Global Warming effects

Green house gases stay can stay in the atmosphere for an amount of years ranging from decades to hundreds and thousands of years. No matter what we do, global warming is going to have some effect on Earth. Here are the 5 deadliest effects of global warming.

5. Spread of disease As northern countries warm, disease carrying insects migrate north, bringing plague and disease with them. Indeed some scientists believe that in some countries thanks to global warming, malaria has not been fully eradicated.

Malaria was eradicated in Peru 40 years ago, but deforestation and global warming are resulting in a resurgence in the mosquito-borne disease in the Peruvian Amazon.

Over 64,000 cases of malaria have been reported in Peru this year, almost half in the Amazon region of the country, and most doctors think there are many more unreported cases deeper in the jungle.

According to Andean Health Organization doctor Hugo Rodriguez, "Malaria is present. There have been 32,000 cases this year in this area alone - that says malaria is very much present." He added that "now we are not talking about eradicating malaria any more, as that is impossible and unsustainable; we are doing our best to try and control it."

Climate change is causing the revival of the disease. Out of season rain is leaving puddles containing infected larvae in previously unaffected areas. Logging is also to blame. Cutting down trees spreads the mosquitoes and their larvae to new areas.

Scientific studies have shown a link between deforestation and malaria in the past. A recent Peruvian study showed that mosquitoes in deforested areas were 300 times more likely to bite than mosquitoes in unlogged areas. The majority of the victims are the loggers themselves. Malaria victims in the Amazon are at a particularly high risk. There are very few health clinics in the Amazon even in heavily populated areas.

4. Warmer waters and more hurricanes As the temperature of oceans rises, so will the probability of more frequent and stronger hurricanes. We saw in this in 2004 and 2005.

3. Increased probability and intensity of droughts and heat waves Although some areas of Earth will become wetter due to global warming, other areas will suffer serious droughts and heat waves. Africa will receive the worst of it, with more severe droughts also expected in Europe. Water is already a dangerously rare commodity in Africa, and according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global warming will exacerbate the conditions and could lead to conflicts and war.

2. Economic consequences Most of the effects of anthropogenic global warming won’t be good. And these effects spell one thing for the countries of the world: economic consequences. Hurricanes cause do billions of dollars in damage, diseases cost money to treat and control and conflicts exacerbate all of these.

1. Polar ice caps melting The ice caps melting is a four-pronged danger.

First, it will raise sea levels. There are 5,773,000 cubic miles of water in ice caps, glaciers, and permanent snow. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, if all glaciers melted today the seas would rise about 230 feet. Luckily, that’s not going to happen all in one go! But sea levels will rise.

Second, melting ice caps will throw the global ecosystem out of balance. The ice caps are fresh water, and when they melt they will desalinate the ocean, or in plain English - make it less salty. The desalinization of the gulf current will "screw up" ocean currents, which regulate temperatures. The stream shutdown or irregularity would cool the area around north-east America and Western Europe. Luckily, that will slow some of the other effects of global warming in that area!

Third, temperature rises and changing landscapes in the artic circle will endanger several species of animals. Only the most adaptable will survive.

Fourth, global warming could snowball with the ice caps gone. Ice caps are white, and reflect sunlight, much of which is relected back into space, further cooling Earth. If the ice caps melt, the only reflector is the ocean. Darker colors absorb sunlight, further warming the Earth.