...The Cause and Effects of Global Warming on the Polar Bear Most experts agree that global warming does exist and it is having a devastating effect on the Earth’s climate. A major concern of global warming is the melting of the polar ice caps. Research suggests that global warming is going to greatly impact the survival of the polar bear. In southern portions of their range, like Hudson Bay, Canada, there is no sea ice during the summer, and the polar bears must live on land until the Bay freezes in the fall, when they can once again hunt on the ice. While they are on land during the summer, the polar bears eat very little or sometimes nothing. In just 20 years the ice-free period in Hudson Bay has increased by an average of 20 days, thus cutting the polar bears' seal hunting season by nearly three weeks. Because the ice is freezing later in the fall, and melting earlier in the spring the bears have a much shorter timeframe in which to hunt during the critical season when seal pups are born. As a result, average bear weight has dropped by 15 percent, causing reproduction rates to decline. The Hudson Bay population is down more than 20 percent. Despite the fact that polar bears are good swimmers there has been an alarming increase of polar bears drowning. Although they are well adapted to water, and can swim hundreds of miles to reach solid land, the distance to reach that land is increasing dramatically as the Arctic ice disappears. It is believed that fewer and smaller ice floes...
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...environmental article told from the perspective of a polar bear. Aimed towards a specific audience, this passage is intended for an ignorant population of people who are hurting the environment. Attempting to provoke guilt by giving the perspective of a polar bear on becoming extinct, so that the readers will be inspired to change their ways that have injured the global ecosystem is the purpose of the article. The overall tone of the passage is sympathetic, depressing, judgmental, angry, and upset. To begin, the writer integrates multiple anaphora and repetition to help enhance the article and to help enforce her ideas and to emphasize these beliefs. In the last paragraph, the polar bear repeats “you” multiple times. The employment of anaphora puts the blame of the polar bears dying, and the importance of saving the environment, on the reader. By doing this, the author relates back to her purpose of arousing a sensation of shame. As for repetition, throughout the passage, the author employs a particular expression...
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...SPECIES- Ursus Maritimus, Polar Bear, lord of the Arctic. Lives in an area of five million square miles of snow and ice. From Siberia to Alaska and across Canada, Greenland and the Islands north of Norway, he is the master of all living things except man. It lives in the brutal cold, ice, and snow. The temperature can plunge down frequently to -40 degrees and sometimes even lower but that does not bother the polar bear because of its color-less skin and layer of insulation fat. Its range extending around the northern polar region. Necessities of Life-The polar bear eats mostly seals which he has to hunt. His trick is to wait by a breathing in the ice and when a seal comes up by that breathing hole, he grabs it so fast it knocks it unconscious and then he eats it. Other pray is a walrus calf or a musk ox stuck in snow, birds, eggs, fish, and dead whales. And sometimes in the summer it eats berries and grass. The polar bear has no water to drink so it only eats the skin and blubber, avoiding the meat. So by eating the blubber and leaving the meat the male bear is helping keep his body in balance with the surrounding environment. The bear would usually stay in a den or bury it self in the snow to avoid the suns ultra violent rays. Usually the pregnant female polar bear stays in the den.Food Chain-The polar bear finds its way on the top of its food chain. No predator on earth approaches the bear in size. The polar bear towers over everything else in his food chain. The...
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...Polar Bears: WWF Polar bears are classified as marine animals because they spend most of their life on the ice from the Arctic Ocean. Their bodies are structured with layers of fat along with water resistant fur to stay warm in such cold, wet conditions. They spend about 50% of their time hunting for seals, which most of their diet consists of. Recently, the polar bear population has significantly declined due to climate change. Because of oil spills, the warming of the atmosphere and illegal hunting of the species, polar bears are now listed as an endangered species. The Worldwide Wildlife Fund is making efforts to increase polar bear population by decreasing human pollution, preventing conflict between humans and polar bears, and...
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...Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus) are marine mammals that spend most of their time foraging for other marine mammals at sea or on ice. It is the behavior of U. maritimus that classifies them as marine mammals, however their DNA classifies them under Ursidae along with the brown bear (Ursus arctos) and black bear (Ursus americanus). Bruce et al. (1989) suggested that these bears share 4 physiological stages including hibernation, walking hibernation, normal activity, and hyperphagia, however the polar bear is the only sister species that only females are known to hibernate. Polar bears are found only in the Arctic and feed mainly on seals and face many problems with global warming. Brown and black bears are known to have a wider habitat range, as they are land dwellers and do not need an open ocean near by as a food source. The presence of hibernation-induction trigger (HIT) found in all three species is another indicator of the sister relationship and possibility of polar bears hibernating. Studies have shown that pregnant polar bears show advanced bone formation during hibernation. Polar bears and their habitat conservation can be important to society by studying this advancement in bone formation for future health...
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...In the last five hundred and forty million years, the Earth has been the host to five mass extinctions (AccessScience Editors, 2014). Mass extinctions are defined as a global event during which at least fifty percent of all species die out in a geological period of time that is too short to allow adaptation (Mass Extinction, n.d.). It is important to note that species are always going extinct, just at a much slower rate than that of a mass extinction. This slow but constant extinction is known as background extinction, and is a normal part of the Earth’s cycle which has much less of an effect on biodiversity (Kohrs, 2018). Biodiversity is an invaluable resource to humans, which makes the recent changes in the Earth system alarming because many...
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...these species eventually go extinct. There are different variations of severity of the list. Polar bears are on the endangered species list due to global warming. Panthers are on the list due to humans hunting and killing them. Polar bears and panthers are endangered species. Habitat Polar bears may be found, “in the U.S.(Alaska), Norway, Canada, Russia, and Greenland on numerous frozen seas and bays” (Alongi 1). They can be found all across the arctic. They spend a majority of their lives on water or frozen sea ice caps. The polar bears rarely touch solid ground in the short arctic summer. The polar bears depend on the sea ice to hunt and store energy for the summer, but the ice is melting earlier and freezing later. Their habitat is not the same as it used to be. Panthers live in forests, swamps, and prairies, and they are territorial animals who travel hundreds of miles within home range. “Destruction, degradation and fragmentation of habitat are the greatest threats to panther survival” (Threats to Florida Panthers 1). Panthers prefer warm climates over cold climates. More panthers are being lost every year due to humans hunting them, global warming, and pollution. The panthers’ status will continue to go down unless we stop killing them and...
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...meaning of this relates to the study of nature through scientific research and data. This is a part of science that relates to the status of earths biodiversities and the protection of ecosystems, species, and habitats. With protection being a key word that relates to keeping species from extinction. A human interaction that is put in place to help solve issues that arise in a scientific value of species and nature. Biodiversity is the number of species in a certain region, habitat, ecosystem, that includes plant life also. The overall data of organisms that are still within our regional ecosystems. A species it a group organism that thrives and lives in an ecosystem. Threaten species is a group of organisms that is a step below endangered, a species that is close to endangered. Such as the polar bears, as the global warming issue has implemented reasons to believe as part of the cause of this species for being on the threatened list (Jaymi Heimbuch, 2011). Judges have passed a provision to keep these animals on this list to see if humans can reduce and turn around the global warming affect in the ecosystem that polar bears reside. Endangered species are ones that are on the brink of extinction. The marine sea turtles have been on endangered species list due to the years it takes many of the new born turtles to mature. Many die off in the first year of life. Due to the food chain and human interaction, from fishing nets to eating of the eggs before they are hatched and nest...
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...also have a list that includes certain seals, sea otters, and polar bears. There are many threats to marine mammals. These threats include dangers posed by humans and the environment. There are laws in place to help protect marine mammals from further dangers. Captivity has brought forth much controversy as to dangers it may pose to marine mammals. Marine mammal habitat conservation may be the only answer to protecting marine mammal life. There are five characteristic that an animal must possess to be classified as a mammal. These characteristics include being warm-blooded, having hair or fur, having the ability to breathe air through lungs, the ability to bear live young, and the ability to nurse their young with milk produced by mammary glands (The Marine Mammal Center, 2013). Marine mammals also have a thick layer of fat called blubber that they rely on to keep them warm in the water. They have the ability to store up extra oxygen to aid them in staying under water for extended periods of time. Marine mammals spend a lot of time swimming, their bodies are streamlined to help them swim faster. One of the most important characteristics of marine mammals is their ability to direct their blood flow to their heart and lungs and slow their heartbeat down to preserve oxygen when diving (The Marine Mammal Center, 2013). There are five groups of marine mammals. Pinnipeds, Cetaceans, Sirenians, Polar Bears and Sea Otters. The Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lists...
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...typically rich whereas polar regions support fewer species. Rapid environmental changes typically cause extinctions. One estimate is that less than 1% of the species that have existed on Earth are extant.[1] Biodiversity biodiversity is divided into three, phenotypic, genoti, environmental Ecological diversity refers to the sum of the different types of environment or Ecosystem present in a region or the habitat which is the sum total of the climate, vegetation and geography of a region. Ecosystem is a unit of the biosphere in which there is an interaction between the living and nonliving factors so as to maintain a continuous flow of energy. It is a structural and functional unit of a biosphere. There are several kinds of habitats or ecosystems around the world. The variety of diversity of species in an ecosystem is influenced by the ecosystem it self. Examples of ecosystems: Grass land, wet land, desert, aquatic ecosystem etc. Species diversity is the variety of different species in a given area. It is very difficult to estimate the different species in a given area. Most of the species are found near the equator and a few at the poles. Genetic Diversity may be defined as variation in genes with a particular species. It refers to the heritable variation. Sexual reproduction play an important role genetic diversity. A species having more genetic diversity can adapt better to the changed environmental conditions. Threats to biodiversity Extinction of Species Since...
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...temperature of the Earth has increased about 1 and a half degrees, with about two-thirds of the increase occurring since 1980. In general, many scientists believe that the primary causes are greenhouse gases. These greenhouse gases are produced by many human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, and deforestation. The findings of these scientists are recognized by all major industrialized nations. Negative effects of global warming have already been noticed throughout the environment. Sea level rising, changes in climate extremes, and the decline of artic ice which could also lead to a glacier retreat. In addition, ecological systems are also at risk of global warming. Ecosystems could start to be affected, along with the extinction of species, and an increased ocean acidity. The idea of global warming was first proposed by Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish Scientist, who in 1896 stated that combustion of fossil fuel may eventually result in global warming. Along with this theory he also proposed that there was a relation between atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and temperature. Arrhenius, along with Thomas Chamberlin, calculated that human activities could warm the earth by adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. But, the discoveries of Arrhenius and Chamberlin were forgotten for a long time. When their idea was proposed, at the time it was thought that human influences were insignificant compared to natural forces such as solar activity and ocean circulation...
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...Arctic Case Study Produce a case study file on Global Warming in the Arctic You should include: i. A map/definition of the Arctic ii. Evidence for the extent of warming iii. Key environmental, social and economic changes iv. Are there any advantages to global warming in the Arctic? v. Global concerns. Definition The Arctic is a polar region at the top of the world in the northernmost region of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, the United States, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. Evidence for the extent of global warming The average Artic temperatures have risen at 2 times compared to the of the world with the increase being 3-4°c in the last 50 years. In the next 100 years people predict that temperature of land will rise by 3-5°c and 7°c over the oceans. The ice withdrawal was at it smallest ever with its biggest ever retreat since records began, US scientists have confirmed that this is true. Also the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said the extent of the retreat was 4.13 million sq km. which breaks all previous records breaking the previous record of 5.32 million sq km in 2005. This allowed the Northwest Passage to be declared open. There are concerns that Arctic will shrink, and with the melting glaciers and other ice in Greenland, could soon contribute to a substantial rise in sea levels worldwide. And sea levels have risen significantly with the sea levels rising...
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...The Impact Of Climate Change On Nature The Impact Of Climate Change On Nature Climate change affects are more complex than just a change in the weather. It refers to seasonal changes which occur over many years. Climate patterns play an important role in molding the ecosystems. Many wildlife species and human cultures depend on them. A change in climate can have a major impact on how and where plants and animals eat and live. For example, a change in the usual rain pattern or temperature can have a drastic affect on when animals breed, migrate, and hibernate. It also affects plant life cycles and their ability to grow. The impact that climate change has on nature can be catastrophic. Climate change has already had a noticeable effect across the globe and on the environment. Glaciers are shrinking, ice along rivers and lakes are melting earlier, plants and animals have shifted their ranges, trees are flowering sooner, and sea levels are rising. These effects were predicted in the past by scientists, and they are finally occurring. Most of climate change is caused by global warming and the greenhouse effect. (Gardiner, 2004) Global warming is a rise in the average temperature on the earth’s surface. Scientists who study the climate have evaluated climate patterns since the early 1800’s. From their evaluations, they have noticed a rise in temperature, from about 0.7 to 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit and they estimate...
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...My Take on Environmentalism There are many types of environmental problems that the world is experiencing nowadays, be it the pollution found in the cities, deforestation of natural rainforests, and the melting of the polar ice caps. One of the worst environmental problems, if not the worst, that the Earth is currently facing is global warming. Global warming is the gradual increase of the Earth’s surface temperature, mainly due to the effects of certain greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide emissions from either deforestation or monoxides found in pollution. These gases would trap the heat that would supposedly escape from the surface of the Earth, which would effectively increase the Earth’s surface temperature. From the name itself, we can already know the main effect of global warming to the Earth. There is this gradual change in temperature, more specifically, a rise in temperature of the Earth’s climate system. From this rise in temperature, more side effects would be branching out. Some of these include the depletion of different bodies of water, forest fires, unpredictable weather, and the melting of the polar caps. It would be fair to say that humans must reap what they sow, that because we have been burning fossil fuels and cutting down trees, we deserve to suffer the consequences given by global warming. Although, it is not just humans who are experiencing these side effects, plants and animals alike also pay for the cost of our negligence to our environment...
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...Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity 1. Introduction Climate change (also known as global warming) refers to an increase in mean annual surface temperature of the earth’s atmosphere, owing to increases in concentration of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere (Ninan, 2009). Biodiversity, on the other hand, is shorthand for biological diversity, and it is about the living world with which humanity not only co-exist but has evolved as a dependant part. The term biodiversity acknowledges that the natural world is a whole living system, and we are a part of it (Corlett & LaFrankie, 1998). The phase “climate change” and “global warming” are now a part of our lives and rarely does a day goes by without a mention, in the press or on the radio, of the possible causes of climate change and its consequences. This phenomenon has sneaked up on us in a somewhat short period of time and is accelerating at an alarming rate. It is perhaps the most serious problem that is threatening the civilized world today (Ninan, 2009). This paper postulates that climate change poses a serious threat on biodiversity. It will put forward evidence of how biodiversity has been affected worldwide, and will seek a solution to this problem 1.2. Biodiversity and its importance Simply put, biodiversity represents the fabric of life itself. It is comprised not only of numbers of species, but also includes the variety of all life...
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