Chapter 18 - The Climatic Future

There are four commonly found results of climate change that will shape the future of the Earth as found by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The first is that temperatures are rising and will continue to do so; 11 of the last 12 years rank among the 12 hottest years on record, and over the span of the last 50 years the frequency of cold days, cold nights and frost have gone down, while that of hot days and nights and heat waves have gone up. Secondly, instances of severe weather are and will continue to increase; the intensity of tropical cyclones has increased over the past 30 years, storms with heavy perceptitation have increased significantly over the last 100 years, fertile areas are experiencing frequent and longer droughts. Thirdly, an increase in melting and thawing; since 1900 the northern hemisphere has lost 7 percent of the maximum area covered by seasonally covered frozen ground, mountain glaciers and snow cover has declined worldwide, Arctic sea ice has shrunk 20 per cent since 1978. Fourthly, the rising sea level; since 1961 the worlds oceans have been absorbing up to 80 per cent of the heat added to the climate, which has caused the water to expand and thus the sea level to rise, the melting glaciers and losses from Greenland and Antarctica also contribute to sea-level rise. This picture illustrates the recession of a glacier in the Columbia icefield since 1925 due to the rise in global temperatures.