Impact of Climate Change on Ocean Life - Research Paper Example

Impact of Climate Change on Ocean Life The change in climate has been discussed globally in various sectors and by different people. The climatic conditions being experienced today are not the same as those experienced years back. There have been several debates on the major causes of climatic change and various ways of trying to reduce the problem. Its effects are felt globally and one of the major effects is the changing weather patterns. Apart from affecting weather patterns and agriculture, it also affects ocean life. “Climate change is global in scope, but ecological impacts are often quite localized (p22)”. Climate change may generally be defined as the change in climate patterns due to high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. There are various causes of climate change both natural and human. Some of the natural causes may include volcanic activity and solar output. Some human causes include fossil fuels burning and clearing of forests for agricultural purposes. A great percentage of climate change has been attributed to human activities mainly burning of fossil fuels which give rise to high carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Debates have been done in discussion of whether this is true and how these high levels can be reduced (CEICC & BLS & DE & LSNRC, 23). Climate change is seen to be highly contributed by human activities due to the growing industries. Technology has greatly improved leading to the rise of new industries that use fuels. The increase in population can also be said to be a contributing factor in that forests are destroyed and land left bare to build homes and stay and also grow crops for subsistence and commercial purposes. It does not only affect what we see on the surface but also affects the creatures that live in the ocean including fish and other animals. Water bodies around the world have also been affected by climate change. Many of these water bodies are used for providing drinking water for both people and animals and the water is also used in industries and agriculture. This enables people to live a healthy life, have food and run businesses with the availability of electricity. The effects of climate change on these water bodies will have severe consequences which are already being experienced. Some of these effects include an increase in drought and floods causing people to be displaced. It also leads to less fresh water causing a reduction in the food produced and the revenue from agriculture (CEICC et al, 23). “Forty years of research have documented strong responses (pg 22)”. Some of the creatures that have been affected by climate change’s effect on ocean life include whales, penguins, lobsters, cod, seals and sea turtles not forgetting the polar bear. Climate changes have caused a decrease in sea ice which the polar bears use as a platform to rest and hunt their prey. The reduction of ice has caused a decrease in the number of seals which polar bears eat and also a decrease in the areas where they can rest and hunt. For this reason, they have to swim for long distances between stable ice in search of food and a place to rest. These unfavorable conditions then pave way for decreased numbers of polar bears and seals. “Climate change is also driving changes in phenology (pg 20)”. Polar bears are known to be completely dependent on ice to survive. With the climate change, this is bound to be interrupted and the population will decrease in the near future. From 2008, the polar bear has been among endangered species and many other creatures might soon follow suit if the climatic conditions continue with the current trend. There are other creatures that are troubled by the changing climate and sea turtles are among them. They are affected by the rising temperature and sea levels at the sea (CEICC et al, 24). Currently there are six sea turtles that have been named to be endangered species. They include loggerheads, green turtles, kemp’s ridleys, leatherbacks, hawksbills and olive ridleys. They have become endangered due to the erosion of their nesting beaches and invasion by humans and animals that prey on their eggs. Female sea turtles dig nests ashore that they use for laying eggs before going back to the sea. Erosion leads to the sand on the beach being washed away leaving no nesting place for the sea turtles. Collection of their eggs by humans and animals also endangers then since they do not get to hatch and produce more turtles. The reproduction of sea turtles is directly affected by climate change in three ways. Climate change causes sea levels to rise which washes away the sand on low level sand beaches. This reduces their nesting areas making it difficult for them to lay their eggs and reproduce. Secondly, climate change causes a rise in temperature. This affects the sand in that it becomes unfavorably hot for egg incubation. This in turn means that the eggs do not get to hatch. Thirdly, the high temperature affects the sex of the egg. The incubation temperature determines the egg’s sex and high temperature favors females. If this continues, at some point, no male sea turtles will be present and reproduction will stop (CEICC et al, 23). “If all the different species in an ecosystem shifted their spring behavior in exactly the same way, the impact of warming temperatures might be minimal (pg 21)”. Their feeding pattern is also affected by climate change. Their food which is mainly sea grass on sea beds and coral reefs is on the decline due to unfavorable conditions. The high temperature waters affect the growth of the plants making their survival difficult. Sea turtles are known to survive harsh conditions though they might require some time to adapt to a new way of living considering the human encroachment of their nesting grounds on coastal areas. The right whales are other ocean creatures affected by the climate change. Their growth gets to fifty-five feet long and weighs about seventy tons. The climatic change has led to their decrease in number to less than five hundred in the world. Human activity has been the main blame for this reduction in right whales. These activities include commercial fishing activities and human induced global warming. These affect the right whale’s main food ingredient that is the crustacean. It is their key food source and highly needed for their survival and reproduction. Lack of dense patches of this ingredient causes the female right whales not to bulk up for calving purposes; they are not able to carry a pregnancy to full term and are also not able to produce enough milk for their young ones. A low concentration of this zooplankton causes the whales not to feed. Changes in climate affect sea water temperature, water currents and winds which determine the zooplankton concentration patches. Converging currents or boundaries of different water densities form a good condition for high concentration of zooplankton that is favorable for the whales (CEICC et al, 24). “Range shifts acutely affect species in the Arctic and Antarctic (p18)”. The North Atlantic Oscillation favors the abundance of zooplankton when it is positive. This then means that the survival and reproduction of the right whales is possible. The decline in the number of right whales shows negative trend of NAO which global warming causes. The change in water temperatures makes it difficult for meeting currents to provide a conducive environment for high concentration of zooplankton. If the trend continues the reduction in number of right whales will also continue. Penguins are other creatures affected by climate change. Just like the others, the changing climate has affected their living conditions meaning they have to start adapting to new conditions. The penguins feed on krill and fish and the climate change has caused a reduction in these creatures. This means that they have to hunt for longer and over a wide range in order to get their meals. The result of this is not enough food for them to function normally. Part of functioning normally is being able to rest and feed well under favorable conditions (CEICC et al, 22). The increased temperatures have also affected them considering that they also do well on good sea ice. The high temperatures have caused most of the ice to melt leaving the water a bit too warm for the penguins. When their food decreases and their living space is interfered with, their health is interfered with more so their reproductive health. Some penguin species have had to move in search of favorable living conditions. This means that they have had to learn to incorporate new ways of surviving. Penguins have been there for many years and many of them have survived previous harsh conditions and adapted to new living standards. This is a quite encouraging because it means that they can never be extinct. They will always find a way of surviving the harsh conditions. However, it takes time for these creatures to finally know that their present home is no longer favorable and they have to search for safer places. After finding them, they have to adapt to their new place and the big question is will they be able to move and adapt as fast as the climate change occurs (CEICC et al, 23). Have seals also been affected by climate change and how? Various Arctic wildlife populations have had to change and adapt to changes in their living areas. The main affected factor in ocean life is the sea ice. Seals are known to use sea ice as their resting place in between their search for mussels and fish. The retreat of this ice has reduced the platform for seals to rest and be able to provide for their young ones. The warm climate has caused a decrease in the main ingredients of sea food chain. The interference if the sea food chain has had a great impact on seals since a break in the chain affects the end recipient. The changing climate has led to a decrease in the food produced and eaten by small creatures that are then eaten by the big ones like the seals and penguins. This change means that the seal might decrease to more alarming figures if the problem is not addressed in good time. It will be another statistic in addition to other endangered species mentioned above (CEICC et al, 24). Lobsters are also among the affected species of ocean life. Lobsters are cold blooded creatures and the temperature of the water they live in determines their body’s temperature. As we now know, climate change has caused global warming which has affected water bodies. Their temperature has increased to highs that are not conducive for most ocean creatures. When cold blooded animals are put under high temperature they use more energy for respiration. This in turn leaves them with very little energy to feed, store energy, to grow and respond to immunity when attacked. Lobsters move to higher altitudes when the water temperature gets too high. This is because high temperatures result in more energy being used for respiration and the need for more oxygen than is available. This leaves them very exhausted and unable to be productive and reproduce. This of course leads to them decreasing in number due to death, human activities and not reproducing. As much as they are able to relocate searching for cooler waters, it might get to a point where it will be impossible given the rate at which the water temperature is increasing due to climate change. The high temperature does not only cause breathing problems and depletion of energy. It also causes lobster shell disease which is also a threat to the species. Given the fact that the high temperature affects their immune system, it will be very difficult for them to fight the disease and survive. This also contributes to their deaths and lack of reproduction since when they are sick they have no energy to fend for themselves or get involved in any activities including reproduction (CEICC et al, 20). Fish are also affected by the climate change especially the high temperatures experienced in water. Like other ocean life, fish are more comfortable in cooler waters and the high temperatures affect their food, feeding patterns, reproductive patterns and survival efforts. This goes hand in hand with agricultural activities by humans. The climate change has caused weather patterns to change affecting agricultural activities. This has led to low production of food while populations are still growing. These populations need food to survive and so an alternative had to be found. “With seafood providing the primary source of protein for more than 1 billion people worldwide and demand for seafood growing exponentially, the future of the world’s fisheries is of critical importance (pg 23)”. Fishing has become a major activity in many parts of the world both for subsistence and economic activities. Fish has been used as supplementary food product for crop food for many years. However, the decline in crop food has increased the demand for fish leading to high levels of fishing and high levels of decrease in various species. This and the high temperatures of sea water may see the disappearance of fish if the trend does not change. An effort that is being made is to find out more ways for fish like the cod to survive in harsh conditions. Various measures are being taken to help ocean life just like they are being taken to help animals on ground. The major cause of their depletion is human activity mainly encroachment and being involved in activities that favor global warming. It would be sad to watch most of these species disappear due to causes that can be dealt with. Some of them are a great tourist attraction and bring revenue to their respective countries. It is highly important to protect them and ensure that they are under a conducive environment for good health and reproduction (CEICC et al,21). The effects of climate change have taken years to be seen and felt. It might also take the same number of years or even more to improve the current conditions for ocean life to have their normal habitat back. However, the efforts put towards reducing these effects will be productive when their numbers increase again and the number of endangered species reduced. It will not only be beneficial to these creatures but also for us as human beings in terms of food production and economic activities. Work Cited Committee on Ecological Impacts on Climate Change, Board on Life Sciences, Division on Earth and Life Studies & National Research Council. Ecological Impacts of Climate Change. NW, Washington: National Academies Press. 2008. Print. Read More