The Impact of Climate Change

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Images of a starving polar bear made the news back in December. The creature was seen searching for food in Canada’s Arctic whilst looking extremely emaciated. Activist groups hours later distributed the picture in what seemed to be a desperate plea for help over concerns that climate change is having tremendous effects on our planet.

Donald Trump’s claims that journalists are distorting reality in what he himself has referred to as ‘fake news’ are incredibly detrimental to our population's’ perception of what is happening to our ecosystems. Experts say climate change should be taken seriously and now is the time to do something about it.

This is how climate change is affecting our planet.

Travel

Climate change is not only affecting the places we travel to, but it is also affecting the way in which we travel. The world has seen a high number of storms in recent months and these have battered coasts and left populations having to seek shelter. We have also recently been warned of further storms coming our way. With these natural disasters becoming more commonplace, our planet faces troubled times. Beyond affecting the places we live and holiday in, these natural catastrophes are also affecting the ways in which we travel, with global warming starting to have a real impact on aviation. According to research conducted by the University of Reading, climate change may cause more air turbulence by mid century, when this normal but disturbing part of air travel could become up to 59% more common, resulting in longer flights and delays in aviation.

Agriculture

Global warming will also change the way we work our land. All major world crops will suffer a decrease in the number of crop yields and desertification will also result in certain lands degrading to the extent where these are no longer producing any vegetation or wildlife. This will lead to the world population having less resources to feed itself and to soil becoming dryer and more arid with time. On the other end of the spectrum, higher risk of flooding will result in some areas being extremely vulnerable and unable to cope with high water levels. This all will not only deplete the planet of food resources but it will also increase prices for products that are no longer harvested in large quantities. Learn more about the impact of climate change on agriculture.

Population

Climate change will also have a huge impact on our world population. With areas becoming drier as a result of desertification, our world will see population migrating from these drought-ridden places in large numbers. Research suggests that in Bangladesh alone 17 million people will be threatened by severe flooding, and our global population will gravitate towards cities which, if located near the coast will be at a high risk of flooding. This is a map that shows the effect global warming will have on our planet.