Introduction
The slowly overheating planet may carry a wide variety of repercussions for humanity as one of the species living on its surface. From a drastic increase in the amounts of CO2 gas present in the atmosphere and dangerously rising sea levels to weather-related chain reactions, global warming affects humankind in almost all aspects of every-day life (Crank & Jacoby, 2015; Hoeppe, 2016). Thus, it is possible to outline three types of consequences that allow demonstrating the unquestionably detrimental impact of the on-going changes in the planet’s temperature. While the extent of the effect of global warming on humanity may not be apperceived impartially, this subdivision of the problem into three distinct categories could allow outlining the main side effects of the dangerous process.
Physical Consequences: An Overview of the Global Warming Issue
When speaking about global warming, it would seem natural to start naming its potential consequences from a change in weather conditions worldwide. Greenhouse emissions, which have become a prominent by-product of modern-day means of production, have a warming effect on the planet (Crank & Jacoby, 2015). Offspringing issues, which aid in “melting the ice caps, raising the oceans, and increasing the frequency of droughts, floods, and extreme weather events,” originate from these temperature-related changes (Barrett, Charles, & Temte, 2015, p. 71). Thus, stemming from the acquired in the Industrial Era habit of burning fossil fuels, humankind has potentially created an issue that continues to hold weight in the era of cosmic exploration.
Climate-related effects, however, are not limited merely to changes that might seem natural in comparison to historical examples but also include catastrophic events. Some researchers agree that “since the 1980s the frequency of loss-relevant natural disasters worldwide has increased highly significantly” (Hoeppe, 2016, p. 73). Thus, it is possible to anticipate a rapidly oncoming change in the planet’s environment, with harsher droughts and stronger floods. The physical consequences of global warming could be outlined as bearing the brunt of the problem’s repercussions, partially contributing to the rest of the described issues.
Economic Consequences
In a profit-driven world, global warming becomes yet another hurdle for businesses and entrepreneurs. Business practices are “heavily tied to physical infrastructures,” relying on physical structures to maintain their existence (Crank & Jacoby, 2015, p. 221). The violent storms that occur due to the planet’s uncontrollable heating-up result in damaged equipment and a loss of revenue, as well as a pressing necessity to replace the lost capital (Hoeppe, 2016). Furthermore, it may be possible to attempt presenting global warming as influencing companies through necessitating the integration of eco-friendly production practices, but this is instead an attempt to reduce the already existing effects. Therefore, global warming becomes an unpredictable and erratic cause of firms’ losses in profit.
When companies incur deficits in revenue, all consumers could be affected, as price fluctuations change the supply and demand levels of the market. Unstable weather and economic conditions create a society which is both malcontent with their level of life and unable to change their situation (Barrett et al., 2015). Thus, effects of climate change become pivotal in humankind’s quality of life, indirectly as well as directly.
Health-Related Consequences
The effects of climate-heating tendencies on people’s health have also become an essential aspect of global warming studies stimulated additionally by the medical community. Viruses may be outlined as becoming more easily transmittable in extreme situations, as “the effects of global warming on disease vectors” remain crucial to spreading contagious diseases (Crank & Jacoby, 2015, p. 120). A lack of funds and destroyed living environments with no infrastructure further deepen people’s hardships, creating an unprotected layer of the public with no access to support structures (Barrett et al., 2015). Thus, a chain-reaction, which starts from fossil fuel burning, ends with an adverse effect on an extensive layer of the planet’s population.
Global warming may affect human health not only through economic circumstances but also directly, as temperature-related conditions become prevalent. For example, heat waves could have an intrinsically negative effect on people’s health, leading many individuals to death due to their inability to cope with abnormal weather (Barrett et al., 2015). Therefore, even without taking the chain reaction of events, climate change retains unfettered control over the lives of people.
Conclusion
Global warming remains an omnipresent influence on the life of every person, affecting first world CEOs and third world workers alike. From price fluctuations to worsening health statuses, climate change becomes a deciding factor when speaking about the value that people attribute to living conditions. The repercussions caused by global warming may potentially negate the achieved technological and scientific progress. Therefore, recognizing this impact and working towards reducing it becomes an essential step in creating stable, predictable prerequisites for humanity’s growth that is not determined by ruthless external circumstances. Global warming alters the living situations of people worldwide and should not be overseen or dismissed as unimportant since the created chain-effect maintains a steady impact on people’s lives.
References
Barrett, B., Charles, J. W., & Temte, J. L. (2015). Climate change, human health, and epidemiological transition. Preventive Medicine, 70, 69-75. Web.
Crank, J. P., & Jacoby, L. S. (2015). Crime, violence, and global warming. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hoeppe, P. (2016). Trends in weather related disasters – Consequences for insurers and society. Weather and Climate Extremes, 11, 70-79. Web.