Global Climate Change Greenhouse gases are accumulating at unpresented rates. At

Question

Global Climate Change

Greenhouse gases are accumulating at unpresented rates. Atmospheric CO2 has increased from approximately 280 parts per million (ppm) in 1850 to 400ppm today. Methane is also increasing (and is 30x more effective at trapping heat compared to CO2). Temperatures are close to highs near 1000 years ago… and close to surpassing levels not seen since 40 million years ago!

How will this affect biomes?

How will this affect organisms?

What will increased CO2 do to the ocean (not only in terms of volume/area but pH)?

         What does that mean for it’s organisms?

Why does global climate change matter if the Earth has been this warm before?

Explanation / Answer

The increasing concentration of carbon dioxide and methane is causing many problems, the majority of them are affecting the living organisms. The Green-house effect is damaging the delicate balance between ecosystem making unexpected changes, these changes are so dangerous that they are at some places killing a whole species.

Biomes are the community of plants and trees which is spread over a large area having similar but specific characteristic. At some places the trees shred leaves in summer, at some they change color, at some they have specific kind of leaves which prevents water perspiration. It all varies from place to place but all of them are somehow related to the temperature as they all are dependent on water. The increasing temperature is having adverse effects on plants for example the flowers are blooming late, the leaves are shredding in early summer putting the tree in a danger of survival test etc. All these changes are leading to the loss of flora and fauna of biome.

This loss is reflected in organisms as well, the organisms which are dependent on the plants are facing survival competition and its reducing there number drastically. The pigeons, frogs, toad etc all these organisms are rare to observe these days due to the same reason. Frogs which go in hibernation in summer are not ale to survive since the summer is extended due to the change in temperature. The large animals are facing the scarcity of food since the small organisms are disappearing at high rate. Its affecting the total food chain, on some levels at smaller scale and at some levels in larger scale.

CO2 is acidic in nature and the increasing concentration of CO2 in atmosphere means it will dissolve in water and to good extent it will dissolve in ocean too as ocean is made up of water. If the sufficient amount of CO2 is dissolved in ocean, it can change the pH of ocean water which will have very drastic effect on ocean organisms. The coral reef's are very susceptible to the change in the temperature and pH the slight increase in temperature can vanish all the coral reef's. The islands of coral are made from calcium carbonate and other minerals which are extracted from ocean by these coral's. Increasing pH will take way there ability to extract these minerals from ocean and causing the loss of extraction process forever.

The Earth has been warm but there is a cycle that runs for the temperature. The highest temperature noted in that cycle is already reached and still the temperature is increasing. The Earth has warmed up 0.5 degree Celsius in last 100 years which is very high according to the historical data. This fast changing climate can and will cause many unexpected and unnecessary changes in the eco-system, biomes, organisms etc.

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