Climate Change - Impacts
Natural environment
There is growing evidence of the consequences of climate change on the Earth and on human life. Scientific opinion expects these effects to increase and continue to affect the lives of many generations.
Long-term, scientists can only guess at the likely impacts and the extent of these on our lives.
Immediate effects would include extreme weather, impacts on the environment and associated economic effects.
Some likely global, national and local impacts could include:
- Global Impacts
- rising sea levels threatening coastal settlements and island nations
- increasing frequency of major storm events in some areas causing significant damage
- increasing air temperatures, more heat waves and severe droughts
- increasing sea temperatures affecting species and fisheries.
- National Impacts
- rising sea levels (between 0.3 - 0.8m by 2100) and saltwater intruding into some freshwater sources
- increasing intensity and frequency of heat waves and fire risk
- more floods, landslides, droughts, and storm surges, and less snow and frost
- reducing soil moisture in much of eastern New Zealand.
- Local Impacts
- increasing severity and frequency of major storm events
- stronger westerly winds - increased risk to infrastructure and property
- heavier rainfalls - downed trees, utility faults and property damage
- more storms on Wellington's South Coast, increasing coastal erosion, more surface flooding and slips.
Personal Impacts
Owhiro Bay waves
Climate change will impact on many aspects of personal life - environmental, social and economic - and could include:
- altered ecosystems - habitat loss, species extinction, invasive species, degradation of natural systems
- water security risk due to drought - threat to irrigated agriculture
- loss of high value coastal land, road deterioration, and beach degradation
- risk to major infrastructure - flood protection, urban drainage, sewerage networks, and storm damage to buildings
- glacier shrinkage and diminishing snow cover - impacting on tourism flows and associated industries
- eventual pasture production decline in cooler areas - spread of sub-tropical, low-productivity pastures
- increasing spread of pests and diseases
- loss of specific conditions needed for particular crops
- better growth for plantation forestry in the south and west, and less in the east of the North Island, with increased wind damage risk
- coastal fisheries - habitat changes affecting species distribution
- increasing cost of disaster insurance cover
- carbon taxes eg "food miles" - increased costs of carbon-emitting processes for production, packaging and distribution (transport).
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