Adaptition and Mitigation to climate change

Greenland specifically isn't pursuing efforts to prepare for climate change however Denmark a country that apart of is. Denmark is an area that will have in increase in precipitation and winds so roads and rail ways become venerable. To adapt they will be timing the road renovations to ensure its proper adaption to climate change. Precipitation will also effect Denmark's water resources. To have a secure amount of drinking water irrigation in rural areas will greatly increase.

 

What I found most interesting about the changing climate in Europe is the heat waves. What grabbed my attention was that this is happening now! Heat waves across Europe in 2005 and 2006 have caused a large amount of deaths. we don't even have to wit for the future to see the effects climate change will have because they are happening right now.

 

The image above is of Europe during the time of the 2005 and 2006 heat wave that killed many people.

http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/17000/17092/europelstanom_tmo_2006193.jpg

 

Denmark has ratified to the Kyoto Protocol and have reduced their emissions by 0.4%

 

Denmark is taking steps towards renewable energy. They are planning to replace most of their coal energy with biomass, and invest more in wind and solar power. Along with that they are promoting public transportation and cycling as a more efficient means of transportation.

http://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/copenhagen-making-major-progress-in-renewable-energy-initiatives/8510142/

 

In my opinion Denmark should mitigate the problem because they are already on the right track to succeed in this area. So far it seems as they are doing a pretty good job if they keep it up. However I don't think it would be a bad idea to adapt also. Precipitation will increase due to climate change so it would be smart to get ready for what is to come and adapt to it.  

 

 

Climate Change Impacts

Greenland is going to have an increase in precipitation. Because of warming of the globe sea ice is going to decrease in thickness and extent. This not only affects Greenland itself it causes sea level rise because of the melting ;and ice into the ocean. Warming is going to be larger the winter season more than the summer season.

The reduction in thickness and extent of glaciers, sea ice, and land ice will have a big effect on the biological ecosystems of the polar regions such as migratory birds and predators. Its not all bad, a positive side to this is that there will be more navigable sea routes because there is less ice. This change is also affecting the traditional way of life for many that live in the polar regions and may have to relocate these people to adapt.

Biological systems here will be greatly affected. Reduction of sea ice extent will cause a decrease in the amount of krill and decrease the amount of predators in that region.  Sea ice dependent marine wildlife will see a decrease in population as well. The seasonal runoff routing will be of set because of changes in the cryosphere. It will become difficult to transport freshwater though networks because of all the ice cover being lost.

The most interesting threat to my county would be sea level rise. Though my country may still be affected by it, Greenland is the county that is accusing the sea level to rise as it melts there. The biggest threat that is happening to my country is really a threat to the whole entire world let alone just my own country. As we talked about in class this ice is melting then in the winter it isn't going back to the extent that the ice used to be, and this is happening more and more frequently. I also found that ecosystems were projected to be affected so much, I thought they would be expecting a change but no as much as I thought it would be. It especially affects predators like polar bears that live on sea ice, and without that around in the polar regions they will have no where to go and will get stuck in the ocean or on land.

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/climate-desk-greenland-and-69-feet-sea-level-rise

This graph here is showing the rising temperature in Greenland which is causing the sea level rise around the world.