climatechange2015

Climate change is the long term changes in a regions overall weather patterns including cloud cover, precipitation and temperatures .This change in climate is majorly caused by irresponsible human activities including burning of fossil fuels for energy,deforestation,pollution in cities and much more agents of climate change.

Climate change causes three broad major effects to the environment. These include unpredictable weather and climate extremes, modified ecosystems and habitats and finally risks to human society and health.as climatic patterns drastically shifts, land and sea habitats too changes, this makes these regions inhospitable for most species. This has result to extinction of many plants and animals from the face of the earth. Most evidently is the death of coral reefs and shellfish in the ocean waters. Coral reefs are highly sensitive to mild changes in temperature. The heat stresses the algae that nourish the coral hence the coral dies out of starvation. Due to climate change, the ph. of water bodies gets altered. A more acidic ocean alters the normal calcium balance; hence organisms with calcified shells such as coral and shellfish may not have enough calcium for growth.

Due to emission of greenhouse gases, there is rapid increase in the temperature of the universe. This steady increase causes the glacier, planets’ snow pack and sea and fresh water ice to melt. This phenomenon contributes to increase in sea level. The increased evaporation of water accelerates the occurrences of storms and hurricanes.it causes the coastal flooding more worse and in arid areas, it intensifies wildfires and drought. These effects cause untold destruction of properties, loss of lives and death of animals. Climate change has resulted to displacement of people; this occurs due to increased number and severity in weather related disasters which destroy homes and forces people to look for other areas for shelter and settlement.

Climate change has seen the increased food shortage and poverty levels in the continent. Climate change is a major threat to agriculture. The time and where we grow food is directly dependent on the climatic normal patterns. This implies that unfavorable climatic conditions results to food insecurity. This has led to death of many people out of poverty. The drying of veld grasses has result to death of animals depending on grass for food and the drying of water reservoirs has created a huge problem for living things.

A warmer polluted atmosphere increases the chemical reactions. These results to formation of smog, a low zone substance that causes visibility problems. It is also a profound lung irritant and major trigger of asthma attacks. Climate change has seen the increase in cancer related diseases such as skin cancers. Mild winters and long summers have seen the thriving of tree killing insects. Due to prolonged drought, these trees have weakened defense mechanisms. These have seen the death of over 70 000square miles of rocky mountain conifers. Increased precipitation has seen the multiplication of mosquito in the tropics. This occurs since precipitation expands larval habitat and food supply. Malaria kills approximately 300 000 children annually posing a great threat through temperature increase.

Effect of climate change are numerous and if agent of climate change are not put on check, probably the entire human, animal and plant species will be extinct. Anthropogenic activities that results to climate change should be shunned off.

Reference

1. Environmental defense fund (n.d) retrieved from http://www.edf.org/climate/climate-change-impacts

2. Effects of climate change on humans (n.) retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_climate_change_on_humans

3. Eco life (n.d) definition of climate change retrieved from http://www.ecolife.com/define/climate-change.html