What are the effects of climate change?

Climate change means more extreme weather and related events, at times and in places we would not expect. It can also mean long-term trends of changing rainfall and temperatures to which all life will need to adapt. Think back over recent years and you may recognize that the first effects of climate change are already here. More is to come:

• Droughts and heatwaves (30,000 died in Europe in 2003)
• Floods
• Melting ice in the Antarctic, Siberia, Greenland and Europe (no skiing in Austria by 2050?)
• Malaria in the UK
• African locusts in French fields
• More forest fires in Spain and Portugal
• Record-breaking hurricanes (such as Katrina in 2005)
• Rising sea levels and abandoned coasts (6 million could be affected in Bangladesh?)
• Extinctions (one in four land animals and plants in 50 years?)
• Falling crop yields and widespread famine
• International tension over fresh water and energy supplies
• Environmental refugees
• Poorest people likely to suffer most