Normal No Spacing BIO 101 SPRING 2018 Assignment 1 (10 points) Due week of Janua
ID: 188986 • Letter: N
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Normal No Spacing BIO 101 SPRING 2018 Assignment 1 (10 points) Due week of January 29 Guide lines: - This assignment is for you to write a term paper on the topic: Global Climate Change. Your term paper must have this topic and the following subtopics. The subtopics should be written in bold letters separately on a line like shown below. If you do not follow my guide lines, I will not accept your paper and you will earn zero grade. 1) Introduction: Here you have to write general introduction about the current global climate change. 2) Ocean Acidification You must explain the cause and the process of ocean acidification. When you describe this process, you must present and explain the following diagram that I presented in class.You can also use another diagram from Internet explaining the same process. co, 3) Global warming: You must explain the cause and the process of global warming. You have to find a preferable diagram from any source you will find and present it here to discuss this subtopic of your term paper. -Your term paper cannot be less than 2 pages; lines spaced not more than 1.5 and 11/12 font size. " Must be in well written English. -You can use any internet and or library resources to write this term paper but you cannot directly copy and paste from the Internet. You have to read any resource you find, understand the information there and write it in your own English. You may or may not need to present a reference. If you have to present a reference, you can follow any format you are familiar with from your English class.Explanation / Answer
Global Climate Change
Introduction:
Our world is constantly changing and so does everything associated with it. The Earth’s climate change is also very evident. It is getting warmer by the day and has over the last century too. In the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era and of human civilization. Most of these climate changes are due to the very small variations in Earth’s orbit which change the amount of solar energy received. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established by World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), reports that the average surface temperature of the Earth has increased during the twentieth century by about 0.6o ± 0.2o. The difference between today’s average global temperature and the average global temperature during the last Ice age is about 5oC.
The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is a result of the human activity since the mid-20th century and proceeding at a very fast rate. None of the natural causes of climate change, including variations in the sun’s energy and the Earth’s orbit, can fully explain the climate change that is seen today. The heat trapping nature of carbon dioxide and other gases was demonstrated in the mid-19th century. By burning lots of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas, humans are overloading the atmosphere with greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and other gases like methane and nitrous oxide. This is the main reason behind climate change.
Ocean Acidification:
When carbon dioxide is absorbed by the sea water, chemical reactions occur that reduce the pH, carbonate ion concentration, and saturation states of biologically important calcium carbonate minerals. These chemical reactions are termed ocean acidification. The sea water is supersaturated with respect to calcium carbonate minerals. This means there are abundant building blocks for calcifying organisms to build their skeletons and shells. Ocean acidification is causing these to become under-saturated and affects the ability of some organisms to produce and maintain their shells.
Since the beginning of Industrial Revolution, the pH of surface ocean waters has fallen by 0.1 units. It is predicted that oceans will continue to absorb carbon dioxide and become more acidic. Estimates of future carbon dioxide levels, indicate that by the end of this century the surface ocean water pH is expected to increase 150% acidic.
Scientists formerly didn’t worry about this process because they always assumed that river carried dissolved chemicals to the ocean to keep the pH of the ocean stable and this effect is called as buffering. As the amount of CO2 dissolved is very high that the natural buffering hasn’t been able to keep up.
Ocean acidification is expected to impact ocean species. Photosynthetic algae and seagrasses may benefit from higher CO2 conditions in the ocean, as they require CO2 to live just like plants on land. On the other hand, studies have shown that a more acidic environment has a dramatic effect on some calcifying species, including oysters, clams, sea urchins, shallow water corals, deep sea corals, and calcareous plankton. When shelled organisms are at risk, the entire food web may also be at risk. Today, more than a billion people worldwide rely on food from the ocean as their primary source of protein.
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