The pole caps are melting
The ocean area around the North Pole, which is covered with ice, has become 10 percent smaller during the last decades, and the ice sheet above the sea level has become app- 40 percent thinner. Greenland’s ice sheet has become several hundred meters thinner at some peripheral points and at the moment, between 50 and 200 cubic kilometres of the ice sheet are melting away every year. On the other side of the globe, the glacial cap over the Antarctic is getting unstable.
The glaciers are disappearing
It is expected that 75 percent of the glaciers in the Swiss Alps will have disappeared by 2050. The sea level is rising. During the last century, the sea level around the globe has risen by 10-25 centimetres, and it is expected to rise further 88 centimetres before 2100. On the coasts of Europe, app. 70 million people will be at risk then. Furthermore, once salt water can get into the soil, the ground water and agricultural areas will be polluted.
Extreme weather conditions
Storms, floods, heat and drought. During the last decade, we have experienced thrice as many weather-related natural catastrophes as in the 1960s. From 2070 on, it is possible that summers in Europe will be as hot as in 2003 every other year. The extremely hot summer in 2003 carries a part of the fault for the early deaths of 20,000 Europeans, for the outbreak of huge forest fires and for the severe financial loss – more than 10.1 billion EURO (75 billion DKK) that Europe’s agricultural sector has suffered.
Loss of biological diversity
Many plants and animals will not be able to adapt to higher temperatures. Species like polar bears, seals, walruses and penguins are especially endangered.