Create a new account

It's simple, and free.

Global Warming & Phytoplankton

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. And phytoplankton are being subjected to hypoxia, another adverse condition in their environment.

The food chain is complex and highly sensitive to change, and global warming is introducing change at a much more rapid rate than the ecology can adapt to successfully. A recently discovered example of this is the scarcity of sardines. When sardines are plentiful, they eat phytoplankton. ôBut when sardines are scarce, the phytoplankton survive uneaten, only to sink to the bottom, decompose and produce methane and hydrogen sulfide gas that rise to the surface in gi...

Page 1 of 4 Next >

More on Global Warming & Phytoplankton...

Loading...
APA     MLA     Chicago
Global Warming & Phytoplankton. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 11:44, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1713060.html