The last decade (2000-2010) is said to be the warmest one since 1880. This shows us that despite the fact of many people knowing the importance of global warming and what sort of adverse effects it can bring on earth, it’s still a growing problem as burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil is still happening. While some changes due to global warming have begun others are in process to begin anytime soon, if we fail to stop taking care of earth. In this article, you’ll find three deadly consequences of global warming on our planet.
1. Melting Glaciers and Sea Levels
According to a study if the current level of melting continues then most of the glaciers will be gone till 2070. The melting glaciers can be deadly as they will raise the sea levels thus causing floods. Moreover, due to melting ice caps many animals in the north won’t be able to survive and one of the known species is Polar Bears who are now endangered as they have to swim longer distances now to get to ice floes. According to studies, if this continues Alaska will have no more Polar Bears in 2050.
Additionally, the melting ice caps result in creating fresh water which when mixed in oceans will make the oceans less salty. This will mess up the ocean currents which regulate temperatures.
2. Higher Chances of Droughts and Heat Waves
Droughts are also present in the present world, however with global warming even though some part of world will be wetter or flooded to say but others will be hit by droughts thus leaving many animals to die as well as humans to suffer. Africa, the region where water is already a scarce and very important resource will be most affected due to such droughts. The scarcity of water in other regions of world will also cause wars and conflicts among nations or even within the nations. Moreover, increase in heat waves can also prove deadly. In North America, the month of July in 2006 proved deadly as 225 people died due to sever heat waves. Lastly, dry weather also contributes to wild fires which are very difficult to contain and the increase in such fires while water being scarce will be certainly problematic.
3. Increased Cold Waves
You might be thinking that global warming should only mean warmer and dry weather. However, melting of glacial ice also causes the weather patterns to change. This happens mainly because the melted ice leads to redirection of polar air current among other reasons. Therefore, cold waves can disrupt daily lives, damage pipelines, crops and other communications as well due to extreme low temperatures and if the cold waves accompany snowfalls then they can prove even more deadly. In the winter of 2009-2010, more or less 150 people died due to extreme cold weather in major parts of Europe along with the UK, for which it was the coldest weather since three decades. The number of deaths that were caused indirectly due to cold weather is not clear.
These are just three deadly consequences of global warming among many others. However, they should be enough to convince us to leave any such practices which leads to global warming and protect our home, the earth.
