GLOBAL WARMING CLIMATE CHANGE
CLIMATE CHANGE • • • • •
Storms Droughts Hurricanes Floods Greenhouse effect
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Earthquakes Diseases Forest fires Air pollution Global Warming consequences
STORMS • Storms are taking place in seasons where there didn’t use to. In many places, it doesn’t rain in autumn or spring time but, on the contrary, it does in summer and winter.
DROUGHTS • It is a fact that many areas are in a state of desertification. • The lack of water is affecting not only woods and forests but it is the origen of the spread of many diseases in underdeveloped countries.
HURRICANES • If the weather becomes warmer, more water evaporates from seas and lakes, consequently, we may have more clouds and heavy rains that in some places become hurricanes.
FLOODS • A flood is produced when there is an overflowing of water onto land that is normally dry. • This happens with the overflowing of rivers or with very longlasting, heavy rains on flat surfaces of land.
GREENHOUSE EFFECT •
Burning fuels like wood, coal or petrol produces carbon dioxide (CO2) and other gases. • The mixture of such gases in the atmosphere becomes too concentrated and the heat produces the so-called global warming. Man is responsible for the “enhanced greenhouse effect”
EARTHQUAKES • Shaking and vibration at the surface of the earth resulting from underground movement along a fault plane or from volcanic activity.
DISEASES • Farmers might not be able to grow traditional crops because there may be too much rain or not enough. Some diseases may increase. Some scientists say that another 20% of the world’s population might live in areas where you can get malaria.
FOREST FIRES • Each year, fires burn millions of hectares of forest worldwide • The Mediterranean forests are under serious threat, with forest fires, in most cases deliberately set, playing a major role in their degradation and bringing about huge social, economic and environmental effects.
AIR POLLUTION • Air pollution is especially prominent where high pressure dominates. • Regions susceptible to air pollution problems result from the interaction of climatic and topographic conditions in the presence of pollution sources
GLOBAL WARMING CONSEQUENCES •
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Scientists say that the earth could warm by an additional 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit during the 21st century if we fail to reduce emissions from burning fossil fuels, such as coal and oil. This rise in average temperature will have far-reaching effects. Sea levels will rise, flooding coastal areas. Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense. Droughts and wildfires will occur more often. Disease-carrying mosquitoes will expand their range. And species will be pushed to extinction. Unfortunately, many of these changes have already begun.