• Question: what happens if global warming gets worse?

    Asked by anon-276417 on 13 Jan 2021.
    • Photo: Rachel Brackenridge

      Rachel Brackenridge answered on 13 Jan 2021:

      This is a great question. If the world continues to get warmer it means more ice melt, higher sea levels, and more extreme weather events (drought, flooding, hurricanes). All of which means that humans and animals will have to adapt or move to safer places to live.

    • Photo: Liam Taylor

      Liam Taylor answered on 13 Jan 2021:

      If we do nothing, then we will enter a mass extinction event. Many species will no longer be able to live in their habitats and will die. We will also loose all of our coral reefs. We think that just 2 degrees of warming will kill 99% of all coral reefs – and we’re more than half way there already. We will likely dry up the Amazon rainforest, turning it into an ecosystem called a ‘Savannah’. Ice will melt all around the world, causing sea-levels to rise. Storms will get stormier, and more frequent. And we will likely pass something called ‘the point of no return’ where we lock the Earth into a pattern of getting warmer and warmer as more and more gases are released from frozen soils.

      But, that’s a worst case scenario. We know what could happen, and we know exactly how to stop it from happening. Now all we need to do is put that plan into action 🙂

    • Photo: Stephanie Henson

      Stephanie Henson answered on 13 Jan 2021:

      Warmer temperatures, sea level rise, more extreme weather, more acidic oceans…. The effect of global warming will impact humans, of course, but will also affect other life on land and in the ocean. Creatures will have to move to cooler areas (which might mean moving poleward, or up a mountain, or deeper in the ocean) to keep themselves in their “thermal niche” – this means not too hot, not too cold, to keep healthy. If creatures can’t move, they may be able to adapt to warmer conditions. For humans, this is things like air conditioning. Bit more tricky for other animals and plants!

    • Photo: Bethan Hindle

      Bethan Hindle answered on 13 Jan 2021:

      That’s a really important question Ruby! Climate change will impact on all of our lives, for example, by making more extreme weather events, such as flooding, more common. It’s also already impacting on wild animals and plants, for example changing where they’re able to live. But there’s lots we can all do to try to minimise climate change, for example trying to walk or cycle for short journeys rather than getting into the car as much. It’s also really important that we talk to other people about it – just like you’ve done by asking this question!

    • Photo: Graham Shields

      Graham Shields answered on 13 Jan 2021:

      Higher sea levels certainly. More carbon dioxide means that the ocean surface will also be a little more acidic, making it harder for some organisms to form their shells. After a very long period of time, hundreds to thousands of years, the extra carbon dioxide will be be taken up by the oceans and by rocks. In the short term though, the worry is that we don’t really know what will happen for sure as a tipping point may be reached, meaning that the world will carry on getting warmer even if we stop burning fossil fuel.

    • Photo: Michael Nolan

      Michael Nolan answered on 13 Jan 2021:

      There are two books I have read multiple times that describe this
      (1) “The last generation” by Fred Pearce
      (2) “Six Degrees” by Mark Lynas

      It is quite horrifying to read about rising sea levels and flooding, increased drought, loss of various species, many animals/plants will have to migrate north to colder areas, but the extent of these areas will be very small. One aspect that concerns me is how the wealthy will be able to shield themselves from the work of the impacts, while the rest of the world suffers.

    • Photo: Amy Stockwell

      Amy Stockwell answered on 13 Jan 2021:

      The ice caps will melt and the seas will rise, so coastal towns will be under water, but other places will get dryer. This is because the heat will make lakes and rivers evaporate. Without water, it will be difficult to grow food.
      We will also have to change the type of food we grow because it will be too hot and dry for our usual crops.
      Animals will slowly move to new places to be able to live in a climate which is comfortable for them.
      But as the RI lectures concluded, we know what to do to stop this. We just need to do it!

    • Photo: Lauren Graham

      Lauren Graham answered on 18 Jan 2021:

      It would certainly have a big impact on water companies! It would make it much harder to provide enough clean water and to keep up with sewer flooding pollution incidence. More extreme weather that causes flooding (pollution risks with sewer overflow) and droughts (impact on reservoir levels) will be a massive challenge made even harder by climate change getting worse.

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