Climate Change: The Impact On Earth Has Begun [Updated 2023]

Climate Change is Real

It is abundantly clear that climate change is real. But what’s more – it has already begun to have a pernicious effect on natural ecosystems, globally.

A New York Times article published in January ‘23 quotes NASA’s analysis which ranked 2022 (tied with 2015) as the fifth warmest year. In 2022, the average global temperature was about 1.15 [1.02 to 1.27] °C above the average pre-industrial (1850-1900) levels. The last 8 years are claimed to be the hottest so far. According to the World Meteorological Organization, 2022 was the 8th consecutive year (2015-2022) when the annual global temperatures had reached at least 1°C above pre-industrial levels. 

If we keep following this trend, the likelihood of breaching (at least, temporarily) the 1.5°C limit of the Paris Agreement is increasing with time. 

This global temperature rising more than normal, also called global warming, has begun to show dire climate change effects on sea levels and existing flora and fauna.

As an example of the climate change effects across the world, Europe had its warmest January, in 2023, on record, while North America and Africa each had a January that ranked among the 10 warmest on record.

According to NASA analyses of ground-based observations and satellite data, global surface temperatures and Arctic sea ice extent — the two key climate change indicators — had broken numerous records as early as  the first half of 2016. In 2023, Arctic sea ice extent ranked third lowest on record, while Antarctic sea ice hit a record low for January. An exceptionally strong El Niño event had occurred in 2016, which contributed to the record global temperatures. The culprit of course, is the rising concentrations of global warming – heat-trapping carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere causing these anomalies.

The Worrisome Case of the Arctic Sea Ice Collapse

In the northern hemisphere, as winter kicked into gear in 2016, the Arctic began witnessing an ominous trend. Less of the northern ocean was covered in ice than ever seen before in satellite records and imagery. It has only worsened after that. According to satellite observations, Arctic sea ice reached its annual minimum extent (lowest amount of ice for the year) on Sept. 18, 2022. The ice cover shrank to an area of 4.67 million square kilometers (1.80 million square miles) this year, roughly 1.55 million square kilometers (598,000 square miles) below the 1981-2010 average minimum of 6.22 million square kilometers (2.40 million square miles). As of March 2023, the average Arctic sea ice extent was 14.44 million square kilometers (5.58 million square miles), putting it at the sixth lowest position as per the satellite records. Below is an image of the Arctic sea ice extent for March 2023, which was recorded at 14.44 million square kilometers (5.58 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month i.e. March.

Why should anyone care about polar ice? The Arctic plays an important regulatory role in the global climate, and thus, both an important weapon and barometer for us to gauge global warming. The Arctic ice acts like a big mirror, reflecting sunlight back into space, thus regulating global temperatures. Burn up the arctic ice and it shall be like turning off the AC on the whole planet.

The above animation released by NASA, uses the data provided by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Global Change Observation Mission 1st-Water “SHIZUKU” satellite  to depict the trend in the Arctic Summer Sea Ice in 2022 (from March ‘22 to September ‘22) – another consequence of global warming!. According to satellite observations, Arctic sea ice reached its annual minimum extent (lowest amount of ice for the year) on Sept. 18, 2022. The ice cover shrank to an area of 4.67 million square kilometers in 2022, which is roughly 1.55 million square kilometers below the 1981-2010 average minimum of 6.22 million square kilometers. We have observed that the summer ice extent in and around the Arctic Ocean has declined significantly since satellites began measuring it consistently in 1978.

According to research estimates, up to 95 percent of the long-term decline in the Arctic sea ice has been driven by human activity like dark soot particles. These particles originate from factories and cars in Europe and Asia. They travel north, settle on the ice and absorb extra sunlight. This in turn affects the ecosystem indigenous to the north – fish, whales, seals, and, yes, polar bears – that relies on a balanced environment at the poles to survive. The imminent effects being species extinction and rampant flooding.

Climate Change Effects on The Antarctic Sea Ice

The Antarctic Sea Ice is facing the same fate as that of the arctic. Climate change effects can be seen on all terrains across the planet. The below image shows that the Antarctic sea ice has likely reached its minimum extent for the year 2023, at 1.79 million square kilometers (691,000 square miles) on February 21, 2023. These statistics were released by the scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder. The 2023 minimum, lowest in the 45-year satellite record, beat the previous record low set in 2022 by 136,000 square kilometers.

More unsettling images from NASA show the extent to which the regions around the arctic are changing due to rising temperatures

The Greenland ice sheet is melting earlier than ever before

The shrinking size of the Helheim Glacier in Greenland

Climate Change claimed its First Mammalian Species

In 2019, after a widespread search conducted by an Australian government environmental group, the government declared the extinction of a tiny rodent called Bramble Cay melomys. The Bramble Cay is a tiny rodent found exclusively on an island in the Great Barrier Reef. The group believes the extinction occurred due to a dramatic habitat loss coupled with the ongoing human-induced climate change as the cause. This marks the first time a mammal has died off due to climate change.

Research by U.S. Geological Survey has found that the American Pika populations are now disappearing from numerous areas that span from the Sierra Nevada to the Rocky Mountains. Populations within some areas are migrating to higher elevations likely to avoid reduced snowpacks and warmer summer temperatures.  Pikas are strongly tied to rocky-talus habitat that is limited and patchily distributed. This gives them few options as temperatures continue to rise.

A study titled “Accelerating extinction risk from climate change“, in 2015, performed a threat analysis to better understand the species most likely in line for climate change impact. Smaller ones living on small islands, like the melomys, or on “sky islands,” like the tops of mountains, are at the greatest risk of extinction since they can’t survive relocation.

Due to reduced ice in the Arctic, polar bears have become the first species to be listed as endangered. A population decline has been forecast owing to climate change. Polar bears need sea ice to hunt seals, which is an important food source. Sea ice is also a necessity as for them to move across the large home ranges they need for foraging habitat. Additionally, walruses and other Arctic species are facing similar challenges as summer sea ice continues to retreat. 

In 2008, polar bears were listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act

Global warming and climate change have altered marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems around the world.

According to the United Nations, the most important cause of biodiversity loss is the humans’ use of land, predominantly for sourcing and producing food. However, climate change has caused the loss of local species, increased diseases, and driven mass mortality of plants and animals, resulting in the first climate-driven extinctions. This climate change effect is not limited to the terrestrial ecosystems.

Climate Change is Also Killing The Great Barrier Reef

The rising temperatures have taken a toll on The Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The Barrier Reef was once named as one of the seven wonders of the natural world.

The Great Barrier Reef foundation describes how climate change has affected the reefs in numerous ways: color bleaching, ocean acidification, habitat changes and severe weather changes. Warming of water bodies around the reef has caused widespread coral bleaching. When corals are impacted by heat stress, they expel the microscopic algae that live inside their tissues, revealing their white skeletons. This can be defined as coral bleaching. Bleached corals, although not dead, are more at risk of starvation and disease. These coral reefs can recover from bleaching over time, but only if temperatures drop and the environmental conditions return to normal.

Coral bleaching  in turn has led to the death of a fairly number of large species of flora and fauna indigenous to the reef. It leads to an increase in carbon dioxide levels absorbed by the ocean from the environment, causing Ocean acidification. As the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rises, more of the gas is dissolving in the ocean. This is lowering the pH of the water (or making it acidic). Reef-building organisms are therefore finding it increasingly difficult to construct their hard skeletons. This coupled with increase in water temperatures, leads to an increase in marine species being forced to move south to cooler habitats. This shift creates increased competition for food and shelter in cooler waters, thus threatening the entire ecosystem.

Coral bleaching due to rising temperatures has claimed more than 90 percent of the vibrant ecosystem of The Australian Great Barrier Reef

Climate change is also increasing the frequency and intensity of severe weather events. The cataclysmic effects of frequently occurring violent cyclones, flooding and storms is another way global warming and climate change has taken a toll on the marine ecosystem.

Climate Change and the Future

There is no denying the fact that a domino effect of ecosystem deterioration is underway.  The evidence of climate change effects can be seen across the planet in different forms. We know that the seas will rise (they already are). As a natural consequence, droughts and flooding will get more severe (they already have). We’re expecting higher heat waves, more intense storms, and ocean acidification (already ongoing). There is no escaping some of these changes. But unless we reign ourselves in, this will soon become a crisis without a solution.