Global Warming Is Affecting More Than We Think

 Global Warming Is Affecting More Than We Think

There is a countdown clock in New York City that tells us when we have passed the point of no return. But with the earth’s temperature getting warmer and no one doing anything, who’s to say that we haven’t already hit zero on our countdown?

The main reason why I question whether or not we are out of time is the melting glaciers. We can tell that they are melting, obviously, but when glaciers melt, it causes more than just rising sea levels. The water temperature actually begins to rise as well. According to the World Wildlife Fund, there are millions of animal species that reside in the world’s oceans, so without their usual water temperature, many species will alter their migration patterns. Take narwhals, the unicorns of the sea, as your example. Researchers in Canada studied a group of 40 narwhals from 1997 to 2018 and saw that their migration shifted 17 days later over the twenty years. The University of Windsor researchers also discovered that the ocean freezes over about 5 days earlier each decade than the previous decade. Although narwhals are not endangered at the moment, because the arctic oceans are freezing over earlier, their delayed migration pattern means that they will become trapped under the ice and die, as mammals require access to air.

Rising sea levels do not only affect sea mammals but those on land too, specifically humans. According to Climate.gov, approximately 30% of the US population lives in densely populated coastal areas, so rising sea levels will wreak havoc on communities near the sea.The United States aside, eight of the ten largest cities in the world reside in coastal areas, so the world may lose large amounts of land to climate change. Although we hear about how high above sea level everything is, the fear is not that cities will become overrun by the ocean, but that flooding is more prevalent in cities closer to sea level. 

Hearing about sea level may be confusing, especially when you do not live near the sea, but if you live near a body of water during a storm, this is something you should learn about. We spoke with Phil Orton, an oceanographer who is a storm surge expert and who works with the cities of New York and Hoboken to ensure that they are prepared for storms. When superstorm Sandy hit in 2012, many areas in New Jersey and New York were not adequately prepared for the storm. Hoboken, a city already prone to flooding, was pooled with water. I spoke with my aunt, a previous resident of Hoboken who worked at a bar on Second and Jefferson Street, where she also lived above. She remembers having to evacuate her home to ensure her safety. When the town deemed it safe to go back home, her home and her place of work were destroyed. As devastating as it is, it is not necessarily climate change that created that gigantic storm, but it definitely did not help. As Phil Orton explained, storms are not caused by climate change and, in many cases, seem unaffected by it. However, with higher sea levels, storms can utilize the different elevations to move more water onto land. 

Raising temperatures don’t only affect how much we can tan on the beach during the summer; they can affect our whole lives. At this point, we cannot tell if it is too late to fix climate change. All we can do is believe that there is still hope. 


- Isabel Gringeri


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