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Impact of Global Warming on Phytoplankton

Impact of Global Warming on Phytoplankton

Trying to rally people to be concerned about global warming is like trying to call out the fire department to put out a fire in a can of sterno. They have no sense of urgency and no concept of the possible consequences, so they refuse to become engaged in the issue. Global warming may indeed be the little fire in the can of sterno, but it is the little fire that precedes full planetary meltdown. If you ignore the initial flame, it will get out of hand faster than you can imagine(and too fast for you to remedy it.

The planet is warming at the rate of one degree Fahrenheit per century. One degree does not sound like much, but the effects of that one degree have already been alarming. The Arctic ice pack has lost about 40% of its thickness over the past four decades. The global sea level is rising about three times faster over the past 100 years than in the previous 3,000 years. Mountain glaciers the world over are receding. More heat waves and droughts are occurring, resulting in increasing conflicts for water resources. More extreme weather events are occurring also, producing floods and property destruction.

The most urgent effect of global warming, however, is the damaging effect on the phytoplankton. UV-B radiation pouring through the polar ozone holes is projected to reduce healthy growth of phytoplankton, which serve as microscopic food for marine life, by as much as 20 percent. Warmer water temperatures and nutrient loads will encourage red tides(phytoplankton population explosions that promote bacterial growth, suffocate fish, and potentially poison shellfish.

Phytoplankton are in trouble. And phytoplankton are the first link in the food chain for most of the planet. As phytoplankton go, so goes the entire food chain. Phytoplankton are suffering the ill effects of global warming on several planes. The ocean is becoming more acidic and inhospitable to phytoplankton....

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Impact of Global Warming on Phytoplankton. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:52, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1713032.html