How global warming disrupts North American wildlife - Research Paper Example

?How global warming disrupts North American wildlife Global Warming – The Big Picture Global Warming is a global menace that has had far reaching, wide spread and indiscriminative effects on all and sundry. On a large scale it has caused irreversible environmental and ecological changes, lead to climatic changes and alteration of habitat of animal species. It has resulted in endangerment as well as extinction of many species of the last century. Global Warming in North America In the north Americas much like the rest of the world, it has been a cause for climatic imbalances and anomalies of nature. North American wildlife has borne the brunt of the silent yet steady effects of global warming. A major agent causing threat to wildlife has been abnormal glacier melting in the higher latitudes of America especially in the Alaskan region above Canada. It has cause wide spread displacement of arctic wildlife due to disintegration of natural habitat of the many hundreds of animal species that inhabit the region. Global Warming in North America is causing ecological shifts across the continent. Ecology which is defined as environment and its inhabitants, is shifting from regions being rendered uninhabitable due to unfavourable climatic, weather and environmental conditions, to places further higher up the latitudes. It is said the decadal rise in surface temperature if the earth by a fraction of a degree is causing severe damage to wildlife habitat as well as modifying the world we know. Some of the species affected by global warming are caribou, polar bears, migratory song birds, waterfowl and alpine amphibians. Consequences include a shift in habitat, altered breeding pattern, change in migratory route. (Pegg 1) Ecological Imbalance As we know ecology is related to the animal chain, which in turn is connected to the plant life and vegetation types. The animal chain consists of the group of species inhabiting the forests and jungles of a particular region. Continued changes in wild life behaviour may result into complete restructuring of the entire plant and animal community, leading to the disappearance of certain forest types. As we know certain bird and animal species help keep up a particular forest type through seeding and pollination. Birds like sparrows, swallows, song birds, wood peckers etc help in facilitating pollination of plants that characterise the nature of forests found in the north American region consisting of fire-plants, maple foliages, evergreen trees etc. Animals like deer, squirrels etc help in distributing seeds through dispersed food and seeds in their faeces. The migration of these agents of botanical diversity and generation may cause the forests to gradually diminish in terms of their size, structure and density. Effects of Global Warming on Bio Diversity and North American Wildlife The Wild Life Society, a 9000 member strong community of wild life professionals, produced a study on effects of global warming on wildlife, is the first comprehensive study of the impact of global warming on North American Wildlife. (Pegg 1) The work conducted by The Wild Life Society is adding to the growing body of scientific work that suggests that global warming may pose the greatest threat to biodiversity wiping out rare and endangered species and reducing typical forests to barren land. A study by the National Wildlife Federation has projected that there will be “disruption of essential ecological processes, displacement or disappearance of coastal wetland species, significant loss of coastal marshes and disruption of alpine and Arctic ecosystems” (Wetkit News 1) Some of the Salient finding s of the study conducted by the NWF includes: The report's major findings include: A Projected rise in the sea level due to global climate change. This may cause some wildlife species to abandon their habitat in search of inland areas or disappear entirely if their lowland wetlands are rapidly eroded by the sea. "Even a small amount of warming may eliminate some wetland plant and animal species in alpine regions because there is little opportunity to disperse among these isolated habitats." (Wetkit News 1) Amphibian count and its distributions are most likely to change markedly with changing air and water temperatures. Species would inhabit high-altitude areas. In short there will be an upward (Northern) shift. In the Prairie Pothole Region there will be a significant decline in wetlands resulting in a decline of breeding of ducks by the 2080s. Projected declines in duck breeding would range between nine and 69 percent. (Wetkit News 1) Climate Change – a consequence of global warming We have already discussed about global warming emerging as the leading threat to bio- diversity. We will now look into the intermediate cause of this threat – A climatic condition that looms large due to effects of global warming. As study carried out by the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science at Conservation International, revealed a shocking statistic. It said that global warming by and large could wipe out nearly a quarter of all the land animal species and plants to extinction. Rising temperatures will disturb essential ecological processes like waste decomposition, scavenging, pollination etc. It will displace or wipe out coastal wetland species, shrunk coastal marshes, dry up rivers, cause inundation, change the geographic features of a region, and disrupt Alpine and Arctic ecosystem. (Pegg 1) Threat to Wild Life The threat to wildlife is more visible further up the latitudes in the regions of Alaska, British Columbia, and Northwest territories etc. Small changes in temperatures lead to magnified effects in terms of ecology shift, higher death rates of animal species and abandoning of habitat. Out of all the species found in the places further up the latitudes in the cold and arid regions of Alaska and Canada, the polar bear and some seal species are the most threatened. It has been forecasted that these two species may be the first to become extinct if global warming continues to affect the ecology. (Pegg 1). Moreover the forecast given by scientists and researchers did not take into account the adverse and extent of damage to ecology due to climatic imbalances. The study on North American Wildlife by National wildlife Foundation, an organisation dedicated to research and progress on wildlife conservation, spells out a certain threat. Douglas Inkley, an ecologist with the National Wildlife Federation, made a very interesting and pertinent comment on the future of wildlife, biodiversity and ecology in general. In his opinion the decades’ worth of effort that ecologist, environmentalists and people for wildlife have put in to set up refuge places and conservation sanctuaries might be have their very existence threatened by the rate at which natural habitat is being destroyed due to global warming. The entire exercise of conserving animals should be preceded with a complete change in the industrial system through cooperation from powerful economies, volunteering nations, NGOs and citizens from all around the globe. Change in Habitat The radical change in climatic conditions will affect the habitat and living conditions of virtually every species. As temperatures increase, these species will move up the latitudes in search of cooler areas. The shift of the range of habitat and animal life that depends on them will shift northwards. This means that species of animals would have to shift northward to continue living in a favourable environment. Many species in this process will become extinct due to lack of a habitat. From Northern Iowa (North West territories) to the central Alberta Region (Saskatchewan region), in the Prairie Pothole Region, famously called as the Prairies – there will be a significant decline in wetlands causing mass deaths of ducks, cattle and poultry. It is projected that by the 2080s there will be a decline in the abundance of breeding ducks. Some species will benefit at the cost of others. Further morphs in the ecology will occur in terms of the dominant pine and hardwood forests characteristic of the South Eastern United States to move northward. Greener pastures will move northward leaving the lower latitudes dry and arid. Conifer forests found in New England would change to deciduous forest as those found in south eastern Pennsylvania and North Virginia. According to the study conducted by the National Wildlife Federation, forest species such as the Sugar Maple would disappear completely in the next century from the face of the United States. Sea levels will rise drastically, if it keeps going at the rate of a few inches every decade. This will lead to coastal mud swaps. Coastal flooding will cause coastal animal species on land as well as water to foray into interior regions. Habitats of coastal species will change and the land mass would shrink by a few miles every decade. Works Cited 1. J. R. Pegg. ”Global Warming Disrupting North American Wildlife”. Environment News Service Retrieved From: http://ens-newswire.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/2004-12-16-101.html 2. “Wildlife at Risk – Change the forecast for wildlife. Solutions to global Warming. ”. National Wildlife Federation 2006. Web. 3 Nov. 2012. Retrieved From:http://www.nwf.org/globalwarming. 3. Christine Dorsey. “Disruption of Wildlife Populations Forecast in Wildlife Society Report – Global Warming Profound threat to wildlife as we know it”, 15 Dec. 2004. Web. 3 Nov. 2012. 4. WetKit news . “Global climate change and wildlife in North America”. 3 Nov. 2012. Web. 03 Nov. 2012 Retrieved From: http://www.wetkit.net/modules/1/showtool.php?tool_id=1623 Read More