Blog 3: September 15th Lauren Epperson The Effects of Climate Change

When we usually talk about climate change and global warming the talk is usually all about the negative effects. You never expect to see a positive outcome from something like climate change. In reality, the United Kingdom is seeing a positive effect of climate change and global warming. Due to the rise in surface temperature it has heated the water off the coast of the United Kingdom. The warmer waters have brought an increase in the amount of fish that are available in the last 30 years. The warmer waters are shifting the fish populations to different areas. Scientists are seeing fish they usually see off the coast are migrating to the North West. This is causing the fish to compete over the resources in the area. Scientists expect the water to continue to get warmer because that has been the trend over the last few decades. If this continues the scientist say that British families should expect to see a wider selection of fish and the United Kingdom will not have a big issue with over fishing because the fish migrating are smaller and reproduce faster. In response to the changes in the fishing resources the European Nations are taking action. They are creating new policies to maintain fishing levels across Europe. The scientists are extending their research to other parts in Europe to see if there are similar trends. “Whatever benefits warming waters might bring to UK fisheries, the worldwide impact of climate change is not forecast to be positive, with the overall productivity of oceans projected to decline.” (Black)

The changes in climate are about more than just our earth is heating up. If the environment continues to change at the rate it is now then we could be looking at more serious problems than the fish population around the world is changing. There could be a migration of other animals besides fish, the world populations could experience shifts, and the agricultural industry could change. This in return could change the World Systems Theory and the relationship between countries. Some of the countries roles in the world system may change. Some semi-periphery countries may lose or gain resources and raw materials to provide for the core countries. It may not be suitable to grow our fruit or flowers in the Central and South America region because it is simply too hot to harvest those plants there. In periphery countries they could fall even farther behind or be able to provide more resources throughout the World. The core countries could just change the different relations that they have with countries depending on the different goods and services they would be able to provide. This could eventually change global stratification and the global community.

Correspondent, Richard Black Environment. "Climate Change Boon to UK Seafood." BBC - Homepage. BBC News, 15 Sept. 2011. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. .