CLIMATE

As a society, we have structured our day-to-day lives around historical and current climate
conditions. We are accustomed to a normal range of conditions and may be sensitive to
extremes that fall outside of this range.

Climate change could affect our society through impacts on a number of different social,
cultural, and natural resources. For example, climate change could affect human health,
infrastructure, and transportation systems, as well as energy, food, and water supplies.

Some groups of people will likely face greater challenges than others. Climate change may
especially impact people who live in areas that are vulnerable to coastal storms, drought, and
sea level rise or people who live in poverty, older adults, and immigrant communities.
Similarly, some types of professions and industries may face considerable challenges from
climate change. Professions that are closely linked to weather and climate, such as outdoor
tourism, commerce, and agriculture, will likely be especially affected.

Addressing the social dimensions of climate change creates opportunities, as it increases the
adaptive capacities of communities worldwide and it helps enhance social development
objectives. At the same time, addressing social aspects will enable mobilization towards
equitable climate resilient pathways,“ said Dr. Asunción Lera St. Clair, a sociologist and
expert on poverty, development and climate. What determines how disastrous the effects of
climate change are and will be in the future are pre-existing vulnerabilities and people’s lack
of social development.

In recent years there has been a lot of discussion on global warming and climate change and
its implications for social development. t is now accepted that climate change is real and its
impacts will be felt across different sectors ranging from water resources to industries to
social arenas. In coming years, people will be affected across the world even more
irrespective of their contribution to the cause of global warming and climate change. The
very fabric of our society and the goal of social work will be impacted just as well. Climate
change is not just a scientific issue, it is just as much a social issue.
Reduced Pollution. Going green helps the environment by reducing the amount of pollution
that enters the soil, water and air. By using alternative energy sources and avoiding the
burning of fossil fuels, recycling and reducing waste and driving more efficiently, fewer
pollutants are released into the environment. Common effect include decreased water quality
increase pollution and green house gas emissions, depletion of natural resourses and
contribution of global climate change. Some of these are the direct result of human activities
whereas others are secondary effect that are part of a series of actions and reactions.

.The climate is changing already and will continue to change in the future. A significant
percentage of the observed and predicted changes can be attributed directly to greenhouse
gases emitted by humans. Climate change manifests itself both in long-term changes in the
climate such as slowly increasing average temperatures as well as in an altered climate
variability, i.e. greater climate fluctuations and more frequent extreme weather events such as
storms, drought or heat-wave summers.
The negative impacts of climate change are manifold and influence our everyday lives.
Some examples are

Health

Warmer winters would mean fewer deaths, particularly among vulnerable groups like the
aged. However, the same groups are also vulnerable to additional heat, and deaths attributable
to heatwaves are expected to be approximately five times as great as winter deaths prevented.
It is widely believed that warmer climes will encourage migration of disease-bearing insects
like mosquitoes and malaria is already appearing in places it hasn’t been seen before.

Ocean Acidification

A cause for considerable concern, there appear to be no benefits to the change in pH of the
oceans. This process is caused by additional CO2 being absorbed in the water, and may have
severe destabilising effects on the entire oceanic food-chain

Agriculture

While CO2 is essential for plant growth, all agriculture depends also on steady water
supplies, and climate change is likely to disrupt those supplies through floods and droughts. It
has been suggested that higher latitudes – Siberia, for example – may become productive due
to global warming, but the soil in Arctic and bordering territories is very poor, and the
amount of sunlight reaching the ground in summer will not change because it is governed by
the tilt of the earth. Agriculture can also be disrupted by wildfires and changes in seasonal
periodicity, which is already taking place, and changes to grasslands and water supplies could
impact grazing and welfare of domestic livestock. Increased warming may also have a greater
effect on countries whose climate is already near or at a temperature limit over which yields
reduce or crops fail – in the tropics or sub-Sahara, for example.

Energy production

Many power plants extract water from nearby rivers and feed in hot water. Due to river water
that is already too warm or because of low water levels in summer, a lack of sufficient
amounts of cooling water may be the result. In extreme cases, affected power plants have to
be shut down. Furthermore, the flora and fauna of rivers are endangered if the rivers' water is
too warm.
Sea Level Rise

Many parts of the world are low-lying and will be severely affected by modest sea rises. Rice
paddies are being inundated with salt water, which destroys the crops. Seawater is
contaminating rivers as it mixes with fresh water further upstream, and aquifers are becoming
polluted. Given that the IPCC did not include melt-water from the Greenland and Antarctic
ice-caps due to uncertainties at that time, estimates of sea-level rise are feared to considerably
underestimate the scale of the problem. There are no proposed benefits to sea-level rise.

Melting Glaciers

The effects of glaciers melting are largely detrimental, the principle impact being that many
millions of people (one-sixth of the world’s population) depend on fresh water supplied each
year by natural spring melt and regrowth cycles and those water supplies – drinking water,
agriculture – may fail.

Economic

Developing countries, some of which are already embroiled in military conflict, may be
drawn into larger and more protracted disputes over water, energy supplies or food, all of
which may disrupt economic growth at a time when developing countries are beset by more
egregious manifestations of climate change. It is widely accepted that the detrimental effects
of climate change will be visited largely on the countries least equipped to adapt, socially or
economically.
Researchers have found that a positive climate can help solve a lot of issues also.

Environmental

Positive effects of climate change may include greener rainforests and enhanced plant growth
in the Amazon, increased vegitation in northern latitudes and possible increases in plankton
biomass in some parts of the ocean.

Temperature

Temperature level on Earth’s surface, making it habitable for the living beings (humans,
animals, plants and other organisms). Thanks to the greenhouse gases, the earth is warm
enough to sustain life. Otherwise, the heat would have escaped the atmosphere, making
earth’s surface way cooler than what it is.

Water level

The greenhouse effect has allowed the planet to maintain its water level on the surface.
Thanks to the moderate temperature, the planet’s ice has not been melted completely, and the
polar ice caps are restricted to the polar regions of the planet.

Growth of the plants

Climate effect that describes an air-tight glass building that is used extensively by
commercial plant growers, gardeners and botanists to grow plants which otherwise would not
survive cold weather. Greenhouse buildings are usually used in the countries with cooler
climates. When the air can not escape out that greenhouse, then it can increase the degree in
the greenhouse and make it becomes wamer.