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Rising Sea Level
Global warming due to building greenhouse gases could result in a major thawing of glaciers and the polar ice caps. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) estimates that sea level will rise an additional 20 inches by 2100, putting low-lying coastal regions such as parts of Southern Louisiana and South Florida at risk of flooding.
Changing Range of Organisms
Global warming may reduce the population of zooplankton (a food staple among many oceanic organisms), upsetting the entire ecosystem's food chain. Ecosystems considered most at risk in the short term are polar seas, coral reefs, prairie wetlands, tundra, tropical forests and mountain regions, particularly alpine tundra.
Changing Precipitation Levels
Using computer simulations and weather models, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predict that storm frequency and intensity will rise as the atmosphere warms and more water evaporates, creating and releasing more energy into the atmosphere. This energy generates powerful storms. Changes in precipitation patterns could also cause more frequent droughts in mid-latitude continental interiors, thereby also depleting fresh water reservoirs.
Human Health
The World Health Organization (WHO) maintains that developing countries will suffer disproportionately due to health problems associated with climate warming. In addition to an increase in the number of heat-related illnesses and deaths felt across the globe, disease-carrying insects could expand their range into newly warm (and therefore hospitable) areas. During 1998, the warmest year on record, the WHO reported a rise in the incidence of Rift Valley fever, cholera and malaria in developing countries. Highly developed countries are less vulnerable to such outbreaks because of better housing, medical care, pest control and public health awareness, as well as public health measures such as water treatment facilities.
Agriculture
The WHO also predicts that global warming (brought on by building greenhouse gases) will impede food production by damaging the world's most fertile agricultural land. Rising sea levels would further inundate river deltas--the Nile River (Egypt), Mississippi River (United States) and Yangtze River (China) among them. WHO models predict that Canada and Russia will increase agricultural productivity in a warmer climate, whereas tropical and subtropical regions will see a significant shortfall in annual yields.