Evolution and Climate Change in the Oceans
Natural disasters can have a profound effect on climate change, AND the gradual climate change can have an impact on natural disasters. It is essentially a positive feedback loop. The gradual increase in global temperature can, and quite possibly will, lead to an increase in:
- Earthquakes
- Volcanic Activity
- Avalanches
- Tsunamis
- Floods and Mud Flows
- Torrential Rain leading to Massive Erosion
- Movement of the Tectonic Plates
Most experts feel as though our window of opportunity is closing and that Earth's future looks very very bleak.
Maarten K. van Aalst, a Dutch climatologist wrote a fairly good article that relates the El Niño events to the change in global climate. He stated that climate change due to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will bring with it intense droughts and floods leading to decreased agricultural and rangeland productivity in drought- and flood-prone regions, as well as decreased hydro-power potential in drought-prone regions. He also said that there is evidence that the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has lead to a more frequent El Niño. This is obviously not good because you don't want extreme flooding or extreme droughts; you want a somewhat consistent climate so you can sustain agriculture. (El Niño events typically drench western South America but cause massive droughts in Indonesia, whereas the La Niña events cause flooding in Australia and Southeast Asia, but leave South America in a drought). The massive flooding of a region can cause a fairly distinct change in a population or in an entire ecosystem. Extreme weather patterns can even destroy entire species. The increase in these El Niño/La Niña events could be a major player in global climate change over the next few decades.
Specific Examples of Natural Disasters and Climate Change
To connect climate change with current events, there has been a lot of publications recently about Hurricane Sandy and the effect that climate change will have on all natural disasters, especially future hurricanes:
Sandy was a hybrid storm – a winter storm and a hurricane combo. Climate scientists do not currently understand how these hybrid storms will respond to climate change and global warming – but it is important that they figure it out quickly.
- Fukushima Nuclear Accident (albeit not a natural disaster, but a disaster)
Sandy was a hybrid storm – a winter storm and a hurricane combo. Climate scientists do not currently understand how these hybrid storms will respond to climate change and global warming – but it is important that they figure it out quickly.
To connect climate change with current events, there has been a lot of publications recently about Hurricane Sandy and the effect that climate change will have on all natural disasters, especially future hurricanes:
Sandy was a hybrid storm – a winter storm and a hurricane combo. Climate scientists do not currently understand how these hybrid storms will respond to climate change and global warming – but it is important that they figure it out quickly.
(albeit not a natural disaster in this case):
The Biological Impacts of the Fukushima nuclear accident on the Pale Grass Blue Butterfly explored the effects of natural disasters on evolution and climate change. The butterfly was chosen because of its ability to be a great environmental indicator. The butterfly has impressive wing color patterns that are very sensitive to environmental changes. Due to the massive release of radioactive materials to the environment after the collapse of the power plant, many physiological and genetic damage has been observed in the offspring of the Z. Maha butterfly. The results of the study were impressive. The study found that the abnormal traits observed in the F1 generation were inherited by the F2 generation and that is highly probably that these characteristics were caused by genetic damage introduce to the parent cells due to the Fukushima accident. At this time, the Z. Maha population is not responding well to the radiation. The population in the Fukushima area is deteriorating physiologically and genetically at a rapid pace. One of the greatest concerns is that the population is not adapting fast enough to the environmental changes.
We also looked at how natural disasters can hurt the economy on the Economic Effects page. This page links to an article in Rolling Stone Magazine about how due to increases in temperature and salinity, Australia has been experiencing more extreme weather and natural disasters Despite the fact that natural disasters cause immense damage, countries are still worried about the costs of implementing changes to combat thermal warming. Everyone seems to have the attitude that we should save money and let others worry when extreme effects from thermal warming occur later.
Back to Introduction
/groups/evolution3000/search/index.rss?sort=modifiedDate&sortDirection=reverse&tag=adaptationlist/groups/evolution3000/search/?sort=modifiedDate&sortDirection=reverse&tag=adaptationAdaptationCustomTagSidebarCustomTagSidebar?sort=modifiedDate&sortDirection=reverse&tag=adaptation0/groups/evolution3000/sidebar/CustomTagSidebarmodifiedDate5CustomTagSidebarreverseadaptationAdaptationcustom/groups/evolution3000/search/index.rss?tag=hotlist/groups/evolution3000/search/?tag=hotWhat’s HotHotListHot!?tag=hot1/groups/evolution3000/sidebar/HotListdheubel5dheubel52012-11-14 16:36:03+00:002012-11-14 16:36:03updated5dheubel5dheubel52012-11-09 16:46:53+00:002012-11-09 16:46:53updated4Added tag - hotdheubel5dheubel52012-11-09 16:46:49+00:002012-11-09 16:46:49addTag3I thought this might be helpful in reading through everything. Let me know if you guys like it!dheubel5dheubel52012-11-09 16:46:24+00:002012-11-09 16:46:24updated2First createddheubel5dheubel52012-11-09 16:31:49+00:002012-11-09 16:31:49created1wiki2012-11-14T16:36:03+00:00groups/evolution3000/wiki/de98eFalseTable of Contents/groups/evolution3000/wiki/de98e/Table_of_Contents.htmldheubel55 updatesTable of Contents
Climate Change
Effects of Climate Change in the Environment
Oxygen Levels
Effects o...Falsedheubel52012-11-14T16:36:03+00:00hot/groups/evolution3000/search/index.rss?sort=modifiedDate&kind=all&sortDirection=reverse&excludePages=wiki/welcomelist/groups/evolution3000/search/?sort=modifiedDate&kind=all&sortDirection=reverse&excludePages=wiki/welcomeRecent ChangesRecentChangesListUpdates?sort=modifiedDate&kind=all&sortDirection=reverse&excludePages=wiki/welcome0/groups/evolution3000/sidebar/RecentChangesListmodifiedDateallRecent ChangesRecentChangesListUpdateswiki/welcomeNo recent changes.reverse5search
Comments