CLIMATE CHANGE CONTRIBUTES TO RISING SEA LEVELS
Melting of the polar ice caps and greater storm damage. Warming ocean temperatures are associated with additional rainfall, particularly during severe weather events, leads to flooding and other damage. An increase in the incidence and severity of wildfires threatens habitats and lives. Heatwaves contribute to human deaths and have other consequences.
HIGHER TEMPERATURES
The extreme rise in temperature affects the oceans, weather patterns, snow and ice, and plants and animals. An instance of this can be the Pine Island Glacier which is one of the fastest-retreating glaciers in Antarctica. The dramatic calving of this glacier has worried scientists who believe this is a prelude to an even larger disintegration as climate change thaws the frozen continent. In 2020, the Antarctica continent recorded its highest ever temperature of 18°C. With such temperature rise, signs of rapid transformation are becoming difficult to ignore.
EXTREME BUSHFIRES
Climate scientists warn that the scale and devastation of the wildfires are clear examples of the way climate change can intensify natural disasters. The hot dry conditions in Australia have also led to bushfires becoming more extreme. The bushfires in 2020, scorched millions of acres, killed dozens of people and slaughtered an estimated half a billion animals in the country.
EXTREME CYCLONES
Over the past century, ocean surface temperatures worldwide have gradually increased by 0.13 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade which explains why recent cyclones are of such high intensity. Powerful winds, rain and surges of seawater caused by Hurricane Dorian pummelled the Bahamas and the United States. The cyclone was one of the strongest landfalling storms ever recorded in the Atlantic, with the strongest sustained peak winds east of Florida.
