Nautilus

7 Surprises That Climate Change Will Throw Us

The interdependence of ecosystems and their inhabitants means climate change may force animals, including us, to adapt in surprising ways—some startling changes are to come.“Leiv Eiriksson discovers North America,” by Christian Krohg (1893)

Rising sea levels, lower air quality, and longer and more frequent droughts often top the list of climate change consequences that will change our biosphere and stoke human conflict. Consider Central Asia. The “tangled knot of borders, ethnicities, water rights, decreasing resources, and increasing temperatures” in the vast Fergana Valley in particular “makes it a crucible of global warming and human conflict—a place where geography, climate, and politics collide,” John Wendle wrote in his Nautilus feature, “When Climate Change Starts Wars.”

Yet there are more startling changes to come. The

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