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Climate changes alter the Earth
30% of the world’s species at risk
• Some bird species have changed
migration or nesting periods, and ocean communities
have been affected by warmer water
• Health, infrastructure and harvests
also impacted by the greenhouse effect
BY ALICIA RIVERA
(Taken
from El Nuevo Diario)
PARIS. — Scientists believe that if temperatures
rise by two degrees Centigrade during this century –
which is very likely – climate changes will put 30%
of the planet’s species in extreme danger of
becoming extinct. Health, infrastructure,
availability of fresh water and harvests in many
regions will also be affected by the warmer climate,
which will have a negative impact worldwide if that
level of temperature is exceeded. The effects of
these changes are already visible, and demonstrate
the consequences of human activity over the last 30
years, according to experts who met in Paris.
The
experts noted that measures for containing
greenhouse effect emissions and for facilitating the
adaptation of natural and social systems are
complementary for attenuating the negative impacts
of the phenomenon. A draft study on the impact of
climate change might be modified between now and
April, when it will be discussed in depth before
being approved.
But
the main lines of this summary from the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
have emerged. Higher temperatures have already had a
heavy impact on the planet: plants that come into
leaf early after the winter early, or keep their
leaves longer; bird species that have changed their
migration or nesting periods; changes in ocean
communities due to higher water temperatures, or
changes in salt content and currents, among others.
LESS
SNOWFALL OR RAIN
At
the moment, not all of the warming effects are
negative, although most of them are. In northern
Europe, New Zealand and southern Australia,
temporarily positive changes may occur, such as less
snowfall or more rain, with possible positive
effects on agriculture or energy consumption.
But
water scarcity, increasingly frequent and more
intense droughts, smaller harvests, higher sea
levels, flooding and disastrous meteorological
events can affect vast amounts of territory, above
all those at medium or low altitudes, where most of
the human population lives.
Scientists warn that if temperatures rise by more
than 2 degrees Centigrade with respect to averages
in the 1990s, the impact would be negative
throughout the world, and would affect almost all
aspects of life. Even a slighter warming would have
a high cost for most of the world, and would be more
catastrophic in coastal areas and many islands.
(El Nuevo Diario) |
