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Climate Change

Decent Essays

The Impacts of Climate Change on Society: Global climate change has the ability to adversely impact and disrupt many sectors of society —including, people’s health, agriculture and food supply, water supply, ecosystems, and more. Extreme weather events, such as decreased rainfall, lead to prolonged and more intense wildfire seasons which result in decreased air quality for those in proximity. Droughts increase the stress placed on ground water supplies which is resulting a reduction of water quality due to increased contamination following intense period of rainfall (“Impacts”). Rising temperatures and increased greenhouse gas emissions have led to increased air pollution (i.e. aerosols and black carbon) which is detrimental to individual’s with respiratory problems. Additionally, dry conditions have resulted in an increase in the intensity and duration of allergy seasons in addition to an increase in the spread of insect borne diseases (“Global Warming”). Furthermore, sea level rise and more intense storms puts coastal communities at risk of catastrophic storm surges and flood damage (“Impacts”). Ecosystems that act as natural buffers to combat the impacts of severe weather related events (such as floods and fires) are being devastated. For example, increasing acidification of the oceans in addition to overfishing have disrupted marine-based food production and harmed fishing industries (“Impacts”). The United States energy infrastructure, primarily relating to electricity,

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