Effect/Consequence of Global Warming:

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/impacts-of-global-warming.html
Global Warming Impact on Plants Global warming will trigger numerous changes in climatic conditions, and this climate change will in turn trigger the extinction of various plant species. These plants have taken years together to adapt to the conditions in which they thrive today, any changes in these climatic conditions now will result in adverse effects on these species. Climate change, i.e. change in pattern of seasons to be precise, will also alter the growing season of these plants, which will in turn affect their reproduction cycle. It will be difficult for these species to undergo the entire adaptation process all over, and in this process many of these species will become extinct. Irregularities in precipitation, irrespective of whether it is drought or flood, will affect various plant species including agricultural crops. Global Warming Impact on Animals If you thought the impact of global warming on plants was severe, the same will be even more harsh on numerous animal species. In fact, the global warming effects on animals have already begun, and a look at the list of extinct animals is full of evidence of the same. The Monteverde golden toad endemic to the rainforests of Cost Rica was one of the first casualties of global warming. It became extinct as a result of habitat loss, when extremely hot summers dried up the lake which this species inhabited. The list of endangered animals also includes a number of animal species which have lost their natural habitat as a result of global warming. The relationship between polar bears and global warming best explains the effects and consequences of global warming on animals. Melting of polar ice as a result of global warming has resulted in loss of habitat for this species, and this has forced the species to move further north. The same trend has been witnessed in almost all the biomes of the world, including the ocean biome wherein coral reefs are fighting for their basic existence in warm ocean water. Global Warming Impact on Humans Without plants and animals, it will be impossible for us to survive on this planet. We are dependent on these plant and animal species for everything - including the basics such as oxygen and food. Only plants have the ability to prepare their own food by resorting to the process of photosynthesis - the same energy is eventually transferred to us when we eat plants or eat animals which feed on these plants. We are just a part of the food chain, if any link of this chain is broken everybody, including us, will have to bear the brunt of the same. That was about our dependence on plants and animals, but our woes are not just restricted to global warming effects on plants and animals. When this hazardous phenomenon will reach its peak, we will have to face a number of problems. Global warming and melting glaciers are closely associated, and so are their impacts on humans. Glaciers act as freshwater reservoirs on the planet, and if they melt we will be left devoid of water to drinking. Similarly, glacial melting at high altitude will also trigger flash floods in the surrounding. All this water will be drained into the oceans, and that in turn will result in sea level rise. As sea level continues to rise all the low lying area and tiny islands will get submerged. Maldives islands sinking is one of the best evidence of this global warming problems. When water from melting glaciers enters the sea, the warm and cold water currents will result in conditions ideal for formation of hurricanes. As a result of this, the frequency of hurricanes will increase. Warm climate will also come as a blessing for various disease spreading insects, and thus some diseases which are restricted to tropical areas as of today will spread to various other regions. Extreme weather - drought, floods and lengthy or short growing seasons, will destroy the agricultural sector, and that will leave us devoid of food. What are the Positive Impacts of Global Warming? While the whole has been divided between those think global warming is really occurring or not, there does exist a group of people who are optimist about this phenomenon. These people are of the opinion that only the negative impacts of global warming are highlighted every now and then, but the fact is that there do exist some positive impacts of the same as well. These people argue that longer summer will mean longer growing seasons, and this will result in more crop produce. Similarly, melting of ice in certain areas around Antarctica will make these waterways navigable and help marine transport. Warmer

winters will also mean that we would have face less number of devastating snow storms. While rise in sea level will turn out to be a boon when it comes to the development of tidal energy, formation of estuaries will add to the biodiversity of the planet. A large section of the scientists who are working on global warming impacts refute these claims as mere optimism. More importantly, all these positive effects are easily overshadowed by numerous negative global warming effects, and therefore we should stop being so optimist and start putting in efforts to curb the hazards associated with global warming. That must have given you a rough idea as to what are the impacts of global warming on the environment, with special emphasis on its impact on plants, animals and humans. It's high time we take the seriousness of this issue into consideration, and start working to save our planet. While the concerned authorities continue to ponder upon various global warming solutions at the international level, we can do our bit by resorting to some simple yet effective tips to fight stop global warming in order to save our planet. Over the period of time, the problem of global warming has become so intense that it will take mammoth efforts on our behalf to reduce the intensity of various global warming effects on Earth, if not get rid of them totally.

http://www.acoolerclimate.com/effects-of-global-warming/

What Are The Effects of Global Warming on Earth?

The effects could be enormous. Relative to the hectic pace of your daily life, global warming is a slow-moving problem. But that does not mean you should wait and see what happens. If we wait, we may be creating an unsolvable problem, an unstoppable climatic shift that could have devastating impacts in years to come. The majority of effects will be devastating to human and animal populations. An insecure food supply, increased frequency and intensity of storms, and rapidly rising sea levels are just a handful of the possible effects you will see in coming years. But it isnt too late. You can even take action right now to help stop global warming!

Destroying Earth As You Know It

The effects could be far greater than you imagine. Global warming does not occur evenly across the world. Temperature changes have been, and will be, much more extreme in the Arctic and Antarctic. A 5 degree Fahrenheit warming for the whole world means only 1 degree at the equator, but 12 degrees at the poles.[1] Global temperatures have already risen about .8 degrees Celsius, or 1.4 degree Fahrenheit.[2] The arctic tundra is melting already, which may be causing an increase in methane levels in the atmosphere. A mysterious spike in atmospheric methane was measured in 2007.[3] In addition, the rate of carbon increase in the atmosphere is accelerating each year, which may also be related to the thawing of arctic areas. You may be contributing to a positive feedback loop whereby the warming of polar regions puts more carbon and methane into the atmosphere, thus causing yet more warming in an unstoppable cycle.

Dangerous Weather Patterns

Increased storm activity and intensity is caused by global warming. Did you know in the last several years, even insurance companies have faced regular, increasing costs from these types

of storms? Sadly, you are likely to see the ravages of global warming induced weather on the economy become yet more severe in the future. Severe drought and flooding will occur as weather pattern become more extreme. Unfortunately, the worlds economic and agricultural systems rely on existing patterns of weather, and as global warming changes these patterns, our ability to produce food is declining. The overall trend is clear, regardless of knowing if any particular weather change was caused by global warming. Increased overall average temperatures cause more extreme weather, more devastating storms, and more severe and prolonged droughts and floods. These changes impact ecosystems and the human economy.

Unstable Agriculture and Economy

The price you pay for food is getting higher already as a result of global warming effects on agriculture. Whats worse is that this is leaving many of the worlds hungry in a desperate situation, unable to afford adequate food. In the future, it could make it so hard for humans to grow enough food that even wealthy people experience food scarcity. We depend on a predictable climate to keep our agricultural markets and our economy as a whole stable. Climate change makes our markets unstable, less efficient, and thus more expensive. Prices are increasing for a number of reasons, a few of which are not related to global warming, but global warming induced heat waves have already been shown to reduce grain harvests in India, Canada, and the U.S. significantly.[4] Drought conditions have doubled since 1970.[5] Many plants become less productive or will not pollinate when it gets too hot.[6] For all of these reasons, we should be concerned about the impacts of climate change on agriculture and food scarcity.

Effects on Animals
The danger to animals is severe as well. As sea levels rise and lowland coastal areas are flooded, many animal species will be harmed. Coastal areas serve as natural hatcheries for fish and are home to a greater diversity of land and sea creatures than any other ecosystem. The flooding of coastal estuaries by rising sea levels would have dramatic effects on animals across the world. Countless species will be wiped out if global warming continues unchecked. It could play a major role in the extinction of many species that are crucial to stabilizing the food chain that you and I (and countless other animals) depend on for our food. It will surely mean an end to the polar bear, which depends on sea ice for hunting.[7]

http://curiosity.discovery.com/topic/pollution/worst-effects-global-warming.htm

Top 10 Worst Effects of Global Warming

1. Rising Sea Level 2. 3.
4.

Shrinking Glaciers Heat Waves

EL NIO

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Storms and Floods Drought Disease Economic Consequences Conflicts and War Loss of Biodiversity

http://www.aip.org/history/climate/impacts.htm

What do we know about the impacts of global warming?

A large body of scientific studies, exhaustively reviewed, has produced a long list of possibilities. Nobody can say that any of the items on the list are certain to happen. But the world's climate experts almost all agree that the impacts listed below are more likely than not to happen. For some items, the probabilities range up to almost certain. The following are the likely consequences of warming by a few degrees Celsius that is, what we may expect if humanity manages to begin restraining its emissions soon, so that greenhouse gases do not rise beyond twice the pre-industrial level. Without strong action the doubling will come well before the end of this century, bringing the planet to temperatures not seen since the spread of agriculture. By 2007, many of the predicted changes were observed to be actually happening. For details see reports referenced in this footnote: (22) * Most places will continue to get warmer, especially at night and in winter. The temperature change will benefit some regions while harming others for example, patterns of tourism will shift. The warmer winters will improve health and agriculture in some areas, but globally, mortality will rise and food supplies will be endangered due to more frequent and extreme summer heat waves and other effects. Regions not directly harmed will suffer indirectly from higher food prices and a press of refugees from afflicted regions. * Sea levels will continue to rise for many centuries. The last time the planet was 3C warmer than now, the sea level was at least 6 meters (20 feet) higher.(23) That submerged coastlines where many millions of people now <=Sea rise & live, including cities from New York to Shanghai. The rise will probably be ice so gradual that later generations can simply abandon their parents' homes, but a ruinously swift rise cannot be entirely ruled out. Meanwhile storm surges will cause emergencies. * Weather patterns will keep changing toward an intensified water cycle with stronger floods and droughts. Most regions now subject to droughts will probably get drier (because of warmth as well as less precipitation), and most wet regions will get wetter. Extreme weather events will become more frequent and worse. In particular, storms with more intense rainfall are liable to bring worse floods. Some places will get more snowstorms, but most mountain glaciers and winter snowpack will shrink, jeopardizing important water supply systems. Each of these things has already begun to happen in some regions.(24) * Ecosystems will be stressed, although some managed agricultural and forestry systems will benefit, at least in the early decades of warming. Uncounted valuable species, especially in the Arctic, mountain areas, and tropical seas, must shift their ranges. Many that cannot will face extinction. A variety of pests and tropical diseases are expected to spread to warmed regions. These problems have already been observed in numerous places.

* Increased carbon dioxide levels will affect biological systemsindependent of climate change. Some crops will be fertilized, as will some invasive weeds (the balance of benefit vs. harm is uncertain). The oceans will continue to <=Biosphere become markedly more acidic, gravely endangering coral reefs, and probably harming fisheries and other marine life. * There will be significant unforeseen impacts. Most of these will probably be harmful, since human and natural systems are well adapted to the present climate. The climate system and ecosystems are complex and only partly understood, so there is a chance that the impacts will not be as bad as predicted. There is a similar chance of impacts grievously worse than predicted. If the CO2 level keeps rising to well beyond twice the pre-industrial level along with a rise of other greenhouse gases, as must inevitably happen if we do not take strong action soon, the results will certainly be worse. Under a "business as usual" scenario, recent calculations give even odds that global temperature will rise 5C or more by the end of the century causing a radical reorganization and impoverishment of many of the ecosystems that sustain our civilization.(25) All this is projected to happen to people who are now alive. What of the more distant future? If emissions continue to rise for a century whether because we fail to rein them in, or because we set off an unstoppable feedback loop in which the warming itself causes ever more greenhouse gases to be evaporated into the air then the gases will reach a level that the Earth has not seen since tens of millions of years ago. The consequences will take several centuries to be fully realized, as the Earth settles into its new state. It is probable that, as in the distant geological eras with high CO2, sea levels will be many tens of meters higher and the average global temperature will soar far above the present value: a planet grossly unlike the one to which the human species is adapted.
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/5-deadliest-effects-of-globalwarming/276?image=1

20 Deadliest Effects of Global Warming 1. Spread of Diseases 2. Warmer waters and more hurricanes 3. Increased probability and the intensity of droughts and heat waves 4. Economic Consequences 5. Polar Ice Caps Melting 6. More Floods 7. Fires and Wildfires 8. Destructive Storms

9. Death by smog 10. Desertification 11. Tsunamis 12. Cold Waves 13. Increased Volcanic activity 14. More dangerous Thunderstorms 15. Migration, conflict and wars 16. More outbreaks of deadly diseases 17. Loss of diversity and animal extinction 18. Death of ocean Lives 19. Animal Attacks 20. Diminished food and water supply
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gweffects/
Some impacts from increasing temperatures are already happening.

Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earths poles. This includes mountain glaciers, ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice. Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the decline of the Adlie penguins on Antarctica, where their numbers have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years. Sea level rise became faster over the last century. Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have moved farther north or to higher, cooler areas. Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average. Spruce bark beetles have boomed in Alaska thanks to 20 years of warm summers. The insects have chewed up 4 million acres of spruce trees. Other effects could happen later this century, if warming continues.

Sea levels are expected to rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 and 59 centimeters) by the end of the century, and continued melting at the poles could add between 4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters). Hurricanes and other storms are likely to become stronger. Species that depend on one another may become out of sync. For example, plants could bloom earlier than their pollinating insects become active. Floods and droughts will become more common. Rainfall in Ethiopia, where droughts are already common, could decline by 10 percent over the next 50 years. Less fresh water will be available. If the Quelccaya ice cap in Peru continues to melt at its current rate, it will be gone by 2100, leaving thousands of people who rely on it for drinking water and electricity without a source of either. Some diseases will spread, such as malaria carried by mosquitoes. Ecosystems will changesome species will move farther north or become more successful; others wont be able to move and could become extinct. Wildlife research scientist Martyn Obbard has found that since the mid-1980s, with less ice on which to live and fish for food, polar bears have gotten considerably skinnier. Polar bear biologist Ian Stirling has found a similar pattern in Hudson Bay. He fears that if sea ice disappears, the polar bears will as well.

Source for climate information: IPCC, 2007