the negative effects of climate change

• countries closest to the equator = most likely to suffer as crop yeilds will decrease. 
  • Africa - tanzania and Mozanbique will have longer periods of drought ans shorter growing seasons. could loose up to up to a 3rd of their maize crop (staple diet source).                                                
  • India - forcasted there will be a 50% drop in the amount of land which is availible to grow wheat (due to hotter & drier weather).

• Research (in 2007 by hadley centre of climate change at exeter) shows that between 1993 & 2006, sea levels had risen 3.3mm a year!
• This will lead to 88cm rise in sea levels by end of century. 
  • the rise will threaten:-
    • low-lying coastal land, including cities such as London, New York and Tokyo.
    • Islands in Pacific Ocean are already being affected (2 of the kiribati islands are now submerged with water).
    • People are also leaving low lying coral atolls (islands) before they too are engulfed by sea water.

• vast majority of earths glaciers are retreating, some more than others.
• could possibly be due to the increase in temperatures caused by climate change.

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  • approx. 90% of glaciers in antarctica are retreating.
    • melting of ice at the poles could affect ocean water movement.
  • believed that melting ice in the artic could result in gulf stream being diverted further south, leading to colder temperatures in western europe (matching the temperatures found accross atlantic in labrador at present time.
    • temps. are frequently below 0*c in july, which is 10*c cooler than that on the average UK Summer temperature.

The increasing change of the worlds climate will eventually result in may countries facing the following issues:-

• will be more storms and floods in the UK. homes and factories build on a floodplain will be damaged and will cost area more money in damage.

• bangladesh suffers from coastal flooding. if sea level goes above 1m, bangladesh could lose 17.5% of land.

• There has been a loss of sea ice due to climate change. poses as a problem for polar bears of wrangel island, a russian nature reserve, as they cant travel overland to catch prey.

• tavulu (group of nine coral atolls in pacific ocean) has begun to evacuate its pop. to new zeland. 75 people move away each year

• greenpeace report predicts that the great barrier reef in austrailia will be dead in 30 yearstime due to the rising sea temperatures. 

• In Kenya, droughts are more frequent, happening every 3 years as opposed to every 7years. in 2006 kenya experiance its worst drought for 80 years. many farmers lost nearly all of their cattle and crops.

• within the Colca region of peru, villages have been abandoned. no longer have water supplies due to the lack of snow falling off the mountains

• glacier national park, montana, USA, was created in 1910. then there were 150 glaciers. number has decreaced to 30 since. predicted that in 30 years, all of the parks glacierswould have disappeared.