A Companion to the Philosophy of Technology

The Impacts of Global Warming

Talking in terms of changes of global average temperature, however, tells us rather little about the impacts on human communities. There will be some positive impacts – for instance a longer growing season at high latitudes. But most impacts will be adverse.¹ One obvious impact will be due to the rise in sea level (of about half a meter [20 inches] a century) that is mainly occurring because ocean water expands as it is heated. This rise will continue for many centuries – to warm the deep oceans as well as the surface waters takes a long time. This will cause large problems for human communities living in low-lying regions. Many areas – for instance in Bangladesh, southern China, islands in the Indian and Pacific oceans, and similar places elsewhere in the world – will be impossible to protect, and many millions will be displaced.

There will also be impacts from extreme events. The extremely unusual heatwave in central Europe during the summer of 2003 led to the death of over 20,000 people. Careful analysis leads to the projection that such summers are likely to be average by the middle of the twenty-first century and cool by the year 2100.

Water is becoming an increasingly important resource. A warmer world will lead to more evaporation of water from the surface, more water vapor in the atmosphere and more precipitation on average. Of greater importance is the fact that the increased condensation of water vapor in cloud formation leads to greater ...