Global warming, or climate change, is the noticed century-long rise in the average temperature of the Earth’s climate system, alongside the related effects that result from this increase.
“The Earth’s climate has been changing throughout history. In the last 650,000 years, there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era—and of human civilisation. Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives,” NASA said.
The average surface temperature of the planet has risen by about 1.1 degrees Celsius since the late 19th century. The change was mainly the result of the increased emissions of carbon dioxide and other human-induced emissions into the atmosphere, with most of the warming occurring in the past 35 years. Interestingly, the warmest year on record was 2016.
It goes without saying that such changes will have significant impacts on the globe, as well as on many aspects of the lives of humans on Earth. One important aspect is the economy. The increase in the average temperature of the planet will not come without consequences, of course, and concerns are growing about the serious inevitable environmental and economic consequences if no proper action is taken across the globe in order to reduce the carbon emissions quickly and profoundly.
Some of the consequences include a noticeable negative effect on farming across the world. This will be the aspect most affected, according to Forbes. “Places where we used to grow crops may become too arid or too wet for what currently grows there. The location of where humans grow things will change. Places closer to the poles which have been too cold to have decent growing seasons will become more arable. Places that used to be the right temperature for a crop will become too hot,” Forbes reported.
Additionally, the levels of oceans will rise, which will naturally result in a change in existing shorelines, which has already happened several times since the existence of the Earth. However, in humans’ time, which is a much smaller scale, such changes tend to be rather rare. With the inevitable changes in shorelines, in order to adapt, some humans will, by necessity, either turn to new types of homes or migration. “The oceans have absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 700 metres (about 2,300 feet) of ocean showing warming of 0.302 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969,” NASA said.
“In terms of economic impacts, this will mean a lot of new home construction. It may also mean deconstruction, as well, depending on how humans feel about letting the oceans destroy things, or about cleaning up after ourselves,” Forbes said. In addition, humans will migrate their existing investments, which will likely increase competition for property in desirable areas.
Additionally, as the world continues to heat up, there will be more demand for air conditioning, which will require greater use of energy, which could drive up the use and cost of fossil fuels. However, the price of fossil fuels has been decreasing lately, as humans have developed more and more resources.
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a non-profit science advocacy organisation based in the US, said in an article about the costs of global climate changes that there will be severe damage over time to property and infrastructure, in addition to lost productivity as a result of the disruptions to daily life due to lost work and school days, harm to trade, transportation, agriculture, fisheries, energy production, and tourism. Additionally, civil unrest and military intervention might also be the results of this growing change in climate change.
Sofia News Agency (novinite.com), an English-language Bulgarian news provider, recently published an article warning about the consequences of a half-degree increase in the planet’s average temperature. “According to climate scientists at Princeton University, an extra half degree of warming would trigger additional sea level rise, flooding coastal regions and islands currently inhabited by some five million people,” Novinite reported. This will likely result in the displacement of these people from their homes.
