climate change is a global problem,why?
Answers
Sea levels are rising and oceans are becoming warmer. Longer, more intense droughts threaten crops, wildlife and freshwater supplies. From polar bears in the Arctic to marine turtles off the coast of Africa, our planet’s diversity of life is at risk from the changing climate.
Climate change poses a fundamental threat to the places, species and people’s livelihoods WWF works to protect. To adequately address this crisis we must urgently reduce carbon pollution and prepare for the consequences of global warming, which we are already experiencing. WWF works to:
1.advance policies to fight climate change
2.engage with businesses to reduce carbon emissions
3.help people and nature adapt to a changing climate.
Wildfires have burned over vast areas of the planet this year. We have seen the dramatic images of the fires and their aftermaths. The smoke has drifted across continents and oceans—sometimes with serious consequences.
Such wildfire conditions are becoming more extreme and increasingly reflect rising global temperatures—a trend driven by rising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. Ironically, the fires result in the release of even more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, and some of the smoke can eventually deposit soot on distant snow and ice, speeding up the melting that already is occurring in response to global warming.
Wildfires around the world
The first notable wildfires of 2015 came in the Southern Hemisphere, hitting Argentina and Chile. By April, the action shifted north to Siberia where winter and spring temperatures came in well above normal.
Finally, wildfires erupted on our own shores in Alaska. By early August the combined area burned in wildfires in Siberia, Canada and Alaska was over 31 million acres or over 48,000 square miles—bigger than the land area of New York. Much of the burned area was in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic. Smoke from the fires at times encircled the northern hemisphere.
Climate change is a driver of global wildfire trends
Fire seasons are becoming longer due to global warming. The area affected by especially long fire seasons has doubled, and the frequency of long fire seasons has increased by more than half, according to research examining the years from 1979 to 2013. More than 69,000 square miles of global tree cover was lost in 2013 alone, according to the Global Forest Watch partnership. A third of this loss was in Russia and Canada, mainly because of wildfires. In those countries and in Alaska, there has been a steep increase in tree cover loss in Arctic and Subarctic forests.
With each decade warmer than the next, we can expect these trends to persist.
What we do next matters
As the planet continues to rapidly warm, wildfires will become a growing problem—one that sends smoke across international borders and substantially increases greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. Consequently, the fires are not just local and national problems; they pose international challenges.
We must make every effort to slow the pace of global warming that increasingly is driving wildfire trends. WWF works to fight this global crisis by engaging millions of Americans and rallying businesses and government leaders to sharply reduce our dangerous dependence on fossil fuels, and to prepare for wildfires and the other emerging impacts of global warming.
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What is climate change?
Background
Climate change is an inevitable and urgent global challenge with long-term implications for the sustainable development of all countries.
Exploring the Topic
Climate.gov
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) maintains this gateway to peer-reviewed information on climate change for various audiences, from the layperson to teachers to scientists to planners and policy makers. Provides access to relevant data sets from a number of agencies, including the National Climatic Data Center and the NOAA Climate Prediction Center.
Eldis resource guide on climate change (IDS)
The Eldis website is maintained by the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. It facilitates the sharing of information on development issues by aggregating information materials from reputable sources into the resource guide on climate change. It offers tools to create online communities for development practitioners; several such communities exist to discuss specific aspects of climate change. Eldis topic editors compile email newsletters, so-called reporters, including the “Climate Change and Development” reporter.
IIED - International Institute for Environment and Development
Well-established policy research institute that offers an online library of information materials on climate change and related topics, such as energy, biodiversity and forests. Publicizes its research output through email newsletters and on various social media channels.
IISD - International Institute for Sustainable Development
IISD offers a searchable and browsable knowledge base of its publications and video on climate change. IISDs LINKAGES reporting services closely monitor major international climate change meetings, including those of the IPCC and under the UNFCCC. IISD publishes the Earth Negotiations Bulletin, hosts the climate-l electronic mailing list and publicizes its work on twitter and Facebook.
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