ENVR S307F Lecture 2 Activity 3
Student Name:___________________ Student No.:________________
What Are The Consequences Of Climate Change?
The Consequences Of Climate Change On The Planet’s Ecosystems
An increase in temperature due to global warming is not only about a heat increase that can be felt by humans
or glacial ice melting – it has the potential to affect the planet’s entire ecosystem. As we have been watching
in many different countries, from the US (California) to India or South Africa, the weather is getting disruptive.
Extreme weather events are more regular, and their patterns are changing – they’re more intensive, aggressive,
and with more energy. This means more storms, floods, cyclones, and droughts will take place over the next
years.
At the same time, the regulating capacity of oceans is also being affected by an increase in temperatures. If
global temperatures increase dramatically, ocean levels will not only increase – they will also be facing the
ecological challenges of oceanic acidification and deoxygenation. At the same time, forest areas (e.g. Amazon
rainforest), fragile ecosystems (e.g. coral reefs) and biodiversity (e.g. corals, insects, and mammals) are also
under threat.
The Consequences Of Climate Change On Society And On The Economy
Furthermore, climate change is already challenging and can further challenge our societies. With the increase
in temperatures in some countries, especially in Equatorial regions, the flow of climate refugees is changing
and increasingputting pressure in other countries to host them, help them strive and overcome political
barriers.
The reasons for this move have to do with natural resources, such as drinking water, that are getting more
limited and many crops and livestock that are unlikely to survive (affecting locals but also the global economy
of the several industries that rely on raw materials) in specific locations because of the temperature being too
hot or too dry, too cold, or too wet. And as it turns out, studies say that the wealthiest countries of the world
will be the ones experiencing fewer changes in their local climate compared to the poorest regions if the global
average surface temperatures reach the between 1.5º and 2º Celsius.
The Consequences Of Climate Change On Businesses
Finally, businesses are also likely to be affected by climate change. Indeed, in a context where the climate is
changing, companies need to be aware of the risks that they may face and be prepared to deal with them by
developing CSR (corporate social responsibility) strategies that evaluate the impacts they may suffer. Events
such as damaged crops, the loss of infrastructures, unexpected changes in market stocks, investors that ask for
sustainability reports and the growing expectations of society for business to be transparent are variables to
keep an eye on.
How To Fight Climate Change
To fight climate change, we must first reduce our greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. To accomplish this, the
first step is to embrace renewable energies that are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as
sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat, and avoid creating energy by the burning of fossil
fuels. As well, besides swooping the types of energy we produce, we must also make everything more
efficient, because even if the energy comes from a renewable source, it still won’t be carbon neutral and will
still contribute to the ozone depletion.
We need to adapt our lifestyles to overcome these growing challenges that climate change is bringing. For this
to happen, we should start to create a worldwide culture of sustainable development, where the energy is used
wisely and efficiently, where a circular economy is a strong bet, as well as durable and eco-friendly products.
One thing is for sure, we need to choose responsibly the products we buy because our demand as consumers
influences what we are supplied with.
Questions
1. What will happen to the oceans if global temperatures increase continuously?
Answer: __________________________________________________________________
2. Which regions of people suffer most from increased global temperatures?
Answer: __________________________________________________________________
3. What is the most important action for stopping global warming?
Answer: __________________________________________________________________
