By Priyanka Mehta
August 27, 2022
Earth's average surface temperature has risen by 1°C since the late 19th century, largely by increased carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, alongside other human activities with the warmest years recorded at 2016 and 2020.
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The ocean absorbed Earth's increased heat within the top 100mts of the waterbody; this justifies warming of more than 0.33°C since 1969. Earth stores 90% of its extra energy in the ocean.
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Earth's Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have reduced in mass. NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Insights reveal Greenland lost about 279 billion tons of ice annually between 1993 and 2019. Antarctica loses about 148 billion tons of ice every year.
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Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere worldwide — including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska, and Africa. Glaciers are slow-moving masses of ice over land and are sensitive indicators of climate change.
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Satellite observations reveal that the amount of spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere has decreased over the past five decades. The snow is melting earlier.
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The global sea level rose by about 8 inches in the last century. The rate in the last two decades is nearly double that of the previous century. With rising the added water from ice sheets and melting glaciers and the expansion of seawater as it warms.
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The thickness and size of Arctic sea ice have been declining rapidly over the past decades, particularly during the summer and autumn seasons. The Arctic sea hit its lowest ice level in 2012.
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Ever since the Industrial Revolution emerged, The acidity of surface ocean waters has risen by about 30%. An increase in humans emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere was eventually absorbed into the ocean. Our oceans have recently absorbed 20% to 30% of total anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions.
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With climate change, species' survival on Earth has become an evolving challenge. Invasive pests, forest fires, calamities and diseases are among many threats. Some species survive by relocating, but others mostly die out.
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As global temperatures are rising, extreme weather events have also increased. Heatwaves, extreme rainstorms and droughts used to happen once in a decade on average, but now, heatwaves are 2.8x more frequent and droughts are 1.7x more frequent.
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