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Climate Change

Shark attacks: Research and resources

Source: JournalistsResource.org

Each year as the weather warms, crowds of families and tourists flock to the beaches. People sometimes don’t realize the risk they take when they enter the ocean, a vast aquatic habitat. Newsrooms in coastal communities are well aware that when humans and wildlife interact, the results can be tragic – especially when sharks make an appearance. Even a minor run-in with a shark can send someone to the emergency room for surgery and stitches.

Have disaster costs increased due to climate change?

Source: JournalistsResource.org

Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005 and was twice as costly as any previous hurricane — in addition to more than 1,000 deaths, it caused over $80 billion in damages in the United States. Three years later Hurricane Ike inflicted nearly $30 billion in damages in the U.S. The frequency and size of such storms has raised questions about a possible connection between climate change and economic losses from weather disasters.

Greenhouse gas mitigation by agricultural intensification

Source: JournalistsResource.org

Beginning in the 1940s, the “green revolution” increased crop yields around the globe through seed hybrids, increased irrigation and new fertilizers and pesticides. The result was “agricultural intensification,” getting more grain from each acre of land. While the increase in productivity is unquestioned, drawbacks exist as well — negative environmental and health consequences from pesticide use, increased water demand, reductions in biodiversity and increased vulnerability to future famines.

Climate change and economic growth: Evidence from the last half century

Source: JournalistsResource.org

Because climate change is a global phenomenon and its potential effects diverse, understanding the economic impacts is highly complex. Agriculture, fishing, migration, health and tourism could all be affected; in many ways the impacts are likely to be negative, but some could be positive.