Climate+Change+and+Weather


 * ~ Change ||||||||~ Projected Impacts by Sector ||
 * ^  ||~ Agriculture, forestry ||~ Water resources ||~ Human health/ mortality ||~ Industry/settlement/society ||
 * ~ Warmer/fewer cold days/nights; warmer/more hot days/nights over most land areas. || Increased yields in colder environments; decreased yields in warmer environments; || Effects on water resources relying on snow melt || Reduced human mortality from decreased cold exposure || Reduced energy demand for heating; increased demand for cooling; declining air quality in cities; reduced effects of snow, ice etc. ||
 * ~ Warm spells/heat waves: frequency increases over most land areas || Reduced yields in warmer regions due to heat stress at key devel. stages; fire danger increase || Increased water demand; water quality problems, e.g., algal blooms || Increased risk of heat-related mortality || Reduction in quality of life for people in warm areas without air conditioning; impacts on elderly and very young; reduced thermoelectric power production efficiency ||
 * ~ Heavy precipitation events: frequency increases over most areas || Damage to crops; soil erosion, inability to cultivate land, water logging of soils || Adverse effects on quality of surface and groundwater; contamination of water supply || Deaths, injuries, infectious diseases, allergies and dermatitis from floods and landslides || Disruption of settlements, commerce, transport and societies due to flooding; pressures on urban and rural infrastructures ||
 * ~ Area affected by drought: increases || Land degradation, lower yields/crop damage and failure; livestock deaths; land degradation || More widespread water stress || Increased risk of food and water shortage and wild fires; increased risk of water- and food-borne diseases || Water shortages for settlements, industry and societies; reduced hydropower generation potentials; potentials for population migration ||
 * ~ Number of intense tropical cyclones: increases || Damage to crops; windthrow of trees || Power outages cause disruption of public water supply || Increased risk of deaths, injuries, water- and food-borne diseases || Disruption by flood and high winds; withdrawal of risk coverage in vulnerable areas by private insurers ||
 * ~ Incidence of extreme high sea level: increases || Salinization of irrigation and well water || Decreased freshwater availability due to saltwater intrusion || Increase in deaths by drowning in floods; increase in stress-related disease || Costs of coastal protection //versus costs of land-use// relocation; also see tropical cyclones above ||

"…greenhouse warming and other human alterations of the Earth system may increase the possibility of large, abrupt, and unwelcome regional or global climatic events. The abrupt changes of the past are not fully explained yet, and climate models typically underestimate the size, speed, and extent of those changes. Hence, future abrupt changes cannot be predicted with confidence, and climate surprises are to be expected." - [|National Research Council, 2002]

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Over the past 35 years there has been a great increase in the number of hurricanes catergorized levels 4 and 5. After analyzing the various characteristics of hurricanes in the North Atlantic region, it has been determined that since 1995, the intensity and frequency of hurricanes have both increased.

|| |||| 1990–2004 ||
 * |||||||| Period
 * Basin |||| 1975–1989
 * || Number || Percentage || Number || Percentage ||
 * East Pacific Ocean || 36 || 25 || 49 || 35 ||
 * West Pacific Ocean || 85 || 25 || 116 || 41 ||
 * North Atlantic || 16 || 20 || 25 || 25 ||
 * Southwestern Pacific || 10 || 12 || 22 || 28 ||
 * North Indian || 1 || 8 || 7 || 25 ||
 * South Indian || 23 || 18 || 50 || 34 ||
 * South Indian || 23 || 18 || 50 || 34 ||

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general temperature frequency of heat waves frequency of heavy precipitation number of areas affected by drought number of intense tropical cyclones number incidences of extreme high sea levels