Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- PART ONE EARTH'S CLIMATE HISTORY AND OUTLOOK
- 1 Salient Events of Climate History
- 2 Human and Climate Interactions
- 3 Greenhouse Gases
- 4 Emitting Economic Sectors
- 5 Forecasts of GHG Emissions and Global Temperatures
- 6 Potential Impacts of Climate Change
- PART TWO CLIMATE POLICY CHOICES
- Appendix: Discount Rates in Climate Analysis
- References
- Index
6 - Potential Impacts of Climate Change
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 June 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- PART ONE EARTH'S CLIMATE HISTORY AND OUTLOOK
- 1 Salient Events of Climate History
- 2 Human and Climate Interactions
- 3 Greenhouse Gases
- 4 Emitting Economic Sectors
- 5 Forecasts of GHG Emissions and Global Temperatures
- 6 Potential Impacts of Climate Change
- PART TWO CLIMATE POLICY CHOICES
- Appendix: Discount Rates in Climate Analysis
- References
- Index
Summary
Aside from the direct effects of changes in temperature and CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere and the ocean, climate change could substantially alter sea levels, storms, floods, drought, and wildfires. Changes in the prevalence of disease vectors and pests are already being observed. Climate change could also potentially bring forced migrations, the destruction of ecosystems, and the extinction of many species. Again, identifying scenarios of possible outcomes is important, but weighing the associated uncertainties is also crucial though even more difficult.
SEA LEVEL RISE
In the Greenhouse climates that the Earth experienced over most of its history, sea levels were much higher than today. Indeed, by IPCC (2007) estimates, the sea level would rise almost 70 meters (230 feet) if the current ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica melted entirely (after adjustment for the replacement of ice that is below sea level with water). The level of the sea over geologic periods depended not only on the amount of water stored in ice sheets but also on the depth of ocean basins and the span of continental land masses. Over the last 2.75 million years, sea levels have varied substantially because of the ebb and flow of ice sheets over North America and Eurasia. As noted earlier, the strong northern summer radiation of our last interglacial period around 120,000 years ago evidently melted enough ice on Greenland and, with amplifying feedbacks on West Antarctica as well, to raise the ocean about 5 meters (16 feet) higher than it is today.
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- Information
- Climate Policy FoundationsScience and Economics with Lessons from Monetary Regulation, pp. 96 - 110Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011