What are the negative effects of climate change?

(A typical 10 mark question) The Earth's temperature has fluctuated over the last 10,000 years, causing the climate to change. This change is caused by many long and short term factors. As temperatures rise, a range of different countries are affected by the changes. For example in the Arctic, ice caps are retreating so sea levels rise. Not only does this cause flooding in countries like Bangladesh, due to its low lying landscape, but also in the Arctic, the local wildlife, such as polar bears, are losing their natural habitats. The melting of ice affects ocean movement as the ice cause the Gulf Stream to divert towards the South, causing Europe to be around 10 degrees cooler than its average. Russia and the Sahara experience drier conditions and in Russia this has a caused a plummet in grain harvest which has had a negative effect on the farming industry. In the Sahara droughts have become more regular due to desertification which has caused a number of people to die from extreme dehydration. Finally, climate change has affected South America and the rainforest due to deforestation. The forest regulates local and global weather by creating rainfall and exchanging natural gases.. Therefore cutting down the rainforest changes the reflectivtiy of the Earth's surface, as soil does not reflect as much heat energy as trees. This then affects the weather by altering ocean current patterns and changing humiditiy levels, meaning rainfall becomes more unlikely and temperatures will continue to rise.