Impacts of Climate Change and Differential Vulnerability

The consequences of a warming climate are physical, ecological, and deeply human, and they are not shared equally. Some of the most visible impacts involve ice and water. As the planet warms, glaciers and ice sheets lose mass and sea levels rise through two main mechanisms: the thermal expansion of seawater as it warms, and the addition of meltwater from land ice in Greenland, Antarctica, and mountain glaciers. Global average sea level has already risen by more than 20 centimeters since 1900, and the rate of rise is accelerating. Even modest rises threaten low-lying coasts because they raise the baseline from which storm surges attack, pushing saltwater further inland and increasing the frequency of coastal flooding.

Ice loss has consequences beyond sea level. Arctic sea ice has shrunk dra