Climate+Change

Climate Change

[|Climate Change - Wikipedia]

Summaries

 [|Signs from Earth: No Room to Run]

Fen Montaigne National Geographic

In this expose on climate change, the focus is on a species of penguin known as the Adelie and how the climate is affecting them directly and indirectly. Bill Fraser, an ecologist who studies these flightless wonders, fears for the worst as the number of pairs decreases annually.

In the region studied, the Antarctic Peninsula just south of S. America, the Adelie penguins are facing a harsh changing climate and they may not be reacting fast enough. And in recent years they have been joined by a migratory species, the Gentoo penguins, who plan on making the peninusla their new home. This competition, the use of same nesting areas, could prove catastrophic for the Adelie penguins who literally have nowhere to go, or "no room to run." Reproductive success is also declining because the Adelie penguins living in the southern part of the peninsula face heavier snowfall and have little success hatching their eggs or even keeping them warm.

Fraser also stressed the importance of krill in an antarctic environment. These small marine creatures are the base of many antarctic food chains, and with melting sea ice, they may cease to exist, threatening the animals that rely on them as a main food source, such as the Adelie penguin.

Another separated study mentioned in the paper was a "hunt" for polar bears in the Hudson Bay area of Ontario. Montaigne joined a conservationist on Hudson Bay Polar Bears on his journey to weigh the local bears. The conservationist, Martyn Obbard, was pleased with initial results that the bears were healthy, but was disheartened at their lack of "meat." He explained that it is getting harder for these majestic white bears to acquire food, and so less young succeed. He fears that melting sea ice is the biggest problem. And it will continue, thus threatening the polar bear for decades to come.

 [|The Big Thaw]

June 2007 Tim Appenzeller National Geographic

Three key areas were surveyed in this article and their effects on global sea levels were also assessed.

__Chacaltaya (Bolivia) VS Global Warming__

In Bolivia, a beautiful ski resort stands on Chacaltaya, or what once was part of the great glacier. The glacier disappeared completely a few years ago, far quicker than scientists had anticipated it would. Scientists believe the Alps could face the same fate.

Although many still doubt the existence of Global Warming, this was hard to ignore. They questioned how it melted so quickly, but they got their answer. Due to the melting of the snow, dark black rock was exposed to the sun. It absorbed extra heat and sped up the process.

__Greenland VS Global Warming'__

Scientists are not as concerned with Chacltaya as they are with Greenland, a desolate island with melting glaciers and iceberg-full fjords. Scientists estimate that Greenland's average temperature has increased enough to make it rain when it is supposed to snow.

Also, they believe that the melting of Greenland would increase global sea levels one foot by 2100. They say that this is an underestimation though and believe it to be a tad worse.

__Antarctica VS Global Warming__

Antarctica is a different story. It is thick and "less fragile" than Greenland. That does not mean that it is safe from Global Warming, though. Sea ice in the antarctic melts globally, and thanks to El Ninos, this will continue. The severity of storms that hit the desolate continent worsen its state and leave it susceptible.

 [|Cuba Reefs: A Last Caribbean Refuge]

Peter Benchley National Geographic

 [|Signs from Earth: The Big Thaw]

Daniel Glick National Geographic

The controversy surrounding climate change hits home in this article. Glacier National Park now has fewer than 30 glaciers, and it was home to 150+ less than 100 years ago. Simply put, 4/5 have already disappeared, the other fifth are shrinking and WILL be gone within the next 30 years, scientists fear. They believe that an unnatural warming of the earth, accelerated by human activity, is to blame.

The same is happening all of the world. The snows of Kilimanjaro and the glaciers of the Himalayas are slowly melting and disappearing. This is not only evidence of climate change, but also brings about the threat of a rising sea level and strange water flow throughout the oceans. Rising sea levels are currently a threat to the US state of Louisiana where coasts sink about 3 feet a century. The IPCC projected, in 2001, that the average global sea level will rise //"anywhere between 4 and **35** inches by the end of the century."// Aside from the rising sea levels, changes in water temperature and salinity both have detrimental effects to aquatic life an climate change.

Little do we know it, but the oceans are still affected by the CO2 we release into the atmosphere, and as long as those greenhouse gases persist, the oceans will be vulnerable. //"Oceans are important sinks, or absorption centers, for carbon dioxide, and take up a third of human-generated CO2."//

In his final paragraphs the author reflects on a visit to the Inupiat of Alaska. He saw three makeshift palm trees that made him think, //"...these Arctic palms seem an enigmatic metaphor for the Earth's future."//

 [|Forests + Climate Policy]

March 25, 2010 Molly Bergen Conservation International

Although many highly developed nations blame blame fossil fuels and "gas-guzzling cars" when it comes to climate change. It is the lowly developed and developing nations who make it worse. These industrializing nations are willing to do anything to develop, even destroy their nations precious forests for key industries. These trees, meant to store CO2 can no longer do their job, and the slash and burn emits even more CO2. Well, this deforestation worsens global warming indefinitely.

Luckily, REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation "plus") has been or will be implemented in nations across the globe as they swerve in the right direction toward a more sustainable future. These nations have formed smaller environmental organizations that will help them assess REDD+ in their own nation. In order to fully implement REDD+ though, governments of highly developed and developing nations must collaborate, with the higher developed world helping the developing world. This funding may have to come from the "top dogs" of the world, and it is up to them to figure out how it should be allotted.

It's nations like Germany and Norway, though, that have already begun helping. And developing nations like Costa Rica, Liberia, Guyana, Suriname, and Madagascar have made environmental stability a national priority. In the long run, it comes down to commitment.