Geography Pros and Cons of climate change.
Climate change is a current and ever growing problem in society and the world.
It had a direct effect on every single county, continent and person on earth. Although that is a given many people do not know how it will directly impact them.
I am going to give an insight into two different countries and how this will affect them. Firstly Britain as it is the country I am situated in and Japan as it not only has a similar structure to Britain (Island) it has roughly similar land mass and has often been referred to as ‘the Britain of the far east’. But it has many problems with plate boundaries and thus is prone to natural disasters. This detail will provide a contrast to the effects and impacts Britain will face. And of course my fascination with Japan is also a reason for my choice of such on this topic.
Firstly I feel that it is only right to understand just what climate change is.
Climate change is any change in the global temperature and precipitation due to human activity and natural causes.
The average temperature of the surface of the earth is rising and the main reason is because of the green house effect. Now I won’t go into much depth of this is not my forte so to speak I will give you a brief insight into what it is so that you can understand climate change.
Gasses in the atmosphere help to retain the suns heat and intern act as a sort of blanket that heats up the natural climate. The light/heat from the sun isn’t able to leave the oz layer because of this gas. The gas is no other than CO2 emissions that are cause by burning fossil fuels or on a more accessible level; driving cars, using electricity.
This website provides a nice animated image of the above process.
Now that I have explained the basics to what climate change is I will look at how it may affect Britain.
Contrary to popular belief there are some positives to climate change in terms of impacting Britain.
Currently between 26,000 and 57,000 premature deaths occur due to the cold weather that Britain faces during the weather, climate change will mean that the temperature in these winter months will inevitable increase and get hotter. It is predicted by 2050 the death rate for this could decrease significantly by 3,900 and 24,000 people.
Also there will be an increased yield for current crops such as wheat, sugar beet and potatoes. This will reduce the foreign import of them crop and reduce prices for locals as it is locally sources and no import taxes will be paid
A better grass yield across farms which will mean more feeding for livestock and also the temperature rise gives way for an introduction of new crops and tree species that would not have been able to survive if not for the a more heated Britain.
Furthermore the temperature increase means the melting of Arctic ice and this could open up new shipping routes through the region. This would improve trade links with Asia and the Pacific.
And also a reduction in the demand for central heating will decrease and an expansion of tourist destinations in the UK will also increase.
These are just some of the outward benefits global warming would have on Britain. But of cause there are also negatives to it.
A rise in temperature means a rise in water level which leads to flooding. It is estimated that
costs because of flooding could rise from the current £1.2 billion a year to between £2.1 billion and £12 billion a year by the 2080.
People that are hit by floods or the storms that may occur may suffer from mental health problems such as depression and stress because they will have to leave their homes for extended periods of time.
Water shortages could increase, with a potential deficit of between 773 and 2,570 million litres of water a day in the Thames river basin, up from a shortfall of 59 million litres a day currently.
Farmers could experience crop losses due to flooding and the forestry industry could see timber yield and quality reduced by drier weather. Timber production could also be hit by the spread of pests and diseases such as red band needle blight.
Although the hot winters saves lives the higher temperatures in summer see around 580 to 5,900 more people dying as a result of hot summers and heatwaves by the 2050. The number of days a year when temperatures rise above 26C is predicted to increase from 18 in London to between 27 and 121 in the 2080s.
Also fish species could shift north, reducing the UK's cod fishery. Invasive species could also spread north within the UK.
Native species of animal in the UK, especially those that depend on special habitats rather than the general countryside, may struggle to move to keep up with a changing climate and because of drier soils wild fires are at high risk.
I think that it is clear to see that the negative impacts out weight the positive and that even the positive have a negative side to them.
Next is Japan.
It had a direct effect on every single county, continent and person on earth. Although that is a given many people do not know how it will directly impact them.
I am going to give an insight into two different countries and how this will affect them. Firstly Britain as it is the country I am situated in and Japan as it not only has a similar structure to Britain (Island) it has roughly similar land mass and has often been referred to as ‘the Britain of the far east’. But it has many problems with plate boundaries and thus is prone to natural disasters. This detail will provide a contrast to the effects and impacts Britain will face. And of course my fascination with Japan is also a reason for my choice of such on this topic.
Firstly I feel that it is only right to understand just what climate change is.
Climate change is any change in the global temperature and precipitation due to human activity and natural causes.
The average temperature of the surface of the earth is rising and the main reason is because of the green house effect. Now I won’t go into much depth of this is not my forte so to speak I will give you a brief insight into what it is so that you can understand climate change.
Gasses in the atmosphere help to retain the suns heat and intern act as a sort of blanket that heats up the natural climate. The light/heat from the sun isn’t able to leave the oz layer because of this gas. The gas is no other than CO2 emissions that are cause by burning fossil fuels or on a more accessible level; driving cars, using electricity.
This website provides a nice animated image of the above process.
Now that I have explained the basics to what climate change is I will look at how it may affect Britain.
Contrary to popular belief there are some positives to climate change in terms of impacting Britain.
Currently between 26,000 and 57,000 premature deaths occur due to the cold weather that Britain faces during the weather, climate change will mean that the temperature in these winter months will inevitable increase and get hotter. It is predicted by 2050 the death rate for this could decrease significantly by 3,900 and 24,000 people.
Also there will be an increased yield for current crops such as wheat, sugar beet and potatoes. This will reduce the foreign import of them crop and reduce prices for locals as it is locally sources and no import taxes will be paid
A better grass yield across farms which will mean more feeding for livestock and also the temperature rise gives way for an introduction of new crops and tree species that would not have been able to survive if not for the a more heated Britain.
Furthermore the temperature increase means the melting of Arctic ice and this could open up new shipping routes through the region. This would improve trade links with Asia and the Pacific.
And also a reduction in the demand for central heating will decrease and an expansion of tourist destinations in the UK will also increase.
These are just some of the outward benefits global warming would have on Britain. But of cause there are also negatives to it.
A rise in temperature means a rise in water level which leads to flooding. It is estimated that
costs because of flooding could rise from the current £1.2 billion a year to between £2.1 billion and £12 billion a year by the 2080.
People that are hit by floods or the storms that may occur may suffer from mental health problems such as depression and stress because they will have to leave their homes for extended periods of time.
Water shortages could increase, with a potential deficit of between 773 and 2,570 million litres of water a day in the Thames river basin, up from a shortfall of 59 million litres a day currently.
Farmers could experience crop losses due to flooding and the forestry industry could see timber yield and quality reduced by drier weather. Timber production could also be hit by the spread of pests and diseases such as red band needle blight.
Although the hot winters saves lives the higher temperatures in summer see around 580 to 5,900 more people dying as a result of hot summers and heatwaves by the 2050. The number of days a year when temperatures rise above 26C is predicted to increase from 18 in London to between 27 and 121 in the 2080s.
Also fish species could shift north, reducing the UK's cod fishery. Invasive species could also spread north within the UK.
Native species of animal in the UK, especially those that depend on special habitats rather than the general countryside, may struggle to move to keep up with a changing climate and because of drier soils wild fires are at high risk.
I think that it is clear to see that the negative impacts out weight the positive and that even the positive have a negative side to them.
Next is Japan.