How Climate Change Affects Us - 1565 Words

Abstract The following research will explain how climate change affects us, what it has done in our past and what effects it will have on our future. Climate change is something that is happening as we speak, however, many people in our society are completely unaware of what is causing it and how it can affect the earth. Charts from NASA and The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will give a visual of how the temperatures have changed in recent years and how they will be changing in the future. Future Climate Change Forecast Climate change is a major worldwide issue that society is not yet taking seriously. So far, the climate has been changing drastically, but what we as a society should be worried about is the future of†¦show more content†¦In the past few years the oceans have been absorbing more carbon dioxide and heat from the atmosphere. When fossil fuels are burned, the carbon dioxide that is put out into the atmosphere is absorbed by the oceans. These carbon dioxide levels have also produced excess heat that is also being absorbed by the ocean. This has caused there to be an increase in temperature of 0.18 ° Fahrenheit every ten years between the years of 1970 and 2010. This has resulted in things like coral bleaching, migration of sea life, the overflow of water in wetlands and ocean acidification. (Fujita, 2013) All of these issues go hand in hand with one another. For example, when coral bleaching happens, it results in the death of corals that feed th e sea life. This then causes fish and other animals to migrate to the poles where the Arctic is melting. When the sea levels rise, this causes wetlands to â€Å"drown† and according to reports, â€Å"the sea has been rising too fast for wetlands to keep their blades above water.† (Fujita, 2013) Oceans are only a part of the issue, land is also being impacted. In the past decade or so climate change has impacted the surface temperatures on land and so far the increase of surface temperatures has been 1.08 ° Fahrenheit in the past 100 years. The Earth’s oceans have absorbed almost all of the excess heat that has been generated on Earth. If the climate change continues going the way it has it is