The consequences of global warming could be very serious
As the sea gets warmer, it expands
causing sea level to rise. If it keeps rising
it will be bad news for low lying places
like the Netherlands,Maldives - they'll be
flooded. High temperatures make ice
melt. Water 'trapped' on land melts and
runs into the sea causing sea levels to
rise more.
Global warming has changed weather patterns in many places. It's
though many regions will suffer more extreme weather because of
this (longer,hotter droughts) Hurricanes form over warmer more
than 27C so with warmer water, you'd expect more hurricanes.
The distribution of many wild animal and plant
species may change. Some may become more wildly
distributed (species that need warmer temp may
spread wider as the conditions they need exist over a
wider area) Others may become less widely
distributed. Biodiversity can be reduced if some
species are unable to survive a change in the climate
so become extinct. there could be changes in
migration patterns( more may migrate further north -
these are getting warmer)
To find out how our climate is changing scientists are
collecting data about the environment. They use satellites
to monitor snow and ice cover and to measure the
temperature of the sea surface. The temperature and speed
of ocean currents to try and detect any changes. Automatic
weather stations are constantly recording atmospheric
temperatures
All this data is only useful if it covers a
wide enough area and a long enough time
scale. Generally observations of a small
scale aren't much use or a short period of
time. Scientists can make mistakes so you
need more than one person's word for it.