By: Madlen Wendland
Due to observed climate changes
over the past decade, scientists warn of consequences that could affect people
worldwide, including in Georgia.
One of the main reasons the climate
is changing is the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases, which leads to
rising atmospheric temperatures. This is increasing glacier loss, rising sea
levels, weather extremes and more.
"An increase in temperature
and therefore glacier loss is just one of them, but the impacts play out
differently in different locations," Kathleen Sherman-Morris, professor
and chair of the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability at Georgia
Southern University, said. "In some locations, we might see an increase in
overnight temperatures, and in others, we see effects on precipitation that can
lead to extreme weather, or the sea level rise."
Sherman-Morris said that Georgia is
most affected by rising temperatures and sea level rise. She also said that the
coast has already experienced some sea rise in recent years.
In 2017, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration recorded an 11-inch rise in sea level off Georgia's
coast since 1950.
"The sea level rises about 3.5
millimeters a year, so it is a pretty slow process, but when it does every
year, it gets higher and therefore makes it easier for the coastline to
flood," James Reichard, professor at the School of Earth, Environment and
Sustainability at Georgia Southern University, said.
Reichard said that Georgia and its
water supplies are not affected by glacier loss as much as other regions due to
lower snowfall. However, saltwater intrusion, a potential effect of rising sea
levels, can affect water supplies for every household in Georgia.
Nick Radko, a senior lecturer at the
School of Earth, Environment and Sustainability at Georgia Southern University,
said that Georgia's water supplies mostly rely on groundwater from the Florida
aquifer system and that there have been historically documented issues of
saltwater intrusion into the underground layer of rock, sand, or soil that
stores water and lets it flow, which is called an aquifer.
"Specifically in Savannah and
a lot of places in coastal Georgia, when there has been industrial or municipal
pumping to get water, it has drawn salt water from offshore into what were
previously freshwater aquifers," Radko said. "With the rising sea
level as a result of climate change, it will continue and even get worse."
Another problem and one of the
biggest concerns in Georgia is the more frequent droughts. This is especially
concerning since Georgia's water supplies mostly rely on reservoirs, including
the state's large lakes.
"The biggest issue for the
state of Georgia is the higher temperatures that we are seeing, which are
causing more frequent droughts," Reichard said. "This can impact our
water supplies and therefore our agriculture."
Another impact Georgia has
experienced over the past years is the frequency of weather extremes. For
example, hurricanes, floods, or snow. Reichard said that a single event cannot
be tied to climate change; rather, it is the frequency with which these events
occur that is not normal.
"We always had snow in
Georgia, just not that often," Reichard, who lives in Statesboro, Georgia,
said. "I have lived here for 30 years, and this is only the fourth time
that I have seen snow cover the ground, and that was two years in a row
now."
Overall, everyone agrees that, even
though global warming may be normal to a certain extent, humans have
exacerbated it significantly, particularly through greenhouse gas emissions,
and that climate change is a real, ongoing problem.
Even though climate change cannot
be fully stopped, Sherman-Morris said people need to care more about the
long-term impact they have on the Earth and start reducing greenhouse gas
emissions as much as possible, starting with burning fewer fossil fuels.