Research gap

Running head: IMPACT OF GLOBAL WARMING 1

IMPACT OF GLOBAL WARMING 11

Impact of Global Warming on Antarctica Fauna

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Institutional Affiliation

Abstract

With a lot of research dedicated to finding the effect climate change has on humans' lives, it is also essential to emphasize similar research to see its effect on other animals. The document proposes research to determine the impact of climate change on the animals in the Antarctic. The impact of climate change on the regions is known to some extent. The depleting ice caps and the acidification of ocean waters are well documented. However, it is crucial to establish a study on the change that is happening to animals. Since their habitat is undergoing drastic changes, it is vital to find how that affects the animals in the long run. The research shows a justification of why research into Antarctica animals' lives is essential as one of the most critical habitats globally. Massive efforts to preserve the habitat should be underway to help with the conservation of the animals.

Impact of Global Warming on Antarctica Fauna

Introduction

Climate change infers to the action in which the planet warms rapidly and the continued change in weather patterns in the world. In the modern-day, a large variety of climate is claimed to result from the emission of greenhouse gases by people. It is, however, essential to note that the earth was continuously warming before the industrial activities of the human race. However, through greenhouse gas emissions by human industrial activities, global warming has accelerated at an unsustainable rate in recent decades.

Greenhouse gases are the leading cause of global warming. Their main constituents are carbon dioxide and methane (Kweku et al., 2017). The gas is released through fossil fuel combustion, leading to the environment's pollution and creating a greenhouse effect. The effect is responsible for trapping more heat from the earth's surface, making it warmer than before. Other emissions come from activities such as intensive agriculture and manufacturing (Herndon, 2018). Many organizations agree that humans are the main course of global warming. Global warming is responsible for altering the surface of the earth in numerous ways. Increased water vapor, a greenhouse gas, is a global warming product and alteration to the oceanic and land carbon sinks.

On earth, animals are adapted to survive in habitats differently. A change in an animal's habitat could be dreadful to some species in the habitat. Global warming is causing rapid changes, which most of the earth's fauna are having a difficult time adapting to (Wei et al., 2017). To develop evolutionary adaptations, animals have to change after multiple generations, and the changes are usually gradual for the animals which manage to adapt. The gradual changes are enabled because the environment also changes gradually. In modern days, the change is accelerated by human activities. The accelerated change leaves many animals without adapting for the long remaining time they inhabit the earth. The situation leaves some of the animals in dire condition since they cannot quickly adapt, and it is also worth considering that the habitat of the animals is in decline.

Research Question

What is the effect of global warming on the lives of animals in the Antarctic?

Conceptual Map

A conceptual map of the major processes involved in global warming and their possible impact on the Antarctica fauna

Research Proposal

Background

Human interactions with wildlife have been well documented and studied. With the depletion of major habitats in the world due to deforestation or forest fires, people are more aware of how their direct interaction with wild habitats may cause damage to the ecosystem. Forests in the amazon are depleted by people looking to exploit the natural reserves. In the Congo, the rainforests are under destruction by illegal and unsustainable logging methods. Such interactions lead to severe habitat loss and can cause animals within a specific area to be endangered and their environment to face the risk of serious destruction.

However, people may not be aware of how their human activities may cause indirect destruction to the habitat, putting animals' lives at risk. In Australia, forest fires have ravaged some parts of the country in recent times. The forest fires have been stated to have been caused by global warming. That is one example of how human activities' interference could indirectly lead to habitat destruction or destroy the lives of many of the earth's animals that rely on certain ecosystems. To correct such actions, humans must be aware of their role in the destruction and the alteration of specific habitats they live in.

The importance of studying the effects of global warming on the animals in Antarctica cannot be understated. The animals in the region are not directly in contact with a population of humans. Their destruction may not be as noticeable at a scale as those at the tropics or the equator. The effect of humans on their habitat is therefore under looked at and criminally understated. However, with modern-day knowledge about global warming and how it affects the Antarctic region, it is possible and highly recommended to look at its effect on the region's animals.

Literature Review

Global warming is a serious issue when it comes to the changing ecosystem in Antarctica. The temperature change rate is not constant as some localities are experiencing more of a change in climate than other locations (Hanson et al., 1999). Research is required to understand the effect global warming has on the animals in the region. However, there are differences in how the animals respond to climate changes for both land and sea animals (Walther et al., 2002). The temperature changes are likely to have an impact on the food chain. The primary producers are likely to be affected, thereby leading to a change in animals' mass at all the trophic levels (Agusti et al., 2010).

On the other hand, some sea vertebrates are likely to be threatened by the change in temperature. They are under the effect of oceanic courses, which directly impact their copiousness (Ribic et al., 2011). However, it is not easy to establish the direct effect of global warming on the animals since oceanic effects are only studied in a few mammals that live in the region. On the other hand, some seabirds are affected significantly by climate change over the studied period (Smith et al., 1999). Such sea birds are like penguins established to be affected by the dramatic variations in the sea temperature. The extent to which top predators in the sea are affected by climate change is unknown (Trathan et al., 2015). Keeping that in mind, there should be monitoring of marine mammals and seabirds for long periods to develop an understandable explanation for the effect climate change may have on the animals at the poles.

Although studied for many years, the human effect on Antarctica was speculated to be minimal. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current was speculated to help maintain the cold temperatures in the region. The southern ocean was thought to be physically isolated (Boning et al., 2008). The animals' failure with the sub-Antarctic waters to colonize the region was due to their inability to adapt to the regions' cold climate. The waters in Antarctica were also among the least affected waters by human activities. The animals in the region face challenges and are subject to various conditions which may afflict them. Such challenges include overfishing, invasive species, pollution by humans, and climate change (Liggett et al., 2017). The rising temperatures of the sea may pose a serious challenge to their wellbeing. Climate change causes changes to the habitat in a manner which were not perceived before. The changes are devastating to the environment and could lead to a crisis for animals in the region.

Methodology

For the study, data will be collected through searching creditable sources. International organizations which have studied climate change will be used as sources of reliable information and data. Organizations such as NASA, which has done substantial work on global warming, will form one of the research bases. Resources from the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be used to search on how climate change has affected the lives of animals in Antarctica. Research and scholarly materials will be collected from publications such as the JSTOR library and Wiley's library.

Some limitations lead to the choice of the selected methodology. Collecting data from the field is unfeasible and would be a challenge. Climatic change is recorded over many years. Therefore, the best approach to use data collected from agencies that have been monitoring climate in the last century. Through such actions, the research done can be productive and beneficial in showing trends of increase in climate or gradual habitat changes. Collecting first-hand field data about the gradual changes in habitat from the environment is difficult and could prove a challenge without the technical expertise.

Synthesis of data and research material would help understand Antarctica's changes and its effects on the region's fauna. It will also be beneficial because the time used in the collection of data will not be much. Also, in the modern-day age of technology, gathering facts and information is not difficult and can be done from the convenience of a desk and an internet-connected device. The data collected from the organizations would form the basis of the information. Organizations such as the United Nations Development Program collect valuable data on animals on the planet.

Expected Results

Most of the time, humans have existed on earth. Antarctica has been primarily disassociated with the activities in major ways. However, the recent moments should show depletion in the cover of ice in the region. This should be due to the industrial activities humans have been engaging in. The production of carbon dioxide from industrial activities could lead to the acidification of the sea in the ocean. The change in the sea's pH and the depletion of ice cover, and the temperature rise are bound to show various changes for the sea animals.

The effect on the species in the region is not likely to be uniform. Some species are likely to benefit in the short term. Global warming is likely to cause a change in multiple factors that might not all affect the animals negatively in the short term. Some animals depend on the sea ice for their source of food, such as krill. The depletion of ocean sea ice is likely to lead to the depletion of Krill numbers and the reduction of animals that rely on the krill for food, thereby interrupting a whole food chain.

Some animals rely on the sea ice as essential habitat elements. The emperor penguin uses the sea ice for their breeding grounds, during which they can feed on krill as their only supply of fish. Depletion of the sea could interfere with the breeding of the penguin, thereby interrupting their numbers significantly.

On the other hand, some animals might have a chance to extend their habitats due to the depleting polar climate. Animals such as the sea urchin could grow their climate and develop as their zones expand. Therefore, global warming is likely to lead to some of the key species' detriment while helping other species survive the challenging climatic changes. It is, however, important to understand the effect global warming could have on the species that seem to benefit, particularly in the long term sense. Even if the animals benefit in the short term, the conditions that act in their favor may not last for the long term.

Unlike the sea urchin that gets their territory expanded by global warming, other animals that rely on the cold climate may have nowhere else to turn. In the region, it is as cold as anywhere else on earth can get. The temperature change would be detrimental to the existence of the animals.

Conclusion

Climate change is a phenomenon that is consistently being studied. The effects of climate change on human activities form the basis of most of the research carried out. The impact of climate change on human activities are well documented and continuously studied. An ignored factor is the study of climate change on the animals on the planet and the plants. Analyzing the effects of climate change on the two factors could help establish how to help the planet become more hospitable to the species that coexist on earth. A primarily ignored ecosystem is the icy region of Antarctica. The effects of climate change on the fauna in the region are not adequately carried out. Little studies have been carried out on climate change on the vertebrates in the Antarctica region. Examples of essential animals that should be considered include humpback whales, the various species of penguins and seals. In an ecosystem, such animals interact with each other to be able to coexist. Understanding how climate change can affect entire food chains and habitats is essential.

References

Agustí, Sejr M K and Duarte C M (2010) Impacts of climate warming on polar marine and freshwater ecosystems Polar Biol 33 1595-1598

Böning, C. W., Dispert, A., Visbeck, M., Rintoul, S. R., & Schwarzkopf, F. U. (2008). The response of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to recent climate change. Nature Geoscience, 1(12), 864-869.

Hansen J E, Ruedy R, Glascoe J and Sato M (1999) GISS analysis of surface temperature change J Geophys Res 104 30 997- 31 022

Kweku, D. W., Bismark, O., Maxwell, A., Desmond, K. A., Danso, K. B., Oti-Mensah, E. A., ... & Adormaa, B. B. (2017). Greenhouse effect: greenhouse gases and their impact on global warming. Journal of Scientific research and reports, 1-9.

Herndon, J. M. (2018). Air pollution, not greenhouse gases: The principal cause of global warming. J Geog Environ Earth Sci Intn, 17(2), 1-8.

Liggett, D., Frame, B., Gilbert, N., & Morgan, F. (2017). Is it all going south? Four future scenarios for Antarctica. Polar Record, 53(5), 459-478.

Ribic C A, Chapman E and Fraser W R (2008) Top predators in relation to bathymetry, ice, and krill during austral winter in Marguerite Bay, Antarctica Deep-Sea Res II 55 485-499

Smith R C, Ainley D, Kaber K et al. (1999) Marine ecosystem sensitivity to historical climate change in the Antarctic Peninsula Bio Science 49 393-404

Trathan P N, García Borboroglu P, Boersma D et al. (2015) Pollution, habitat loss, fishing, and climate change as critical threats to penguins Conserv Biol 29 31-41

Walther G R, Post E, Convey P et al. (2002) Ecological responses to recent climate change Nature 416 389-395

Wei, H., Liu, W., Zhang, J., & Qin, Z. (2017). Effects of simulated acid rain on soil fauna community composition and their ecological niches. Environmental pollution, 220, 460-468.