Climate change is projected to cause major changes in plant life distribution. For instance giant ferns and marsh plants are forerunners of other kinds of vegetation that developed more recently in Earth's history. As global temperatures increase and other aspects of climate evolve, researchers expect many plant zones to shift away from the equator and toward the poles.
Plants affect climate by absorbing and emitting gases and radiation, so changes in plant distribution due to climate change could produce complex feedbacks that reshape the atmosphere.
Researchers in the National Center for Atmospheric Research's Climate and Global Dynamics Division are addressing a global rise in sea level of 10 to 20 centimeters during the 20th century, probably resulting from the enhanced greenhouse effect, a general warming trend caused by the increase of carbon dioxide and other trace gases in the atmosphere.
The melting of land-based ice sheets and glaciers and the expansion of oceans by warming are factors in sea-level rise. Very large rises in sea level eventually would cause flooding in major coastal cities and large parts of low-lying countries.
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