Besides making things warmer, how does global warming effect us?

Question

How exactly is it caused?

What educated and sophisticated answers! I can't choose between any, so I'll let the answers community vote on it! Good luck!

Answer 1

It's making the ice in Alaska melt,which is STARTING to drone us.

Answer 2

No-one is sure whether on not we are causing it (though there is considerable evidence, there is, as yet, no "proof"). The speculation is that the CO2 we churn out as industrialized nations is adding a thicker-than-historically-normal layer of this gas in the upper atmosphere, and that layer is acting just like the glass on the outside of a greenhouse, trapping warmer air close to the ground and raising the average temperature all around the
world. (Ironically, this layer of "insulation" is also making our average winter temperatures lower).

There is no doubt that the warming is happening, the only doubt is whether or not we are causing it.

The impact of warming will be a rise in sea-level, a lengthening of the growing season between the tropics (which might sound good, but remember, that means mosquitos as well as oranges!), and the destruction of habitat for many critters and plants that live in colder climes. The problem with all this (as we have discovered on a small scale in the past) is that a very small, seemingly beneficial change in the ecology can sometimes cause absolute disaster. Australia introduced cane toads to solve a mosquito problem; Cane toads, it turns out, don't much like Australian mosquitos, so now that continent has a serious Cane Toad problem in addition to the mosquito problem.

Answer 3

The speculation is that habitats on the planet will shift. Palm trees wil begin growing farther north than they are now, etc. This means an increase in invasive species. There is also speculation about the spread of disease, old and new. Then there is the economic problem of shifting populations of people: If coastal areas flood this will create a very large shift in populations. Think hurricane Katrina X 10,000 in slow motion.
Global warming is caused by increasing greenhouse gasses and more heat from the sun is captured. But it is a complex problem. More heat may mean more clouds and more reflected sunlight which may lead to cooling. And this whole argument may be moot if we experience a really great volcano, which would cause cooling. We'll have to wait and see.

Answer 4

It is caused because some gasses in the atmosphere, like CO2 hold heat better than nitrogen and oxygen.

Warmer is nothing. The consequences to the economy is what will really hurt us. There already is a 7-year drought in the Midwest--and a 30-year drought in the Darfur region of Africa both of these the early manifestations of climate change.

What will happen to the economy when everybody in the coastal cities (Miami, New York, LA, etc. have to move inland they way residents from New Orleans did in 2006?

Answer 5

Think of it rather as "climate change."

Climate change is changing the intensity and frequency of storms, droughts and fire, raising the level of the oceans, and melting glaciers.

As temperatures rise, so do the risks of heat-related illness and even death for the most vulnerable human populations.

In 2003, for example, extreme heat waves caused more than 20,000 deaths in Europe and more than 1,500 deaths in India. Scientists have linked the deadly heat waves to climate change and warn of more to come.

Diseases and pests that were once limited to the tropics — such as mosquitoes that carry malaria — may find hospitable conditions in new areas that were once too cold to support them.

It also affects the economy. Industries such as fishing, ski and coastal vacation resorts will be impacted. Ports and shore infrastructures will have to be replaced as shorelines are changed (either raising or lowering).