Science

6 ways humans are experiencing climate change right now

by JoAnna Wendel

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Days with extreme heat and extreme pollution are increasing globally. South Asia alone could increase by 175% by 2050.

That would mean 78 days out of the year could be hit by both extremes.

Hurricanes have been growing in strength since 1979. The likelihood that a hurricane will become a Category 3 has increased about 8% since then.

Thawing permafrost caused an oil tank in Russia to collapse, spilling 21,000 tons of diesel into the Ambarnaya and Daldykan rivers.

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Scientists estimate that 40% of the world’s permafrost (or 2.5 million square miles) could disappear by the end of the century.

Recently, scientists discovered that the rate at which sea levels rise is actually increasing about 0.08 millimeters per year.

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That means by 2100, sea levels could be rising an extra 77 centimeters per year.

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The first recorded mass bleaching event in the Great Barrier Reef occurred in 1998. Since then, scientists have observed mass bleaching events during years with record-breaking high temperatures — 2002, 2016, 2017, and 2020.

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Five small island nations — The Maldives, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Tokelau, and Tuvalu — are uniquely threatened by the effects of climate change.

They face higher sea level rise, more devastating effects of hurricanes, and freshwater contamination from sea level rise.

Read more about the current global

climate change

crisis here.