25 Devastating Effects Of Climate Change (Part 2 of 5)

6. Hurricanes could become even scarier.

NOAA NCDC The primary billion-dollar disaster for coastal states is hurricanes. Northern and interior states are hit mostly by winter storms and tornadoes, said NOAA.

The recent National Climate Assessment found that Category 4 and 5 hurricanes (the strongest) have increased in frequency, intensity, and duration since the 1980s. It’s not yet clear how much can be attributed to human or natural causes but scientists said the “the trend is projected to continue,” and that climate change is not going to help the situation moving forward.

One of the factors responsible for this increase in hurricane intensity is warmer waters, which make great fuel for storms.

“Hurricanes tend to be self-limiting, in that they churn up deeper (usually cooler) water that can stop them from gaining strength and also weaken them. So since global warming also warms the deeper ocean, it further helps hurricanes stay stronger longer,”according to climate writer Joseph Romm.

One model predicts up to an 11% increase in hurricane intensity, as well as about a 20% rain increase within about a 60-mile radius of the storm’s center (these numbers are based on a climate scenario with an average of 2.8 degree Celsius warming).

7. Four times as many New Yorkers could live in areas that flood by 2050.

One day, New York City may have flood days the way it has snow days, Malcolm Bowman, oceanography professor at Stony Brook University in Long Island, warned on WNYC.

The graphic above shows what the Federal Emergency Management Agency flood zone might look like should extreme sea level rise occur (2.5 feet or about 0.8 meters by 2050).

“Areas in the 100-year flood zone have a 1 percent chance of being flooded annually and are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels,” NOAA said.

This zone includes several areas devastated by Hurricane Sandy, including the Brooklyn-Queens Waterfront, the East and South Shores of Staten Island, South Queens, Southern Brooklyn, and Southern Manhattan.

Since the mid-1800s, the chances of storm tide over-topping the Manhattan sea wall have increased 20%, according to one recent study, as storm water levels have risen. The researchers expect the seawall to be submerged about once every four to five years. In the 19th century, that only happened once every 100 to 400 years.

“What we are finding is that the 10-year storm tide of your great-, great-grandparents is not the same as the 10-year storm tide of today,” the lead author of the study said in the press release.

8. Millions of people and trillions in assets are at risk in coastal cities.

Assuming a sea-level rise of .5 meters by 2070, with an extra .5 to 1.5 meters to account for storms, a 2008 study ranked the most exposed cities in the world. The analysis found staggering potential losses in cities around the world.

Calcutta, India, may be the most exposed, with 14 million people and $2 trillion in assets at risk. Miami is also in big trouble with 4.8 million people and $3.5 trillion at risk.

9. 136 of the world’s most historic places could be lost to sea-level rise.

If global temperatures rise one degree C, more than 40 of the more than 700 UN world heritage sites will be seriously threatened by water within the next 2,000 years, according to a study published in Environmental Research Letters.

If temperatures rise 3 degrees C, that number rises to 136 sites. Historical city centers like Venice, Istanbul, and St. Petersburg would be among those impacted.”Loss of cultural world heritage and currently inhabited places to sea-level rise,” by Ben Marzeion and Anders Levermann The rainbow scale labeled ΔT, refers to a rise in degree Celsius. The open black circles are the sites which have already been impacted today ΔT = .8.

10. Global wheat and maize yields are already beginning to decline.

While warming temperatures might initially help certain crops, the overall picture is negative. Global crop yields are slowing down as a result of events related to climate change, like reduced rainfall and higher temperatures.

Wheat and maize have already been negatively affected in certain regions, as shown in the chart below. The IPCC points out several scenarios in which food and cereal prices have rapidly increased following extreme weather events since their last report in 2007. The new report predicts continued drops in global wheat and maize production, which could lead to food scarcity and political unrest.

Sources: Yahoo, businessinsider.com

Image Credit: tamunews.tamu.edu