Ecosystems and Societies

The changes in climate that are occurring around our planet are transforming ecosystems and the places that we live at an extraordinarily rapid pace. There are many consequences of these changes for both ecosystems and humans, and the majority of these changes are not for the better. Additionally, as our world population increases, these impacts will be more pronounced.  The following figure shows observed impacts attributed to climate change for physical, biological, and human and managed systems.

Look for more content and an investigation for this section in late January 2015.  

impacts
Global patterns of impacts in recent decades attributed to climate change, based on studies since the AR4. Impacts are shown at a range of geographic scales. Symbols indicate categories of attributed impacts, the relative contribution of climate change (major or minor) to the observed impact, and confidence in attribution. Image Source: IPCC Technical Summary