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Climate change is already happening, but we’re just starting to see some of the more pronounced effects. Heat waves grounding airplanes, polar vortexes blasting the Midwest, and rapidly rising sea levels are just the beginning.
What we don’t realize is that things are about to get strange. Climate change is going to rock our world, and we don’t know the half of it.
Here are some of the weirder side-effects that will emerge as climate change accelerates. Strap in.
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7 Climate Change Effects
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Changing Diets
Whether we like it or not, we're going to be eating more plants. Studies have shown that our current love of red meat is not sustainable and massive diet changes are going to be needed to keep our food supply.
Photo: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP (Getty Images)
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Saltier Oceans
As our planet continues to warm, the amount of ocean water that evaporates is increasing. This means the salty parts of the ocean will retain more salt and less rain will come back into the oceans.
Photo: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto (Getty Images)
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Funky-Tasting Wines
As California continues to get dryer each year, wines are getting hit hard. Wine-making grapes are beginning to mature faster and store more sugar, creating either flatter, less nuanced wines or wines that will strip paint with their alcohol content.
Photo: David Silverman (Getty Images)
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Delayed Flights
In the past few years, Phoenix and the surrounding area reached a scorching 119 degrees. This grounded flights as the hot air created too much resistance for take-offs to occur, and it's only going to keep happening.
Photo: Xinhua (Getty Images)
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Longer Allergy Seasons
Dryer, warmer springs means our pollen levels are rising. They're going to keep rising and bring with them a longer, more intense allergy season. Pollen is already multiplying like crazy. It makes our nose itch just thinking about it.
Photo: PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP (Getty Images)
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More Pests
Areas that have had traditionally longer, colder winters are seeing thaws come earlier. This has allowed pests like locusts and mice to expand their already massive range and settle comfortably into eating everything in sight.
Photo: DeAgostini (Getty Images)
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We're All Getting Sicker
Not only in a general sense, but literally. Climate change has allowed microbes to colonize new habitats and spread germs farther and wider than ever before. Bugs and diseases we aren't even aware of may already be here. Grab a tissue.
Photo: BSIP/UIG (Getty Images)
