Rising Sea Levels Increasing ocean acidification Increase in Pests and Disease

Rising Sea Levels

Water expands when heated, and sea levels are expected to rise due to climate change. Rising sea levels will also result as the polar caps begin to melt.
Rising sea levels is already affecting many small islands.
The WorldWatch Institute reports that “[t]he Earth’s ice cover is melting in more places and at higher rates than at any time since record keeping began”. (March 6, 2000).
Rising sea levels will impact many coastlines, and a large mass of humanity lives near the coasts or by major rivers. Analysis by the World Wildlife Fund has found that many cities are unprepared for climate change effects such as rising sea levels.

Increasing ocean acidification

Ocean Acidification; consumption of carbonate ions impede calcification. Source: Pacific Marine Environment Laboratory, NOAA

Although it has gained less mainstream media attention, the effects of increasing greenhouse emissions — in particular carbon dioxide — on the oceans may well be significant.

NOAA Ocean Acidification Demonstration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, February 26, 2010

As explained by the US agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the basic chemistry of ocean acidification is well understood.
These are the 3 main concepts:

1. More CO₂ in the atmosphere means more CO₂ in the ocean;
2. Atmospheric CO₂ is dissolved in the ocean, which becomes more acidic; and
3. The resulting changes in the chemistry of the oceans disrupts the ability of plants and animals in the sea to make shells and skeletons of calcium carbonate, while dissolving shells already formed.

Short overview of ocean acidification: Ocean Acidification, ABC World News Webcast, June 7, 2008

Scientists have found that oceans are able to absorb some of the excess CO₂ released by human activity. This has helped keep the planet cooler than it otherwise could have been had these gases remained in the atmosphere.
However, the additional excess CO₂ being absorbed is also resulting in the acidification of the oceans: When CO₂ reacts with water it produces a weak acid called carbonic acid, changing the sea water chemistry. As the Global Biodiversity Outlook report explains, the water is some 30% more acidic than pre-industrial times, depleting carbonate ions — the building blocks for many marine organisms.
In addition, “concentrations of carbonate ions are now lower than at any time during the last 800,000 years. The impacts on ocean biological diversity and ecosystem functioning will likely be severe, though the precise timing and distribution of these impacts are uncertain.” (See p. 58 of the report.)
Although millions of years ago CO₂ levels were higher, today’s change is occurring rapidly, giving many marine organisms too little time to adapt. Some marine creatures are growing thinner shells or skeletons, for example. Some of these creatures play a crucial role in the food chain, and in ecosystem biodiversity.

Clay animation by school children: The other CO2 problem, March 23, 2009 (commissioned by EPOCA)

Some species may benefit from the extra carbon dioxide, and a few years ago scientists and organizations, such as the European Project on OCean Acidification, formed to try to understand and assess the impacts further.
One example of recent findings is a tiny sand grain-sized plankton responsible for the sequestration of 25–50% of the carbon the oceans absorb is affected by increasing ocean acidification. This tiny plankton plays a major role in keeping atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations at much lower levels than they would be otherwise so large effects on them could be quite serious.
Other related problems reported by the Inter Press Service include more oceanic dead zones (areas where there is too little oxygen in the sea to support life) and the decline of important coastal plants and forests, such as mangrove forests that play an important role in carbon absorption. This is on top of the already declining ocean biodiversity that has been happening for a few decades, now.
Scientists now believe that ocean acidification is unparalleled in the last 300 million years, “raising the possibility that we are entering an unknown territory of marine ecosystem change.”

Increase in Pests and Disease

An increase in pests and disease is also feared.
A report in the journal Science in June 2002 described the alarming increase in the outbreaks and epidemics of diseases throughout the land and ocean based wildlife due to climate changes.
One of the authors points out that, “Climate change is disrupting natural ecosystems in a way that is making life better for infectious diseases.”

Failing Agricultural Output; Increase in World Hunger

The Guardian summarizes a United Nations warning that, “One in six countries in the world face food shortages this year because of severe droughts that could become semi-permanent under climate change.”
Drought and desertification are starting to spread and intensify in some parts of the world already.

Agriculture and livelihoods are already being affected

Failing agriculture in the future have long been predicted.

Food and Global Warming, ScienCentral, January 7, 2009

Looking to 2100, scientists who looked at projections of global warming’s impact on the average temperatures during the growing season fear that rising temperatures will have a significant impact upon crop yields, most noticeably in the tropics and sub tropics.
While warm weather can often be good for some crops, hotter than average temperatures for the entire season is often not good for plants.
This would affect at least half the world’s population that either live in the region or rely on food coming from that region.
IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks), part of the United Nations, has produced a series of short videos showing how some regions are already being affected by climate change and are trying to adapt as a result:

• Changing crops
• Melting glaciers
• Worsening floods
• Creeping deserts

Changing crops

One example is farmers in Nepal finding that cultivating rice isn’t as productive as before, and are changing to other crops as a result:

Swapping Crops — Climate Change, IRIN, June 28, 2009

In some cases, improved agricultural techniques may help, such as rainwater harvesting and drip irrigation. Some also believe genetically modified crops may be essential to deal with changing climates. Yet, there are many other crucial issues that affect agriculture, such as poverty, political and economic causes of world hunger, global trade policies (which create unequal trade and affect the poorest countries the most), etc.
See IRIN’s videos on climate change impacts in Africa and Asia for more short clips.

Women face brunt of climate change impacts

It is recognized that poorer nations will suffer the worst from climate change, either because of geographical reasons, and/or because they will have less resources to cope with a problem (mostly caused by emissions from rich countries over the past decades).
In addition to poor countries, women are likely to suffer the worst, as the United Nations Population fund explains:
Women—particularly those in poor countries—will be affected differently than men. They are among the most vulnerable to climate change, partly because in many countries they make up the larger share of the agricultural work force and partly because they tend to have access to fewer income-earning opportunities. Women manage households and care for family members, which often limits their mobility and increases their vulnerability to sudden weather-related natural disasters. Drought and erratic rainfall force women to work harder to secure food, water and energy for their homes. Girls drop out of school to help their mothers with these tasks. This cycle of deprivation, poverty and inequality undermines the social capital needed to deal effectively with climate change.

— Facing a changing world: women, population and climate , State of the World’s Population 2009, UNFPA, November 18, 2009, p.4

The UNFPA also captures this in some videos that accompanied their 2009 report.

Women and Climate Change in Bolivia, UNFPA, November 2009

Women and Climate Change in Vietnam, UNFPA, November 2009

The first one is the above-described effects occurring in rural areas of Bolivia. The second one is on the impact on women in Vietnam.