Global Warming Impacts Everyone, but How and Why?

While it is more complicated than this, the simple way of looking at the jet streams, one in each hemisphere, is to separate the colder areas from the warmer areas.  When the jet stream moves, we get fronts moving across the Earth. 

A jet stream is not a straight line movement of air.  Instead, it produces loops, much like a river meanders.  As the energy in the atmosphere changes, so does the number of loops, which can be as small as three or as large as six.  Hence, we see temperature changes in many temperate latitudes due to the changes in the jet stream.  Another feature is that places over which the jet stream moves away from the equator have increased precipitation, due to the air flowing over the cold dome of air behind the jet stream. 

As a consequence of any climate change, individual places will become hotter or colder, and may become wetter or drier. This can result in drought or flooding. 

Areas with temperature and precipitation changes often become agriculturally challenged.  While some crop might work, finding and shifting to it takes times.  And, countries could become unable to produce crops to meet the citizen’s dietary demands, making importing food a necessity. 

Water vapor, when it comes out of the vapor state to form liquid water, releases an enormous amount of heat.  This heat causes the air to expand and become lighter, forcing it to rise as colder air flows in to take its place.  Warmer air holds more water vapor, so there is more fuel to cause storms to become more frequent and more severe.  A warmer Earth is a stormier Earth.

While satisfying the collective palates of a country might be a problem, it pales compared to the consequences of melting the polar caps.  The ice stored on the Earth’s surface, both in glaciers and polar caps, is water that cannot spread out.  Once melted, the water can spread out in the oceans, increasing their depth significantly, while spreading out until the new ocean basins reach high enough land to contain them.

Technology probably will not save major cities along the coasts.  Even if the cities could be walled with high levees, many of them would become islands well out to sea.

Another problem will be the introduction of the fresh water into the salt water oceans in sufficient quantity to change the salinity.  Sea life will be challenged to survive.

Well, as global warming displaces large populations with rising sea level it will impact the economy of every country of the world.  Then, there is the agricultural impact, many people will pay more for food.  Finally, storms will cause greater damage. 

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