21-6 Possible Effects of a Warmer World
What Are Some Possible Effects of a Warmer Troposphere? Winners and Losers
A warmer troposphere could have a number of beneficial and harmful effects for humans, other species, and ecosystems, depending mostly on their locations and on how rapidly the temperature changes. Study these figures carefully. However, betting on living in an area with favourable climate change in the future is like playing a game of Russian roulette. Global climate models are improving, but so far we cannot make reliable projections about how the climates of particular regions are likely to change.
According to the IPCC, a warmer troposphere could seriously disrupt coral reefs, polar seas, coastal wetlands, arctic and alpine tundra, and high-elevation ecosystems. A warmer climate would also threaten plant and animal species that could not migrate rap- idly enough to new areas. Organisms in fragmented habitats would have difficulty adjusting their ranges to compensate for climatic changes.
A decrease in high-elevation snow packs throughout the world would have negative consequences for agriculture that depends on meltwater. For example, agriculture in central and southern California depends largely on water from snow melting in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains.
How Might a Warmer Troposphere Affect Canada? Mostly Bad News
Harmful effects experienced in other regions of Canada include the following:
The Arctic and Subarctic regions would experience widespread changes in ice-cover and permafrost characteristics that would greatly disrupt the people and wildlife of the region
The boreal forest region would have a longer growing season and shift about 500 kilometres (310 miles) northward over time. At the same time, it would experience more fires, more damage from insect pests, and more threats to wildlife such as woodland caribou.
The Great Lakes region would experience a greater number of heat waves, resulting in more high-smog days with their attendant health problems. Lower lake levels would have adverse effects on shipping and hydroelectricity generation. Severe weather events such as ice storms would be on the rise, and there would be a greater need to irrigate in summer.
In eastern Canada, higher sea levels would lead to flooding of coastal cities, erosion of beaches and coastlines, a loss of wetlands, increased damage to forests from insect pests, and regional fisheries under threat due to changes in fish migrations.