Climate change is causing sea levels to rise through melting glaciers and expansion of ocean water, threatening over 600 million people who live within 10 meters of sea level. Rising seas endanger coastal cities and islands. Extreme weather like heatwaves, floods and cyclones are also becoming more frequent and severe due to higher temperatures, causing economic losses and deaths. Climate change could spread infectious diseases to new areas by allowing insect populations like mosquitoes to thrive in warmer, wetter conditions, spreading malaria and dengue fever to places like Europe and North America. However, a lengthened growing season may allow some regions like the UK and Canada to cultivate new crops.

1. Impacts of climate change

2. Watch the following video about sea
level rise
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boKd_Pb
2HUA
Qn to ponder:
- How sea level rising can affect countries

3. Sea level rise
• Sea level rise is the increase in the mean
height of the sea’s surface between high tide
and low tide relative to land.

4. Sea level rise
• High temperatures cause the melting of
glaciers that cause a rise in sea level.
• Higher temperatures in the atmosphere
cause water in oceans and seas to expand.
This increases the sea level.

5. Sea level rise
Example:
- 600 million people worldwide live in areas less
than 10 metres above sea level.
- Rising sea levels threaten low-lying areas and
islands.
- 33% of the world’s largest cities in coastal areas
are also at risk due to rising sea levels.

6. The next video will also give you a
short summary of various effects of
climate change!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuH-
ThmNUjM

7. More extreme weather events
• A severe and rare weather phenomenon that
results in significant economic losses and
loss of lives.
• These include heatwaves, floods, droughts
and tropical cyclones.

8. More extreme weather events
• Increasing due to higher land and sea
surface temperatures.

9. More frequent extreme weather
events.
Example: UK
• An extreme cold spell
• In December 2010 much of the UK was under snow.
Arctic air caused the temperatures to drop significantly
below the average. At night temperatures of -10°C were
not uncommon.
• An extreme heat wave
• In summer 2003 Europe suffered from an intense heat
wave. In the UK the temperature of 38.5°C was the
highest ever to be recorded.

10. Spread of infectious diseases
• Climate change could result in increased
temperatures and rainfall in various parts of the
world.
• Insects thrive in these favourable conditions
• Heavy rainfall may allow mosquitoes to grow in
numbers in aquatic habitats resulting in the
spread of malaria and dengue fever.

11. Spread of infectious diseases
• The distribution of the occurrence of infectious
insect – borne diseases is also changing. Regions
with moderate temperatures such as Europe and
North America are facing diseases once confined
to the tropics
• For eg, dengue fever was reported in cool
climate of Nepal and Bhutan for the first time in
2004.

12. How does climate change affect
the growth of crops?? Is it all
negative? Or are there positive
changes too?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW1Z_FIS9z
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13. Lengthening the growing season
in certain regions
• In the Yunnan province, China, the production of
fruits such as apples and cherries and nuts such
as almonds and walnuts is reduced as these
fruits and nuts require cool weather conditions.

14. Lengthening the growing season
in certain regions
• An increase in the types of crops that can be
grown in the United Kingdom.
• New crops such as blackberries and maize can be
cultivated.
• The production of fruit, soyabeans, potatoes and
wheat is projected to increase in Canada.