Climate Penguin
Climate change is expected to have a major impact on the world economy.— a country that depends so much on natural resources — the economic impacts could be severe. We're already seeing ominous changes:
• Rising ocean temperatures have weakened economically valuable salmon species, reducing the survival rates of spawning fish, scientists say.
• Forests in British Columbia have been devastated recently by the mountain pine beetle, which thrives thanks to unusually mild winters. According to the BC Ministry of Forests and Range, as of 2012 the cumulative area of provincial Crown forest affected was about 181,000 square kilometres, an area of timber more than five-times the size of Vancouver Island. The value of these trees is in the billions of dollars.
• The 2001 prairie drought cost the Canadian economy over $5 billion in agricultural losses, according to a University of Manitoba study.
• The mining industry in Canada is also vulnerable to climate change, including from reduced water levels.
According to the Munich Reinsurance Corporation of Canada,
the world's most in-depth analysis of the economic costs and opportunities of climate change is The Stern Review, a 700-page report released by former World Bank chief economist Lord Stern. The report concludes that early action to reduce the impacts of GHG emissions could cost only two per cent of GDP, but it warns that the costs of delaying action will result in significantly higher economic costs — up to 20% of GDP.
The world does not need to choose between averting climate change and promoting growth and development. In fact, the solutions to climate change will also bring about many economic benefits.
IMPACTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
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Biodiversity loss
Thousands of species risk extinction from disappearing habitat, changing ecosystems. Such as, decline in polar bears, acidifying oceans, cloral bleaching, plants and animals migrate to the poles and higher altitudes. According to the IPCC, climate change will put some 20% to 30% of species globally at increasingly high risk of extinction, possibly by 2100.
Photos from 1938, 1981, 1998 and 2009 show the disappearance of Grinnell Glacier.
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Thinning ice, rising seas
Rising seas are one of the most certain effects of global warming as warming ocean waters expand and melting glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets add more water to the oceans. The IPCC estimates that melting ice caps and glaciers—which are some of our most visible indicators of climate change—accounted for about 25% of sea level rise from 1993 to 2003.
Coral bleaching from warming waters.
Decline in polar bear.
THREATS TO PEOPLE AROUND THE GLOBE
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Extreme weather will become more frequent—and more dangerous.
It's not just the heat that poses threats. Scientists say global warming is speeding up the cycling of water between the ocean, atmosphere and land, resulting in more intense rainfall and droughts at the same time across the globe.
>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.
>Increased drought
There have also been increased periods of drought, particularly in famine-stricken areas of Africa and Asia. According to the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the percentage of Earth's surface suffering drought has more than doubled since the 1970s. In Africa alone, the IPCC projects that between 75 and 250 million people will be exposed to increased water stress due to climate change.
>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).
Threats to human health
A warming planet threatens people worldwide, causing deaths, spreading insect-borne diseases and exacerbating respiratory illnesses. Extreme weather will also put more people in harm's way.
The World Health Organization believes that even the modest increases in average temperature that have occurred since the 1970s are responsible for at least 150,000 extra deaths a year—a figure that will double by 2030, according to WHO's conservative estimate.
For scientists studying the impacts of climate change, such questions - and answers - are constantly being revised and refined as more information is gathered, models are fine-tuned, and feedbacks are better understood.