Climatic Change Impacts

According to some studies, the Earth could warm another 2 to 11.5°F this century if  emissions from burning fossil fuels are not reduced  and deforestation rate remains the same.

Impacts of Climate Change On Earth Today

Loss Of Biodiversity
Thousands of species risk extinction from disappearing habitat, changing ecosystems and acidifying oceans. According to the IPCC, climate change will put some 20% to 30% of species globally at increasingly high risk of extinction, possibly by 2100.

Sea level is rising
During the 20th century, sea level rose about 15 cm (6 inches) due to melting glacier ice and expansion of warmer seawater. Models predict that sea level may rise as much as 59 cm (23 inches) during the 21st Century, threatening coastal communities, wetlands, and coral reefs.

Coral bleaching
Coral reefs are highly sensitive to small changes in water temperature. Heat triggers corals to shed the algae that nourish them—a bleaching event that leaves coral white.

In 1998, the world's coral suffered its worst year on record, which left 16% bleached or dead.

Arctic sea ice Shrinkage
The summer thickness of sea ice is about half of what it was in 1950. Melting ice may lead to changes in ocean circulation. Plus melting sea ice is speeding up warming in the Arctic.
 

Satellite images show that the extent of Arctic summer sea ice has decreased by almost 9% per decade since 1979. 
The Arctic summer could be ice-free by mid-century, according to a study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

 Warming of Sea-surface temperatures
Warmer waters in the shallow oceans have contributed to the death of about a quarter of the world's coral reefs in the last few decades. Many of the coral animals died after weakened by bleaching, a process tied to warmed waters.

Melting glaciers
A 2005 survey of 442 glaciers from the World Glacier Monitoring Service found that 90% of the world's glaciers are shrinking as the planet warms.

Glacier National Park now has only 25 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910. At the current rate of retreat, the glaciers in Glacier National Park could be gone in a matter of decades, according to some scientists.

Seawater Becoming More Acidic
Carbon dioxide dissolving into the oceans, is making seawater more acidic. There could be impacts on coral reefs and other marine life.

A surge in wildfires
Hot, dry conditions create a tinderbox ideal for wildfires. This could have a devastating impact on America's Southwest.

Increased flooding
The 2007 IPCC report concludes that intense rain events have increased in frequency during the last 50 years and that human-induced global warming has been a factor.

More intense hurricanes
As the oceans warm, scientists predict that hurricane intensity could increase. The associated storm surge poses particular risk to low-lying coastal cities like Miami, Charleston (SC) and Wilmington (NC).