10 Things Global Warming Could Change Forever

Great Barrier Reef may be gone in 20 years

The Great Barrier Reef will be so degraded by warming
waters that it will be unrecognizable within 20 years. Charlie
Veron, former chief scientist of the Australian Institute of
Marine Science, told The Times: “There is no way out, no
loopholes. The Great Barrier Reef will be over within
20 years or so.” Once carbon dioxide had hit the
levels predicted for between 2030 and 2060, all
coral reefs were doomed to extinction, he said. “They
would be the world's first global ecosystem to collapse.
I have the backing of every coral reef scientist, every
research organization. I've spoken to them all. This is
critical. This is reality.”

Amazon Rain Forest may turn into a desert

Teeming with millions of species and one-fifth of the world's

fresh water, the Amazon is the world's largest tropical rainforest.

However, global warming and deforestation are reversing the

forest's role as a carbon sink, converting 30-60% of the 

rainforest into dry savannah. Projections show the forest 

could disappear completely by 2050.

Sahara Desert may become green

Scientists are seeing signals that the Sahara desert and

surrounding regions are greening due to increasing rainfall.

If sustained, these rains could revitalize drought-ravaged regions,

reclaiming them for farming communities. This desert-shrinking

trend is supported by climate models, which predict a return

to conditions that turned the Sahara into a lush savanna some

12,000 years ago.

Hurricanes may become more devastating than Katrina

It has not been determined whether Katrina was linked to

global warming. But there are indications that global warming

will produce more Category 5 hurricanes --and Katrina was

only Category 4 when it hit Louisiana. Hurricanes derive their

power in part from warm water, and so forecasting models

show future hurricanes becoming more severe as sea surface

temperatures rise. Global warming also makes hurricanes more

destructive by raising the sea level, which leads to more

serious coastal flooding. (According to the EPA, a two-foot

rise would swallow a chunk of the U.S. bigger

than Massachusetts.)

London may disappear underwater by 2100

It isn't only reefs and low-lying islands that are under threat

from global warming. In fact, a major threat is for those large

urban areas which are at risk of eventually being submerged

underwater. This is caused by a change in sea levels that

occurs when global warming takes place, resulting in coastal

cities being destroyed by flooding. Dozens of the world's cities,

including London and New York, could be flooded by the end

of the century, according to research which suggests that global

warming will increase sea levels more rapidly than was previously

thought. London is one of the major world capitals at high risk

of this type of flooding, as depicted in this shot from the 2007

movie Flood. Scientists say that the city could be under water

as early as within the next one hundred years.

Animals may shrink

Warming climate may favor small species over large ones.

The research, based on analysis of body mass of fish, plankton,

and bacteria in European ecosystems, comes just weeks after

scientists reported that sheep on a Scottish island are shrinking

due to warmer conditions.

The new study reveals that individual species lost an average of
50 percent of their body mass over the past 30 years. The reduced
body size is the third universal ecological response to global
warming. An earlier sheep study suggested that shorter and
milder winters mean lambs do not need to put on as much as
weight as they once did in order to survive their first year of life,
a factor that could also impact fish populations. Nonetheless the
researchers say the shift could alter food chains, with apex
predators being particularly affected by shrinking prey.

2,000 Indonesian islands may disappear

At least 2,000 small islands across archipelagic Indonesia may

disappear by 2030 as a consequence of excessive mining and

other environment-damaging activities. Indonesia has already

lost 24 of its more than 17,500 islands.

Global warming may increase terrorism

Global warming could destabilize "struggling and poor" countries

around the world, prompting mass migrations and creating 

breeding grounds for terrorists. People are likely to flee 

destabilized countries, and some may turn to terrorism. 

The conditions exacerbated by the effects of climate change

could increase the pool of potential recruits into terrorist activity.

According to the chairman of the National Intelligence Council

in the US, economy refugees will perceive additional reasons 

to flee their homes because of harsher climates. That will put

pressure on countries receiving refugees, many of which 

will have neither the resources nor interest to host these

climate migrants.

The Alps may melt completely

Glaciers are retreating in warm, dry winters and hotter summers

caused by global warming, and although snowfall in the 

2008-2009 ski seasons was substantial, overall recent years 

have seen less snow at low altitudes, and receding glaciers 

and melting permafrost higher up - with a significant impact 

on winter tourism activities. It is predicted that the glaciers 

will be gone between 2030 and 2050. Italy and Switzerland 

have decided to redraw their border after global warming

dissolved Alpine glaciers that marked out the frontier between 

the two countries.

The Maldives may be submerged

The lowest and flattest country in the world is suffering coastal 

erosion, and could find itself submerged if sea levels carry on

rising, with the islands growing smaller and smaller. This extreme

prediction is a devastating prospect for residents and bad news

for the tourists who descend on its soft white beaches and 

warm waters each year. Scientists give it only about one 

hundred years before it completely disappears into the 

ocean surrounding it.