Global warming is a well-recognised concept since the mid 1900s. The current issue in question revolves around the extent climate change will affect mankind, the timescale and the severity of such changes. Various visible physical changes are evident over the last decade. Not only does the disasters strike more frequently and with more force, all three major global surface temperature reconstructions illustrate that the Earth has warmed vastly since 1880. The Department of Energy & Climate Change (2014) stated a 0.5°C increase in average temperature over the 1970s in their fifth assessment science report. Frankly, the majority of the warming began in the 1970s, with the 10 of its warmest years from 1998 (Climate Central, 2016). …show more content…
Flooding is potentially destructive with the rising sea levels, increasing rainfall and the melting of polar ice and glaciers. All these issues contribute to the loss of land usability and increased destruction. Since the beginning of the 21st century, there has been a 0.2m increase in sea level (NASA, n.d.). It is predicted to rise a further 0.26 to 0.81m by the end of this century (Gregory, 2013). This, along with the rise in global temperature, will cause severe damage to various countries, for example an estimated 145 million people living on land will be in danger in China (Climate Central, …show more content…
Most are immersed within cities and buildings, commonly less than 1m above sea level. With the predicted coastal erosion, most coastal cities today may find themselves at serious risk, or even wiped out by the end of the 21st century (Gregory, 2013). A mere 0.5m rise will place over 2 billion people worldwide at risk. This is an estimate of 37% of the population within a 60-mile radius of the coast, at a direct or indirect risk of being affected by the corrosion of landmass (Ireland, n.d.). The quantity of assets at risk from being below a 1:100 flood by the end of the century with just a 0.3m rise in sea levels could stand between 17-180 trillion (Hinkel et al,