Climate Change For Dummies. Elizabeth May
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Glaciers from the Rockies to Greenland, are in rapid retreat, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Glacier National Park could someday be a park where the only glacier is in the name. When glaciers go, so does the spring recharge that flows down into the valleys, increasing the pressure on the remaining water supplies. People who depend on drinking water from rivers or lakes that are fed by mountain glaciers will also be vulnerable.
Rising sea levels: Water expands when it gets warmer, so as global average temperatures rise, warmer air warms the ocean. Oceans are expanding, and sea levels are rising around the world, threatening coastal cities — many of which are in the United States and Canada. This sea level rise will be far more devastating if ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica collapse.
Changes across northern Canada and Alaska are more profound than in the south. We discuss these impacts in the section “Polar regions,” later in this chapter.
On average, North Americans have many resources, in comparison to developing regions of the world, to help them adapt to climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says Canada and the United States can take steps to avoid many of the costs of climate change, to better absorb the effects, and to avoid the loss of human lives. For example, North America could establish better storm warning systems and community support to make sure that poor people in inner cities have some hope of relief during more frequent killer heat waves. (See Chapter 10 for more information about what governments can do to help their countries adapt to the effects of climate change.)
Latin America
South America has seen some strange weather in the past few years. Drought hit the Amazon in 2005, Bolivia had hail storms in 2002, and the torrential rainfalls lashed Venezuela in 1999 and 2005. In 2003, for the first time ever, a hurricane hit Brazil. More recently, the World Meteorological Association says:
“Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is among the regions most challenged by extreme hydro-meteorological events. This was highlighted in 2020 by the death and devastation from Hurricane Eta and Iota in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, and the intense drought and unusual fire season in the Pantanal region of Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina. Notable impacts included water and energy-related shortages, agricultural losses, displacement and compromised health and safety, all compounding challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Other changes in Latin America may be attributable to global warming. Rain patterns have been changing significantly. More rain is falling in some places, such as Brazil, and less in others, such as southern Peru. Glaciers in the Andes Mountains and across the continent are melting. This glacier loss is a particular problem in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru, where many people depend on glacier-fed streams and rivers for drinking water and electricity from small-scale hydroelectric plants. (See Chapter 9 for more about how global warming will affect humans.)
Scientists project that the worst is yet to come. The IPCC models anticipate that about half of the farmland in South America could become more desert-like or suffer saltwater intrusions. If sea levels continue to rise at a rate of 0.08 to 0.12 inches (2 to 3 millimeters) per year, it could affect drinking water on the west coast of Costa Rica, shoreline tourism in Mexico, and mangroves in Brazil.
The threat to the Amazonian rainforest from logging and burning has attracted the concern of celebrities such as Sting and Leonardo DiCaprio. But human-caused global warming could potentially do more damage than loggers. By mid-century, the IPCC predicts that parts of the Amazon could change from wet forest to dry grassland, and that reduction in rainfall during dry months will reduce agricultural yields. Recent scientific reports confirm even a 2 degree C temperature increase could wipe out the Amazon. (We cover how ecosystems will be affected by climate change in Chapter 8.)
Europe
Recent findings have shown that climate change is already well under way in Europe. Years ago, the IPCC projected the changes that the continent is experiencing today: rising temperatures, devastating floods, increased intensity and frequency of heat waves, and increased glacier melt.
As for what’s in store for Europe, the IPCC reports a 99-percent chance that Europe will experience other unfavorable climate changes. Changes experienced so far include the following:
More flash floods and loss of life in inland areas: In 2021, floods in Germany and Belgium killed more than 200 people and caused billions in damage — experts agree that such previously called “once in 400-year” floods are much more likely because of climate change.
More heat waves, forest fires and droughts in central, eastern, and southern Europe: These events significantly impacted health and tourism in southern Europe in particular. The worst year on record for forest fires was 2019, until 2021 burned 1.2 million acres (half a million hectares). Much of the forest burned was in southern Europe, but fires are having increasing effects in the north as well.
Rising sea levels, which will increase erosion: These rising sea levels, coupled with storm surges, will also cause coastal flooding. The Netherlands and Venice are experiencing greater impacts than other areas in Europe dealing with the rising sea level. Venice, a 1,600-year-old Italian city that is one of the world’s greatest heritage sites, is built on log piles (which are gradually sinking) among canals, and so is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Rising sea levels are increasing the frequency of high tides that inundate the city.A report published by the U.S. National Academy of Science says that loss of up to 50 percent of Europe’s native species of plants and animals may be likely if climate change isn’t arrested. Fisheries will also be stressed.
These impacts are all serious, but none of them represents the worst-case scenario — the Gulf Stream stalling. The results of this (stopping of a major ocean current) would be disastrous for Europe. (We look at the Gulf Stream Ocean current issue in Chapter 7.)
Africa
On a per-person basis, Africans have contributed the very least to global warming because of overall low levels of industrial development. Just look at a composite photo of the planet at night: The United States, southern Canada, and Europe are lit up like Christmas trees, burning energy that results in GHG emissions. Africa, on the other hand, shows very few lights: some offshore oil rigs twinkle, and a few cities shine, but the continent is mostly dark.
Despite contributing very little to the source of the problem, many countries in Africa are already experiencing effects of global warming. East Africa Hazards Watch says
“Major cities in East Africa have witnessed an increase in temperatures that almost doubles the 1.1 degrees C warming that the globe has experienced since pre-industrial times. Since 1860 Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) has warmed by 2.2 degrees C, Khartoum (Sudan) by 2.09 degrees C, Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) by 1.9 degrees C, Mogadishu (Somalia) by 1.9 degrees C, and Nairobi (Kenya) by 1.9 degrees C.”
Global warming is expected to melt most of Africa’s glaciers within the next few decades, which will reduce the already critically low amount of water available for farming. Long periods of drought followed by deluge rainfall have had devastating impacts in places such as Mozambique. Coastal areas in East Africa have suffered damage from storm surges and rising sea levels. The World Bank projects that by 2050 86 million people could be displaced by climate-related changes.
