what is the effect of global warming for environment?

Question

especially for the place with very cold temperature, is it better for them?

Answer 1

global warming is complete BULLCRAP.
dont worry about it.

Answer 2

Actually the potential effects of global warming are very bad. You may say to yourself "hey its not so bad if some ice caps melt, who cares?". I'll tell who will care eventually everyone who lives in an area like Florida who are very close to sea level. Once all the polar ice caps melt it will create a massive surplus of water in the oceans. Which will in turn raise the sea levels drastically and everyone who lives close to the ocean will have to retreat to higher grounds therefore further condensing an already overpopulated human population. As far as people living in a cold environment, how would it help them? Obviously they make a living based around the fact they live in a cold environment, it would basically cause all of those areas to find new jobs. But hey as long as you listen to politicians who are basically puppets for corporations that make money destroying the environment you'll hear that global warming does not exist.

Answer 3

We are experiencing the effect of global warming right now! Tsunami's, hurricanes, tidal waves, extreme temperature changes....these are all side effects of man's destruction of the atmosphere, hence, 'global' warming. Place's that normally have very cold temperatures year-round are currently experiencing slow but definite increases in temperature. Our research scientists have proven that our ocean's temperature has risen by 3 degrees within the last few years and that has a detrimental effect on life within the oceans.

Answer 4

I'm actually amazed by the level of ignorance shown by some of the other answerers on this subject. Yes, global warming IS happening, this is a well-established trend that is NOT in dispute. There used to be a dispute over whether this warming trend was the result of human carbon dioxide production, but there is by now a lot of solid science to back this up.

As to the effects, some of these are obvious already - warming has already meant that the Arctic ice sheets are thawing out, so that during the summer months there is now no longer ice at the North Pole - you can park a boat there. This has some pros and some cons - pros include the opening of new shipping routes through the Arctic Ocean, which ironically some oil companies are happy about. Cons include damage to the ecosystem, e.g. polar bears have been starving to death because of fewer ice floes and greater distance between ice, which makes it harder for them to hunt seals, and are in danger of being driven to extinction.

This is only one example, mind you - for a more general list you might want to consult the definitive document, the Third Assessment Report produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a UN-commissioned group of climate researchers who described the state-of-the-art understanding of climate change in 2001. (The Fourth Assessment Report is due in Feb. 2007). You can read the summary for policymakers on the subject of the impacts of climate change here: http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg2/005.htm
The most severe immediate effect, much worse than sea level rise, which is frankly pretty overblown, is water shortages. Water is already pretty limited worldwide, and many parts of the world have very little of it; as the average temperature increases, droughts will be more common and water shortages are sure to become more frequent.

As to cold places in specific, I dunno too much about effects there - most of the terrible stuff will probably affect tropical regions - more hurricanes, more droughts, more severe weather in general, etc.

Postscript for the geologist below me: to suggest that because change has occurred in the past, we should not fear it in the present is, well, moronic. Another feature of "constant change" is constant extinction events. And let's not forget that the *pace* of change is at issue, here. If the environment changes so rapidly that many creatures (including ourselves) are unable to adapt reasonably quickly, the number of extinctions will go up. Yes, in the grand scheme of things this is nothing new, but so f!cking what? We don't live on a geological time scale, man.

Answer 5

The effects of global warming on the earth's environment are incalculable. However, many scientists have been doing heavy research over the past few years. Much of their findings has been gathered for Al Gore's seminar which he has put into a movie, already mentioned above by smart people, "Inconvenient Truth." I invite you to go to Gore's web site and explore. There is much to learn there, and more links to go exploring elsewhere... links you can trust, in this case.

Answer 6

Global warming is real. But the ways in which it will harm us are very bad, but surprisingly unspectactular. Sea levels will rise, flooding coastal areas. Changes in climate will disrupt agriculture.

Rich countries will be able to cope, although it will cost them huge sums of money, more than it would cost to prevent the worst from happening. In poor countries a lot of people will starve to death unless the rich countries help there, too.

Answer 7

An increase in atmospheric temperature could ultimately lead to the melting of the polar ice caps, which contain far more water than they look like they do. This will cause an overall drastic rise in the sea level and there will be worldwide flooding.

Answer 8

The ice caps start to melt, the oceans rise, cities start to sink into the ocean. Most of the world's major cities are right at the coast. Just look at a map.

Also, some plants and animals, including humans, are sensitive to temperature changes. If we get some sudden changes, then some species will die. If they die, their preditors die, and so on and so on up the so-called food-chain. Then we die.

Answer 9

no, it's way worse for them than it is for us. global warming depletes the ozone layer, the ozone layer protects the earth against harmful rays from the sun. so those harmful rays are getting in and heating up the earth, melting glaciers, raising the sea level (which will eventually put large coastal cities underwater), and raising the temperature of the earth slowly. the ozone is being depleted the most around the arctic, which is home to many animals who can't survive in warm places. polar bears, for example, living in warm places like texas have died b/c they can't handle the heat.

and when we release toxic waste into the water (through sewage systems), all that waste migrates to the arctic, where it builds up in fish, then bears and seals eat the fish, and humans eat the bears and seals. so then we get a build up of toxic chemicals in our system, causing health problems.

so releasing waste products through fossil fuels (like car exhaust) and through sewage waste especially hurts the arctic. and it slowly messes up the entire balance of the earth.

Answer 10

What is clearly lacking is knowledge that temperature is just one factor of the environment and it is not stable, and never has been stable. Sea levels are not static and never had been static. To imply that any change is terrible is moronic. To use that change as a chance to promote fear and bad science is sickening.

Answer 11

i dont know what im doin! Global warming i think melts all the ice in the world and creates huge floods maybe?!