'How the Climate Changes the Environment Essay\r'

'The Ameri preserve Heritage Dictionary defines the milieu as â€Å"The combination of external sensual conditions that attain and influence the growth, development, and survival of organisms” (â€Å"Environment” 2004). The world mood regards every living organism. The mode is part of the purlieu. Since climatic shift exit preserve other physical conditions, changes in the mode bequeath affect the tolerate of the environment.\r\n humour is defined by the Random family unit on line dictionary as â€Å"The building complex or generally prevailing weather conditions of a region, as temperature, air pressure, humidity, precipitation, sunshine, cloudiness, and winds, throughout the social class, averaged over a series of yrs. ” (â€Å"Climate” 2007). In the scientific community, mode is defined as the involve weather shape over a swelled time frame, much(prenominal) as 30 years (Helmuth, Mieszkowska, Moore, Hawkins 2006). The modality affec ts what organisms shtup drop dead and flourish in a assumption locale. For example, birds migrate south for the winter so that their environment includes a hummer climate.\r\nThey migrate back during the summertime so that they can enjoy a more than moderate climate during those months. If this natural climate bike changes, there may be no drift for migration. The climate that we observe is driven by solar energy. The green house effect is a natural occurring process. Heat from the Sun is trapped by greenhouse gases in the lower atmosphere. Some of this heat is re-radiated tear to the resurrect, thawing the Earth. Without the greenhouse effect, the mean temperature on the step up would be about zero degrees F. Instead, with the greenhouse effect, it is 57 degrees F (NOAA 2001).\r\nObviously, our environment would be vastly disparate if the mean temperature was zero degrees F. HOW THE CLIMATE CHANGES THE ENVIRONMENT scallywag 2 of 5 The climate is ever-changing. Glob al surface temperatures arouse incrementd by about . 6 degrees centigrade since the late 1800’s; with half the increase occurring in the last 25 years (NOAA 2001). With this increase comes a decrease of about . 3% of the artic ocean churl (NOAA 2001). This is consistent with the temperature increase that has been observed.\r\n everywhere the next snow years, the estimate for the mean global temperature increase varies from 2. 3 to 10. 1 degrees F. At the extreme, this would equate to a mean temperature of 67 degrees F, or an increase of 17% (Karl 2001). calculating machine models show that the Earth is becoming wetter and warmer. Over the next 100 years, rainfall bequeath increase in the tropics and mid latitudes. If rainfall increases enough, accordingly the salinity of the oceans give be decrease (Burroughs 1999). This could affect the Great Ocean conveyer, the circulation process that brings warm peeing and energy from the tropical regions into the Northern Atla ntic.\r\nModeling shows that the Conveyor is very sensitive to rain piss overflow from the continents. Small variations in the input of fresh peeing into the system may change the currents, and thus probatively alter the climate in the Americas and Europe (Burroughs 1999). The issue forth of carry on that humans have on the climate has in any case been debated. For the first time, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a fall in Nations network, stated that global warming was â€Å"unequivocal” and cleard largely by the burning of ember (Associated Press 2007). Natural agents alone can non explain the climatic warming trend.\r\nComputer modeling has shown that a significant amount of the warming is human caused (Karl 2001). Since the temperatures argon work out to continue to increase, the amount of climatic change bequeath too increase. HOW THE CLIMATE CHANGES THE ENVIRONMENT knave 3 of 5 The changing climate pass on affect the environment. Human habit ation in sloping troughal zones go out be greatly affected. The forecasted temperature increase of 10 degrees F mean temperature would equate to a ocean take rise, at the extreme, of about 35 inches by the year 2100 due(p) to melting of the polar ice and overspill from the melt of glaciers (Karl 2001).\r\nA more extreme tally puts 100 million pile a year being flooded by rising sea levels by 2080 (Borenstein 2007). If the rise in temperature reaches 14 degrees F, the westmost Antartic ice sheet could collapse, with the resulting rise in sea level of 47 inches per century from that alone. The resulting flood would traverse a large part of Florida, including Miami, and the Atlantic seaboard. Internationally, large population centers such as Ho chi Min City would be flooded (Burroughs 1999). Indeed, virtually research has shown that some fragile habitats could be take down more drastically and rapidly affected.\r\nIt has been shown that the environmental stresses caused to intertidal organisms by climate changes affects them faster then sublunary organisms (Helmuth, et. al. 2006). In fact, the change in climate can lead to extermination of some intertidal organisms. If these ar prey, then the environment go away change for the predators, resulting in reduced populations or migration (Helmuth, et. al. 2006). The change in climate will also affect solid nutriment production. In developed countries, the effect will be to a much lesser degree, at least for the foreseeable future. More victuals will be produced as the temperatures continue to rise.\r\nSoybean and rice yields are evaluate to rise in Latin America. Northern latitudes will see a longer growing season, resulting in higher output (Borenstein 2007). By 2050, the make of the climate change on food production will be negligible (Burroughs 1999). HOW THE CLIMATE CHANGES THE ENVIRONMENT Page 4 of 5 In growth countries the effects will be much more pronounced. The United Nations Food and Agr iculture Organization (FAO) has stated that the severest impact of global warming food shortages would be in the sub-Saharan countries of Africa (Pullella 2005). Lower latitudes will have reduced food production.\r\nThe rapid crop development on with rising heat and the need for more wet will result in lower yields (Burroughs 1999). By the year 2080, 600 million people may go hungry because of the climate change (Borenstein 2007). Those populations that can would start to migrate to more fertile land. This will lieu an frugal and political strain on the nations that are losing population and those who would accept these environmental refugees. Large plate movements of populations would place a burden on the food supplies on neighboring countries, possibly affecting the food production.\r\nA true risk of local overpopulation would exist, changing the environment for all who reside there. Water shortages are also a threat in the growing nations. In less than 20 years, hundreds of millions of Africans and tens of millions of Latin Americans will be short of water. By 2080, the water shortages may effect up to 3. 2 billion people (Borenstein 2007). The sea level rise will also affect the quality of water. Saline intrusion, contamination of water supplies, and the need for an increased water supply for cultivation to offset the temperature change all will have a negative impact (Burroughs 1999).\r\nThe climate change will also affect the health and well-being of both human and other organism’s populations. With the change in the environment there will come a change in dispersal of insect carried diseases (Burroughs 1999). There has already been a revival of malaria world-wide over the past 20 years. By 2100, due to the change of climate, malaria is expected to affect 50-80 million more people a year. The distribution of malaria will boom into HOW THE CLIMATE CHANGES THE ENVIRONMENT Page 5 of 5\r\nEurasia, Northeastern Canada, all of Australia, an d even into the southern coast of Alaska and the coastal regions of the northwestern United States and Canada (Burroughs 1999). Higher temperatures not only increase the insects range and numbers, but also how often they bite and how infectious they are (Burroughs 1999). early(a) insect borne diseases will blow up their range. Dengue, also carried by mosquitoes, will extend into non-endemic areas. Rodents will also extend their ranges and bring insects that carry diseases like the Plague and Hantavirus with them.\r\nThe warmer temperatures will reduce the rodent’s mortality, advance increasing the spread of disease (Burroughs 1999). Lyme disease will also have an increased range of concomitant as the ticks responsible are able to survive in a larger habitat (Burroughs 1999). opposite diseases will also flourish. As the amount of water is reduced in developing countries, diseases such as cholera and diphtheria will become more prevalent. change magnitude exposure to ultr aviolet light will cause an increase in the occurrence of skin cancer, visual disease, and weakened immune systems (Burroughs 1999).\r\nThe changing climate will indeed change the environment on a global scale. All aspects of the environment, from insect range to food production, sea level to water supply, will be affected in some way. These changes will be far more pronounced in developing nations then developed ones. The ability to adapt to these changes will also be affected by the economic status of the nations involved.\r\nReferences\r\nAssociated Press. (2007, February 28). Scientists Urge Global Action On Clean Energy. New York Times, p. A8. Borenstein, S. (2007). Warming Report to reproach of Coming Drought. Retrieved March 11, 2007, from Yahoo! News. Website: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070311/ap_on_sc/climate_report\r\n'