(NEW YORK) — As the first piece of ABC News Radio’s series on the global climate crisis, Ginger Zee helps us understand the global impact of climate change.
The signs and symptoms of climate change are all around us. While the climate has always changed, we’re talking about the human interaction with our climate and how rapidly it has changed.
When we’re talking about that human induced climate change, the rate of which it has changed is like nothing we have ever seen before.
What is climate change?
Imagine climate is the personality – it is the longer, broader picture. While weather – is the mood, and changes more day-to-day.
What are signs of climate change?
The changes in climate are all around us. Rapid artic sea ice loss is just one of those signs. This loss is already impacting the locals, who are losing their homes and losing their livelihood because of the lack of permafrost.
While over here in the states, sea level rise is already impacting cities right here in the United States — from Virginia down to Miami. Especially when hurricane season is present. Any extra inch of sea level rise has a huge impact when talking about storm surge potential.
So how will climate change impact us?
“How won’t it impact us?” Ginger Zee asks.
Think about what you eat and how much it costs. All of those factors will be impacted by climate change. For example, Mexico City – a city of 22 million people – are facing water shortages. They can lose more than half of their irrigated crops, and that’s something that can’t be fixed instantly. That will impact not only the variability of the food that we all enjoy, but the cost of it, too.
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