Taking A Look At Climate Change In Madagascar

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The concept of climate change may be one of the greatest threats to our modern day life and the future of our planet. Climate singlehandedly is able to impact natural resources, vegetation, and human impacts on an area which and effectively destroy the functionality of an ecosystem. Many climate change deniers use the formal definition of climate to support the idea that climate change and global warming does not exist - they believe that climate is simply the natural changes in weather over time. However, the change we have been witnessing over the past decade is anything but naturally occurring. There is an overwhelming consensus in the scientific community of its existence and us as a species can no longer deny it while sweeping it under …show more content…

One of the greatest case studies discussed in class regarding the impact of climate change is the modern day topography of Madagascar. While the initial cause of the desertification of Madagascar was caused by over logging and the exploitation of natural resources, the even further damage was caused by climate change and can be seen as an example of what could hypothetically happen in areas with dying vegetation. There are areas of Madagascar are completely eroded away due to the lack of trees and trees that grow back are immediately cut down again to be used by the population of Madagascar. This erosion has led to desertification of the land. Water that does come in contact with the land is unable to stay in the land because there is no vegetation to catch it - it turns into runoff which leads to landslides and mudslides. The river that serves as the main passageway for commute and trading is entirely dried up into mud so there is no fish to feed the people and there is no other logical way to transport resources. All the indigenous species who called the vegetation their home are dead and the ones remaining are stored away in zoos. As temperatures continue to heat up, more and more water is evaporated from the earth, hence leaving less water in soils and in the atmosphere and causing droughts. Droughts make it impossible for remaining vegetation to survive and for humans to regrow natural resources to farm. There is no water left in the water cycle of Madagascar, so there is no way for there to be any substantial precipitation. With no natural resources being replenished, the future of Madagascar seems grim. While this particular case is on the extreme end of the spectrum of doom and gloom, it serves the purpose of alerting humanity of what could potentially happen in the rest of the world if we continue along the path we’re

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