The link between climate change and biodiversity is long established. Although climate has always changed throughout Earth’s history with the coming and going of ecosystems and species, Fast Climate change affects the adaptive capacity of ecosystems and species and therefore increases biodiversity loss.
From a human perspective, rapid climate change and accelerating loss of biodiversity threaten human security (e.g. a major shift in the food chain on which we depend could alter, reduce or disappear water sources). Medicines and other resources we rely on may become difficult to obtain because the plants and fruits from which they are obtained may be reduced or disappear, etc.).
The United Nations’ Global Biodiversity Outlook 3 in May 2010 summarized some of the concerns about climate change impacts on ecosystems:
Climate change is already having an impact on biodiversity, and is projected to become an increasingly significant threat in the coming decades. The loss of Arctic sea ice threatens the biodiversity of the entire biome and beyond. The associated pressure of ocean acidification is also already being observed as a result of higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Ecosystems are already showing negative impacts under current levels of climate change… which are modest compared to projected future changes… in addition to rising temperatures, more frequent extreme weather events and increased rainfall and drought. Changing patterns of climate change can be expected to have significant impacts on biodiversity.
Some species may benefit from climate change (from a human perspective, including increases in diseases and pests) but the rapid nature of the change suggests that most species will not find it as beneficial because most will not be able to adapt.
on this page:
Climate change impacts biodiversity in the Arctic
Rates of warming have been highest in the Arctic, Antarctic and high latitudes, and this trend is projected to continue, as noted in the Global Biodiversity Outlook 3 Notes (page 56) above.
In the Arctic, this is not just a reduction in the amount of sea ice, but also a reduction in its thickness and age. Less snow means less reflective surface meaning faster melting. The rapid decline exceeds scientific predictions and is discussed further in this site’s climate change introduction.
From the point of view of biodiversity, Ice-free summers in the Arctic Ocean likely imply the loss of entire biomes
Global Biodiversity Outlook Notes (page 57).
Other than this, Entire species groups are adapted to life above or below the ice – from algae that grow beneath the multi-year ice, which make up 25% of the Arctic Ocean’s primary production, to invertebrates, birds, fish and marine mammals. Move up the food chain.
So the iconic polar bear at the top of that food chain isn’t the only species at risk, even though it may get more media attention.
Note, ice in the Arctic melts and refreezes every year, but it is this pattern that has changed greatly in recent years as shown by this graph:
It is also important to note that sea ice loss has implications for biodiversity beyond the Arctic, as the Global Biodiversity Outlook report also summarizes:
- Bright white snow reflects sunlight.
- When it is replaced by deeper water, the ocean and air warm much faster, a reaction that accelerates the melting of ice and warming of surface air inland, resulting in the loss of tundra.
- Reduction of sea ice leads to changes in the temperature and salinity of seawater, leading to changes in primary productivity and plankton and fish species composition, as well as large-scale changes in ocean circulation, leading to changes in biodiversity beyond the Arctic. Diversity is affected.
(There is more information about the impacts on the Arctic on this site in the introduction to climate change and Arctic geopolitics.)
increase in ocean acidification
Although it has received less attention from mainstream media, the impact of increasing greenhouse emissions – particularly carbon dioxide – on the oceans could be significant.
Brief Overview of Ocean Acidification: Ocean acidificationABC World News webcast, June 7, 2008
Scientists have found that the oceans are capable of absorbing some of the extra CO2 Released by human activity. This has helped keep the planet cooler than it otherwise would have been if these gases had remained in the atmosphere.
However, additional excess CO2 Acidification of the oceans is also occurring as a result of absorption: when CO2 By reacting with water it produces a weak acid called carbonic acid, which changes the seawater chemistry. In form of Global Biodiversity Outlook Report Turns out, the water is about 30% more acidic than in pre-industrial times, leading to depletion of carbonate ions – the building blocks for many marine organisms.
Other than this, The concentration of carbonate ions is now lower than at any time during the last 800,000 years. Impacts on marine biological diversity and ecosystem functioning are likely to be severe, although the exact timing and distribution of these impacts is uncertain.
(See page 58 of the report.)
Although millions of years ago CO2 The standards were high, change is happening today rapidlyDue to which many marine creatures are getting very little time to adapt., For example, some sea creatures are developing thin shells or skeletons. Some of these organisms play important roles in the food chain and ecosystem biodiversity.
Clay animation by school children: Second CO2 problem23 March 2009 (commissioned by EPOCA)
Some species may benefit from additional carbon dioxide, and a few years ago scientists and organizations such as European Project on Ocean AcidificationFormed to attempt to further understand and assess the impacts.
An example of recent findings is a tiny plankton the size of a grain of sand that is responsible for sequestering 25–50% of the carbon absorbed by the oceans, which is affected by increasing ocean acidification. This tiny plankton plays a major role in keeping atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations at levels much lower than they otherwise would be. Such a large impact on them could be quite severe.
Other related problems reported by inter press service This includes more marine dead zones (areas where there is too little oxygen in the ocean to support life) and the decline of important coastal plants and forests, such as mangrove forests that play a vital role in carbon absorption. This is on top of the already declining marine biodiversity that has been occurring for some decades now.
There is also a connection with climate change:
Ocean stratification, where warm water sits firmly on top of cooler, nutrient-rich water, also creates dead zones and reduces the overall productivity of the oceans…. Such dead zones were rare 40 years ago but now their numbers are increasing. There are several hundred. A 2009 study in Nature Geoscience warned that without immediate action, climate change will continue to warm the oceans, increase stratification and create larger and more dead zones, which will have major impacts on future fisheries.
The study concluded that it would take a thousand years for the oceans to cool, so putting an emergency brake on global warming emissions is necessary.
Coral reefs threatened by climate change
Coral reefs around the world are dying on a large scale due to climate change.
Coral bleaching results in white, dead-looking coral.
Healthy coral is very colorful and rich with marine life.
In early September, 2009, the Australian agency that cares for the Great Barrier Reef issued an outlook report warning that the Great Barrier Reef is in crisis.
But it’s not just the Great Barrier Reef that’s at risk. They are all in dangersays Charlie Verone, an Australian marine biologist who is widely considered the world’s leading expert on coral reefs.
the future is scary
He says. There is no expectation that the rocks will survive by mid-century in any of the forms we now recognize. If, and when, they go, they will take with them about one-third of the world’s marine biodiversity. Then a domino effect occurs, as reefs fail, so will other ecosystems. This is the path to a mass extinction event, when most life, especially tropical marine life, becomes extinct.
Coral reefs also provide many ecosystem services to humans for free. This site’s page on coral reefs sheds more depth on these issues.
Lizards threatened by climate change
What BBC described as global level study
published in journal Science found that 20% of the world’s lizard species may disappear by 2080 due to climate change,
The global projection model used by scientists suggested that Lizards have already crossed the threshold of extinction due to climate change
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The fear of lowland species moving to higher altitudes has long been predicted as an impact of climate change. This has also been seen with the lizard population, as said by the leader of the research team. BBC, We are actually seeing lowland species moving upward in elevation, slowly driving highland species into extinction, and if highland species cannot evolve fast enough they will continue to go extinct.
Why are lizards so sensitive to climate change? BBC Abbreviation:
Researchers say lizards are more vulnerable to extinction due to climate-warming than previously thought. Many species live right at its edge
thermal limits,He said that due to rising temperatures, lizards are not able to spend enough time in search of food, because they have to rest and control their body temperature.
Other examples
The above areas affected by biodiversity are by no means exhaustive. Other areas affected by climate change include terrestrial animals, forests, water sources and related ecologies, etc. See the sections of this site for more information about those areas
