Many people think that global warming is simply the fact of the earth gets warmer and warmer as our modern lifestyles push more pollutants into the air.
And that is partly true.
The biggest concern about global warming, however, is how this inexorably global rise in temperatures affects so many other parts of our ecosystem.
When global temperatures rise, chain reactions begin to occur all across the globe.
One thing that happens is that the seas begin to get warmer as well.
As the seas warm, they begin to evaporate and release more moisture into the air above.
As a result, when hurricanes begin to form, they carry this increased concentration of water in the air which creates ever more powerful storms.
Especially affected are coastal cities where the heavier and more destructive storms can do a great deal more intense damage to the cities than they would without the added moisture.
As the earth's temperature rises, it has another indirect effect on the sea as well, rising sea levels.
This is due to two main effects.
The first is that, due to thermal expansion, warmer temperatures cause water to expand.
Thermal expansion is the effect that allows matter (i.
e.
, water) to expand in response to heat.
As water expands, the sea level rises, sometimes dramatically.
This can cause cities along the sea to be completely swamped.
It can also cause islands to disappear.
The second effect that rising temperatures has on the sea is that glaciers begin to melt.
If some of these ice sheets were to melt, climate experts estimate that sea levels could rise up to seven meters.
If this were to happen, hundreds of small coastal cities all over the world would be overrun.
Entire nations would likely be destroyed and the displacement of existing populations from those areas would cause worldwide disruption and panic.
Global warming also means more droughts.
And those droughts will last for longer periods of time.
We have already begun to see this happening.
In the past third of a century alone, the land areas that have been affected by drought have doubled.
In some areas of the world, such as Africa, the droughts have become so severe that starvation has become a common cause of death as lakes and rivers that have provided food sources for centuries have begun to dry up.
Droughts also make it much more likely that brushfires will get out of control in areas that are prone to them.
In other words, global warming is much more than just a temperature adjustment.