How Does Global Warming Impact Climate Change?

Climate change is the disruption of the Earth's weather patterns which causes seasons and daily temperatures to fluctuate and become more severe. This can have serious consequences on our environment and on the plant and animal species that inhabit it. For example, as a result of climate change we have seen the devastation caused by tropical hurricanes, such as with Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Katrina, which were fueled by high ocean temperatures and caused major flooding and damage to the Gulf Coast region.

The warming of the atmosphere directly contributes to a rise in sea levels because of the melting of the polar ice caps and mountain snow packs which increases the amount of water in the oceans. However, global warming can impact climate change with opposite results leading to droughts which can destroy crops and farming communities, in addition to increasing the number of destructive wildfires to occur. Most significantly, eleven of the last twelve years (1995-2006) rank among the highest temperatures ever recorded on earth, which illustrates why we are experiencing the negative consequences of climate change on our environment.