Climate change consequences - European Commission

When water warms up it expands. At the same time global warming causes polar ice sheets and glaciers to melt. The combination of these changes is causing sea ... Skiptomaincontent EuropeanCommission…ClimateActionClimatechangeClimatechangeconsequencesClimatechangeconsequences PagecontentsMeltingiceandrisingseasExtremeweather,shiftingrainfallConsequencesforEuropeConsequencesfordevelopingcountriesRisksforhumanhealthCostsforsocietyandeconomyRisksforwildlife Climatechangeaffectsallregionsaroundtheworld.Polariceshieldsaremeltingandtheseaisrising.Insomeregionsextremeweathereventsandrainfallarebecomingmorecommonwhileothersareexperiencingmoreextremeheatwavesanddroughts.Theseimpactsareexpectedtointensifyinthecomingdecades. Meltingiceandrisingseas Whenwaterwarmsupitexpands.Atthesametimeglobalwarmingcausespolaricesheetsandglacierstomelt.Thecombinationofthesechangesiscausingsealevelstorise,resultinginfloodinganderosionofcoastalandlowlyingareas. Extremeweather,shiftingrainfall Heavyrainandotherextremeweathereventsarebecomingmorefrequent.Thiscanleadtofloodsanddecreasingwaterquality,butalsodecreasingavailabilityofwaterresourcesinsomeregions. ConsequencesforEurope SouthernandcentralEuropeareseeingmorefrequentheatwaves,forestfiresanddroughts.TheMediterraneanareaisbecomingdrier,makingitevenmorevulnerabletodroughtandwildfires.NorthernEuropeisgettingsignificantlywetter,andwinterfloodscouldbecomecommon.Urbanareas,where4outof5Europeansnowlive,areexposedtoheatwaves,floodingorrisingsealevels,butareoftenill-equippedforadaptingtoclimatechange. Consequencesfordevelopingcountries Manypoordevelopingcountriesareamongthemostaffected.Peoplelivingthereoftendependheavilyontheirnaturalenvironmentandtheyhavetheleastresourcestocopewiththechangingclimate. Risksforhumanhealth Climatechangeisalreadyhavinganimpactonhealth:Therehasbeenanincreaseinthenumberofheat-relateddeathsinsomeregionsandadecreaseincold-relateddeathsinothers.Wearealreadyseeingchangesinthedistributionofsomewater-borneillnessesanddiseasevectors. Costsforsocietyandeconomy Damagetopropertyandinfrastructureandtohumanhealthimposesheavycostsonsocietyandtheeconomy.Between1980and2011floodsaffectedmorethan5.5millionpeopleandcauseddirecteconomiclossesofmorethan€90billion.Sectorsthatrelystronglyoncertaintemperaturesandprecipitationlevelssuchasagriculture,forestry,energyandtourismareparticularlyaffected. Risksforwildlife Climatechangeishappeningsofastthatmanyplantsandanimalspeciesarestrugglingtocope.Manyterrestrial,freshwaterandmarinespecieshavealreadymovedtonewlocations.Someplantandanimalspecieswillbeatincreasedriskofextinctionifglobalaveragetemperaturescontinuetoriseunchecked. Sharethispage