Climate Change For Dummies. Elizabeth May

aggravate existing problems. At present, as many as 400 million (or 33 percent of the continent’s population) lack drinkable water, according to the World Resources Institute. The IPCC projects that some countries could see a 50-percent drop in crop yields over the same period and a 90-percent drop in revenue from farming by the year 2100. (We look at how developing nations are affected by and are addressing global warming in Chapter 12.)

      Asia

      More people call Asia home than any other continent — 4.7 billion in all. This high population, combined with the fact that most of Asia’s countries are developing, means that a lot of people won’t be able to sufficiently adapt to climate change impacts. As in Africa, climate change will bring pressures to the continent that will slow down development.

Here are some impending concerns for many parts of the continent:

       Future availability of drinkable water: This has been and continues to be a major problem because of population growth, pollution, and low or no sanitation. The IPCC projects that anywhere from 120 million to 1.2 billion people may find themselves without enough drinkable water within the next 42 years, depending on the severity of climate change. Already, rising temperatures are causing glaciers in the Himalayas to melt. These disappearing glaciers, which are the water supply to 2 billion people, are also contributing to increased avalanches and flooding.

       Rising sea levels for coastal Asia: The IPCC reports that mangroves, coral reefs, and wetlands will be harmed by higher sea levels and warming water temperatures. Unfortunately, this slightly salty water won’t be good for freshwater organisms, as a whole. (See Chapter 8 for more about the impact global warming will have on the oceans.)

       Illnesses: They’re also expected to rise because of global warming. Warmer seawater temperatures could also mean more, and more intense, cases of cholera. Scientists project that people in South and Southeast Asia will experience more cases of diarrheal disease, which can be fatal. (Chapter 9 offers more information about how global warming might increase the environmental conditions that promote the spread of diseases.)

      Australia and New Zealand

      If you ask an Australian or a Kiwi about global warming, you probably won’t get any argument about its negative effects. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Australia has experienced increased extreme and deadly bush fires, heat waves, less snow, and changes in rainfall. Extreme drought conditions persisted from 2003 to 2012 and from 2017 to today. This heat and lack of precipitation will likely worsen while global warming’s effects intensify.

      

The ozone layer in the Earth’s atmosphere is sort of like sunscreen for the planet — ozone intercepts some of the ultraviolet radiation that causes sunburn and skin cancer. The use of chlorofluorocarbons for refrigerants and other purposes caused the ozone layer to get thinner, resulting in an ozone hole over Australia and New Zealand. Partly as a result, Australians have the highest incidence of skin cancer on Earth. In 1987, the nations of the world came together to regulate the use of these chemicals, and their concentration in the atmosphere continues to decrease and the ozone layer is making a comeback. But now, increasing average temperatures in Australia and New Zealand are compounding these effects — one problem reduced by international cooperation is still affected by the lack of international cooperation on another.

Climate change has also strongly affected the ocean. Sea levels have already risen 2.8 inches (70 millimeters) in Australia since the 1950s, and increasing ocean temperatures threaten the Great Barrier Reef. The reef is at risk of bleaching, half its coral has disappeared since 1995 and the possibility that it may be lost altogether is becoming more real. (See Chapter 8 for details.)

      Small islands

      You probably aren’t surprised to hear that when it comes to climate change, rising sea levels and more extreme storms create an enormous risk for small islands everywhere, such as the South Pacific island of Tuvalu. Some islands will simply disappear due to rising sea levels if global efforts to limit global warming aren’t successful. Here are other climate-related concerns for small island nations:

       Forests vulnerable to major storms: Storms can easily topple island forests because a forest’s small area doesn’t provide much of a buffer and the root systems of trees are generally quite shallow on islands.

       Limited resources: Some islands can’t adapt physically and/or financially.

       Proximity of population to the ocean: At least 50 percent of island populations live within a mile (1.5 kilometers) of water, and these populations are threatened by rising sea levels. Tsunamis (they used to be called tidal waves) caused by earthquakes and volcanoes, and storm surges from hurricanes and typhoons do much more damage when the ordinary level of the sea surrounding an island is even a little higher than it used to be.

       Risks to drinkable water: The intrusion of ocean saltwater because of rising sea levels could contaminate islands’ drinkable water, which is already limited on most islands.

       Reliance on tourism: Beach erosion and coral reef damage, two possible effects of climate change, would undermine tourism, which many islands rely on for their source of income.

       Vulnerable agriculture: Island agriculture, often a key part of the local economy, is extremely susceptible to harmful saltwater intrusions, as well as floods and droughts.

      Polar regions

      The planet’s polar regions are feeling climate change’s effects more intensely than anywhere else in the world. Warming temperatures are melting the ice and thawing the permafrost (the permanently frozen layer of earth in northern regions of Alaska, Canada, and Siberia) that used to be solid ground.

The Arctic is home to many changes brought on by global warming, including the following:

       Lost traditions: Some indigenous people who make their homes in the Arctic are having to abandon their traditional ways of life. The Arctic ice and ecosystem are both core to many of these people’s cultures and livelihoods. For more on this issue, flip ahead to Chapter 9.

       Melting ice: The Greenland ice sheet is melting, adding to sea level rise. Arctic ice is also steadily losing ice volume. All of this melting is diluting ocean waters and affecting ocean currents.

       New plant life: Greenery and new plants have been appearing in the Arctic in recent years. The tree line (where tree growth use to end and tundra began) is shifting farther north, but the soil isn’t there to support a forest. Soils and ecosystems take thousands of years to develop — the changes happening now are rapid and unpredictable.

      

Some people look forward to the changes that the Arctic is experiencing. Now that so much sea ice has melted, ships can navigate the Arctic Ocean more efficiently, taking shorter routes. Without any sense of irony, oil companies now keenly anticipate being able to reach more fossil fuels below what used to be unreachable areas because of ice cover. Communities in the Arctic may be able to harness river flows that have been boosted or created by ice melt to run hydroelectric power. But these short-term economic developments can’t outweigh the negative planetary impacts.

      In the Antarctic, some scientists project major change because of global warming, thinking there’s a chance that the western Antarctic ice