Contents Page
• Page 1: Front Cover
Page 2: Contents page
Page 3: Introduction
Page 4: Ecosystems and Habitats affected
Page 5: Regions affected by climate change
Page 6: Regions affected by climate change
Page 7-11: The occurrence of these changes
Page 12-18: The processes and reasons of the effects
to ecosystems and habitats
Page 19-23: Positive and Negative Impacts
Page 24: Evaluation and predictions of the problems
Page 25-29: Bibliography
Introduction
• Climate change and the effects of global warming is now been
established as the cause of global impacts like on the weather,
agriculture, coastal areas, human health but without the doubt the
ecosystems and habitats of the world have been affected the most.
Scientists have found out during the beginning of the 1980's that if
there wasn't any solutions to the effects of climate change, then in
the future it would be more prevalent. Now in 2010, there is an
increase of rising sea temperatures, the melting of the land based
ice masses and the change in movement and distributions of plant
and animal species. Most of the world fragile ecosystems like the
ocean, coral reefs, tundras and ice shelfs and endangered species
are all at risk and the organisms that inhabit them are also at risk
Ecosystems/Habitats affected
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The Great Barrier Reef, Australia – The increase of sea
temperatures in the Great Barrier Reef have caused the symbiotic
relationship between the coral and the protozoan zooxanthellae
to fall apart thus causing the coral to lose its colour.
The Tundra, Siberia - Thawing out of permafrost – The thawing of
permafrost on the tundra regions of Siberia and the countries
along the Tundra Belt have caused the thawing of frozen lakes
and rivers and any form of infrastructure on the permafrost will
lose it footing and collapsed and the release of methane into the
atmosphere.
Ice Shelfs, Arctic and Antarctic - melting of ice shelf – The
increased atmospheric temperatures over the Antarctic region
have caused the ice shelfs to crack and melt leaving organisms to
migrate to harder surfaces
Pine Beetles infestation – Migration – The change in the habitat
of the mountain pine beetles have forced them to move to a
more ideal habitat causing destruction over British Columbia and
the state of Colorado.
Ocean Acidification – The Ocean’s uptake of manmade carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere have caused the seas to have a
change in the pH levels and thus affecting aquatic calcifying
organisms and all organisms
Regions Affected By Coral Bleaching
Regions affected by coral bleaching
Region affected by
thawing of its tundra
Region affected by the melting of
the polar ice
Regions affected by ocean
acidification
Regions affected by Mountain Pine Beetles
infestation
Regions affected by change from
climate change
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Coral Bleaching - Major coral reef regions are affected by coral bleaching like
in the Caribbean or western Atlantic, eastern Pacific, central and western
Pacific, Indian Ocean, Arabian Gulf and Red Sea. The continent Asia, Europe,
Africa and the Americas on the south eastern regions are most affected with
the exception of the north eastern region of Australia , the Maldives off the
south coast of Europe and the central islands of the Pacific.
Thawing of the permafrost- Thawing of permafrost occurs in the tundra biome
which are situated on the north most regions of the continents North America,
Europe and Asia along the taiga belt.
Melting of Arctic polar ice – The only region affected by this is in the Arctic
and its surrounding water
Mountain Pine Beetle infestation - Huge parts of British Columbia and states
like Colorado
Ocean acidification - Throughout the world but severely affected areas occurs
on the central regions of earth and then it spreads out to the higher latitudes
to the polar ends of the Arctic and Antarctic
The occurrence of these changes
•
Coral Bleaching
The first documented occurrence of effects
of climate change occurred during the
1860’s but the mass amount of coral
bleaching has occurred recently in 1998,
2002 and 2006 at the Great Barrier Reef.
The 1860’s was during the industrial
revolution, a time of change in agriculture,
manufacturing, mining, transport and
technology. These changes have caused a
large amount of greenhouse gases into the
atmosphere beginning a change reaction
of problems associated with greenhouse
gases leading to climate change w know
today. These high levels of greenhouse
gases cause the increased heating and the
effects of coral bleaching
• Melting of the Arctic
polar ice
• The first occurrence
in change of Arctic
ice pattern of
melting and thawing
during its seasons
was during the
1970’s where
• Pine Beetle
Infestation
• The first
occurrence of pine
beetles infestating
its new
environment the
British Columbia
during the 1980’s.
• Ocean acidification
• The first occurrence
of ocean
acidification has
occurred during the
1900
• Thawing of the
tundra
• The first occurrence
of thawing of the
permafrost and its
release of methane
into the atmosphere
occurred during the
1980’s
The processes and reasons of the
effects to ecosystems and habitats
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Coral Bleaching
The cause of coral bleaching is due to the rising average temperatures of the sea. Corals are made up of organisms
called polys that secrete calcium carbonate which makes the skeleton of the coral. In these coral live these
pigmented protozoan called zooxanthellae which gives the coral its colour and it supplies the coral with energy
because the zooxanthellae creates energy glucose form photosynthesis. For the help of giving the coral colour and
energy, the zooxanthellae has a place to live in and to be sheltered from predators. Rising sea temperatures have
unsettled this mutualistic symbiotic relationship resulting in the whitening or bleaching of the coral.
The zooxanthellae have a low threshold or niche towards change in temperature of its external environment.
Through the changing sea temperatures, this organism isn't able to cope with this change and it simply dies or it
has to move to more suitable areas. Without the zooxanthellae supplying the coral with colour and energy, the
coral starts to loss its colour, and then the bleaching occurs with the rate depending on the size of the coral. The
skeleton of the coral is exposed and sometime later it dies.
Ocean Acidification
The oceans have long been a great help against the rising concentration of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
With even more emissions of these greenhouse gases, the ocean is absorbing even more or being precipitated into
the ocean which is causing problems. Man made carbon pollutions have started this trend affecting the carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere the process of carbon dioxide being dissolved into the seas has become carbonic acid.
The carbonic acid has a great effect on calcifying organisms or simply aquatic animals with shells or an exoskeleton
like coral reefs and crustaceans causing the effect of calcification.
Thawing of the permafrost
Permafrost or permanently frozen subsoil has been thawing out due to climate change but more specific the rising
atmospheric temperatures global warming. The thawed permafrost of the tundra an environment of low growing
plants and cold temperatures and under frozen lakes that have thawed leaving on the bed vegetation that
organisms ate which produced and released pockets of methane gas, a greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. The
other problem is the kind of structures that support themselves on top of permafrost like roads and houses. If
there is a significant amount of thawing under these structures, it would cause sinkholes then the structures would
eventually collapsed or be in the process of being unstable and unusable.
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Melting of Arctic polar ice
The polar ice in the Arctic like ice sheets, icebergs and thick ice have either cracked, chipped off
and/or starting to melt. The warmer conditions have caused this polar ice to melt thus causing a
rise in the sea levels. Other problems associating with it is the release of methane, that of similarity
to permafrost into the environment, the shrinking of ice and icebergs and the retreating of glaciers.
With ice melting away, the organisms that call this place home are affected because melting ice is
fresh water and if that is mixed with the sea water then certain organisms can be affected. Also
organisms that live in fresh water are also affected by the contamination of salt water. With more
ice being melted, there is less reflection of heat from the sun accelerating the melting process even
faster.
Mountain Pine Beetle Infestation
Mountain pine beetles live in cold climate of the forest of Northern America from Mexico to central
British Columbia which suits them but the ever increasing atmospheric temperatures have cause
these insects to migrate somewhere more suitable for them to live, find food and reproduce. The
new areas that they have inhabited are being under sieged by them. These bugs bore into the trees
of spruce in which they live in and lay their eggs. The tree’s natural defence is to secrete its own
resin but the beetles carry the blue strain fungi and if the fungi is starting to grow on the bore hole
then it stops the resin response The tree’s phloem layer and vascular tissue are damaged thus
stopping the flow of nutrients and water in the tree. Older trees start to die first then the living
trees are succumbed and the colours of the tree become red.
Protozoan
zooxanthellae
Arctic or
Antarcti
c ice
Positives and negative impacts
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Coral Bleaching: Great Barrier Reef
Negative effects
Physical environment
·
without the energy from the zooxanthellae to be supplied to the coral, the coral's skeleton will be exposed and die
·
The decrease in population of aquatic animals such as the parrotfish who feeds on the coral and Xmas tree worms
which bores into the coral for shelter.
·
there would be an outbreak of the crown-of-thorns population over the reef that world destroy the coral and the
inhabitants of the reef
Human environment
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A decrease in the amount of tourists visiting the reef from 1.6 million of national and international tourists
·
The lack of fish in and around of the reef will affect the fishing industry
·
There will be an impact on the economy of Australia due to less exportation of fish and seafood and tourism
Positive effects
Physical environment
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The increased sea temperatures along the coast of Australia will give a good environment for coral to flourish
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The fish that lived on the great barrier reef will migrate to these new areas and repopulate
Human environment
·
the migration of different of species of fish that have distributed along the coast will impact the fishing industry there
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Tourism in these areas will increase
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These 2 main factors will increase the economy
• Thawing of the permafrost: Siberia
Negative impacts
Physical Environment
• ·
Thawing of the permafrost releases pockets of methane from the
ground contributing to the effects of global warming
• Human environment
• ·
Buildings that are supported on top of permafrosts will experience
weakness in them and will lead to damage and even destructions towards
them
• ·
Infrastructures like roads that are made on top the permafrost will
crack, buckle or even split apart, making the roads unusable
• ·
Roads that are needed for exportation and importation or for
travelling will be unusable causing jams
• Positive Impacts
Physical impact
• Human environment
• ·
The return of nutrients in the soil will be a good environment for
plants to grow
• ·
The growth in plants will lure the native species back to the area
again
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Ice Melting: Arctic
Negative Impacts
Physical environment
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There is a reduction in the sea ice and its thickness and age of it
A change in the pattern of refreezing and thawing
Less ice means less reflection of the sun rays causing more rapid melting
·
Polar bears who need compact ice to walk like ice sheets on are cracked and melting leaving polar bears to swim to new areas
that is suitable for them
Without polar bears that are apex predators to keep the population of its prey down, they are at risk
·
Arctic animals such as fish, whales, seals, whales, walruses feeding and migration patterns have changed
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Arctic freshwater lakes are washed into the sea
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The Polar ice caps are melting leaving to the increase of sea levels
·
The thawing of permafrost will release methane into the atmosphere contributing to the effects of climate change
Fish and organisms that inhabit the Arctic region are affected due to the change in water temperatures and the change in the
salinity of the water
Thus affecting the biodiversity and ecology of the Arctic region
The ice been separated from the Arctic ice can affect the Thermohaline system and other ocean circulations
Old ice or thick ice are disappearing leaving more young ice or thin ice
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Over time, the ice will get thinner and thinner until all of the ice is just a thin layer
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Human environment
The native people of the Arctic region will have to migrate to new areas of higher land because of the rise in sea levels
Fishing trawlers that fish in the Arctic Ocean would have lesser chance of catching fish
Positive Impacts
Physical environment
Human environment
Tourists would be able to visit the Arctic and Antarctic more often due to the decrease in temperatures
•
Mountain Pine Beetle Infestation: Colorado
Negative Impacts
Physical environment
They bore into the trees of spruce where it harms the tree
The mountain pine beetles carry blue strain fungi stopping the secretion of resin the tree uses to heal scars and damage to the tree.
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The spruce trees that are situated in Colorado and Wyoming are most affected because its environment is suitable for the pine beetles.
They dying of these trees for it not able to heal itself has cause a great release of carbon dioxide
that were trapped in the tree are released into the atmosphere contributing to the warming of the
Earth
Human environment
The dying of these can release debris of branches or the total collapse of the tree causing damage towards housed or other structures
and even human
Spruce is used to make paper, instruments, furniture, for building, using the resin to make pitch and most things that are made of
wood. If the trees are been destroyed by these beetles, then there would be less production of things that are made of spruce
If they destroy enough of these trees then the prices for these objects would increase
The prices being too high means less people would buy it leading to the companies that use or distribute spruce would go out of
business
Jobs would be lost
The economy of the areas affected would be affected
Positive Impacts
Physical environment
Human environment
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Ocean acidification
Negative impacts
Physical environment
Accelerates the problem for coral bleaching
Dissolves the calcium carbonate in organisms such as coral and calcifying aquatic animals
Organisms with a low tolerance towards pH levels would start to die
The predators that up the food chain will be affected most due to the decrease in animals to eat
suck as crustaceans and molluscs.
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Human environment
If the oceans get to acidic then people that go to beaches can’t swim in the water
Tourists’ hotspots that are near water where people swim in will be unable to swim in and the
effects of coral bleaching will be increase due to ocean acidification
The amount of tourists coming to these areas would decrease leading to loss of money
The economy of these areas will be affected
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Positive impact
Physical environment
Human environment
Conclusion
The changes in the Great Barrier Reef, the
spruce forest of British Columbia, The melting of
polar ice, the lowering of pH levels in the sea
and the thawing of the permafrost in Siberia are
occurring right now and the effects on the
physical and human environment and without any
drastic changes to human activities and them
emitting onto the environment, then it would be
more severe in the future
Evaluation and predictions of the
problems
• The seriousness of the problems for the
physical and human environment in the long
run is severe because the effects of climate
change on ecosystems and habitats are only
minor right now. If these trends continue into
the future, then there would damage so
severe that it would be irreversible and the
world would go back into its primeval state.
Bibliography
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Coral Bleaching
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/aboutcc/problems/impacts/species/
http://www.marinebiology.org/coralbleaching.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_bleaching
Arctic ice melting
http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/qthinice.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_shrinkage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_methane_release
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/qthinice.asp
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Ocean acidification
http://nakedmaninthetree.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/our-oceans/oceanacid/
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/12/18569645.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_acidification
Migration of pine beetles
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/15/beetle-infestation-get-muchworse/
http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/245
http://www.pc.gc.ca/apprendre-learn/prof/sub/mpb-ddp/page3_e.asp
http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/quarantine/pests-diseases/forests-timber/pine-beetle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_pine_beetle
• Thawing of the tundra
• http://www.livescience.com/environment/080327-smallpoxcorpses.html
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v443/n7107/abs/nature
05040.html
• http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/ClimateChange/effects/effe
cts.htm
http://www.planetextinction.com/planet_extinction_permafrost.
htm
http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/1997/97GL00071.shtml
• http://arcticstudies.pbworks.com/Tundra
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Map
Coral bleaching
http://www.unep-wcmc.org/climate/history.aspx
Arctic ice melting
http://www.thewe.cc/weplanet/news/water/dramatic_melt_in_arctic_icecape.ht
m
http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/qthinice.asp
Ocean acidification
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_acidification
Pine beetle infestation
http://csfs.colostate.edu/pages/mountain-pine-beetle.html
Thawing of the tundra
http://arcticstudies.pbworks.com/Tundra
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Pictures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_bleaching
http://www.komonews.com/weather/blog/27546634.html
http://getenergysmartnow.com/2009/04/20/daily-kos-forget-about-cow-farts-what-aboutearth-burps/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=ocean-acidification-hits-great-barrier-reef
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BarkBeetleDamageBC.jpg
Statistics
http://www.reef.edu.au/ohg/res-pic/HG%20papers/Hoegh-Guldberg%201999.pdf
http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/showarticle.asp?id=18
http://www.skepticalscience.com/Arctic-sea-ice-melt-natural-or-man-made.html
http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/N_stddev_timeseries.png
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
http://infestation.film.bigbestmovie.com/montanasthirtyyearmountainpinebeetleinfestation/
http://politicalclimate.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/ocean-acidification-climate-billskirmishes-pt-2/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7827106.stm