25 Devastating Effects Of Climate Change (Part 3 of 5)

11. Small island nations could be destroyed.

“Loss of cultural world heritage and currently inhabited places to sea-level rise,” by Ben Marzeion and Anders Levermann ΔT= Change in degree Celsius.

Low-lying islands in the tropics are particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise. “It has been suggested that the very existence of some atoll nations is threatened by rising sea levels associated with global warming,” the IPCC said.

Out of the 10 nations rated with the highest protection cost compared to their GDP, eight were island nations, according to the IPCC.

Some of the threats to these islands are less obvious such as “airborne dust from the Sahara and Asia, distant source ocean swells from mid high latitudes, invasive plant and animal species and the spread of aquatic pathogens,” the report said.

Sea-level rise leads to flooding, stronger storm surge, and erosion, which can cause even more damage to small islands and coastal regions.

Climate change will also hurt fisheries, agriculture, and tourism in these regions.

In September, Baron Waqa — chair of the Alliance of Small Island States and president of Nauru — presented an address at the 2014 UN Climate Summit in which he reiterated, “No one better understands the grave risks posed by climate change than SIDS [Small Island Developing States]. Climate change and sea level rise are already threatening our viability and even our existence as sovereign nations.”

12. There could be no more reefs after 2050.

Climate change creates unfavorable conditions for the survival of coral reefs. If global and local reef threats continue, including those related to climate change, all reefs could be at risk of disappearing by 2050, according to the key findings of the World Resources Institute.

Rising ocean acidity created by higher carbon dioxide levels means fewer carbonate ions, a key ingredient for coral skeleton building. Since preindustrial times, ocean carbonate levels have dropped by 25% according to the report.

“Corals cannot survive more than a 2 degree global average temperature increase over pre-industrial levels before coral is no longer able to replace itself faster than coral bleaching will destroy it,” the report said. Temperatures are expected to rise at least that much by 2100.

Losing the reefs will also take a major toll on tourism and industry, according to the World Wildlife Fund and Earth Hour report. Coral reefs provide tourism-related income to at least 94 countries, according to the World Resources Institute. Australia faces losses of up to $6 billion and over 63,000 jobs, from Great Barrier Reef damage.

Seventy percent of the 27 countries and territories most vulnerable to reef damage are small-island states. The nine countries most vulnerable to reef degradation, including Haiti and Fiji, are very dependent on the reefs and “have limited capacity to adapt to reef loss,” wrote the World Resources Institute.

Besides being biodiversity hotspots and holding potentials for medicine, coral reefs act as a buffer to storms and erosion. One-hundred countries could lose coastal protection along almost 100,000 miles of shoreline, according to the World Resources Institute.

13. The marine food chain could fall apart.

Corals aren’t the only organisms that suffer from ocean acidification. Other animals, such as mollusks, sea urchins, and some types of plankton are also expected to suffer as the ocean’s pH drops. Many of these species are crucial to the marine ecosystem, providing an important food source for larger organisms. Their decline has the potential to cause a shift in the entire marine food web.

NOAA State Of The Coast “Along the Northern Gulf Coast, an estimated 2,400 miles of major roadway and 246 miles of freight rail lines are at risk of permanent flooding within 50 to 100 years as relative sea level is expected to rise in the range of 4 feet,” according to NOAA.

14. Within 300 years, 88% of New Orleans could be underwater.

Since 1993, mean world sea level rise has gone up between 0.11 to 0.14 inches a year, according to NOAA. As this trend continues, coastal areas of the world will be inundated with water.

This is especially disconcerting considering nearly 40% of people in the US live in these coastal areas. Eight out of the 10 largest cities in the world are near the coast.

(The percentages above are based on a New York Times interactive, which used a 5-foot sea level rise, a number that is expected to occur within 300 years.)

15. Increasing droughts will make the driest regions even drier.

Using daily precipitation data from 28 models, a 2014 study published in the journal Nature projected the frequency of dry days around the world. It found that the Mediterranean Sea region, parts of Central and South America, and western Indonesia would suffer greatly, with up to 30 extra dry days a year compared to the 1960 to 1989 average by the end of the century.

“Short-term (seasonal or shorter) droughts are expected to intensify in most U.S. regions. Longer-term droughts are expected to intensify in large areas of the Southwest, southern Great Plains, and Southeast,” according to the National Climate Assessment.

Droughts could pose a variety of threats, the IPCC said. In areas of higher drought, water stores will not be replenished and water pollutant concentrations could rise. “Climate change is projected to reduce raw water quality and pose risks to drinking water quality even with conventional treatment.”

U.S. Drought Monitor this month, nearly 15% of the country was in extreme drought, according to NOAA.

Sources: Yahoo, businessinsider.com