If the ice continues to melt at the pace it is the environment of the entire ocean could change and cause a mass extinction of much of the oceans life.
As the tons of polar ice melts away it is causing the sea level to rise at an ever-increasing rate. There are several coastal areas that sit below sea level and in time could become buried under the sea. The place current facing the worst from sea level rise is Louisiana. Steve Gill, a senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, says that if sea level continues to rise in the same pattern it will be increased by 1.5 feet, placing Southeast Louisiana under 4 or more feet of water by the end of the century.4 That is just one example of many different places that can be affected sooner then most know.
As the Earths surface warms the weather changes. Extremes are at both ends of the spectrum, summers become even hotter and winters even colder. With this storms become more extreme, natural disasters occurring with more frequency and magnitude. There have been several incidents over past 5 years of record-breaking storms devastating different areas of the world. These disasters have ranged from volcanic activity, tornados, earthquakes, to tsunamis, many coming as unexpected surprises of epic proportions. The increasing frequency and intensity of these natural disasters has contributed greatly to the worlds cost cost of global warming. Each year natural disasters cause billions in damage but even slight increases in average temperature for a season amounts to great cost. The economic impact of global warming is costing the world more then 1.2 trillion dollars a year and consequently decreases the world GDP 1.6% annually and the impact is worse in developing countries.5 When the temperature changes by just a few degrees Celsius it damages the agricultural production causing malnutrition and poverty, and the diseases that come with it killing many.
