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What is global warming causing?
Question Date: 2007-05-03
Answer 1:

There are many unintended consequences of global warming.

The climate and weather patterns will change to reflect the increased amount of solar energy that is trapped by the earth. This means that the ice caps will melt back and that will increase the sea-level. So a lot of people in the world live close to sea level. Their homes and cities will be under water although it will take 30-100 years to do this.

Another effect is on the plants and animals. As things warm up, animals that live in cold areas will be under stress because the land they inhabit will shrink. Invasive species will be driven north and they will displace cold weather species.

It may also be that the intensity of violent storms will increase although no one really knows for sure because the atmosphere is such a complex system.



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