Argumentative Essay Draft #1

Stephanie Pacheco Albano

EAP2 F WW










Stephanie Pacheco Albano
Argumentative Essay
Draft #1
EAP2 F WW
July, 28th

1

Biological Adaptations Caused By Climate Change

Introduction

With the increase of greenhouse gases concentrations, global climate has changed, and the
consequence is a raising in the earths surface temperature by 0.74C in the past century
(Penuelas et al., 2013, p.1). This increase of temperature is causing physical, chemical and
biological changes that are occuring accelerate. Earths temperature cant increase more than
2C so rapid, because it would be disastrous for life. Some species, like plants and ectoterms,
couldnt adapt or migrate so fast as an extreme climate change, so theyll possibly die.
Biologists are really concerned about whats go to happen to our ecosystems. Probably, while
people believes global warming is a natural cause and species can survive the extreme climate
change because they passed through this before in ice ages, researches prove that a new
natural selection will happen. Weak species will extinct and stronger species (who will
suffer alterations in their gene expression and metabolism together with the migration of these
organisms to habitats with better conditions) will survive, creating a new ecosystem. How
species will survive depends on the capacity and the possible feedbacks of these changes in
terrestrial and marine organisms, populations, communities and ecosystems to adapt to
climate change.




Stephanie Pacheco Albano
Argumentative Essay
Draft #1
EAP2 F WW
July, 28th

2

Counter-Argument

Anthropo-skeptics makes a different analysis about global warming. They say human action
isnt accelerating, and data is fake because in the beginning the earth was heating, due to the
fossil fuels emissions increasing the greenhouse effects, but actually the earth is cooling.
Geraldo Lino in his book The Global Warming Fraud says that Global warming, as well as
the colds of atmosphere and oceans, are part of climate dynamics of the Earth and man has no
influence on these phenomena. These are natural cycles that occur over millions of years.
The changes are natural because earth is in transition to a new ice age and they say all data
about global warming is an estrategy to take off the attention from more important problems,
such as sanitation and other social problems. They also believe that species can survive the ice
ages because they passed through this before, an example is the polar bear that survive the last
interglacial period when the temperature was 5 degrees Celsius warmer. But a change in
temperature is significant to some species. It changes their biochemical pathways, gene
expression and other factors. Tortoises changes their gender when temperature changes and
some species dont have the metabolism to survive. World is suffering damages so fast that is
impossible believe humans arent involved. Couldnt be the principal cause, but is an
important factor. This article will show how global warming can the structure, metabolism,
morphology and the ecology of organisms.




Stephanie Pacheco Albano
Argumentative Essay
Draft #1
EAP2 F WW
July, 28th

3

Main Point #1

As temperature of earths surface change, organisms and microrganisms are force to change.
Their suffer biochemical, physics, physiological, and ecological changes as a defense to
survive. Ecometabolomic studies ilustrated the large capacity of plants and animals to present
plastic molecular responses to drought and warming (Penuelas et. al, 2013, p. 2304). In plants,
a gene expression causes and increase of several enzymes in response drought conditions to
obtain more water, but in this process they lost a lot of nutrients. These molecular responses
in plants also depends the specie of plant and their habitat, the same can be apply in
morphological and physiological changes. In many species, can be observed that
physiological changes to increase their efficiency result in decline of growth and
reproductive.
In insects, the responses to warming temperature are an increase in metabolism and
respiration and the production of heat-shock proteins (Penuelas et al, 2013, p. 2319) so they
can survive temperatures that exceed the thermal limit. Warming also has significant direct
effects on animal phenology by lengthening the period of summer activity and by increasing
the number of reproductive cycles and larval size (Penuelas et al, 2013, p. 2320).
The reproduction gets down and declines the population, so mortality grows, it depends on the
kind of specie and their habitat. Climate change can stimulate some species to migrate and
adapt, but not all the species can really do this.



Stephanie Pacheco Albano
Argumentative Essay
Draft #1
EAP2 F WW
July, 28th

4

Main Point #2

In ectoterms, extreme conditions, like very high or very low temperatures, can cause loss of
mass and mortality. 27 degrees Celsius represent more mortality than in dry conditions, also
the deaths occur more rapidly than under cool and dry conditions, which shows more
gradually deaths. (Rohr and Palmer, 2012, p. 1).
Species, like tortoises, can change their gender in response to climate change and result in a
serious ecological problem, because the temperature acts before they born, when theyre
growing. So if the climate change, only one gender of tortoise will born and, consequently,
theyll extinct.
Those species that live in sites with limited possibilities for migration, such as moutainous
areas or islands, have a high risk of local extinction (Penuelas et al, 2013, p. 2324). This is
one more reason to believe that the habitat and wheter conditions will select the stronger
species.

Main Point #3

Climate change may shift the distributions, abundances, timing, and ecological presence of
species, thereby changing structures and functions of marine biological communities. (Okey,
Alidina, Jessen, 2014, p. 531). Physiological stress can change the balance of competition or
predation, which shift species compositions.
The shift in life conditions can cause migrations of marine species to new regions with other
kind of species that can be affected and killed by the stress and competition. The level of
Stephanie Pacheco Albano
Argumentative Essay
Draft #1
EAP2 F WW
July, 28th

5
nutrients will decline, and will affect the reproductive. The mortality will growth in some
places, but some species will adapt and obtain characters to help them survive.
Each place has their ecosystem, so if a new specie arrive a lot changes can occur, and many
species can be exctinct by these events. New species can emerge.

Conclusion

The greenhouse effects caused by humans rising fossil fuels emissions is increasing the
earths temperature, accelerating the global warming. Earths getting warmer to become
cooler and to pass to a new ice age. When temperature raises 2 degrees Celsius, many species
will die because they couldnt adapt or migrate so fast (global warming is increasing so fast
that wont take a long time), but theres some species that actually will have the hability to
survive the disaster. They can produce heat shock proteins, that will help them survive
extreme temperature changes. They can migrate to another places with better conditions, like
marine organisms. The kind of species and their habitat, such as their hability to response to
extreme changes will classify strong and weak species. This classification will be like a new
natural selection, new species will emerge as a result from different species in different
places. In conclusion, new interactions will happen, resulting in new ecosystems.






Stephanie Pacheco Albano
Argumentative Essay
Draft #1
EAP2 F WW
July, 28th

6

References

Hobday, A.J., Pecl, G. T. (2013, September 23). Identification of global marine hotspots:
sentence for change and vanguards for adaptation action. Springer Science + Business
Media Dordrecht. Retrieved from: http://link.springer.com.proxy.lib.siu.edu/article/10.
1007/s11160-013-9326-6/fulltext.html

Okey, T. A., Alidina H. M., Lo, V., Jessen S. (2014, February 22). Effects of climate change
on Canadas Pacific marine ecosystems: a summary of scientific knowledge. Springer
International Publishing Switzerland. Retrieved from: http://link.springer.com.proxy.l
ib.siu.edu/article/10.1007/s11160-014-9342-1/fulltext.html

Bahn, M., Reichstein, M., Dukes, J. S., Smith, M. D., McDowell, N.G. (2013). Climate-
biosphere interactions in a more extreme world. New phytologist. Retrieved from:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.proxy.lib.siu.edu/doi/ 10. 1111/nph.12662/full

Penuelas et al. (2013, January 14). Evidence of current impact of climate change on life: a
walk from genes to the biosphere. Global Change Biology. Retrieved from: http://
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.12143/full

Rohr, J.R., Palmer, B. D. (2012, October 22). Climate Change, Multiple Stressors, and the
Decline of Ectotherms. Conservation Biology. Retrieved from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.
com.proxy.lib.siu.edu/doi/10.1111/cobi.12086/full