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2016 was the hottest year the world has seen since the year 1880, the year scientists decided
to keep global temperature logs.
Humans are changing planet earth, and if we don’t change the way we are living, Earth
is going to look extremely different in the future.
Some scientists say that there is no way to stop global warming, it is already here.
Our planet has already undergone changes in temperture many times in the past, combined
with the damage humans have done already…and there really is no turning back.
So if theres no way to stop it, what will the world look like after global warming?
Hello and welcome back to life’s biggest questions, I’m charlotte dobre.
we continue to burn fossil fuels without worrying about the consequences, the overall temperature
of the planet will rise, and the polar ice caps as well as the ice caps on the top of
mountains will melt.
There are around 5 million cubic miles of ice on earth.
Over the course of the next few thousand years, the temperature of the planet could rise more
than 20 degrees Fahrenheit, which will essentially create an ice-free planet.
If the ice on our planet melts, that will inevitably cause sea levels to rise as much
as 216 feet, changing the land masses on our planet and reshaping the coast lines.
So what will the world look like with an extra 216 feet of sea level?
Editors theres a link to a national geographic article with pictures at the top of my script.
Lets start off with North America.
Florida will completely vanish, as well as all of the atlantic seaboard.
Houston, New Orleans, New York, and Boston will disappear under water, and Washington
DC will become a coastal city.
On the pacific side, San fran’s hills will become a cluster of islands.
The caribbean and mexico will lose many of its cities and prized vacation spots like
cancun.
Next up, south america.
The amazon basin in the north and the paraguay river basin in the south will become flooded.
Most of paraguay, uraguay and the beautiful argentinian city of buenos aires will be wiped
out.
Anywhere around the mountains would survive, like peru’s machu piccu.
Many glorious, historical european cities like london, venice and amsterdam will be
swallowed by the sea.
Rome, barcelona and amsterdam will be flooded.
The Netherlands and denmark will disappear under water, and the mediterranean sea, the
black sea and the caspian sea will swell.
Asia will have it terrible, as it is one of the most heavily populated areas on earth.
Hundreds of millions of people who currently live in pacific china will have to move inland.
All of bangladesh as well as coastal india will flood.
Australians most populated cities will also flood, and only the inland desert willl survive.
Australia will also gain a new inland sea.
In africa, the cities of alexandria and cairo will be wiped out by the mediterranean sea,
but in general, Africa won’t have it as bad as the rest of the world when it comes
to the rising sea levels.
but if the overall temperature of the planet continues to rise, at least of half of africa
will basically become one gigantic desert, and virtually uninhabitable.
So now that you know what the shape of our planet will look like after global warming,
lets look at some changes in environment over the next 100 years.
Climate change will turn the already blistering hot temperatures of tropical forests like
the amazon into deserts.
Fortunately, winter seedlings will thrive in warmer temperatures.
Other areas of the planet that are currently unpleasantly cold will become tropical.
The last time earth experienced temperatures of above 95 degrees Fahrenheit, there were
rainforests in michigan and the arctic had palm trees.
Our ocean will become more acidic, due to the carbon dioxide being released into the
atmosphere.
Oceans absorb 1 third of all carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
this will wreak havoc on marine life, especially invertebrates, which is what much of the ocean
depends on for food.
Coral reefs will be devastated, We are already seeing this happen with the extensive coral
bleaching occurring in the great barrier reef.
Some species of marine life will thrive in a more acidic ocean however.
Turf algae already thrives in areas of the ocean with acidic pockets, as well as the
fish that feed on turf algae.
That being said, We definitely wont see as much diversity in our oceans anymore, and
will kill off the most of the fish we eat, mainly big predators.
Natural disasters will occur far more often.
Storm surges, wildfires, and heat waves are inevitable after the year 2070.
That means we will see this happen within most of our lifetimes.
Even if the whole world stopped burning fossil fuels today, which would be incredibly difficult
to adapt to, it would take several generations for the temperature of the planet to cool
down, and a total recovery will take centuries.
So it seems this new world is inevitable, and we better get used to it.
Life will be different for humans in a warmer world, but that doesn’t mean humans would
dissapear.
We would likely adapt to this new environment and find ways to live in it.
Maybe places like Canada and russia will become the most desirable places on earth to live.
For now, I’m charlotte dobre for LBQ, don’t forget to like this video, share it with a
friend and subscribe to life’s biggest questions for all of your answers.