual and cultural values."

• The report goes on to say that changes in climate are likely to affect all of these, especially the socio-economic systems.
• Moderately warmer weather and increased CO2 in the atmosphere may help some crop growth (up 30% in the case of rice, soy and wheat), but with increased temperatures the grain yield drops 10% for every 1°C rise above 26°C.
• Agricultural areas may suffer erosion from increased wind and water from short term changes in weather.
• The growth of agricultural pests (weeds, insects and pathogens) under climate change is being studied with varying results. For example, higher temperatures increase the severity of rice leaf blast epidemics in cool subtropical zones, but in warm humid subtropics higher temperatures lower the severity of the epidemics.
• Farm animals are affected by warmer temperatures, influencing their performances in growth, milk and wool production, reproduction, health and well-being.
• Increased temperatures may lead to increased demand for water from agriculture and wildlife, including farm livestock. It may also lead to reduced water availability.
• Adaption costs for agriculture, including retraining farmers for new practices, as well as the provision of new irrigation may be considerable.
• The impacts of climate change are likely to be more severe in poorer parts of the world, where people are less able to adapt to change. The cost of basic food will rise, especially with temperature rises of more than 2.5°C, as agriculture will not be able to absorb increased costs.
• "Africa is projected to experience marked reductions in yield, decreases in production, and increases in the risk of hunger as a result of climate change."
• 25% of the world's mammals and 12% of the world's birds are at significant risk of global extinction.
• This extinction may be caused by several factors, including habitat loss, introduction of exotic species, pollution and biochemical poisonings and severe climate events.
• Frogs and other amphibians may be especially susceptible to climate change as their moist and permeable skin and eggs as well as their use of several habitats to exist make them vulnerable.
• Cold winters will no longer kill the eggs of the boreal forest insect pests.
• Studies in Britain suggest that 10% of all Nature reserves could be lost in a few decades.
• The effect of increased concentrations of CO2 on decomposition, plant productivity, and carbon storage could be just as damaging as the effects from climate change.

Answer 2

Causes:

Global warming is caused by burning fossil fuels and deforestation. Climate change is caused by global warming.

Effects:

Effects of climate change are: glaciers melting, sea levels rising, low lying lands flooding, human and animal habitats destroyed, droughts, wild fires and desertification, starvation of whole nations, increasingly violent storms, refugee movements like never before.

A: The Main Causes of Global Warming:

Global Warming is caused by the greenhouse effect in Earth's atmosphere. The greenhouse effect is what keeps the planet warm enough for life. This worked well till about 1750 when humans started burning coal for industry, the start of the Industrial Age.

Since then, the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) has put more and more of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The destruction of forests has also contributed. This is known as the enhanced greenhouse effect.

The IPCC (the InterGovernmental Panel on Climate Change), set up by the United Nations, reports:

"Human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests, have greatly intensified the natural greenhouse effect, causing global warming."

The demand for a Western lifestyle from the world's 7 billion people is putting enormous pressure on governments to generate more and more electricity as well as consumer goods to satisfy the demand. This is a huge cause of the increase in greenhouse gases.

The Main Effects of Global Warming: It is difficult to predict the future, but in 2001 the IPCC issued a Report: Climate Change 2001: Working Group II: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (See the link below).

Here are some of the suggested impacts:

• Climate change will have impacts on human health: weather-related mortality, Infectious Diseases and air-quality respiratory diseases.
• Climate change will affect crop yields and irrigation demands.
• Climate change will affect the composition and geographic areas of forests as well as product health and productivity.
• Water Resources will be affected: water supply, quality and competition for water.
• Coastal areas and islands will be affected through beach erosion, flooding of coastal lands and economic costs to protect local communities.
• Species and Natural areas will be impacted through habitat loss and species loss, and also the Polar ice caps and snow cover and the disappearance of glaciers which often sustain rivers.
• "Climate-stressed" areas will lead to habitat loss, and species, animal and man will have to adapt or move in order to survive.

• The following quote illustrates how much we rely on our ecosystems for goods and services: "Forests and woodlands provide many goods and services that society values, including food, marketable timber and non-wood products (fuel, fiber, construction material), medicines, biodiversity, regulation of biogeochemical cycles, soil and water conservation (e.g., erosion prevention), carbon reservoirs, recreation, research opportunities, and spiritual and cultural values."

• The report goes on to say that changes in climate are likely to affect all of these, especially the socio-economic systems.
• Moderately warmer weather and increased CO2 in the atmosphere may help some crop growth (up 30% in the case of rice, soy and wheat), but with increased temperatures the grain yield drops 10% for every 1°C rise above 26°C.
• Agricultural areas may suffer erosion from increased wind and water from short term changes in weather.
• The growth of agricultural pests (weeds, insects and pathogens) under climate change is being studied with varying results. For example, higher temperatures increase the severity of rice leaf blast epidemics in cool subtropical zones, but in warm humid subtropics higher temperatures lower the severity of the epidemics.
• Farm animals are affected by warmer temperatures, influencing their performances in growth, milk and wool production, reproduction, health and well-being.
• Increased temperatures may lead to increased demand for water from agriculture and wildlife, including farm livestock. It may also lead to reduced water availability.
• Adaption costs for agriculture, including retraining farmers for new practices, as well as the provision of new irrigation may be considerable.
• The impacts of climate change are likely to be more severe in poorer parts of the world, where people are less able to adapt to change. The cost of basic food will rise, especially with temperature rises of more than 2.5°C, as agriculture will not be able to absorb increased costs.
• "Africa is projected to experience marked reductions in yield, decreases in production, and increases in the risk of hunger as a result of climate change."
• 25% of the world's mammals and 12% of the world's birds are at significant risk of global extinction.
• This extinction may be caused by several factors, including habitat loss, introduction of exotic species, pollution and biochemical poisonings and severe climate events.
• Frogs and other amphibians may be especially susceptible to climate change as their moist and permeable skin and eggs as well as their use of several habitats to exist make them vulnerable.
• Cold winters will no longer kill the eggs of the boreal forest insect pests.
• Studies in Britain suggest that 10% of all Nature reserves could be lost in a few decades.
• The effect of increased concentrations of CO2 on decomposition, plant productivity, and carbon storage could be just as damaging as the effects from climate change.