Major flooding in the UK this year, and the worst draught in history last year. People are panic buying water, and insurance companies are raising premiums hugely. That's what's been happening in just a two year span. What do you think the next 10 years will be like?
2007-07-23 07:24:28 · 25 answers · asked by cheryl m 3 in Environment ➔ Global Warming
Scientists don't know exactly what the world will look, like but you're right that today's disasters give a scary preview of what is likely to come.
- What used to be a "hurricane of a lifetime" will be more likely to happen.
- Drought will be more common in some regions.
- Downpours and flooding will be more usual in other areas.
- Wildfires will be more likely as conditions are drier and hotter .
- Sea levels will continue to inch up, but in just 10 years the rise is not likely to cause major disruptions.
If that's too depressing, make sure to check out what you can do to help: http://fightglobalwarming.com/page.cfm?tagID=135
2007-07-23 07:36:52 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 5⤋
It won't really be all that different to what it is now. Global warming and climate change are gradual processes and in short periods of time such as a year or ten years the effects will be relatively small. Think back to what the climate was like 10 years ago and compare it to the climate of today, this is the sort of differnce we'll see in ten years time.
True, climate change is accelerating but not to the point that there will be dramatic changes. For example, the average global temperature is currently rising by 0.0177°C per year, if this continues then it will be a little less than 0.2°C warmer. Some places are more susceptible to climate change than others but taken as a whole, then the world won't be too much different.
What we see in respect of climate changes are long term trends - a warming trend, a trend showing more droughts, floods etc. Such trends are set to continue into the future and the incidence of such events will increase.
In 50 years or 100 years the effects will be more pronounced but even then there will be a great many people who live out their lives and avoid the adverse effects of climate change.
Here's a webpage that looks at how climate change could affect us in the future - http://profend.com/global-warming/pages/future.html and here's a page looking at the present effects - http://profend.com/global-warming/pages/effects.html
2007-07-23 14:57:10 · answer #2 · answered by Trevor 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
although global warming is a very real thing, most people have little clue as to how it will affect us. will england be a desert? i wouldn't worry about that. but will there be deserts in 10 years that don't exist now? most assuredly.
you can look forward to more extensive desertification in africa and other places for sure. and this is important because what it boils down to is less arable land, fewer crops, less food production. combine that with a population explosion that is out of control and the result is serious increases in starvation. as a brit you are lucky in some ways; a wealthy and progressive nation, england can stave off the effects somewhat. but where do you think the people from these desert areas will flee to?
rain forests are another important consideration. cut down a rain forest and you cause serious climatic change. trees exhale water. that's those clouds up there. result is less clouds meaning less rain. the rain that does come down runs off quickly. the water table drops. result more desertification.
the bozos above who shrug all this off will be the first to panic. it's not like this is anything new, we've known about this for decades. more cities, more cars, more people, less food. not like it's just one little thing; it's nature in change. and it's man's impact on the planet that is causing much of the change.
2007-07-23 23:37:38 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's such a difficult time for young people who are experiencing these events for the first time and living in a period when the media thrive on stirring public panic.
Try to bear in mind that ALL these events occur in the UK every 50-100-150 years as a CYCLE of natural events that are probably not related to overall climate change, which is a very slow process over centuries.
In 10 years our weather might well be just very plain and ordinary, however what you know of these days will prepare you for times when it's not, so learn from what you've experienced now and try your best not to remain in a state of worry about it all.
2007-07-24 01:01:19 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I tend to feel that it is great conceit on the part of man to imagine that he can influence nature. The power of nature is such that anything we do is comparatively small, even nuclear explosions, when compared to the force of the wind, the sea and land fade into insignificance. We worry about Iran and North Korea with regard to nuclear capability but fail to look onto the sky, where the sun gives out energy that results from thousands of such reactions each day. Nature goes in cycles. You will have periods of stability and periods of change. We think that we are in a period of exrteme change, but I daresay the people in Holland in 1953 thought the same when the dykes burst and a big portion of the country was under water.
Panic buying water is one absurd aspect of human nature....a case of pull up the ladder Jack. (I saw panic buying in Sri Lanka shortly after the tsunami.....not a thing to give you a great deal of faith in human nature !!) Insurance companies putting up premiums is just business. I think we will be pretty much the same as we are today, but with possibly more frequent freak weather..........which we will adjust to and come to regard as normal weather..........a bit like the monsoon in Asia.
2007-07-23 20:24:34 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, given that the warmest year on record was nine years ago...... The climate will probably be like it is today - - some parts of the world will have good weather, some bad, in any given week or month.
The Thames used to freeze over in the 1400s and 1500s, and in the 1100s and 1200s the banks of the Thames had the climate presently enjoyed in the Sonoma Valley.
THAT'S climate change.
THIS isn't jack.
2007-07-23 09:14:30 · answer #6 · answered by truthisback 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
No one really knows....and for me, that is the scary part! The climate is becoming less and less predictable, and while some people may argue that there were freak incidents in the past, (which may be true), the frequency of bizarre weather is certainly something to worry about now.
PS. Ashley, what kind of school do you go to? Exxon Mobile High? Or maybe GW Bush Middle School?
2007-07-24 05:00:05 · answer #7 · answered by fleur 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Global warming is a slow process. The real problem is, that if we burn all the fossil fuel in the world, things may continue to get hotter not just for 10 years, but for 5000 years. That would be a disaster for all life on Earth. Over the next few decades, the positive benefits of global warming may well outweigh the negatives.
2007-07-23 07:36:50 · answer #8 · answered by cosmo 7 · 0⤊ 4⤋
It will be the same, they just wised up and started taking advantage of natural disasters. The insurance companies may raise their rates but in the end they still wont pay for damages. Just ask anyone from New Orleans.
2007-07-23 17:11:39 · answer #9 · answered by BRW 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
It will pro-bally be to hot to go out. Underground bunkers will be built like In Egypt to sustain life. Maybe that's why they had all those tombs.Do you think this happened before? It would answer alot of those unexplained questions about Egypt and the tombs and why all those people were underground. Could it have been?????
2007-07-23 08:13:44 · answer #10 · answered by nsprdwmn 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋