Species are decreasing and becoming extinct over time due to climate warming. Animals and plants have developed and diversified from earlier forms to become more complex organisms. Not only have living organisms changed, but so has the Earth. Over time, the world itself has changed drastically, not just the climate but the way it looks as well. The ice on the arctic is melting, causing oceans to become more acidic, oceans became deserts and pollution from our everyday lives are affecting the ozone. It all adds up and changes the world negatively. When the world changes, so do the animals within it. Climate warming has been a big part of the change we see in the population of different species. The speed of climate change is excelling, which …show more content…
is affecting ecosystems and the ability for species to adapt to new environments.(Shah, 3013) Two species that demonstrate how living organisms can't adapt quick enough and have a high possibility of becoming extinct over the years, include polar bears and coral reefs. Tropical waters are naturally low in nutrients, which is where coral reefs come into play.(Shah, 2013) Coral reefs provide oxygen, nutrients that are needed and a home and shelter to 25% of marine animals.(Painting, 2011) Coral isn't just beneficial to the ocean and the species within it, but it benefits us. (Shah, 2013) It protects shores from the impact of waves and from storms, provides food, economic benefits and medicine.(Shah, 2013) Coral reefs are similar to trees, meaning they are an important asset to the oceans and cover an area over 280,000 km. (Painting, 2011) Back in 1998 in the Indian ocean coral reef bleaching occurred followed by another horrific bleaching in 2012 that struck southeast Asia and the Indian ocean. (Shah, 2013) Reef bleaching is due to high sea temperatures, acid in the ocean, pollution and high UV radiation levels.(Painting, 2011) With the weather becoming warmer, ice is melting putting pollutants into the water and the ozone is getting thinner all changing the way the ocean works, causing flaws not just affecting us, but affecting many other species causing a domino effect. 20% of coral reefs have been destroyed, and show no urgent recovery.(Wilkinson, 2004) 95% of Jamaica's reefs are dead or dying.(Shah, 2013) Some reefs are even expected to vanish by 2020. (Shah, 2013) By coral reefs dying, its going to affect approximately one third of the marine biodiversity, causing a very large extinction in a short amount of time.(Adam, September, 2) All species are capable to adapt to their environment over long periods of time. The rate that climate change is affecting the coral reefs at, species aren't going to be able to adapt and evolve causing extinction, or very few species left that can survive these harsh environments, such as hardly any oxygen in the water, no food to eat, and no variation of species to mate with. The species that are able to adapt to these conditions, will have very little option to choose for mating, meaning not much variation causing over populated oceans of very few species. Not only are species within the waters at risk, so are the species above the water, including polar bears. Polar bears are one of the species that is most heard about towards climate change affecting them.
Polar bears don't just live on ice, they use the ice as an advantage to catch prey such as seals. Polar bears have adapted to living on ice and being able to withstand the cold weather. Now that the climate is changing at a fast pace, polar bears are losing their land because its melting, leaving them with no place to walk, sleep and taking away their way of hunting prey. (polar bears international, 2015) This is all happening so fast that there is no way polar bears will be able to adapt to the new environments, causing extinction. The arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world is due to the build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, making it a problem happening very rapidly. (Bagley, 2015) Temperatures in the Arctic region have risen 7 degrees Fahrenheit over the last half century. (Bagley, 2015) Population among polar bears has decreased up to 40% in some areas. (Bagley, 2015) With the climate getting warmer, ice is melting earlier every spring, and takes longer to freeze every winter which is disrupting the feeding and breeding cycles of many different arctic species. (Bagley, 2015) Polar bears have adapted ways to survive in the cold harsh arctic environment including having the ability to cool down their outer skin to keep their vital organs warm when they are submerged in cold water. Though this may help the delay of hypothermia as they have to swim greater distances from ice shelf to ice shelf, that doesn't mean polar bears can swim forever. (Bagley, 2015) One bear that a scientist studied swam 500 miles over nine days, but lost 22% of her body weight, and lost her cub.(Bagley, 2015) Many different scientists have been studying the behaviour of the polar bear to see if it could adapt in any way to survive. Eight U.S scientists made a hypothesis consisting that polar bears could lower their metabolic rates enough to survive as food
sources become minimal. (Bagley, 2015) The bears proved to be able to lower their metabolic rates, but not enough to sustain them over a long period of time. (Bagley, 2015) John Whiteman, a physiologist ecologist who studies how animals adapt recorded data during the season when polar bears stock up on food before the harsh weather conditions. From April to October 2008 to 2010 he tracked the movements and internal temperatures of the bears. (Bagley, 2015) Whiteman discovered that the bears core body temperature decreased from an average of 99.9 degrees Fahrenheit in May, to 97.9 degrees Fahrenheit in September. (Bagley, 2015) This trend shows that the specie is reducing the amount of energy it uses because of no available food. So why can't polar bears just adapt back to living on land? The problem is time.(Strong,2013) When brown bears branched off into polar bears, it took them at least 10,000 to 30,000 years to adapt to the changes. (Strong, 2013) Though it has been warmer in the past several hundred thousand years, polar bears today will struggle with the heat because the heat is something they have never experienced before.(Strong, 2013) Polar bears cannot just walk off whats left of the ice onto land and live a new life there, because they aren't adapted to survive on land.(Strong, 2013) Polar bears have short claws to grasp prey and ice, large sharp teeth for an almost all meat diet, a white coat camouflages them in the snow, and their thick coat help conserve energy and body heat. (Strong, 2013) When you put an animal in a habitat that they aren't adapted too, the chance of survival is slim. Polar bears would be lacking long claws to dig up plants and gather berries, their teeth aren't made for vegetation, their white fur makes them stand out meaning they cant hide from prey, and their large size causes them to overheat, preventing the bears from hunting prey, which means they don't consume enough calories to survive.(Strong, 2013) Even if the polar bears could re-evolve to be able to survive on land, it would be way too slow of a pace to keep up with the pace of today's warming climate. (Strong, 2013) No matter what type of specie it is, whether its the coral reef or polar bear, climate warming will have an impact on the specie. Evolution is an amazing way different species become new and evolved species that are fitted to live in their new environment, but takes a very, very long time to do. Earths problem is time. The speed climate warming is happening at, species can't adapt to the new environment, leading to very little diversity, or extinction.
To begin with, the melting of polar ice caps has caused polar bears to swim long distances. According to Bryan Walsh of TIME Magazine the melting of the ice caps have caused polar bears especially the young cubs to swim longer distances which has caused a “ forty-five percent mortality rate” (Walsh). In the article Walsh, writes about a study that showed that younger cubs because of low fat and strength were more likely to die due to the long di...
Earth’s average temperature has increased about 0.8 degrees Celsius since 1880 and another degree could cause even more problems than there already are. Climate change is an important issue to be aware of because it is real and it affects you and the things around you each and every day. Every day animals lose habitats and die because climate change caused there home to burn, or their food sources started to deplete, etc. Along with these, more and more CO2 is being released into the air due to wildfires burning which is causing the atmosphere to heat even more. With the temperature increasing the oceans will become warmer and evaporation and rainfall patterns will change which will affect humans and animals, because we all work together in a system. There are many consequences of climate change like human health issues, and more animals becoming endangered, but the most important consequence is the rising amounts of wildfires.
Out of an Ice Age emerged one of our most majestic creatures in the world the polar bear. From its brown bear ancestry, the predator evolved to be a master of a harsh and unwelcoming ice kingdom. Intelligent, adaptable and fierce, the polar bear learned how to survive in a place that offers few comforts to any creature. But now that very environment is in flux. And so is the polar bear’s fate (Nature). Polar Bears are very different from other bears. Polar bears are very large bears compared to Black bears. Polar bears weigh anywhere between 330-1700lbs and Black bears weigh anywhere between 150-600lbs. They have strong legs with large, flattened feet with some webbing between their toes that help with walking on ice and swimming. The wide paws prevent sea ice from breaking by distributing weight while walking. Their paws allow them to pull a 600 pound seal out of its breathing hole (Rosing, 20). The webbed feet results in making polar bears, unlike other bear species to be considered as marine mammals along with seals, sea lions, walruses, whales and dolphins (Polar Bear). According to Rosing Polar bears are excellent swimmers and have been known to swim up to six miles an hour and as far as 60 miles at a stretch. The bears paddle with their front feet and steer with their back feet. They often overheat. Sometimes they venture into the waters just to cool off. When a bear climbs on an ice floe, it shakes itself off because it is trying to prevent ice from forming on its fur (22-23). Because of climate change and hunting of polar bears are now becoming an endangered species which is affecting the food chain. We can fix this by going green, banning polar bear hunting and keep creating these new hybrid bears that are mixed with griz...
Polar bears adaptation is thick fur (thicker than any other bears’), they have a thick layer of blubber beneath their fur that provides insulation, and their long neck and narrow skull aids the animal in the water while warming the air that they breath. Also, their front feet are large, flat, and oar like, making them excellent swimmers. They feed primarily on the fat of ice-dependent seals. They also eat walrus, beluga, fish, birds, and many other small animals. Two percent of their hunts for seals are actually successful. Another interesting fact is
“When somebody pounds at your door in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada,” begins Arthur Unger’s 1982 article in The Christian Science Monitor, “you better not open it without checking on your uninvited caller. It might be a polar bear.” The article, titled “Polar bears are charming on a TV screen, less so in person” strikes a different tone than the 2013 anecdotal novel Wild Ones by Jon Mooallem. Mooallem’s stories, in conglomeration with a less-than-subtle critique of conservationists and American culture alike, provide a much different glimpse of the polar bear. Instead of vilifying the bears, Mooallem sensationalizes the bears’ struggle, pointing to their helplessness in the face of extinction (34-37). These two works, written over 30 years apart,
There are many facts proving that global warming exists. According to NASA, average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades (“Global Warming Fast Facts” 1). This obviously isn’t much, but it does prove that the earth is indeed getting warmer, hence “Global Warming”. And researchers say that not only is the earth getting warmer, but the rate at which it is heating up is increasing. In this century, the last two decades have been the earth’s hottest for 400 years, and possibly the warmest it has been for several millennia (“Global Warming Fast Facts” 1). This could mean many different things: one being that humans are contributing to this, or that the earth is going through a cycle. The United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that 11 of the past 12 years have been among the warmest since 1850 (“Global Warming Fast Facts” 1). But the Arctic is feeling the biggest effects. Average temperatures in Alaska, Canada, and parts of Russia have risen twice the global average, according to the multinational Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. By 2040, the Arctic may have its first ice-free summer, since ice is disappearing so rapidly (“Global Warming Fast Facts” 1). This can be bad for many of the animal inhabitants of this region, such as polar bears who ...
Polar bears can live up to 20 to 30 years, but only a few of the polar
Overall climate change is going to continue, we might not be able to stop it but we sure can slow it down and if we can slow it down we will be able to keep many amenities that we need and keep most of our ecosystems safe. Animals are a huge part in human society and once we realize we are damaging their environment and by damaging their environment we are risking losing the essentials we need to survive. Humans need to reduce the use of carbon emissions and by doing that will greatly increase the chances of slowing down rapid climate fluctuations.
Polar Bears depend on the sea to freeze over which enables them to hunt seals. The bears have a short season to hunt in order to gain enough fat to survive the entire year. With the decline in the ice the bears have a shorter window to hunt and to gain the fat necessary to survive and to feed their offspring. The Bears are very strong swimmers, so they swim from ice landing to ice landing to hunt the seals. With Global Warming these ice landings are further and further apart. The Mother Bear may be able to swim these long distances, however her cubs are not. Many have been found dead, due to drowning.
I would agree that the United States has value to polar bears but they also kill them for meat, hides, and status. By doing so they’re limiting what is rarely available. Although, hunting is legal it is becoming the main cause of death for these creatures, even if we do not hunt them they are passing due to the arctic becoming a warm climate. We can stop the killing of these animals by reducing the amount of greenhouse gases
Polar bears prefer to live in extremely cold artic climates. They live only in the Northern Hemisphere, on the arctic ice cap, and they spend most of their time on coastal areas. Polar bears are widely spread in Canada, extending from the northern arctic islands south to the Hudson Bay area. They are also found in Greenland, on islands off the shore of Norway, on the northern coast of the former Soviet Union, and on the northern and northwestern coasts of Alaska in the United States.
Climate change is one of the major issues surfacing on Earth over the past century. The earth’s temperature has increased over the years, leading to detrimental effects on the economic and life sources of people, especially that of agricultural production and livestock. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary (2014), defined climate change as a change in global climate patterns apparent from the mid late 20th century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, (2007) predicts that by 2100 the increase in global average surface temperature may be between 1.8° C and 4.0° C. With increases of 1.5° C to 2.5° C, approximately 20 to 30 percent of plant and animal species are expected to be at risk of extinction. Moreover, the IPCC (2007) purported that climate change has severe consequences for food security in developing countries.
The polar regions are most affected and vulnerable to the warming temperatures because the poles are covered in ice. The world’s ice sheets are melting faster than ever and temperatures in the Arctic region are rising twice as fast as anywhere else on Earth according to the NRDC. This will have a serious impact on people, wildlife and plants in that region. The National Climate Assessment has said that “By the year 2100, it 's estimated our oceans will be one to four feet higher, threatening coastal systems and low-lying areas, including entire island nations and the world 's largest cities, including New York, Los Angeles, and Miami as well as Mumbai, Sydney, and Rio de Janeiro”. Polar bears are in great threat as the ice sheets melt because they use the ice to travel across the land and hunt. As the sea-ice platforms move further apart, the swimming conditions become more dangerous. The U.S Geological Survey done by the National Wildlife Federation predicts that by the year 2050, two thirds of all polar bears will disappear. Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the Adelie penguins in Antarctica and reported the numbers have fallen from 32,000 to only 11,000 over the last 30
Climate Change is any substantial change in climate that lasts for an extended period of time. One contributor to current climate change is global warming, which is an increase in Earth’s average temperature. Plants and animal species throughout the world are being affected by rising temperatures. Many plants are flowering earlier now than they once did; animals, such as the yellowbellied marmot, are emerging from hibernation earlier; and many bird and butterfly species are migrating north and breeding earlier in the spring than they did a few decades ago, all because of slight changes in temperature cues. (Shuster)
Birds are a species that will be affected by a change in the climate. Global warming might result in birds finding a more permanent home in northern areas of the Northern Hemisphere. The ecosystems of fish will be affected by global warming in a variety of ways. The chemical composition of water could be changed.