Global Warming and Marine Life: Are We Running Out of Time?
by
Miriah Burns
AP Language and Composition
Mr. Ian Taylor
March 28, 2012
Final Draft
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During the long and dark Arctic winters, the mother polar bear gave birth to her cubs. She
was waiting patiently for them to grow so they could go out and hunt with her. The get their food
from the ice packs, which is a cap of ice that covers the Earth’s northern pole. Polar bear’s food
swims along the cracks and edges of the ice pack. Since she had been waiting months on her
cubs to grow to size, she is now thinner and weak because of starvation. So she leaves her den
with the baby cubs following her. She has to swim out the ice pack to get her food. Even though
polar bears are good swimmers she can’t swim far because she is weak and haven’t eaten in
months. She dives in to go hunt, as well as the babies, but due to the raise in temperature there is
less ice in the oceans and she and her babies have to swim far. Her babies are unable to make it,
they drown just as she was about to drown. She finally got a hold to a seal and luckily there is a
piece of ice close by for her and her dinner to go. She gets on the ice with food, but she has no
more cubs. It’s just her. Polar bears give birth every two to three years so she waits patiently, if
she doesn’t die due to drowning or starvation. Sadly to say, stories like these are happening every
moment of every day. The oceans and marine life are being negatively impacted by the warming
of the atmosphere, global warming. The global warming negatively impacts marine life and the
oceans by raising the overall temperatures in the poles, changing the complete dynamics of the
food web, and destroying the ice habitat.
Raymond Smith wrote in his academic journal article, “Marine Ecosystems Sensitivity to
Climate Change” that “More than half of the Arctic region is comprised of ocean. Many Arctic
life forms rely on productivity from the sea, which is highly climate-dependent” (2). Animals
need ice and the cold weather. They are used to the amount of ice and snow that have already
been in the poles. They expect to be able to have hunting grounds, shelter, and weather condition
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that they need. Climate variations have profound influences on marine animals. Global warming
is making marine life habitat unstable. The rise in temperature is really affecting the oceans. The
poles stay cold because as snow and ice remains white, most of solar energy reaches them then is
reflecting back into space which let the poles remain so cold.
As the season are changing, snow and ice tend to form later in the autumn and melt
earlier in the spring due to the increase in air temperature. The darker land and water surface,
which absorbs more sun energy, are longer uncovered by snow and ice. The warmer surfaces
results in causes faster melting which accelerates the warming trends. This is changing how and
where the polar marine species lives. On Jim Lobe website article, Global Warming threatens
marine life, it states, “Global climate change is an additional stress on already stressed species
and ecosystems, and may be the 'straw that breaks the camel's back' for many types of marine
life," according to the 47-page report" (1). He later explains in his article that,
compiled by the
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Marine Conservation Biology Institute (MCBI)- warned
that whole species could be wiped out by warm waters" (1). Global warming is negatively
impacting the oceans and marine life. Evidence is shown to explain how entire marine species
could be wiped out in matter of less than a century.
The rapid and intense rise in temperature, both atmospheric and in the water is the
negative impact of global warming. To start off with, global warming negatively impacts polar
marine life and the oceans due to the rapid increase in temperature. Keith C Pilkey and Orrin H.
Pilkey discusses in their book, Global Climate Change, how global warming alters the average
temperature of both the water and atmosphere. “But since the mid-1940s, the average year round
temperature on the peninsula has gone up to 3 to 4 degrees F, and in the early winter it is
startling 7 to 9 degrees” (76). Antarctic is experiencing a heat wave. The average temperature
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has been increasing in all seasons in the Antarctic and the winter temperature is being impacted
as well. The increase in average temperature in all seasons due to global warming could really
harm marine life. Maine Life is use to the cool weather of the Antarctic global warming is
forcing them to adapt to something that they aren’t use to. The high temperatures is has been
occurring for the last 60 years and other information shows that it won’t stop anytime soon .In
the newsletter, “Meltdown: The Arctic and Global Warming”, the author focuses on how hard it
is for marine life to adapt to the change in temperature. “Ocean species will also have to adapt to
warmer temperatures; air temperatures over extensive land areas in the Arctic have increased by
up to five degrees Celsius during the 20th century” (2). Marine species have to learn to adapt to
temperature 5 degrees more than what they are used too. In the midst of trying to adapt to the
temperature marine species could face the endangered list and not be able to survive because
they won’t be able to adapt fast enough. Or in trying to adapting the marine species habitat could
change so much that it causes a decline in their population.
Not only global effect the rise in temperature in the atmosphere but it always affects the
temperature of the water, by increasing it. In finding an article titled, Global warming threatens
marine life, written by Jim Lobe an American journalist, explains how the burning of fossil fuels
results in the change in temperature in the poles. "Surface water temperature had risen by about
one degree Celsius over the past century and were expected to increase by up to another three
degrees in the next 100 years if emission-caused mainly by the burning of fossil fuels like oil and
gas- continued at current rates" (1). Global warming, the increase in the world average
temperature, will warm the waters. The water is expected to raise over 3 more degrees Celsius
over the next 100 years. The burning of fossil fuels causes the increase in CO2 emission, which
increases the world's average temperature, which warms the water. Marine life isn’t used to
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warm waters. They are used to cold temperature. It is expected that marine life wouldn’t adapt to
the increase in temperature fast enough and they will faced problems. In studies shown by Orrin
Plikey and Keith Plikey in their book, Global Climate Change, “Overall the average temperature
had risen by 1.7 degrees C (3.1 degrees F), a number that is typical of the rapidly warming high
latitudes" (15).The temperature and tropical zones are warming, slowly, but nonetheless they are
warming up. The world's average temperature is warming up slowly and eventually overtime it
would do great damage. Due to the great influence of burning fossil fuels, global warming is
causing the waters to become way warmer than what they supposed to be.
Consequently, due to the rise of temperature in the water it started to affect the physical
nature of the water. Julie M Roessig, in her academic journal Effects of global climate change on
marine life and estuarine fishes and fisheries, elaborates on how the rise in temperature changes
the water the physical state. “An increase of a few degrees in atmospheric temperature will not
only raise the temperature of the oceans, but also cause major hydrologic changes affecting the
physical and chemical properties of water” (252). Also proven in academic journal written by
Raymond Smith in Marine Ecosystem Sensitivity to Climate Change shows, “Rising air
temperatures affect the physical nature of our oceans. As air temperatures rise, water becomes
less dense and separates from a nutrient-filled cold layer below” (392). The raise in temperature
changes the chemical balance and physical properties of the water. Global warming is changing
the physical nature of the oceans, by making the water less dense and separating the nutrients in
the water. Global warming is changing the ocean's chemical balance and physical properties.
This is ocean acidification and warming of the water. The ocean warming up and losses its
chemical balance will disrupt all the of many organisms that live in the sea. Changing the
physical nature of the water is very dangerous because the water is home to many marine
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species. They are all being affected by it.
Global warming is impacting marine life very simple yet complex food web. In many
ways, global warming is replacing marine species in their normal habitat to other habitats.
Jessica Aldred wrote an article in the Guardian titled "Global warming changing balance of
marine life in polar seas” that expresses that in details how the change in temperature of both
water and atmosphere could change the food web in the poles. “This is an example of a general
trend we are observing where water is warming further north and making this region more
suitable for southerly species," Gradinger said.” (1). species in the north are more suitable for
animals in the south. Global warming is being changing the way animals live. The change in
habitat is changing the ecosystem. In the same article it states, “The team also found that smaller
species are replacing larger ones in some Arctic waters, a shift has profound implications further
up the food chain” (2). Smaller species in the Arctic waters is replacing the larger species which
affects the food chain. Global warming is changing the food chain. Negatively, the Arctic is
becoming less diverse and the animals need to start finding better ways to survive because the
food that they are used to accustom to is being changed due to the change in temperature and
habitat.
Consequently affecting the smaller polar marine life, the microscopic phytoplankton are
affected by the rise of temperature which can influence the whole marine food web since they are
at the bottom. “Rising marine temperature, according to the report, influence all kinds of oceans
conditions, including sea levels, critical to the survival of microscopic phytoplankton, the base of
the food web; and the circulation of the deep ocean between the poles and the tropics” (2). So the
impact that global warming on marine life isn’t singular, but it produces a lot of problems.
Marine life is at the verge of extinction because the rise in temperature is increasing too fast and
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the animals aren’t adapting to it fast enough because the survival of many sea life species is at a
very critical point. The new report, "Turning up the Heat: How Global Warming Threatens Life
in the Sea"-compiled by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Marine Conservation Biology
Institute (MCBI)-warned that whole species could be wiped out by warm waters" (1). Global
warming could possibly lead to the extinction of much sea life. There comes many negative
ascertains with global warming. Global warming messes with the whole food chain. Marine life
is not going to have a healthy and sustainable life if global warming won’t calm down. By
disturbing the bottom of the food chain, global warming is affecting the rest of the food chain
because it’s a chain reaction. If the top will not be able to get their food and the nutrient that they
need from the bottom because the bottom is at a shortage or loss, then the top will suffer greatly.
Of course, global warming is expected to affect the food chain due to lack of sea ice, just
as microscopic plankton are affected so is algae. Jessica Aldred in her periodical article, "Global
warming changing balance of marine life in polar seas", heavily explains how global warming is
changing the way animals living in the poles. “By 2050 the arctic oceans may be ice free, we will
lose these animals and that will have implications further up the food chain" (2). In less than 4
decades, it is expected that Arctic Ocean will be ice free and marine life would effect by it.
Global warming is negatively being affected the poles because studies shows that we is losing
animals that depend on ice to survive. The raise in temperature causes problems for animals at
the bottom of the food chain which will soon affect the top of the food chain. She goes on to
further explain how the change in environment impacts the bottom of the food chain. She states,
"A change in temperature of just a few degrees will see the loss of sea ice cover and with it the
sea ice algae, small animals and crustaceans which depend on it” (2). The loss of sea ice is
massive and could change even if the temperatures changes in just a few degrees. Small animals
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are being affected by it because they depend on sea ice. The ocean is experiencing a major
change due to the decline in sea ice algae and smaller animals. Algae are a producer (which is
something that makes food for other animals through photosynthesis). Algae are too many
consumers in the oceans because they are at the bottom of the food chain, which affect many
marine species. Fewer algae is a major problem because there is less food for the plenty of
animals in the ocean. Global warming causes the harming and killing of the algae.
Global warming causes a horrible loss of habitat for marine species. The loss-shortened
ice season causes a major loss in sea ice and glaciers. Oscar Schofield wonderfully wrote, “How
Do Polar Marine Ecosystems Respond to Rapid Climate Change” about how global warming is
affecting marine species in WAP Antarctic Peninsula. Eighty seven percent of the WAP glaciers
are in retreat, the ice season has shortened by nearly 90 days, and perennial sea ice is no longer a
feature of this environment” (25). The West Antarctic Peninsula environment only has 87% of
old glaciers ice season shortened and sea ice is no longer expected to be seen. This quote point
out three problems in WAP due to the warming of the atmosphere. Global warming is negatively
impacting the ice. It’s beyond crazy how sea ice is no longer expected to be part of the
environment. This negatively impacts marine life as well and not just the environment. Oscar
Schofield in his academic journal article, "How Do Polar Marine Ecosystems Respond to Rapid
Climate Change?” goes on further to say that the disappearance of ice/glaciers is negatively
impacted the poles overall. “Ocean warming has been implicated as a major drive for this DE
glaciation.” (25). The uncovering of glaciated land because melting of the glaciers is believed to
be cause by global warming. New land is starting to be noticed because of the melting of
glaciers. The warm ocean is causing the glaciers to melt. This negatively impacts the
environment because WAP isn’t used to land, the environment and wildlife want and NEED ice
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and glaciers.
As a result of the shortened ice season and global warming, glaciers don’t return in full
bloom and starts to effect the polar bears. Taken from the book, Global Climate Change, written
by Keith C. Pilkey and Orrin H. Pilkey, they go in depth about how global warming affects
glaciers and sea ice. “However, the return of the glacier in full bloom may well have been
delayed by warming of the atmosphere due to greenhouse gases" (69).Glaciers may not return in
full bloom because the warming of the atmosphere. "The bears spend most of their lives on the
ice and depend on it for capturing ringed seals as the seals surface at breathing holes. Five of
nineteen polar bears subspecies are said to be in the decline" (80).Glaciers are supposed to go
through this melting and refreezing seasons, but now since global warming is warming our
atmosphere too quickly and several the cycle is being disturb. Glaciers aren’t refreezing as
quickly as they are melting. Which ultimately affects polar bears because their habitat isn’t being
restores and it’s consistently declining. The global warming indirectly is harming our species of
polar bears because it is destroying their habitats and hunting grounds. In the same article Oscar
wrote, “Declines in the polar species have been related to decreasing sea ice cover and its
possible effects on prey availably” (32). Due to the decrease in the sea ice, marine species will
greatly suffer. Without their habitat it’s hard for them to survive that’s why the number of polar
species have been at a decline. Global warming has caused it to be a loss of sea ice which effects
how the prey attaches their prey.
Not only are polar bears effected by global warming and the uncovering of glaciate land,
but other marine wildlife species are starting to suffer from it. As studied in Plilkey book, Global
Climate Changes, this major loss of ice and glaciers is causing a rough time for marine life.
"Overall the Arctic has warmed in recent decades, even though temperatures dropped
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dramatically in the early 1960s after having risen during the 1930s and 1940s" (15). Arctic
weather has got warming in recent decades. The temperature has got worse before they have
gotten better. Global warming overall is warming the arctic which isn’t a good thing because it is
suppose to stay cold in the arctic. In the same book, it states, "Loss of Arctic Ocean sea ice is
causing problems for ivory gulls, the Pacific walrus, seals, the narwhal whale, and polar bears,
each for different reasons" (80). Marine life is being negatively being affected by the loss of
Arctic ice. Global Warming caused the loss of Arctic ice. Without the Arctic ice many marine
life, that once depended on that ice for habitat or for other reasons are greatly being impacted by
it. Global warming is negatively changing the lives of marine life by destroying their habitats
Unlike the many causes of global warming, some studies show that global warming is
just a natural process that the world goes through consistently. First off, global warming isn’t
negatively impacting the poles because the Earth has a history of warming and cooling itself up.
Micheal Oppenhiemer explores the possibility that global warming isn’t occurring in his film,
"Global Warming's Effects on Plants and Animal Life”. “The earth has a history of warming and
cooling dramatically in just decades or even years as environmental factors amplify each other”
(20). Earth has gone through this cycle of warming and cooling. The trend of global warming has
seen before. The Earth continues to cool and warms itself. So we shouldn’t really worry about
the consequences of it because the Earth several times before but it cooled back up. The Ocean
Conversancy in their article, “Meltdown: The Arctic and Global Warming,” explores all views
on how global warming affects the Arctic. The atmosphere temperature in the Arctic has stayed
the same overall. "They bulk of the continent has only warmed a degree or so in the same time"
(76). Even though the Antarctic is warming faster than the rest of the world, the overall continent
is still the same. To see the damage that could be done in the Antarctic may take a long time
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because even though the warming is happening, but the overall continent temperature is still
fairly the same. Only parts of the continent are changing at faster rates than others. Change will
slowly come to the poles because the rate of warming is going slow. But on the contrary, even
though the Earth’s atmosphere has of history of warming and cooling, we haven’t seen this level
of warming thus far. In the newsletter, How Do Polar Marine Ecosystems Respond to Rapid
Climate Change, written by, Oscar Schofield, he elaborately explains how the climate is
continues increasing and show no sign of slowing down. "Mid-winter surface atmosphere have
increased by 6 degrees C (more than five times the global average) in the past 50 years" (20).
Winters in the west Antarctic is negatively impacting the WAP (West Antarctic Peninsula) are
warmer 6 degrees C more than 50 years ago. The warming atmosphere is negatively impacting
the WAP because the temperature increase is dangerous for Antarctic. The poles will survive
because global warming doesn’t show any signs of reversing any time soon, and even if it does,
the damage done already is too great to be reverse.
Generally inconsistence and the history of the Earth are warming and cooling would be
enough, but the water goes through the same process as the Earth does. In the book, Global
Climate Change, written by, Keith C. Pilkey and Orrin H. Pilkey, brilliantly wrote about how the
water is impacting about global warming. "Perhaps the water regularly warms and cool and the
ice regularly thins and thickens as atmospheric pressures and water currents oscillate” (19). The
water is just going through a cycle that it normally goes through with warming and cooling.
Global warming has nothing to do with the normal cycle of warming and cooling. Nature has its
own course and we can’t blame it on global warming. While that may be true, it is proven that
the poles are getting way warmer than they ever have. Plikey’s also states, "Unlike its shrinking
Artic counterpart, Antarctic winter floating sea ice has actually increased in area by 10% since
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1980, a fact sometimes cited as an indication that the Earth is not warming but rather cooling"
(78). Antarctic sea ice is shrinking but increasing by at least 10% so it is to believe that the earth
is cooling. Global warming isn’t occurring because the poles are showing signs of cooling.
Global warming doesn’t negatively impact the poles because we are seeing the opposite of
warming. Stated in the same book, “Petit reports that while the Antarctic is still one of the
coldest places in the world, it is warming more rapidly than the rest of the planet” (76).
Antarctic is warming more quickly than other parts of our world, but yet it’s still the coldest.
How could this be happening? Antarctic is warming too fast and it’s supposed to be cold and not
warm. Global warming (the average increase in world's temperature) is causing even the coldest
place to warm up.
Polar marine life isn’t suffering from global warming because despite their disappearance
of habitat, they still continue to learn how to adapt to new habitats fast. To being with, many
marine species such as Adelie penguin won’t suffer from global warming because the learn to
adapt quickly to other environments. “Adelies are flourishing at the Southern end of their range
in the Ross sea” (81). Adelie move their location to where they can survive. Adelie normal
habitat got destroyed by global warming so they move to another location in which they can
survive. Global warming doesn’t impact marine life in the pole because they can easily adapt to
another location. Besides animals being able to adapt to other environments, animals are being
drawn to the poles as well. The Guardian has an article titled, Global warming changing balance
of marine life in polar seas written by Jessica Aldred, which expresses both sides to how global
warming affects the poles and marine life. “They say an increasing number of these species are
extending their range towards the poles as previously cold waters between Norway and the North
Pole become warmer and more hospitable” (1). Animals are moving towards the southern poles
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because up North the water is getting warm. Global warming isn’t affecting the poles because
it’s bringing more species towards the poles. But the variety of species coming could possibly
affect the food chain already in the poles. It could affect them positively or negatively. At the
same time, polar marine life need a stable environment to survive and with all the moving and
inconsistence it can heavily impacts their populations. Also found in the Guardian, “It is similar
to the Arctic – animals adapted to cold water environments have to head to the poles to keep to
colder climes as northern waters warm," said Dr Julian Gutt of the CAML” (2). Animals have to
be forced to move and adapt to another location because their previous/currently habitat isn’t
cold enough anymore. Global warming is forcing animals to adapt to another location and in the
process of adapting to another location the animals may not survive. Depending on how far they
have to travel and what they need to survive they may not survive.
In my opinion, there is not any solution to helping polar marine life, but one and that’s by
helping their habitat. If we help their environment then we help them not become depleted. The
Clean Air Act, originally passed in 1973 and amended in 1990, is a United States federal law
designed to protect human health and the environment from the effects of air pollution. Under
the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to regulate emission
of pollutants that "endanger public health and welfare." State and local governments also monitor
and enforce Clean Air Act regulations, with oversight by the EPA. Manufacturing solar panels
and wind turbines and retrofitting homes will get American workers back on their feet and get
our economy rolling again. Studies show that investing in clean energy technologies would
produce more jobs than similar investments in oil and gas – and these jobs can be created
without increasing the federal debt. Investments in clean energy will also help end America's oil
addiction and usher in a new, secure energy future. We can also help by lowering our carbon
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footprint. If we, as individuals, lower our carbon footprint then us - as a city, as a state, as a
nation and as the world- could overall lower our carbon footprint. This would heavily contribute
to fewer greenhouses gases, and possibly put the Earth back into its normal ranger of warming
and cooling and not exaggerate it. In trying to reduce the amount of emission in the atmosphere
and trying to reverse global warming I believe this would help polar marine life more than
anything because we need to change the root of the problem before we could fix anything else.
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Works Cited
Aldred, Jessica. "Global warming changing balance of marine life in polar seas." The Guardian
15 Feb. 2009: n. pag. Print.
Carrington, Damian. "Melting Artic ice releasing banned toxins, warn scientists." The Guardian
24 July 2011: n. pag. Print
Lobe, Jim. "Global warming threatens marine life." Third World Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 8
Dec.2011. <http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/
marine-cn.htm>
"Meltdown: The Arctic and Global Warming." Ocean Conservancy June 2008: n. pag. Print.
Oppenhiemer, Micheal, Pro. "Global Warming's Effects On Plants and Animal Life." Global
Warming. 10 June 2005. Videojug. Web. Transcript. 14 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.videojug.com/interview/ global-warmings-effects-on-plant-and-animallife>.
Pilkey, Keith C., and Orrin H. Pilkey. Global Climate Change. Illus. Mary Edna Fraser. Durham:
Duke University Press, 2011. Print.
Roessig, Julie M, et al. "Effects of global climate change on marine life and estuarine fishes and
fisheries." Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries
(Nov. 2004): 251-275. SpringerLink.
Web. 13 Jan. 2012.
<http://www.springerlink.com/content/v25138090n302030/fulltext.pdf>.
Schofield, Oscar, et al. "How Do Polar Marine Ecosytems Respond to Rapid Climate Change?"
Science: n. pag. Print. Smith, Raymond C, et al. "Marine Ecosystem Sensivitiy to Climate
Change." BioScience 49.5 (1999): 393-404. Print.