Global Warming

Global Warming

Global warming in Canada is a problem that is affecting nature, people, and their economy. Canada has been warming greater than the global rate. The average annual temperatures have been increasing since the late 1940s.[1] However, global warming has its advantages and disadvantages. Warmer temperatures could possibly bring more tourists to Canada. The negative effects of global warming were documented by politicians and scientists such as David Suzuki and Al Gore.[2] Warming related costs could possibly increase due to climate change. The impact of climate change is greater in some areas than in others. The effect of global warming in Toronto and Vancouver could change summer spells and air quality. There are increased health risks for all Canadians due to poorer air quality and low quality water. Rising sea levels in coastal areas could lead of loss of homes for coastal dwellers. Canadian residents will have to learn to adapt to the change in climate. However, the impacts of global warming are more intense in some areas than in others.

There are several reasons to expect that climate changes, from whatever cause, may be enhanced in the Arctic, relative to the mid-latitudes and tropics. First, is the ice-albedo feedback, whereby an initial warming causes snow and ice to melt, exposing darker surfaces that absorb more sunlight, leading to more warming. Second, because colder air holds less water vapour than warmer air, in the Arctic, a greater fraction of any increase in radiation absorbed by the surface goes directly into warming the atmosphere, whereas in the tropics, a greater fraction goes into evaporation. Third, because the Arctic temperature structure inhibits vertical air motions, the depth of the atmospheric layer that has to warm in order to cause warming of near-surface air is much shallower in the Arctic than in the tropics. Fourth, a reduction in sea-ice extent will lead to more energy being transferred from the warm ocean to the atmosphere,...