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Location
The harm done to savannas by global warming will vary based on where they are. Weather patterns are unique throughout the world, and global warming could benefit one savanna while decimating another. Even within individual savannas, there could be large differences in how the savanna reacts to global warming, based on how weather patterns change and evolve. Nevertheless, global warming will harm some savannas.
Plants and Animals
The more visible elements of the savanna that will likely be harmed by global warming are the plants and animals that live in the savanna. Any ecosystem is in a constant state of delicate balance, and when one fundamental input to the system changes, it can create drastic changes elsewhere in the system. For example, if water supplies dry up, this could mean killing off a certain percentage of plants and animals and maybe even entire species. In the Brazilian savanna, for instance, it is estimated that 70 of 163 tree species found there will go extinct in that region as a result of global warming affecting the savanna.
Trees
As a result of global warming, trees may take over the savanna, turning it into a forest. The pine savannas of the southeastern United States, for example, are expected to transition to forest as a result of changes in fire patterns and hurricane frequency ̵2; changes brought on by global warming. While savannas are also characterized by the presence of trees, a forest is a different type of ecosystem that will support different plants and animals than before.
Desertification
Another major way in which savannas can be altered as a result of the changes wrought by global warming is through desertification. If changing weather patterns cause significantly less rainfall and reduce groundwater availability for a savanna, the savanna is likely to dry out and become a desert. In fact, the Sahara desert of Africa was, roughly 10,000 years ago, a thriving savanna. But climate change gradually transformed it in to the desert that it now is.