02-18-19 Joint Health and Public Safety and Utilities

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CITY OFSOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK drastic on the Earth's ecosystems and inhabitants. This is especially because most organisms live in what we call microclimates. So, specific soil temperatures, moisture, wind movement, vegetation and these things can all be sensitive to small changes in temperature.Next,I will discuss some of the main impacts global warming will have. She continued, First (Pt) of all, changes in precipitation, with storms we've seen this in South Bend already. There will be more flooding. Global warming intensifies both drought and storm effects. Droughts are intensified because of greater evaporation and surface drying due to the higher temperatures and storm effects will be intensified due to greater evaporation as well. And also,because the water-holding capacity of the air actually also increases seven percent(7%)every one (1) degree Celsius of warming. That means there is a lot of increased water vapor in the atmosphere. This supplies storms with more moisture, causing more damage. Overall the dry regions of the world will become drier and wet areas will become wetter. Areas that are experiencing water scarcity will be feeling more pressure and areas already being damaged by floods will also experience more drastic effects.Next, I will be discussing the impact on the ocean. She went on, So, the ocean is absorbing heat and energy from our atmosphere which leads to warming and is also absorbing about thirty percent(30%) of all the carbon dioxide that we put into the atmosphere. That is more than people expected it to be able to. So, it is doing us a big favor there. However, this leads to acidification in the ocean. This warming and acidification really threatens the marine environment and is currently the most vulnerable environment and suffering the most from the impacts of climate change already. A large part of this is due to coral bleaching which increases with warming and acidification. You can see here (referencing a slide in the presentation)on the ride side of the right-hand photo,that is a bleached coral compared to a healthy coral right next to it. This happens because, as I said, of the warming and acidification. It changes the natural environment the coral is supposed to live in and it can no longer support life. A lot of life and biodiversity in the ocean depend on coral reefs and people also depend on coral reefs. About thirty-seven percent(37%)worldwide live within one hundred(100)kilometers of the ocean and this means coral reefs support these people through food, income, protection from storm waves, and this is why they are very important to human populations. She continued, Another dire impact is the rising sea level. This is mainly due to two (2) reasons. First (1St) is thermal expansion. As the water is heated, it expands so the water takes up more volume. There is also increased melting of land-based ice. So, land that used to be on Antarctica or Greenland or in glaciers,when that enters the ocean,it very directly increases the sea level.This impacts coastal populations. There has already been forced emigration even in the United States from it in the islands off the coast of Louisiana. One (1) country, Kiribati, is looking for land to buy because their island is going to be completely flooded soon. It is a very pressing reality for them. She went on,Now, I will talk about a climate change effect that is a little closer to us. A couple of weeks ago, we all had the pleasure of experiencing the polar vortex. It is named the polar vortex for a reason, it should stay there. What keeps it there is the jet stream. The jet stream is strong when the difference between the polar temperature and the temperatures closer to the equator is large. When that is a smaller difference, as you can see in the graphic, the jet stream weakens, and it becomes a wavy one (1) which allows cold air go south from us and warm air to go up. When we were experiencing the polar vortex, Alaska was actually warmer than us and having not a bad day. So, that is one (1) very real scenario that has already happened in South Bend. EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227W Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.5567 vwvwsouthbendin.gov 8