Climate change is happening at a really fast pace. One of the affected areas is the Arctic and the Arctic life. Climate change is the change in weather patterns over a long period of time caused by global warming. Global warming is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth 's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide and other pollutants. Ever since the industrial revolution, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased drastically. The large amount of carbon dioxide was produced by human activities such as burning gases, woods, and burning coal. Clearing forests also releases large amounts of carbon dioxide. Worldwide deforestation means that we don’t …show more content…
Arctic ice reflects 80 percent of the sunlight back into space. As sea ice melts there will be more sunlight hit the ocean which increase the temperature of the ocean and cause raise of sea level. Satellite observations show that Arctic sea ice concentrations have significantly decreased over the last 25 years. Submarine observations also suggest that the Arctic ice pack has thinned dramatically in the last 20 to 30 years. As the sea ice melts the sea level increase. Sea level is now rising by 3.1mm per year. At this pace, more than 2.5 m sea level rise by 2040. How does climate change affect Arctic animals? Climate change affects Arctic animals drastically by destroying their living habitat and food sources. Polar bears are having a hard time finding food because the ice caps are melting. They use the ice to rest on while hunting for seals, but since there is less ice it’s causing the polar bears to drown from exhaustion. Walruses can eat up to 200 pounds of clams each day. Clams are usually found near the continental shelf but with ice caps melting it is getting harder for walruses to find
Low 15-25mm of annual rain is a concern, however, what’s more important is the year round permafrost, that is 25-100cm deep, and prevents plant growth. With prey hidden in tunnels under this permafrost, special adaptations are required in terms of hunting techniques. Lastly, Arctic blizzards are
The feet can help them to get around on the ice and it leaps from the water to land. Therefore, they cannot get slipping or sliding. They also have a grip that allows them to survive in the cold weather. Conservation is also done over the past several decades. More than 65% of them have been lost over the span of time.
Polar bear endangerment The article “Melting Ice Threatens Polar Bears ' Survival” by Katie Madan is about the melting icebergs and how it is threatening the polar bears survival. The department of interiors are making a decision on putting the polar bears on the endangered species list, a study shows the Polar bears in beau fort sea region in Alaska and Canada are going to go extinct soon. The bears need there ice as a platform to hunt for their food such as seals or fish, if they cant hunt for food then they will die of starvation thus making them extinct. The population of the polar bears having been decreasing by 25 percent per year.
It is harder for the inuits to catch animals. The ice is melting and making it unsafe for the inuits. They cant survive without food. Global warming is making unsafe conditions changing their lifes. They are having limited amount of food.
In contrast, it would be dangerous to break. The global warming could melt and they could get the water easier. If the Inuit people broke it, they would not survive. This is significant to the Inuit people. To sum up, global warming is significant to the Inuit people by the glacier melting and give them the fresh water
According to the Alaska Dispatch News article. Glaciers are melting drastically and loosing 75 billion tons of ice a year. If all the glaciers melt in Alaska then a foot of water will be on top of the land from the melted glaciers. From the recent climate changes of the weather getting warmer, the glaciers are melting faster. Sea level is also rising from the melting of glaciers.
Chih-wei Chen Giardino, Alexandria EWRT-1A-03Y 14 March, 2016 Polar Bears in Danger Oil explorations and oil spills are posing serious threats to polar species, resulting in severe risks to both marine and terrestrial ecosystems and wildlife. Polar bears, the chief predators in the Arctic marine ecosystem, are affected by exposure to oil followed by oil spills. Even though oil pollution and the ratio of spills in the Arctic are on a low level at present, during 1993 to 2007, many oil spill incidents were reported, most of which were the consequences of extreme collisions, groundings, and sinking accidents, leading to long-term consequences to polar species, and even a chance of extinction for polar bears. While there are no tested and operative
Unfortunately, the amount of sea ice is beginning to fall, and the number of Polar Bears is falling with it. The cause, climate change, is a controversial issue that needs to be addressed. It will soon cause Polar Bears to become endangered and even
This question seemed to perk him up some and when he did talk, he was very excited. He said that Northern Fur Seals spend most all their time in open waters and mainly come to shore annually to breed. Also, that they preferred rocky beaches when they did reproduce (NOAA Fisheries 2015). They stay mostly in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, but have been found all the way up in the Arctic and lower down near Japan and California. Jared said that he mostly ate fish, squid, and other marine invertebrates, which he explained to me were marine animals without vertebrae or spines.
Apart from the sea ice, the polar bears have very few alternatives left when the ice melts and when their access to the ringed seal prey disappears with their habitat. The charismatic arctic hunters cannot adjust and sustain themselves on another food source. If the devastating process of climate change continues, there wouldn’t be a thin sheet of ice left for these extraordinary animals to survive
Their astonishing size lets them eat pretty much anything they want. Their diet consists of mostly seals, walruses, Beluga Whales and rarely vegetation. They travel great distances in search of prey (can be thousands of miles)!
The Effects of Climate Change on Canadian Polar Bears Although climate change has had severe impact on the Canadian population, the melting of the Canadian Arctic ice caps has proved to be detrimental to the five subpopulations of polar bears in Canada, which are found in the Arctic Archipelago, Beaufort Sea, Hudson Bay and James Bay region. (Clark). Polar bears are dependent upon sea ice coverage to be consistent, and because of the recent change in climate, they are becoming a more at risk species (Stirling and Parkinson). In The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations, they reported that the world climate change will continue to warm, it will only get worse and the primary cause of
Polar Bears Have Natural Heating Ability The arctic circle is a cold and unforgiving wasteland, to live there you have to able to regulate your body temperature. According to Polar Bears International, polar bears are built for these harsh environments. Polar bears are animals that have to face this tough environment every single day of their lives. The polar bear uses many ways to insulate its body from the inside to the outside.
Earth’s climate has been changing over the last few decades, with the global temperatures rising at a high rate (Corell, 2006). Some of these climate changes are due to natural causes, although the strength at which temperatures are rising indicates human influences, such as increased carbon dioxide emission, as well as other greenhouse gases. Climate change particularly affects the Arctic region, where warmer temperatures are causing decrease in sea ice extent and thickness, permafrost thawing, coastal erosion, changes in ice sheets and shelves, and consequently, changes in the distribution and reproduction rates of Arctic species (Corell, 2006). Warmer temperatures have led to increased melting of glaciers and sea ice, and shortening of
These gases retain heat on earth thus increasing the temperature above average. Different gases have dissimilar abilities to trap heat. Deforestation is also another important reason for global warming. Plants release oxygen and take in carbon, thus providing us a clean and healthy environment. But by deforesting the lands, the trees would emit the carbon stored in them from hundreds of years making the air impure.