A Review of the Anthropogenic Effects of Climate Change on the Physical and Social Environment

Literature review of effects of climate change on the physical and social environment was conducted where impacts at global, regional, national and local scales were considered. The literature review was based on past studies where library and online sources covering the past two decades were analyzed. Noted relevant findings were then critically analyzed and used to develop the article where the parameters of climate change and effects were identified and discussed. The review established that the environment is negatively affected by climate change; a natural climatic phenomenon arising from variation of global temperatures caused by green-house effect and global warming. Notably, climate change threatens productivity and sustainability of biotic and abiotic environments. Climate change is primarily linked to increased anthropogenic activities that enable Green House Gas (GHG) emission into the atmosphere. Climate change leads to extreme climatic events such as heat stress, drought stress, water stress and hazardous atmospheric circulation and flood- ing causing significant impacts on the environment. Climate change leads to reduction in economic productivity of agronomic systems, increasing natural resources vulnerability levels and degradation of the ecosystem reducing its productivity and biotic sustainability. The paper identified the know- ledge gaps in the quantification of the impact of anthropogenic driven climate change on the environment and mitigation strategies upon which climate change experts can potentially prioritize future research for relevant policy development.