What are the effects of global warming on the environment

To adequately address the climate crisis we must urgently reduce carbon pollution and prepare for the consequences of global warming, which the world is already experiencing. Combining global outreach with local expertise, WWF:

• helps people and nature adapt to a changing climate
• advances policies to fight climate change
• combats deforestation
• engages with businesses to reduce carbon emissions
• challenges U.S. cities to prepare for more extreme weather

Challenging Cities to Prepare

As climate change worsens, dangerous weather events are becoming more frequent or severe in the United States and around the globe. WWF is challenging cities to transition toward 100 percent renewable energy and address local climate threats by implementing practical measures that improve air quality, protect water supplies and reduce urban flooding. With your help, your community can take action too. Urge your mayor to take action on climate change by joining the Earth Hour City Challenge!

Adapting to Climate Change

To avoid the worst effects of climate change, we need to dramatically reduce global carbon emissions. But we must also prepare for the significant and unavoidable consequences of carbon emissions such as increasing temperatures, shifting precipitaton patterns, ocean acidification, sea level rise and the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events. WWF works with local communities, governments and others around the world to help nature and people prepare for the many impacts of a changing climate. To do this we:

• Increase resilience of communities in Nepal by promoting new farming techniques, community weather monitoring and creating seed banks
• Restore beach vegetation to shade marine turtle nests in the Caribbean
• Secure access to fresh water for elephants in Thailand during periods of drought
• Identify areas where polar bears can live on solid Arctic sea ice for decades to come

Protecting Forests

Forests are home to many of the world’s most endangered wildlife. They also protect the planet by absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2), a major source of pollution that causes climate change. WWF fights climate change by saving forests. To do this we:

• Ensure that global climate change agreements reduce forest destruction and degradation and protect wildlife
• Work directly with countries, especially developing ones, to protect forests and benefit the livelihoods of local communities
• Use satellite images and aerial mapping technologies to track illegal logging
• Study the vulnerability of forests to climate change and explore ways to help them adapt

Influencing Policy

Government must play a central role to tackle the climate crisis. WWF is an advocate at all levels of government. In the United States, WWF works to advance policies that reduce carbon pollution, support clean energy technologies, prepare for the effects of climate change, and curb deforestation. At international negotiations, WWF encourages the United States to play a constructive role in developing global climate agreements that:

• Substantially reduce carbon pollution to avoid the worst consequences of climate change
• Provide financial support to developing countries so people and nature can successfully adapt
• Combat forest destruction and protect wildlife that live there
• Help transition developing countries to clean energy sources like wind and solar

Engaging Business

Businesses have a responsibility to reduce their contribution to climate change. WWF works in partnership with companies as part of WWF’s Climate Savers Program to set and meet goals to reduce carbon emissions, advance projects to protect their resources from climate impacts, and ensure the sustainability of their core business.

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Our climate is determined by patterns of temperature, wind, atmospheric pressure, humidity and rain over a long period of time. There are different climates around the world, such as tropical, dry and moderate. As a large country, Australia has a variety of climates.

The climate of an area determines its seasons and when they come and go. This, in turn, affects the type of plants that grow and which animals survive. The species and places we love depend on intricate ecosystems, and even small changes to the climate can disrupt the delicate balance of nature.

As humans, every aspect of our life is reliant on the natural environment. This includes the food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink, the clothes we wear and the products that are made and sold to create jobs and drive the economy.

A healthy and stable climate is our most precious natural resource.

What changes to the climate are humans causing through global warming?

Global warming, caused by greenhouse gas pollution, is causing immediate and direct changes to the planet.

The Earth's temperature had already warmed by 1°C compared to pre-industrial levels. This temperature rise may appear small, but small rises in temperature translate into big changes for the world’s climate. This is because the amount of extra energy needed to increase the world’s temperature, even by a little, is vast. This extra energy is like force-feeding the global climate system.

• Hotter days:
2015 was the hottest year on record, the previous record was broken in 2014, and 2016 is expected to set a new record for the third year in a row. In the past few years records have being broken for longest heatwaves and the Bureau of Meteorology has added purple and magenta to the forecast map for temperatures up to 54°C.

• Rising sea levels:
Increased ocean temperatures are melting glaciers and ice caps all over the world. Melted ice increases the volume of water in our oceans. Warmer temperatures also result in the expansion of the water's mass, which causes sea levels to rise, threatening low-lying islands and coastal cities.

• More frequent and intense extreme weather events:
Extreme weather events like bushfires, cyclones, droughts and floods are becoming more frequent and more intense as a result of global warming.

• Oceans are warming and acidifying:

The oceans have absorbed most of extra heat and carbon dioxide (CO2) so far – more than the air – making the seas both warmer and more acidic. Warming waters are bleaching coral reefs and driving stronger storms. Rising ocean acidity threatens shellfish, including the tiny crustaceans without which marine food chains would collapse.

Sadly, the poorest and most vulnerable nations, and the people who have contributed least to the problem, will be among the hardest hit by global warming. Some of the countries most at risk include our neighbours in the Pacific and Southeast Asia, including Kiribati, Tuvalu, Vietnam and the Philippines.

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How is global warming affecting life in Australia?

• Ecosystems:
Global warming stresses ecosystems through temperature rises, water shortages, increased fire threats, drought, weed and pest invasions, intense storm damage and salt invasion, just to name a few. Some of Australia’s great natural icons, such as the Great Barrier Reef, are already threatened.

• Species:
One in six species is at risk of extinction because of climate change. To survive, plants, animals and birds confronted with climate change have two options: move or adapt. With the speed of climate change we are experiencing already, it’s often not possible for a species to adapt quickly enough to keep up with its changing environment. And with the amount of habitat destruction, moving is becoming increasingly difficult.

• Food and farming:
Changes to rainfall patterns, increasingly severe drought, more frequent heat waves, flooding and extreme weather make it more difficult for farmers to graze livestock and grow produce, reducing food availability and making it more expensive to buy.

• Water:
Reduced rainfall and increasingly severe droughts may lead to water shortages.

• Coastal Erosion:
Rising sea levels and more frequent and intense storm surges will see more erosion of Australia's coastline, wearing away and inundating community and residential properties.

• Health:
Increasingly severe and frequent heat waves may lead to death and illness, especially among the elderly. Higher temperatures and humidity could also produce more mosquito-borne disease.

• Damage to homes:
Increasingly severe extreme weather events like bushfires, storms, floods, cyclones and coastal erosion, will see increased damage to homes, as well as more costly insurance premiums.

• Coral bleaching:
Rising temperatures and acidity within our oceans is contributing to extreme coral bleaching events, like the 2016 event that destroyed more than one-third of the Great Barrier Reef.

Within Australia, the effects of global warming vary from region to region.
The impacts of global warming are already being felt across all areas of Australian life, and these will continue to worsen if we do not act now to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

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