The Effects of Global Warming on Wildlife and Habitat - Essay Example

The Effects of Global Warming on Wildlife and Habitat The Effects of Global Warming on Wildlife and Habitat One of the major problems faced by human kind at present is climate change or global warming. The atmospheric temperature is rising day by day because of different reasons. Atmospheric temperature rise is a major threat for all living things including humans. It is difficult for plants and wild animals to survive if the atmospheric temperature rises beyond certain limits. This paper analyses different effects of global warming on wildlife and habitat.

Wildlife depends on healthy habitats. They need: the right temperatures, fresh water, food sources, and places to raise their young (Effects on Wildlife and Habitat, 2011). Temperature rise can affect the wildlife in two different ways. Some animals may require cold weather for their survival whereas some other animals may require warm weather for their survival. Atmospheric temperature rise may result in melting of ice from the Polar Regions. Polar bears may suffer from that since ice is the hunting ground for the polar beers.

“Polar bears hunt their prey, predominantly ringed seals, from the ice” (Polar Bears and the Impacts of Global Warming, 2011). Melting of ice may force ringed seals to escape from the polar region and subsequently polar bears may not get enough food. On the other hand water temperature rise, as result of atmospheric temperature rise, may affect some of the living things in water especially the cold water fish. “As air temperatures continue to climb, water temperatures will also rise in lakes and streams, and coldwater fish such as trout and salmon, which are temperature-sensitive, will begin to lose important habitat” (Global Warming: Impacts on Wildlife and Habitat – Trout and Salmon, 2011).

Apart from the animals, atmospheric temperature rise or global warming can affect plants also. It is difficult for plants to survive under extreme hot conditions. Small plants and herbs will be destroyed if the temperature rises beyond certain limits. “Over the past 25 years, some Antarctic penguin populations have shrunk by 33 percent due to declines in winter sea-ice habitat” (The Consequences of Global Warming On Wildlife, 2011). Normally, in winter season, heavy amounts of ice blocks will be accumulated in the Polar Regions which are necessary for the survival of penguin.

However, drastic climate changes as a result of global warming resulted in reduction in the ice blocks in the Polar Regions even in the winter season. Thus the habitats and foods of penguins and Polar Bears were destroyed as result of global warming. Global warming can result in lager floods which may destroy the aquatic habitat. Lots of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used by the current farmers in their land to increase the agricultural yields which may reach the big oceans and rivers as a result of heavy floods.

These chemicals and pesticides may destroy the living things in rivers and oceans. Global warming can affect the food availability adversely. Small plants and herbs may face total destruction as a result of atmospheric temperature rise. Insects, seeds and flowering plants like the food sources of birds will be destroyed as result of global warming. To conclude, global warming adversely affects wildlife and habitat.