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One of the most dramatic effects of global warming is the reduction in Arctic sea ice: In 2012, scientists saw the smallest amount of Arctic ice cover ever recorded. Most analyses project that, within a matter of years, the Arctic Sea will be completely ice-free during the summer months.

Glacial retreat, too, is an obvious effect of global warming. Only 25 glaciers bigger than 25 acres are now found in Montana’s Glacier National Park, where about 150 glaciers were once found, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A similar trend is seen in glacial areas worldwide.

Rising sea levels

Melting polar ice in the Arctic and Antarctic region, coupled with melting ice sheets and glaciers across Greenland, North America, South America, Europe and Asia, are expected to raise sea levels significantly.

Global sea levels have risen about 8 inches since 1870, according to the EPA, and the rate of increase is expected to accelerate in the coming years. If current trends continue, many coastal areas — where roughly half of the Earth’s human population lives — will be inundated.

Researchers project that by 2100, average sea levels will be 2.3 feet higher in New York City, 2.9 feet higher at Hampton Roads, Va., and 3.5 feet higher at Galveston, Texas, the EPA reports.

Ocean acidification

As levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) increase, the oceans absorb some of that CO₂, which increases the acidity of seawater. Since the Industrial Revolution began in the early 1700s, the acidity of the oceans has increased about 25 percent, according to the EPA.

Because acids dissolve calcium carbonate, seawater that’s more acidic has a deleterious effect on organisms with shells made of calcium carbonate, such as corals, mollusks, shellfish and plankton.

If current ocean acidification trends continue, coral reefs are expected to become increasingly rare in areas where they are now common, including most U.S. waters, the EPA reports.
And because high levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are likely to remain high for many years, these changes are expected to last for several decades or longer, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In the northeastern United States, for example, climate change is likely to bring increased annual rainfall, while in the Pacific Northwest, summer rainfall is expected to decrease.

Snow and ice

Since 1970, the area of snow cover in the United States has steadily decreased, according to the EPA, and the average temperature of permafrost (soil that’s at or below freezing temperature) has grown warmer.

Plant and animal impacts

The effects of global warming on the Earth’s ecosystems are expected to be profound and widespread. Many species of plants and animals are already moving their range northward or to higher altitudes as a result of warming temperatures, according to a report from the National Academy of Sciences.

Warmer temperatures will also expand the range of many disease-causing pathogens that were once confined to tropical and subtropical areas, killing off plant and animal species that formerly were protected from disease.

These and other impacts of global warming, if left unchecked, will likely contribute to the disappearance of up to one-half of the Earth’s plants and one-third of animals from their current range by 2080, according to a 2013 report in the journal Nature Climate Change……. http://www.livescience.com/37057-global-warming-effects.html