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  1. Contents Page • Page 1: Front CoverPage 2: Contents page Page 3: Introduction Page 4: Ecosystems and Habitats affected Page 5: Regions affected by climate change Page 6: Regions affected by climate change Page 7-11: The occurrence of these changes Page 12-18: The processes and reasons of the effects to ecosystems and habitats Page 19-23: Positive and Negative Impacts Page 24: Evaluation and predictions of the problems Page 25-29: Bibliography

  2. Introduction • Climate change and the effects of global warming is now been established as the cause of global impacts like on the weather, agriculture, coastal areas, human health but without the doubt the ecosystems and habitats of the world have been affected the most. Scientists have found out during the beginning of the 1980's that if there wasn't any solutions to the effects of climate change, then in the future it would be more prevalent. Now in 2010, there is an increase of rising sea temperatures, the melting of the land based ice masses and the change in movement and distributions of plant and animal species. Most of the world fragile ecosystems like the ocean, coral reefs, tundras and ice shelfs and endangered species are all at risk and the organisms that inhabit them are also at risk

  3. Ecosystems/Habitats affected • The Great Barrier Reef, Australia – The increase of sea temperatures in the Great Barrier Reef have caused the symbiotic relationship between the coral and the protozoan zooxanthellae to fall apart thus causing the coral to lose its colour. The Tundra, Siberia - Thawing out of permafrost – The thawing of permafrost on the tundra regions of Siberia and the countries along the Tundra Belt have caused the thawing of frozen lakes and rivers and any form of infrastructure on the permafrost will lose it footing and collapsed and the release of methane into the atmosphere. • Ice Shelfs, Arctic and Antarctic - melting of ice shelf – The increased atmospheric temperatures over the Antarctic region have caused the ice shelfs to crack and melt leaving organisms to migrate to harder surfaces • Pine Beetles infestation – Migration – The change in the habitat of the mountain pine beetles have forced them to move to a more ideal habitat causing destruction over British Columbia and the state of Colorado. Ocean Acidification – The Ocean’s uptake of manmade carbon dioxide from the atmosphere have caused the seas to have a change in the pH levels and thus affecting aquatic calcifying organisms and all organisms

  4. Regions Affected By Coral Bleaching Regions affected by coral bleaching Region affected by thawing of its tundra Region affected by the melting of the polar ice Regions affected by ocean acidification Regions affected by Mountain Pine Beetles infestation

  5. Regions affected by change from climate change • Coral Bleaching - Major coral reef regions are affected by coral bleaching like in the Caribbean or western Atlantic, eastern Pacific, central and western Pacific, Indian Ocean, Arabian Gulf and Red Sea. The continent Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas on the south eastern regions are most affected with the exception of the north eastern region of Australia , the Maldives off the south coast of Europe and the central islands of the Pacific. • Thawing of the permafrost- Thawing of permafrost occurs in the tundra biome which are situated on the north most regions of the continents North America, Europe and Asia along the taiga belt. • Melting of Arctic polar ice – The only region affected by this is in the Arctic and its surrounding water • Mountain Pine Beetle infestation - Huge parts of British Columbia and states like Colorado • Ocean acidification - Throughout the world but severely affected areas occurs on the central regions of earth and then it spreads out to the higher latitudes to the polar ends of the Arctic and Antarctic

  6. The occurrence of these changes • Coral BleachingThe first documented occurrence of effects of climate change occurred during the 1860’s but the mass amount of coral bleaching has occurred recently in 1998, 2002 and 2006 at the Great Barrier Reef. The 1860’s was during the industrial revolution, a time of change in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transport and technology. These changes have caused a large amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere beginning a change reaction of problems associated with greenhouse gases leading to climate change w know today. These high levels of greenhouse gases cause the increased heating and the effects of coral bleaching

  7. Melting of the Arctic polar ice • The first occurrence in change of Arctic ice pattern of melting and thawing during its seasons was during the 1970’s where

  8. Pine Beetle Infestation • The first occurrence of pine beetles infestating its new environment the British Columbia during the 1980’s.

  9. Ocean acidification • The first occurrence of ocean acidification has occurred during the 1900

  10. Thawing of the tundra • The first occurrence of thawing of the permafrost and its release of methane into the atmosphere occurred during the 1980’s

  11. The processes and reasons of the effects to ecosystems and habitats • Coral Bleaching • The cause of coral bleaching is due to the rising average temperatures of the sea. Corals are made up of organisms called polys that secrete calcium carbonate which makes the skeleton of the coral. In these coral live these pigmented protozoan called zooxanthellae which gives the coral its colour and it supplies the coral with energy because the zooxanthellae creates energy glucose form photosynthesis. For the help of giving the coral colour and energy, the zooxanthellae has a place to live in and to be sheltered from predators. Rising sea temperatures have unsettled this mutualistic symbiotic relationship resulting in the whitening or bleaching of the coral. The zooxanthellae have a low threshold or niche towards change in temperature of its external environment. Through the changing sea temperatures, this organism isn't able to cope with this change and it simply dies or it has to move to more suitable areas. Without the zooxanthellae supplying the coral with colour and energy, the coral starts to loss its colour, and then the bleaching occurs with the rate depending on the size of the coral. The skeleton of the coral is exposed and sometime later it dies. • Ocean Acidification • The oceans have long been a great help against the rising concentration of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. With even more emissions of these greenhouse gases, the ocean is absorbing even more or being precipitated into the ocean which is causing problems. Man made carbon pollutions have started this trend affecting the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere the process of carbon dioxide being dissolved into the seas has become carbonic acid. The carbonic acid has a great effect on calcifying organisms or simply aquatic animals with shells or an exoskeleton like coral reefs and crustaceans causing the effect of calcification. • Thawing of the permafrost • Permafrost or permanently frozen subsoil has been thawing out due to climate change but more specific the rising atmospheric temperatures global warming. The thawed permafrost of the tundra an environment of low growing plants and cold temperatures and under frozen lakes that have thawed leaving on the bed vegetation that organisms ate which produced and released pockets of methane gas, a greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. The other problem is the kind of structures that support themselves on top of permafrost like roads and houses. If there is a significant amount of thawing under these structures, it would cause sinkholes then the structures would eventually collapsed or be in the process of being unstable and unusable.

  12. Melting of Arctic polar ice • The polar ice in the Arctic like ice sheets, icebergs and thick ice have either cracked, chipped off and/or starting to melt. The warmer conditions have caused this polar ice to melt thus causing a rise in the sea levels. Other problems associating with it is the release of methane, that of similarity to permafrost into the environment, the shrinking of ice and icebergs and the retreating of glaciers. With ice melting away, the organisms that call this place home are affected because melting ice is fresh water and if that is mixed with the sea water then certain organisms can be affected. Also organisms that live in fresh water are also affected by the contamination of salt water. With more ice being melted, there is less reflection of heat from the sun accelerating the melting process even faster. Mountain Pine Beetle InfestationMountain pine beetles live in cold climate of the forest of Northern America from Mexico to central British Columbia which suits them but the ever increasing atmospheric temperatures have cause these insects to migrate somewhere more suitable for them to live, find food and reproduce. The new areas that they have inhabited are being under sieged by them. These bugs bore into the trees of spruce in which they live in and lay their eggs. The tree’s natural defence is to secrete its own resin but the beetles carry the blue strain fungi and if the fungi is starting to grow on the bore hole then it stops the resin response The tree’s phloem layer and vascular tissue are damaged thus stopping the flow of nutrients and water in the tree. Older trees start to die first then the living trees are succumbed and the colours of the tree become red.

  13. Protozoan zooxanthellae

  14. Arctic or Antarctic ice

  15. Positives and negative impacts • Coral Bleaching: Great Barrier ReefNegative effects • Physical environment • · without the energy from the zooxanthellae to be supplied to the coral, the coral's skeleton will be exposed and die • · The decrease in population of aquatic animals such as the parrotfish who feeds on the coral and Xmas tree worms which bores into the coral for shelter. • · there would be an outbreak of the crown-of-thorns population over the reef that world destroy the coral and the inhabitants of the reef Human environment • · A decrease in the amount of tourists visiting the reef from 1.6 million of national and international tourists • · The lack of fish in and around of the reef will affect the fishing industry • · There will be an impact on the economy of Australia due to less exportation of fish and seafood and tourism • Positive effectsPhysical environment • · The increased sea temperatures along the coast of Australia will give a good environment for coral to flourish • · The fish that lived on the great barrier reef will migrate to these new areas and repopulate • Human environment • · the migration of different of species of fish that have distributed along the coast will impact the fishing industry there • · Tourism in these areas will increase • · These 2 main factors will increase the economy

  16. Thawing of the permafrost: SiberiaNegative impactsPhysical Environment • · Thawing of the permafrost releases pockets of methane from the ground contributing to the effects of global warming • Human environment • · Buildings that are supported on top of permafrosts will experience weakness in them and will lead to damage and even destructions towards them • · Infrastructures like roads that are made on top the permafrost will crack, buckle or even split apart, making the roads unusable • · Roads that are needed for exportation and importation or for travelling will be unusable causing jams • Positive ImpactsPhysical impact • Human environment • · The return of nutrients in the soil will be a good environment for plants to grow • · The growth in plants will lure the native species back to the area again

  17. Ice Melting: ArcticNegative ImpactsPhysical environment • · There is a reduction in the sea ice and its thickness and age of it • A change in the pattern of refreezing and thawing Less ice means less reflection of the sun rays causing more rapid melting • · Polar bears who need compact ice to walk like ice sheets on are cracked and melting leaving polar bears to swim to new areas that is suitable for them • Without polar bears that are apex predators to keep the population of its prey down, they are at risk • · Arctic animals such as fish, whales, seals, whales, walruses feeding and migration patterns have changed • · Arctic freshwater lakes are washed into the sea • · The Polar ice caps are melting leaving to the increase of sea levels • · The thawing of permafrost will release methane into the atmosphere contributing to the effects of climate change • Fish and organisms that inhabit the Arctic region are affected due to the change in water temperatures and the change in the salinity of the waterThus affecting the biodiversity and ecology of the Arctic region The ice been separated from the Arctic ice can affect the Thermohaline system and other ocean circulationsOld ice or thick ice are disappearing leaving more young ice or thin iceOver time, the ice will get thinner and thinner until all of the ice is just a thin layer • · Human environment • The native people of the Arctic region will have to migrate to new areas of higher land because of the rise in sea levels • Fishing trawlers that fish in the Arctic Ocean would have lesser chance of catching fish • Positive ImpactsPhysical environment • Human environmentTourists would be able to visit the Arctic and Antarctic more often due to the decrease in temperatures

  18. Mountain Pine Beetle Infestation: ColoradoNegative ImpactsPhysical environmentThey bore into the trees of spruce where it harms the treeThe mountain pine beetles carry blue strain fungi stopping the secretion of resin the tree uses to heal scars and damage to the tree. The spruce trees that are situated in Colorado and Wyoming are most affected because its environment is suitable for the pine beetles. • They dying of these trees for it not able to heal itself has cause a great release of carbon dioxide that were trapped in the tree are released into the atmosphere contributing to the warming of the • Earth Human environmentThe dying of these can release debris of branches or the total collapse of the tree causing damage towards housed or other structures and even human • Spruce is used to make paper, instruments, furniture, for building, using the resin to make pitch and most things that are made of wood. If the trees are been destroyed by these beetles, then there would be less production of things that are made of spruceIf they destroy enough of these trees then the prices for these objects would increaseThe prices being too high means less people would buy it leading to the companies that use or distribute spruce would go out of businessJobs would be lostThe economy of the areas affected would be affected Positive ImpactsPhysical environmentHuman environment

  19. Ocean acidificationNegative impacts Physical environmentAccelerates the problem for coral bleaching • Dissolves the calcium carbonate in organisms such as coral and calcifying aquatic animals • Organisms with a low tolerance towards pH levels would start to dieThe predators that up the food chain will be affected most due to the decrease in animals to eat suck as crustaceans and molluscs. • Human environmentIf the oceans get to acidic then people that go to beaches can’t swim in the water • Tourists’ hotspots that are near water where people swim in will be unable to swim in and the effects of coral bleaching will be increase due to ocean acidificationThe amount of tourists coming to these areas would decrease leading to loss of moneyThe economy of these areas will be affected Positive impact • Physical environmentHuman environment

  20. Conclusion The changes in the Great Barrier Reef, the spruce forest of British Columbia, The melting of polar ice, the lowering of pH levels in the sea and the thawing of the permafrost in Siberia are occurring right now and the effects on the physical and human environment and without any drastic changes to human activities and them emitting onto the environment, then it would be more severe in the future

  21. Evaluation and predictions of the problems • The seriousness of the problems for the physical and human environment in the long run is severe because the effects of climate change on ecosystems and habitats are only minor right now. If these trends continue into the future, then there would damage so severe that it would be irreversible and the world would go back into its primeval state.

  22. Bibliography • Coral Bleaching http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/aboutcc/problems/impacts/species/http://www.marinebiology.org/coralbleaching.htm • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_bleachingArctic ice melting • http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/qthinice.asp • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_shrinkage • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_methane_release • http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ • http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/qthinice.asp

  23. Ocean acidificationhttp://nakedmaninthetree.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/our-oceans/oceanacid/http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/12/18569645.php • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_acidification • Migration of pine beetles • http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/15/beetle-infestation-get-much-worse/ • http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/245 • http://www.pc.gc.ca/apprendre-learn/prof/sub/mpb-ddp/page3_e.asp • http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/quarantine/pests-diseases/forests-timber/pine-beetle • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_pine_beetle

  24. Thawing of the tundra • http://www.livescience.com/environment/080327-smallpox-corpses.htmlhttp://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v443/n7107/abs/nature05040.html • http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/ClimateChange/effects/effects.htmhttp://www.planetextinction.com/planet_extinction_permafrost.htmhttp://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/1997/97GL00071.shtml • http://arcticstudies.pbworks.com/Tundra

  25. MapCoral bleachinghttp://www.unep-wcmc.org/climate/history.aspx • Arctic ice meltinghttp://www.thewe.cc/weplanet/news/water/dramatic_melt_in_arctic_icecape.htm • http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/qthinice.asp • Ocean acidificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_acidification • Pine beetle infestationhttp://csfs.colostate.edu/pages/mountain-pine-beetle.htmlThawing of the tundrahttp://arcticstudies.pbworks.com/Tundra

  26. Pictures • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_bleaching • http://www.komonews.com/weather/blog/27546634.html • http://getenergysmartnow.com/2009/04/20/daily-kos-forget-about-cow-farts-what-about-earth-burps/ • http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=ocean-acidification-hits-great-barrier-reef • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BarkBeetleDamageBC.jpg • Statistics http://www.reef.edu.au/ohg/res-pic/HG%20papers/Hoegh-Guldberg%201999.pdf • http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/showarticle.asp?id=18 • http://www.skepticalscience.com/Arctic-sea-ice-melt-natural-or-man-made.html • http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/N_stddev_timeseries.png • http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ • http://infestation.film.bigbestmovie.com/montanasthirtyyearmountainpinebeetleinfestation/ • http://politicalclimate.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/ocean-acidification-climate-bill-skirmishes-pt-2/ • http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7827106.stm

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