Chapter 10 of 10All chapters
Chapter 10 of 10
A changing map
Geography is not fixed.
Climate effects
Ice loss, rising seas, shifting rainfall and expanding heat zones are redrawing where farming works and where coastal cities are viable.
- Low-lying island states face existential risk from sea level rise.
- Arctic ice loss is opening shipping routes and new territorial claims.
Human change
Dams, canals, reclaimed land and vanished lakes such as the Aral Sea show how quickly the physical map can be altered deliberately or by accident.