Global warming and biodiversity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Global warming and biodiversity - Research Paper Example This primarily happens owing to the increase in the amount of Green House gases in the atmosphere. These gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide etc) trap the sun’s incident heat energy and do not allow them to escape, thereby increasing the Earth’s temperature. These green house gases are released into the atmosphere because of human activities like pollution, burning of fossil fuels, deforestation etc. Global warming has negative impacts on all most everything, from ecosystems to individual species. Climate-carbon cycle feedbacks are also responsible for increasing the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In fact, studies have shown that rise of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere will increase the temperature which in turn will cause change in the process of photosynthesis, leading to death of the plants. GRAPH:1 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 The other challenge that forms the core of my discussion is extermination of both floral and faunal species. Species become extin ct due to a number of reasons like deforestation, invasive species, diseases, changing climate etc. . In fact in North America alone, â€Å"123 fresh water animal species have been recorded as extinct and hundreds of additional species of fishes, amphibians, mollusks and crayfishes are considered imperiled† (Riciardi & Rasmussen, 1998) and using this data in the exponential decay model, researchers Riciardi and Rasmussen have concluded that the extinction rate in North America alone is 4% per decade. ... his data in the exponential decay model, researchers Riciardi and Rasmussen have concluded that the extinction rate in North America alone is 4% per decade. Moreover, islands like the Galapagos or the Hawaiian islands are more vulnerable to species extinction because the presence of physical barriers has cut off gene flow which has in turn decreased adaptability of the species to extinction factors. Thus, endemic species are more vulnerable to extinction. There is a definitive connection between global warming and loss of biodiversity. Global warming is one of the key reasons behind species extinction.† Plants and animals, even far from human habitation, are now endangered due to global warming, resulting from increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere through different human activities† (Malcolm, 2006). A recent study showed that the increase in the temperature led to disease outbreaks caused by Batrachochytrium among the amphibian species i n tropical America leading to extinction of 67% of the 110 species of Atelopus species (Pounds et al, 2006). Over the last century the temperature of the world has increased by 0.6 degree centigrade but most species have adapted themselves to it, but the present rate of temperature increment â€Å"could easily disrupt the connectedness among species and lead to a reformulation of species communities, reflecting differential changes in species, and to numerous extirpations and possibly extinctions.† (Root et al, 2003). Root et al, meta-analyzed 143 different studies and concluded that the shift in climate was leaving a fingerprint on animal as well as plant species. It is a common notion that environmental awareness and conservation efforts are restricted to the developed countries i.e. countries