The impact of the fossil fuel industry: 10 effects of climate change

Climate change, often called global warming, is the gravest and most urgent challenge facing humanity. There is no doubt that human activity is causing climate change. When we release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere this leads to a rise in average global temperatures, which again is melting the sea ice and disrupting weather patterns around the world – tipping the world’s climate into an uncertain future.

The burning of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas is the main cause of climate change. This releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which leads to a rapid increase in the Earth’s temperature. Despite the signs of climate breakdown, the fossil fuel industry continues to mine and burn fossil fuels, with oil companies like Equinor, BP, Exxon, and Shell spend millions to delay or stop government policies.

10 effects of climate change

The effects of climate change are wide-ranging and complex, impacting biodiversity and nature, water and food security, human health, security, stability and human migration, to name a few. Read on to learn more about the effects of climate change.

1. Social effects of climate change

The climate crisis is having wide-ranging social effects, exasperating existing inequalities and impacting those that are the least responsible the most. Around the world the climate crisis is having huge social effects. It is causing people to lose their homes, livelihoods, culture, language and lives. Changing temperatures and weather patterns is a huge threat to the supply of food, water and energy, and in resource-scarce areas it can fuel conflict and force people to flee their homes.

People living in the global south and already marginalised communities will bear the brunt of the consequences of a warming planet, both in the global south and the global north. Climate breakdown disproportionately impacts people of colour, women, LBGTQI+ people, disabled people, working class and poor people.

According to the World Bank, climate change could push up to 130 million more people into poverty by 2030, not only exacerbating existing vulnerabilities, including food and water insecurity, but also socio-economic fragility, and political grievances.

Another social effect of climate change is the impact on peace and security, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected settings. Climate change impacts can trigger competition over natural resources, insecure livelihoods, and mass displacement, increasing the risk of social tensions and instability. In settings where conflict already exists, the impacts of climate change can aggravate or prolong it, making it more difficult to reach and sustain peace. Conflict can in turn disrupt or impede climate action, either through the active destruction of energy, water, and agricultural assets, or by delaying or blocking mitigation and adaptation interventions.

2. Health impacts of climate change

Climate change is impacting human health across the globe. The UN IPCC concluded in its latest report that climate change and rising temperatures have led to human mortality and morbidity across all regions. According to the World Health Organisation, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050 from undernutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress alone. WHO warns that areas with weak health infrastructure – mostly in developing countries – will be the least able to cope without assistance to prepare and respond.

WHO further estimates that the direct damage costs to health (excluding costs in health-determining sectors such as agriculture and water and sanitation) is estimated to be between US$ 2–4 billion per year by 2030.

Fossil fuel companies like Equinor should be held accountable for its contribution to these alarming numbers. A study published by Greenpeace Netherlands has estimated the number of people that could die prematurely before the end of the century because of global heating caused by the 2022 greenhouse gas emissions of nine major European oil and gas companies alone. According to the study, Equinor’s 2022 emissions could lead to 34,000 premature temperature-related deaths by the end of the century.

3. The effect of climate change on Arctic ice

Nowhere is the environmental effect of climate change more obvious than in the Arctic. Rising global temperatures have led to the loss of Arctic sea ice at a rate of almost 13% per decade, and over the past 30 years, the oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic has declined by a shocking 95%.

The Arctic helps cool the planet so the melting of the ice can exasperate global warming. Ice reflects heat back into space, while water absorbs it. Less ice means less reflected heat, making the world warmer as a result.

Over the past century, the global average sea level has risen four to eight inches. Melting Arctic ice is expected to speed up sea level rise. Some experts estimate that the melting of the Greenland ice sheet could lead to oceans rising as much as 7 metres, which would flood major coastal cities and submerge some small island countries, causing untold devastation. This is a serious environmental effect of climate change.

The arctic ice and permafrost–ground that is permanently frozen– also store large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. When it thaws, that methane is released, increasing the rate of warming. This, in turn, causes more ice and permafrost to thaw or melt, releasing more methane, causing more melting. This is a dangerous cycle which could see ice and permafrost melting more quickly and the worst climate change predictions come true.

4. The effect on biodiversity

Another serious environmental effect of climate change is the impacts on biodiversity. The climate crisis disrupts the lifecycle of animals and plants, as well as their behaviour, such as annual bird migration. Rising temperatures are already impacting species around the world and putting immense pressure on species to adapt.

Extreme weather and climate-caused disasters also affect biodiversity, like the catastrophic Australian bushfires in 2019/2020 that affected nearly three billion animals. At the same time, rising CO₂ levels are endangering sea life by rising ocean temperatures and acidity levels.

Interested in the consequences of biodiversity on climate change? We explain them here.

5. Economic effects of climate change

Scientists estimate that extreme weather caused by climate change will become more frequent and more intense in the future. Much of what is lost due to climate change can never be replaced. Ways of life, cultures, nature and security for future generations are priceless. But funding is needed to pay for things like relief and rebuilding infrastructure. And the economic effects of climate change will continue to rise.

Heatwaves alone are estimated to cost $7.1 trillion in lost productivity by 2050. In 2023, the globe experienced 66 extreme weather events where the cost of damage exceeded $1 billion. In 2023, the estimated total cost of direct physical damage and net-loss business interruptions for climate and weather events was $301 billion; this was the fourth consecutive year that nominal insurance losses topped $100 billion.

Faced with the rising economic effects of climate change, it’s important to ask the question: who should pay for the damage caused? Fossil fuel producing countries and companies like Norway and Equinor, which have built their wealth on the sale of coal, oil and gas, have a huge responsibility to support the countries and communities that will suffer the worst effects of the climate crisis.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is the biggest in the world, worth more than 18 billion NOK ($1,6 trillion). Still, Norway has committed a meagre 270 million NOK ($25 million) to the global loss and damage fund, a drop in the ocean compared to the country’s oily profits and the need caused by the economic effects of climate change.

Since 1988, 100 fossil fuel companies including Equinor are estimated to be responsible for 71% of global industrial greenhouse gas emissions. An analysis by Climate Analytics found that Equinor would owe $400 billion if the company were to be held partly responsible for the climate loss and damage caused by the company's emissions from 1985 to 2018 alone.

6. Rise in displaced people and climate refugees

Another devastating global effect of climate change is the impact on migration and people being forced to flee their homes. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that climate and weather extremes are increasingly driving displacement in Africa, Asia, North America, and Central and South America (medium confidence), with small island states in the Caribbean and South Pacific being disproportionately affected relative to their small population size.

According to UNHCR, 90 percent of refugees under UNHCR’s mandate, and 70 percent of people displaced within their home countries by conflict and violence, come from countries on the front lines of the climate emergency. Estimates predict that without ambitious climate action, the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance due to disasters could increase to 200 million annually by 2050 – twice the current number.

7. Extreme weather and record temperatures

Climate change is leading to more extreme weather around the world. 2024 has already seen deadly floods in Kenya, Brazil, China, Dubai and Germany. The US is bracing for an extraordinarily hazardous hurricane season and Canada and Greece have been ravaged by devastating wildfires.

The frequency and intensity of hot extremes (including heatwaves) have also increased, and those of cold extremes have decreased on the global scale. June 2024 was the warmest June ever recorded globally. This is the thirteenth month in a row that such a record has been set, according to EU researchers. According to the UN, hot extremes will continue to increase and decrease, respectively, at global and continental scales and in nearly all inhabited regions with increasing global warming levels. Extreme temperatures have become more frequent in many parts of the of the world. In 2023, temperatures in Italy reached 48.2 °C, and record-high temperatures were reported in Tunis (Tunisia) 49.0 °C, Agadir (Morocco) 50.4 °C and Algiers (Algeria) 49.2 °C in 2023.

8. The psychological impact of climate change

Both the WHO and the UN IPCC have warned that climate change poses a rising threat to mental health and psychosocial well-being; from emotional distress to anxiety, depression, grief, and suicidal behavior.

WHO points to how certain groups will be disproportionately at risk due to climate change, depending on existing vulnerabilities and inequalities. This is particularly true in low- and middle-income countries, despite the fact that such countries have historically emitted low levels of greenhouse gases. For instance, indigenous people may be more likely to define well-being in terms of harmony with natural environments, which are significantly disrupted by climate change. As a result, they may be more strongly affected by the loss of even small amounts of land or wildlife or by other climate-related impacts. Children and adolescents are also uniquely affected and can experience strong reactions in response to the scale of the crisis and the lack of action taken

9. The effect of climate change on food security

Climate change has a huge impact on food security around the world. Unpredictable weather patterns, prolonged droughts, and more frequent floods create huge challenges for agriculture, disrupting traditional farming practices and threatening staple crops such as rice and wheat.

Our planet’s oceans are also severely impacted by climate change. As the seas warm and grow more acidic, and as coral reefs suffer, marine ecosystems are disrupted, threatening fisheries worldwide. Locally, where marine resources are both dietary staples and economic cornerstones, the effects can be severe, as they influence fish stocks and the livelihoods of coastal communities. Tuna, for example, are sensitive to water temperature. The warming of waters induced by climate change is pushing tuna farther from the shores to look for cooler waters. This in turn forces local fisherfolk to sail farther to the sea which poses a danger to their safety.

Climate change also has an indirect but substantial pressure on the cost of food worldwide. Disruptions in agriculture and fisheries ripple through the supply chain, frequently leading to elevated food prices. Increasing temperature may result in lower crop yields affecting supply and demand, and consequently, the price of food in the market. These price hikes can challenge the accessibility of nutritious food for vulnerable populations.

10. The effect of climate change on water security

Humans can’t survive without water. Climate change is increasingly threatening water resources, posing a direct threat to human survival, human health and to agriculture, where water is a lifeline.

It’s estimated that freshwater resources per person have declined 20% in the past decades and that 2.4 billion people live in water-stressed countries. Climate change is exacerbating the decline of water quality and security.

Climate change is undoubtedly the primary cause of water insecurity in Africa. Unpredictable weather patterns and intense weather events have left several communities grappling with water scarcity in African states, including South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia. The persistent drought in the Horn of Africa is an example of how climate change triggers water insecurity.

Floods fueled by extreme rainfall also pose a threat to water supply by risking infrastructural damage, increasing pollution of water sources, and damaging drainage systems. For instance, the lack of climate-proofed water systems in countries like Ethiopia increase their vulnerability to floods. Others like Kenya experience increased risk of mudslides and landslides and rising sea levels during floods, resulting in water contamination.

Future global effects of climate change

Climate change will continue to have wide-ranging effects on nature and biodiversity, as well as social, economic, health and psychological effects. People living in the global south will bear the brunt of the consequences, and the climate crisis will exasperate already existing inequalities.

The global effects of climate change don’t follow a linear trajectory. Scientists warn that we’re approaching a point of no return for climate action, beyond which catastrophic consequences become inevitable. That’s why it is crucial that we do everything we can today to curb emissions and slow global warming.

What can we do to reduce the effects of climate change?

Climate change is already having huge social, environmental and economic effects around the world – some of which could be irreversible. But because climate change is caused by human activity, we can reduce the effects of climate change if we work together. Around the world people are working on many and varied solutions to tackling the effects of climate change: from changing how we get our energy, to creating more local, circular and wellbeing economies; protecting the oceans and transforming agriculture.

Global warming presents a unique opportunity to change the way we live for the better. Reducing fossil fuel burning will bring cleaner air. Switching to plant-based food is better for health – and it would stop the destruction of rainforests, as well as bring down emissions from livestock farming. Building a more sustainable economy also has the potential to create an economic system that benefits the many rather than the few, and building safer and more equal societies.

One of the most immediate things that we have to do to limit the effects of climate change is to leave fossil fuels in the ground. The UN and the International Energy Agency have warned that if we are to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees we can’t open any new coal, oil or gas projects, anywhere in the world. Stopping fossil fuel companies like Equinor from opening new oil and gas projects would keep billions of tonnes of CO₂ locked in the ground rather than being released into the atmosphere. Keeping the fossil fuel industry to account is one of the most important things we can do to reduce the effects of climate change.

Find out more about how you can get involved in the campaign to get #EquinorOut here.