Impacts:
- Rising Seas
- Changes in rainfall patterns
- Increased likelihood of extreme events Such as flooding, hurricanes, etc.
- Melting of the ice caps — loss of habitat near the poles. Polar bears are now thought to be greatly endangered by the shortening of their feeding season due to dwindling ice packs.
- Melting glaciers – significant melting of old glaciers is already observed.
- Widespread vanishing of animal populations — following widespread habitat loss.
- Spread of disease — migration of diseases such as malaria to new, now warmer, regions.
- Bleaching of Coral Reefs due to warming seas and acidification due to carbonic acid formation — One third of coral reefs now appear to have been severely damaged by warming seas.
- Loss of Plankton due to warming seas