Climate Change and its Effects on Society

• Individuals who are impoverished bear the greatest burden from climate change, despite contributing the least to it.
• Extreme weather events are increasingly frequent and intense, impacting habitats, environments, and the ability to grow crops and access resources.
• Cyclone Ida in 2019 displaced approximately 200,000 people in Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, causing a severe humanitarian disaster.
• Hurricane Sandy caused hundreds of deaths and billions of dollars in damage along the US East Coast including New Jersey.

Decrease in Food Production/Agriculture

• Changing environments hinder agriculture, leading to lower crop yields and higher prices.
• Droughts and floods are becoming more common, causing soil erosion and altered soil composition.
• Resulting food insecurity means reduced access to food.
• Climate change could decrease corn and soybean revenue in the US by up to 50% in the next 50 years.

Spread of Disease

• Warmer temperatures in colder regions facilitate the spread of pathogens among humans, animals, and plants.
• Shorter/milder winters increase insect populations, raising the likelihood of disease transmission.
• Mosquitos increase population size and prolong malaria transmission season.
• Increasing tick populations, due to shorter winters, have led to lower moose populations due to Lyme disease.

Rising Sea Levels

• Rising sea levels stem from melting glaciers, ice sheets, and seawater expansion due to warming temperatures.
• Increased sea levels and flooding endanger coastal communities.
• Saltwater intrusion occurs when ocean water mixes with coastal soil, contaminating groundwater aquifers.
• Saltwater is unusable by living organisms
• Sea level rise in the western Gulf of Mexico is expected to be 16-18 inches higher than 2020 levels by 2050.

Change in Weather/Severe Storms

• Rising global temperatures increase evaporation, adding moisture to the atmosphere and intensifying storms.
• Warmer oceans fuel hurricanes, leading to heavier rainfall, stronger winds, and slower movement, causing more damage.
• Storms are becoming more frequent and intense.
• Drought has led to unpredictable weather events in some areas.
• Warm air disrupts the polar vortex pattern, forcing polar winds further south, which many animals and plants cannot survive.

Drought/Wildfires

• Climate change increases evaporation, drying the environment and leading to droughts and wildfires.
• Precipitation rates have not changed, disrupting the water cycle.
• Droughts and wildfires have increased since the Paris Agreement.
• Agriculture is negatively impacted by droughts and wildfires.
• California has been experiencing long periods of drought referred to as a mega drought.

Animal Extinction/Endangerment

• Animals are adapted to specific, changing habitats, struggling to find resources.
• Changing weather patterns affect breeding and food availability, stressing many species.
• Shifting habitats and disappearing ecosystems lead to biodiversity decline.
• Changing patterns disrupt migration habits.
• Polar bears struggle to hunt as sea ice melts.
• Rising ocean temperatures cause coral bleaching, destroying coral reefs and reducing marine biodiversity.

Paris Agreement

• Agreements are legally binding
• It is difficult to enforce the goals of the agreement
• Countries set their own carbon emission reduction goals
• Reaching the goals would economically impact countries differently
• Aim to reduce global temperature by 1.5-2.0℃ by 2030
• Changing energy sources is expensive.
• Reducing fossil fuel use would result in wealthy people losing money.

Greenhouse Effect and Climate

• Greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon that traps extra heat towards the Earth's surface
• The human enhanced greenhouse effect causes more heating that leads to climate change
• Excess greenhouse gases from human activities disrupt the natural carbon cycle.
• Climate is the long-term weather conditions of a large area.
• Climate is impacted by latitude, elevation, wind, and other factors.

Seasons

• Earth's tilt causes hemispheres to point towards the sun during summer, increasing sunlight and providing more direct sun.
• During winter, the earth is pointed away from the sun causing less sunlight during day and a larger angle leading to less direct sunlight.