Effects of global warming
There are many causes of global warming. For each cause there is an effect. The only thing, is that in this page, I'm only going to talk about effects. Below are some effects of global warming.
Some effects are already occurring:
- Ice is melting worldwide, especially mountain glaciers and ice sheets in the Earth's poles, West Antarctica, Greenland, and the Arctic Sea (National Geographic Article)
- Adelie penguins in Antarctica have declined from 32000 breeding pairs to 11000 in 30 years.
- Some butterflies,foxes, and alpine plants have moved farther north or to higher and cooler areas.
- Precipitation has increased across the globe.
Other effects could happen later in this century if warming continues:
- Hurricanes and other storms are likely to become stronger.
- Floods and droughts will become more common.
- Rainfall in Ethiopia, where droughts are already common, could decline by 10 percent over the next 50 years.
- Some diseases will spread, such as malaria.
- Ecosystems will change-some species will move farther north and become successful; others won't be able to move and could become extinct.
- Sea levels are expected to rise 7-23 inches by the end of the century and continued melting at the poles could add about 4-8 inches.
