Climate change is a major problem that is facing the current world. This change can be traced to the period when the burning of coal and petroleum oil increased leading to increased gases such as nitrogen and carbon dioxide. These gases have the effect of facilitating global warming. The industrial activities that have led to release of greenhouse gases can be blamed for the current witnessed climate change. This change has huge effects in the society. Economic activities in the society have been affected greatly. This research paper will evaluate how climate change has affected the society socially and economically (Letcher, 2009).
One of the major effects of climate change is increased global temperatures and the scientists argue that this is expected to continue even in the future. Increased temperatures on the earth have resulted to melting of ice hence the coastal regions have been affected due to sea rise. Flooding of the coastal regions has been witnessed in some areas. This means that the communities living in the coastal regions will continue to be affected and the option they have is to migrate. Many economic activities are present in these regions one of which is tourism attraction sites. These sites have been negatively affected. Coral reefs that were previously attraction sites have been damaged by the high temperatures. The vegetation in these regions has also been damaged and this means that tourism activities in these regions have ceased which affects the economy of these regions (Warren, 2001).
Climate change has led to increased rainfall in regions where heavy rains were not a common feature. The effects of this are that flooding is affecting these regions. People die and large amounts of property is destroyed by such floods. Considering that the people and the governments in these regions are not prepared to deal with the floods, climate change is leading to deaths and destruction of property in many areas.
Draught has become a common feature in certain regions. Regions that expected huge amounts of rainfall barely receive this rainfall. This means that the agricultural activities that used to be practiced in these regions can never be practiced and hence shortage of food has been witnessed in such regions. Animals in these regions have died considering the vegetation change that has been witnessed in these regions. Parks have witnessed extinct of certain species of animals after they have lacked the food they were previously feeding on. Some other animals have migrated to other areas affecting the economic activities in these regions. This show how the society has been affected by vegetation change that is caused by the climate change. It appears that the future generation will have no privilege to see the beautiful environment that existed several years ago. The following picture shows an animal that is dead because of food shortage (Downie, 2009).
The high temperatures that are because of climate change have affected the level of underground water. People in some regions have witnessed severe shortage of water and they have to travel for long distances to get water. In most of the cases, these communities get dirty water that is dangerous to the health. The figure below shows the water shortage in some areas (Downie, 2009).
In conclusion, climate change is a serious problem that has affected different regions differently. Scientists argue that more dangerous effects are expected to continue considering that the level of pollution is increasing day by day and this is likely to cause more changes. The lives of people and other organisms on the earth are being threatened by the current levels of climate change.
References.
Letcher, T. M. (2009). Climate change: Observed impacts on planet Earth. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Downie, D. L., Brash, K., & Vaughan, C. (2009). Climate change: A reference handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.
Warren, D., & Royal Society of Chemistry (Great Britain). (2001). Climate change: A resource for students and teachers to support teaching about the nature of scientific enquiry and the strengths and limitations of scientific evidence. London: Royal Society of Chemistry, RSC.
