Question

How does climate affect where people live in North America?

Answer 1

The report noted the following points, among others, about the impact of climate change on North America: North America has seen severe damage to local economies, ecosystems, and social systems from recent extreme weather, including floods, storms, droughts, heat waves, and wildfires.

SOURCE: Staudt, Amanda, Nancy Huddleston, and Sandi Rudenstein. Understanding and Responding to Climate Change. National Academy of Sciences, 2006.

In 2007, the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the report of its Working Group II, Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. The report noted the following points, among others, about the impact of climate change on North America:

Answer 2

Due to sea level rise, increase in inundations, and storm surge flooding, shoreline erosion will be prominent. This will affect the people living in the coastal and the coastal ecosystems like salt marshes. Wildfire and insect outbreaks have been increasing and are likely to intensify. Increased risk of deaths due to heat waves, water-borne diseases, and degraded water quality, respiratory illness, and vector-borne infectious diseases. Due to diminishing snowfields, the availability of water has become a major issue. This will add to the pressure on the availability of the groundwater. Apart from the extreme events, climate change impacts in urban centres will be in the form of urban heat islands, air and water pollution, ageing infrastructure, water quality and supply challenges, along with immigration and population growth, and an ageing population. This will increase the stress on natural resources, and lead to their over-exploitation and exhaustion.