Climate change could have disastrous effects on Earth.

[Sarah-Betty]

Can we use "Would" or "may/migh" in the sentence below?

Climate change could have disastrous effects on Earth.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Can we use "would," "may," or "might" in the sentence below?

Climate change could have disastrous effects on Earth.

Yes. You could also use "will."

The right word depends on the context. In most cases, "could," "might," or "will" would probably be better than "would" or "may."

 

[Barb_D]

Can we use "Would" or "may/might" in the sentence below?

Climate change could have disastrous effects on Earth.

For me, could, may, and might are all about the same.
Saying "will" means you know it is a certain thing.

If you replace "could" with "would" you need more context.

For example, you can be quoting someone who used "will" in the past: Dr. Peter Parker has been saying climate change would have disastrous effects on Earth for 20 years, and only now are people paying attention.

 

[Sarah-Betty]

If you replace "could" with "would" you need more context.

Thanks Barb__D.
However, I don't want to use "would" in the past situation. I want to use "would" in the present or future time to talk about probability or likelihood of something. That's why I wanted to know if "would" could be a good option or not.