Helpful links for more international information on Climate Change: Conservation International Environmental Defense The Nature Conservancy World View of Global Warming

The Globe and Global Warming

What is Global Warming?
Greenhouse gasses, which are released as a consequence of burning of fossil fuels, warm the planet by trapping heat which would otherwise escape from our atmosphere. Since these gasses regulate the temperature of the earth, an increase in the amount of greenhouse gasses raises the average temperature of the planet. As these gasses increase, the planet warms up which causes the global climate system to change. Scientists are reporting climate shifts across the planet, which are caused by global warming.

International Impacts
Based upon the statements of all major U.S. scientific bodies conducting research relevant to climate change, it is clear that the scientific community as a whole has reached an overwhelming consensus: climate change is real, has human causes and is a profoundly serious threat.  The National Science Academies of the United States of America , the United Kingdom , Russia , Japan , Italy , India , Germany , France , China , Canada , and Brazil , issued a statement together in 2005 warning:

“human activities are now causing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gasses … to rise well above pre-industrial levels… Increasing greenhouse gases are causing temperatures to rise … The scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action … to reduce the causes of climate change, adapt to its impacts and ensure that the issue is included in all relevant national and international strategies.” 

Human history has never before seen a threat on the scale of global warming.  The world’s social, economic and environmental systems are all vulnerable to climate shifts.  The costs and risks of global warming could be equal to to losing at least 5% of global GDP each year, over and over again, forever. This damage could rise to 20% of GDP or more.  Such a loss to the global economy each year is unthinkable.  If we do not, we could expect to see the following impacts:

Human Impacts

• Global warming will affect the poorest populations on the planet.  While developed nations have contributed to the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions, the poorest nations will suffer the worst impacts due to their locations and their lack of financial resources to adapt to the impacts of climate change. 
• Melting glaciers will raise the risk of floods during the wet season and strongly reduce water supplies during the dry seasons for one-sixth of the world’s population, especially in China , and South America.
• Decreasing crop yields, especially in Africa, are likely to leave hundreds of millions starving by taking away their ability to produce or purchase sufficient food.
• Rising sea levels will eventually result in tens to hundreds of millions more people who suffer from flood impacts each year. The most seriously threatened areas of the planet include South East Asia, small islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific, and large coastal cities, such as Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Calcutta, Karachi, Buenos Aires, St Petersburg, New York, Miami and London.
• People in developing nations will suffer increased deaths from malnutrition and heat stress. Diseases such as malaria and dengue fever could become more widespread if effective control measures are not in place. In higher latitudes, cold-related deaths will decrease.
• By 2050, 200 million more people may become permanently displaced due to rising sea levels, heavier floods, and more intense droughts, according to some estimates.
• Global warming may cause sudden shifts in regional weather patterns like the monsoons or El Niño. Such changes would have severe consequences for water availability and flooding in tropical regions and threaten the livelihoods of billions.
• Melting or collapse of ice sheets would raise sea levels and eventually threaten at least 1.5 million square miles of land, which today is home to 5% of the world’s population.

Social Impacts

• For all of the above reasons, global warming will act to increase the potential instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world where resources are already scarce and stability is threatened by a host of pressures including availability of natural resources.  Projected climate change effects may increase tensions even in stable regions. 

Impacts to Ecosystems

• While we are in the midst of the most rapid extinction rate in the history of life on earth, global warming will act to further speed up this human caused natural tragedy. 
• Ecosystems will be particularly vulnerable to climate change, with one study estimating that around 15 – 40% of species face extinction due to predicted climate change.  Some climate models are predicting extensive drying over the Amazon basin, which would cause the massive forest to dieback, leaving a graveyard of irreplaceable species where the highest concentration of biodiversity on the planet can now be found.
• Our oceans are already at a breaking point from over-fishing and habitat destruction.  Global warming threatens to place serious pressure on our already ailing oceans.  As a direct result of rising carbon dioxide levels, the oceans will become more acidic.  This will have major effects on marine ecosystems, with possible adverse consequences on fish stocks in an already crashing system.