Himani Patel Assignment 2 Draft 2 English 1102 031 March 29, 2014

The Effects of Warming our Planet

Introduction I remember sitting in my AP Environmental class when the topic of Global Warming was first brought up for discussion. I had zoned out for majority of the lecture until we started talking about the adverse effects it caused on different ecosystems. As I learned how much our actions that cause Global Warming are harming all the animals, and how this affects us in turn, I couldnt help but research more about it. Ever since then, I have been very passionate about Global Warming and my thirst for exploring into different areas it effects inspired me to do my research paper on it. Throughout this paper, we will investigate the implications of Global Warming and its relationship between animal diversity and humans. There will be a specific focus on bee populations and how their decline impacts the larger environment. Literature Review According to the article, Fingerprints of global warming on wild animals and plants, over the past 100 years, the global average temperature has increased by approximately 0.6 C and is projected to continue to rise at a rapid rate. Although species have responded to climatic changes throughout their evolutionary history, a primary concern for wild species and their ecosystems is this rapid rate of change. If it was more gradual, they would have a better rate of surviving and adapting. The researchers gathered information on species and global warming from 143 studies for meta-analyses. These analyses reveal a consistent temperature-related shift, or 'fingerprint', in species ranging from mollusks to mammals and from grasses to trees. Indeed, more than 80% of the species that show changes are shifting in the direction expected on the basis of known physiological constraints of species (Root et al). Consequently, the balance of

evidence from these studies strongly suggests that a significant impact of global warming is already discernible in animal and plant populations. The synergism of rapid temperature rise and other stresses, in particular habitat destruction, 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. Climate change is a threat because species have evolved to live within certain temperature ranges, and when these are exceeded and a species cannot adapt to the new temperatures, or when the other species it depends on to live cannot adapt, for example its food supply, its survival is threatened. Species in the oceans and in fresh water are also at great risk from climate change, especially those that live in ecosystems like coral reefs that are highly sensitive to warming temperatures, but the full extent of that risk has not yet been calculated (Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss, Harvard Uni). The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) maintains the Red List to assess the conservation status of species, subspecies, varieties, and even selected subpopulations on a global scale. Their data shows extinction risks outpace any conservation successes. I found that Amphibians are the most at risk, while corals have had a dramatic increase in risk of extinction in recent years. Research of long term trends in the fossil record suggests that natural speed limits constrain how quickly biodiversity can rebound after waves of extinction. Hence, the rapid extinction rates mean that it could take a long time for nature to recover (Shah, 2014) The scientists at Pelican Coast Conservancy used major vegetation types/biomes as proxies for natural habitats and, based on projected future biome distributions under doubled-CO2 climates, calculated changes in habitat areas and associated extinctions of endemic plant and

vertebrate species in biodiversity hotspots. Because of numerous uncertainties in this approach, they undertook a sensitivity analysis of multiple factors that included: two global vegetation models, different numbers of biome classes in our biome classification schemes, different assumptions about whether species distributions were biome specific or not, and different migration capabilities. So basically, extinctions were calculated using both species-area and endemic-area relationships. In addition, average required migration rates were calculated for each hotspot assuming a doubled-CO2 climate in 100 years. They found that projected percent extinctions ranged from less than 1 to 43% of the endemic biota, which averages out to be 11.6%, with biome specificity having the greatest influence on the estimates, followed by the global vegetation model and then by migration and biome classification assumptions (Jay et The most unique feature of Earth is the existence of life, and the most extraordinary feature of life is its diversity. Approximately 9 million types of plants, animals, protists and fungi inhabit the Earth. So, too, do 7 billion people. Two decades ago, at the first Earth Summit, the vast majority of the worlds nations declared that human actions were dismantling the Earths ecosystems, eliminating genes, species and biological traits at an alarming rate. This observation led to the question of how such loss of biological diversity will alter the functioning of ecosystems and their ability to provide society with the goods and services needed to prosper. Maintaining multiple ecosystem processes at multiple places and times requires higher levels of biodiversity than does a single process at a single place and time (Cardinale et al). One recent study compared 11 long-term experiments performed at one research site, and another used a suite of meta-analyses from published data to show that the impacts of species loss on primary productivity are of comparable magnitude to the impacts of drought, ultraviolet radiation, climate warming, ozone, acidification, elevated CO2, herbivory, fire and certain forms

of nutrient pollution. Because the BEF relationship is nonlinear, the exact ranking of diversity relative to other drivers will depend on the magnitude of biodiversity loss, as well as magnitudes of other environmental changes. Nevertheless, these two studies indicate that diversity loss may have as quantitatively significant an impact on ecosystem functions as other global change stressors (for example, climate change) that have already received substantial policy attention (Cardinale et al). Diversity effects grow stronger with time, and may increase at larger spatial scales. Diversity effects in small-scale, short-term experiments may underestimate the impacts of diversity loss on the functioning of more natural ecosystems. At larger spatial scales and with greater temporal fluctuations, more environmental heterogeneity may increase opportunities for species to exploit more niches. Consistent with this argument, a growing body of research now shows that the net effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functions grow stronger as experiments run longer (Cardinale et al). Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the male parts to the female parts of a flower of the same species, which results in fertilization of plant ovaries and the production of seeds. Bees make excellent pollinators because most of their lives are spent collecting pollen, a source of protein that they feed to their developing offspring. When a bee lands on a flower, the hairs all over its body attract pollen grains through electrostatic forces. Widespread use of pesticides has been leading to the decimation of wild bee colonies. According to Suraj Pokhrel who has been conducting research on wild bees, the pesticides used in commercial agriculture have resulted in a significant decline in the population of wild bees. In addition, deforestation and destruction of entire colonies during the honey harvest are other

factors for the decline of bee colonies. Anand Poudel, a wild bee honey hunter, said that there had been a significant loss of wild bee colonies in recent times. "We don't see hives so much these days as we used to in past years," said Poudel who has been harvesting honey from giant cliffs in different parts of the Far Western Region for the last 48 years. Kaski, Lamjung and Myagdi contain major wild bee habitats. Nepal is home to four wild bee species out of the eight found across Asia, according to researchers. Since bees are the most important insects that transfer pollen between flowers and plants, a decline in their numbers could affect food production and human livelihoods, added Pokhrel. It is said that bees are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat. According to the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the worth of global crops with honeybee's pollination was estimated to be close to US$ 200 billion in 2005. Entering the Conversation Have you wondered what causes the wide variations of weather over just one weeks time period? Do you know why Tropical storms get stronger and stronger in magnitude by each passing day? Do you know why food and medicine are getting more expensive? And lastly, do you know why there are more Pandas in captivity then there are in the wild? The answer to all of those questions, believe it or not, is Global Warming. That is why you should care because this planet that you live on is your home. If you exploit its resources, and waste the precious gift of nature it has to offer you, you will only end up hurting yourself and your future generations. Conclusion

Remember, the biggest cause of global warming is the carbon dioxide released when fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, are burned for energy. So when you save energy, you help fight global warming. Also, do your part to reduce waste by choosing reusable products instead of disposables. Buying products with minimal packaging (including the economy size when that makes sense for you) will help to reduce waste. And whenever you can, recycle paper, plastic, newspaper, glass and aluminum cans. If there isn't a recycling program at your workplace, school, or in your community, ask about starting one. By recycling half of your household waste, you can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide annually. All in all, its the little things that add up and matter the most. Help secure your future by taking time to fight global warming.

References/Works Cited Amount of Old Ice in Arctic, 1987-2013. NOAA Climate, 13 Dec. 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-BbPBg3vj8>. Andreas Schuldt, Helge Bruelheide, Walter Durka, Stefan G. Michalski, Oliver Purschke, Thorsten Assmann Tree diversity promotes functional dissimilarity and maintains functional richness despite species loss in predator assemblages. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, Published online: 6 October 2013. Plants Actively Clean Up Certain Types of Air Pollution Plexus Encyclopedia of Medicine, Science, and Technology, The Volume 7, Issue 38 January 17, 2011 Loraine Page Terry L. Root, Jeff T. Price, Kimberly R. Hall, Stephen H. Schneider, Cynthia Rosenzweig, J. Alan Pounds. Fingerprints of global warming on wild animals and plants. Letters to Nature Nature 421, 57-60 (2 January 2003) Accepted 26 November 2002 Shah, Anup. "Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions." Globalissues.org. Global Issues, 19 Jan. 2014. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://www.globalissues.org/article/171/loss-of-biodiversity-andextinctions>. Malcolm, Jay, Lara Hansen, and Ronald Neilson. "Global Warming and Extinctions of Endemic Species from Biodiversity Hotspots." Pelican Coast Conservancy, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. "Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss." The Center for Health and the Global Environment. Harvard University, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. <http://chge.med.harvard.edu/topic/climate-changeand-biodiversity-loss>.