Why do we need offshore windfarms?
Mitigate the effects of climate change Globally
Climate change will cause temperatures to rise across the globe
resulting in extreme and often unexpected weather conditions. As
temperatures increase rates of evaporation will be higher causing
wet areas to become wetter and dry areas to become drier.
As ocean temperatures increase hurricane events will be more common
and ice caps and glaciers will melt. An increase in rainfall in
wet climates will result in flooding and a rise in sea level from
ice melt will lead to the loss of low lying coastline lands and
islands. As dry areas dry out, deserts will spread and crops will
fail resulting in famine in areas such as Africa.
Water shortages will also affect people in areas surrounding the
Mediterranean and in Central Asia. These effects are likely to cause
migration of both people and wildlife. Scientists predict that critically
endangered species will become extinct and other species, such as
the polar bear, will lose their habitat.
Diseases are also likely to spread as, for example, malaria carrying
mosquitoes move to new lands and in wetter areas water borne diseases
such as cholera proliferate. The world is likely to look a very
different place and those in poorer countries unable to adapt to
the changes will suffer the most. As a result of past human intervention
climate change is now inevitable.
However, we can reduce the effects by immediately reducing our
greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable energy generation from sources
such as offshore wind, instead of fossil fuels, is one way to reduce
the negative and unpredictable impacts of climate change across
the globe. |