How is Climate Change Affecting Settlements?

All over the world, people have noticed changes in local weather patterns. Some areas are experiencing more frequent and violent storms. Other areas are experiencing shorter and warmer winters. Others are going through longer droughts. Since the 1950s, there has been a huge increase in the number of dust storms worldwide. Climate change will have major impacts on people and settlements.

Climate Change

A long-term change in the Earth's overall temperature with massive and permanent ramifications.

Remember Tuvalu?

Will all parts of the world feel the effects of climate change equally?

Why do we really care if Tuvalu disappears underneath the ocean's waters and its people have to move?

THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Work in pairs to read the following information and record important details on your How is Climate Change Affecting Settlements sheet.

W A R M E R T E M P E R A T U R E S

Earth's average temperature is increasing as a result of climate change. Warmer temperatures may affect settlement patterns, making some areas better and others worse to live in.

A warming climate can create an extended growing season for farmers in the mid-latitudes (latitudes that are 30-60 degrees north or south of the equator). Some areas can grow different food species. For example, in the past, farmers on the Canadian Prairies were not able to grow corn because the climate was not warm enough. Now, with warmer temperatures and a longer growing season, many farmers are able to grow new types of crops.

Warmer temperatures may allow more settlements farther north in Canada, Europe, and Russia. The increase in temperature may make transportation easier in places that are frozen most of the time, such as western Siberia in Russia. This may result in more people deciding to settle there.

Climate change has made it possible to grow corn on the Canadian Prairies. Corn farmers may eventually move farther north in Canada.

Warmer temperatures may also make transportation more challenging in places that rely on ice roads, such as human-made roads on lakes and rivers in cold regions.

Nowhere in the world has the affect of climate change been felt more than in India where heatwaves are creating conditions that will make it either too hot or too dry to be habitable.

TIME Article: Pakistan's Deadly Heat (includes video)

CBC Article: 'We Worked Until Our Breath Gave Out'

Warmer climates farther north and south may also mean that employment opportunities could change. There may also be less skiing and more golf, longer seasons for people to camp outdoors, and more tourists. How do you think this will affect settlement patterns?

Indian migrant shepherd Ranabhai stands amongst his dead sheep at a field in Ranagadh village. Cities across northern India have been sweltering with temperatures above 47 Celsius (116.6 Fahrenheit). According to a local veterinarian, approximately 60 sheep have died due to extreme heat and deprivation of water. (SAM PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images)

C H A N G I N G P R E C I P I T A T I O N P A T T E R N S

The world will likely become wetter, due to higher average temperatures. Some areas will be much wetter, causing more floods and landslides. Some areas will be much drier, causing desertification and drought.

Climate change will affect the amount of precipitation around the world. Some places will receive more heavy rain in a shorter time. More precipitation will be rain rather than snow.

These predicted changes in precipitation are based on a climate model, which uses climate data collected over years to predict patterns. In this map, the areas that are coloured blue are expected to get more precipitation. The areas coloured red and yellow are expected to get less precipitation.

An increase in precipitation may either hurt or help agriculture, depending on when and where it happens. However, some areas may undergo a decrease in temperature, leading to less precipitation. Less precipitation increases the risk of drought and, potentially, desertification.

Climate scientist believe that southern Europe, for example, will get much less annual precipitation. Italy, southern France, and Spain currently have hot, dry summers and warm, wetter winters. If those climates become drier, Mediterranean vegetation and agriculture could be affected. Industries built around grapes and olives, which rely on the Mediterranean climate, could suffer.

Climate models are always changing. It is difficult to predict what will occur due to the complexity of the different systems. Climate scientists constantly update their models using the latest climate data.

M O R E F R E Q U E N T A N D E X T R E M E S T O R M S

There will be more hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons, and tornadoes. Storms will be stronger than in the past and cause more damage to settlements and threaten lives.

When Hurricane Katrina struck, much of New Orleans was flooded.

The number of severe and extreme storms has increased since the 1980s. Scientists think that climate change is the most likely cause. Coastal populations in lower-latitude countries are at greater risk because hurricanes form at lower latitudes. Hurricanes are strong storms with high-speed winds. Hurricanes are known as cyclones in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans and typhoons in the northwest Pacific Ocean.

Major storms can destroy settlements and people's livelihoods. The high winds bring lots of water, which can lead to mudslides, landslides, and flooding in some areas. For example, nearly all of New Orleans, United States, is at or below sea level. When its levees (flood protection walls) were broken during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, much of the city was destroyed.

Increased precipitation could mean more and stronger storms in some areas. Cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons can cover thousands of square kilometers. Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines in 2013, was the strongest typhoon on record, with winds over 300 km/h. More than 6000 people were killed. With more extreme storms and higher population densities, the risk of future damage to coastal settlements is high.

Communities can protect themselves from extreme weather by making changes to their homes, buildings, and communication plans. Many tropical areas have homes made from weak materials, such as thatch and poles, which are destroyed quickly in storms. BY covering windows, using stronger building materials, and using early-warning systems and evacuation plans, many lives can be saved. Still many countries cannot afford the costs of these strategies.

R I S I N G S E A L E V E L S

Sea levels are rising twice as fast as in the past due to warming oceans and melting ocean ice and glaciers. With higher sea levels come greater flooding and coastal erosion. Encroaching sea water can also shrink habitats and force species along coastlines to relocate--if they can.

Global sea levels have risen 3.2 mm each year since around 1994. This rise is twice as fast as in the previous 80 years, and the trend is expected to continue. Sea levels are rising for two main reasons:

When ocean water becomes warmer, it expands, increasing in volume
Ocean ice and glaciers, including ice caps on Greenland and Antarctica, are melting.

INCREASED FLOODING

Climate scientists predict a rise of 1 m in sea levels by 2100. However, this prediction does not include all the water from melting ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica, which could add many more metres. As sea levels rise, the cities on coastlines will be affected--port lands, business districts, and residential areas will be flooded. About 600 million people live on ocean coasts that are less than 10 m above sea level. This could be disastrous for some settlements, especially in places such as Tuvalu, which we read about earlier, and New Orleans.

The nuisance flooding that accompanies seasonal high tides in parts of the Miami area will become more common as sea level rises. Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

LAND RECLAMATION

Land reclamation - is the creation of new land in coastal areas by people.

In some areas, settlements have been expanded through land reclamation. For example, Hong Kong, China, is densely populated with over 7 million people. About one-quarter of the developed areas of Hong Kong are built on reclaimed land. In Hong Kong and other places, these reclaimed lands are at or below sea level, so they are at serious risk from rising sea levels.

An aerial view of a land reclamation project in Hong Kong, China.

COASTAL EROSION

Erosion - is the gradual wearing away of Earth's surface by wind, water, or movement of ice.

As sea levels rise, and as storms become more frequent, more erosion can occur. The erosion of beaches and cliffs threatens people living along coastlines all over the world. Erosion may occur quickly or more slowly, depending on what the land is made of. Settlements can disappear in an instant--if soft cliffs erode, homes can fall into the water.

Many people like to live near coastlines for the view and to be close to the ocean. However, construction near shorelines can stop sand from building up on beaches that protect the shore. Settlements on bluffs and cliffs, such as the ones in California, United States, have collapsed due to coastal erosion. In some areas, the beaches are eroding by several centimetres or even metres each year. Protecting beaches, cliffs, and bluffs can be expensive.

Many coastlines, such as this bluff in California are undergoing increased erosion and even collapse.

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