For decades, the interrelated issues of climate change and global warming have remained hot topics – no pun intended. Most often mentioned are melting glaciers, rising sea levels, warming oceans, and intense heat waves. Turns out that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
The effects of climate change subsist far and wide, unknowingly and continuously extending into our daily lives. Many are unexpected and even surprising. Here are just a few examples.
Time Isn’t Just Ticking, It’s Changing
Thanks to new research conducted at Swiss university ETH Zurich, scientists have discovered that global warming is affecting time. Melting polar ice changes the speed of Earth’s rotation and increases the length of each day. As more water flows towards the Earth’s equator, the shape of the planet changes. The poles become flatter and cause the center of the Earth to “bulge,” therefore, slowing its rotation.
In the 20th century, sea level rises caused by climate change influenced the length of the day by 0.3 to 1 milliseconds. Over the past two decades, however, scientists calculated an increase in day length of 1.33 milliseconds per century.
While the changes are small, they are certain to have larger impacts on our high-tech, hyper-connected world. For example, the many computing systems we rely on, such as GPS, will be affected.
Still, additional factors must be considered. For instance, the speed of Earth’s rotation is also reliant on other aspects, like processes in the planet’s fluid core.
Likewise, the Moon impacts the length of each day due to its relation to Earth’s tides. Now, as climate change affects the “bulge” of our oceans, so does the Moon’s movement. Scientists say the Moon is currently drifting away from the Earth at a rate of 1.5 inches per year—another factor responsible for the changes we are currently seeing.
Although global warming has influenced the matter, it is important to know that Earth’s day has been lengthening for centuries. Billions of years ago, the average Earth day lasted less than 13 hours. Climate change is simply speeding up the process.
Moods Swings, Allergies, & Fatigue; Oh My
It is inevitable that as our environment changes, so will our lifestyles. Climate change will affect humans’ day-to-day lives in quite a few unexpected ways.
For example, research suggests that hotter temperatures might cause hotter tempers. Over 55 research papers on the subject support that theory. Heat changes the way people feel and think, increasing thoughts of anger and aggression.
Hot temperatures also make it harder to focus. Several recent research papers claim that employee productivity is already suffering due to climate change, especially in hotter-than-average countries. The same concept applies to the disruption of education in schools that may not have proper cooling and ventilation.
Loss of sleep is not directly related to poor moods but surely contributes. Hotter nights cause people to sleep later and wake up earlier. In 2010, researchers have noted a loss of 44 hours of sleep per person each year due to global warming. Scientists predict that number will rise to 58 hours by 2100.
Comparatively annoying, climate change is also worsening allergy season. Rising temperatures are causing earlier and longer springs, which are propelling more pollen into the air. A 2021 study by the National Academy of Sciences found a 21% increase in pollen levels between 1990 and 2018.
Lastly, and maybe most surprisingly, global warming may also contribute to a future drop in birth rates. A 2018 study found that days with temperatures over 80 degrees F (26.7 C) were linked to a 0.4% decrease in birth rates nine months later. Scientists believe that is due to high temperatures lowering fertility.
Extreme Weather & Mutating Animals
Besides the typically discussed effects, there are other interesting ways in which global warming is changing our environment. You may have heard of an increase in extreme weather events, like hurricanes and tornados. But did you know that this also applies to lightning and volcanic eruptions?
Lightning occurs when electrical charges build up within a cloud’s water vapor. Warmer temperatures mean more water vapor will be trapped in the atmosphere, leading to more lightning. Scientists estimate a 12% increase in lightning strikes for each 1 degree C that is gained. Unfortunately, this will also require keeping a stronger eye on the possibility of wildfires and power grid failures.
Scientists also suspect that global warming will increase volcanic activity. Heavy glaciers usually weigh down on Earth’s crust and prevent magma from reaching the surface. However, as glaciers continuously melt, the pressure on underground magma shifts, increasing the chances of volcanic eruption.
On a lighter note, climate change is causing faster tree growth. Because of global warming, there are higher levels of carbon dioxide and nitrogen in the atmosphere, which trees absorb to grow. Warmer temperatures also mean extended growth periods in the spring and fall. In some cases in Europe, tree growth has already increased by 70%.
Climate change is also affecting certain animal species in strange, unprecedented ways. Some animals are shrinking, including mountain goats and frogs. For example, the Alpine Chamois mountain goat now weighs 25% less than in the 1980s. The coqui frog of Puerto Rico is shrinking as well due to warmer temperatures. As a result, the frogs are actually getting louder as their pitch gets higher.
Some reptiles, like the bearded dragon, experience higher temperatures that affect the sex of their embryos. When the climate is warmer, lizards are more likely to be females. They are also more likely to develop female anatomy even if born with male sex chromosomes.
Also already observed has been a change in animal migration patterns. As the climate and traditional seasons change, migration becomes altered. More specifically, marine species are expected to change their migration patterns as water temperatures rise. This will result in more sightings of certain marine life, like jellyfish, turtles, and sharks.
Beware Beverage Connoisseurs, Travelers, & Baseball Fans
The list seems to go on and on! Here are just a few more miscellaneous effects of global warming you have likely never heard of before.
Bad news for dry wine enjoyers – global warming is affecting the quality of wine. That is because grapes are extremely sensitive to temperature changes. Warmer temperatures “supercharge” the ripening of grapes, resulting in extremely sweet flavors. Additionally, wildfires are now more of a threat to vineyards.
The same can be said for coffee lovers. Frosts and droughts threaten coffee crops, as they grow best in stable temperatures. One study predicts that coffee crop yields could drop by 50% by 2050 in some areas.
Global warming is also responsible for worsening plane turbulence. Hotter air means wind speeds and directions are changing more strongly, resulting in bumpier plane rides. Scientists found that turbulence levels have risen by 37% from 1979 to 2020.
Lastly, and interestingly enough, hotter temperatures are increasing baseball home runs. When the air is warmer, it is also less dense, causing baseballs to fly farther after being hit. It is predicted that home runs could become 10% more common by 2100 compared to usual averages.
Conclusion
There are many unexpected effects of climate change:
- Lengthening days
- Hotter tempers
- Higher crime rates
- Productivity and sleep loss
- Worsening allergies
- Fewer babies
- More lightning and volcanic activity
- Faster growing trees
- Mutating animals
- Worse wine and less coffee
- More plane turbulence
- More baseball homeruns
While not all the above-listed effects are necessarily harmful, global warming still raises some crucial concerns. It’s especially serious for today’s youth—who will face more severe consequences of climate change in the future—and according to one 2021 study, around 70% of people aged 16-25 are extremely worried about climate change.
Today’s youth is rightfully concerned, as evidence also shows that climate change is not just a thing of the future – it’s here now. However, the good news is that everyone can be an activist. In fact, young people are already at the forefront of climate change activism. You can find out more about how to join the effort here.
On the other hand, it is also important to keep in mind that climate change isn’t necessarily something we can prevent. Despite human contribution, climate change is still a natural process. Earth’s climate has fluctuated many times throughout history due to natural factors. We human beings are just a blip in the timeline. That being said, we can still build a bright future for ourselves through reduction and adaptation efforts rather than focusing solely on prevention.
Frank Sterle Jr.
September 19, 2024 at 3:28 am
Especially for those people most aware of them, manmade global warming and its resultant increasing number and intensity of climate-change-induced extreme weather events rightfully stir up alarm.
Astronauts typically express awe and even love for the beautiful Earth below while they’re in orbit. I wonder how they feel when seeing the immense consequential pollution from raging massive forest/brush fires — like the ones that viciously consume largely-Canadian forests and choke the air with health-damaging particulates every year basically due to human-caused global warming?
I also wonder if a large portion of the planet’s most freely-polluting corporate CEOs, governing leaders and over-consuming/disposing individuals were rocketed far enough above the earth for a day’s (or more) orbit, while looking down, would the view have a sufficiently profound effect on them to change their political/financial support of, most notably, the environment-destroying fossil fuel industry?
In the meantime, Canadian carbon taxes manage to induce some the shrillest complaints here, especially by the corporate news-media—even though it’s more than recouped (except for high-income earners) via federal government rebate.
Many drivers of superfluously huge and over-powered thus gas-guzzling vehicles seem to consider it a basic human right. It may scare those drivers just to contemplate a world in which they can no longer readily fuel that ‘right’, especially since much quieter electric cars are for them no substitute.
Once again, the disturbing mass addiction to fossil fuel products by the larger public is exposed, which undoubtedly helps keep the average consumer quiet about the planet’s greatest polluter, lest the consumer be deemed hypocritical.
There’s a continuance of polluting the natural environment with a business as usual attitude. Societally, we still discharge out of elevated exhaust pipes, smoke stacks and, quite consequentially, from sky-high jet engines like it’s all absorbed into the natural environment without repercussion. Out of sight, out of mind!
Also, increasingly problematic is the very large and growing populace who are too overworked, worried and even angry about food and housing unaffordability for themselves or their family — all while on insufficient income — to criticize the fossil fuel industry, etcetera, for environmental damage their policies cause/allow, particularly when not immediately observable.
It does seem convenient for such very-profitable mega polluters.
Meanwhile, (neo)liberals and conservatives remain overly preoccupied with vocally criticizing one another for their relatively trivial politics and diverting attention away from some of the planet’s greatest polluters, where it should and needs to be sharply focused. Albeit, conservatives are generally more willing to pollute the planet most liberally.
Also, as a species we can be so heavily preoccupied with our own individual little worlds, however overwhelming to us, that we will still miss the biggest of crucial pictures. And it seems this distinct form of societal penny-wisdom but pound-foolishness is a very unfortunate human characteristic that’s likely with us to stay.
Ella Jay
September 19, 2024 at 4:25 am
Frank, I value your input – very insightful and unfortunately, very true. There are a plethora of issues which underly the problem of human-induced climate change as well as the separate issue of our failure to address it (or our failure to prioritize it while also facing the “distractions” which have been thrown in front of us, as you mentioned). I agree that the complete disregard for global warming and our planet by greedy corporations and a select few people is incredibly disturbing and frustrating. The indoctrination of consumerism in our society is certainly no help. This poses a challenging question, though – how much change can the average citizen implement while big corporations, politicians, etc. are actively working against activism? This article was written using a lighter tone, as the topic can sometimes seem heavy, especially to our younger readers. However, I do recognize that climate change is a complex, multi-faceted, and serious issue – which is why I truly appreciate your comment.