Explain how climate change threatens extreme environments. (6 marks)

Climate change can be described as a context hazard due to its worldwide impact. However, the effects that climate change has upon extreme environments poses a severe threat. Temperature fluctuations for example are causing increased melting in polar regions. In the Arctic, sea ice has shrunk every decade since 1979 at a rate of 3.5-4.1%. Such depletion of Arctic sea ice is disturbing the fragile nature of the ecosystem, by reducing the habitat size, and so hindering biodiversity and species development. Climate change is also impacting human populations due to rainfall fluctuations. Increased rainfall is causing flooding, however on the other hand, decreased rainfall in some areas is causing excessive drought periods. In the Sahel region for example, rainfall has decreased by 48% since the 1950’s. Many extreme environments are within developing countries where agriculture is a key contributor to economic growth. Therefore, increased severity of droughts and flooding will damage agricultural land, meaning communities will be malnourished and have limited economic development.