Indicators and Effects of Climate Change

1. Global warming• Increase in average global temperatures of the

atmosphere and oceans over the past 100 years

2. Ice sheets

• A) 65km2 in Antarctic alone! • B) rising sea levels

3.Effects• Animals- disturbed

habitat ,loss of food• Humans Loss of culture

and way of life for Inuit peoples

4. Rising sea levels

• Causes• Melting glaciers and

icecaps• Thermal expansion

• Effects• populations displaced

due to flooding of large coastal cities

5.Acidification Oceans

• Oceans absorb half the CO2 from fossil fuel use.

• Dissolved CO2 forms carbonic acid and so Ph goes down.

• Corals and other shelled organisms can’t build shells

• Fish and plankton reproduction decreases

• Commercial fishing affected

6.Health

• Temperature increase • Outbreak of disease

(hantavirus,lyme disease, malaryia,plague)

• Dust, mold ,pollen increase therefore more asthma and allergic responses

• Rainfall increase• Waterborne disease

increase• Microscopic organisms

live in water supply• Eg E. Coli

7. Heat distribution

• A) wind an precipitation patterns

• B) Most of Canada has experienced increased precipitation

8 Dessertification

• A) Loss of crops and subsequent food shortages

• B) by 2050, 75% of the world will experience water shortages

9 Hurricanes

• A) Hurricanes form over tropical oceans during the late summer and early fall

• As surface temperature of water rises so does the hurricanes intensity

10. Deforestation

Deforestation results in an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

11. Wetlands

• Wetlands store and filter water and certain vascular plants absorb pollutants