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| Webster, S. (Creator). 2012. Fox News climate change coverage. (Photograph). from http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/ 2012/05/climatecontrast-shutterstock-615x345.jpg |
The article I chose is called “By 2047, Coldest Years May Be
Warmer Than Hottest in Past, Scientists Say” written by Justin Gillis and
published on the ninth of October, 2013.
I don’t know about you, but I am not a fan of the sweltering
summer days that can reach above ninety degrees; and to my despair, it seems
that days like this will become the norm in the near future. This article
explains that by 2047, due to emissions of carbon dioxide into our environment,
the Earth will be experiencing unprecedentedly high temperatures. This means
that the type of weather we currently view as scorching will soon be viewed as
everyday weather.
The research has been executed on “huge computer programs that
attempt to reproduce the physics of the climate system and forecast the future
response to greenhouse gases.” Though these programs are extremely advanced,
they contain known problems and it’s questionable how accurate the data created
with by these models is.
The habitat that is expected to experience the fastest
climate change is the tropics. This is very dangerous because, stated in the
article, “Plants and animals in the tropics also are accustomed to a narrow
temperature range. Organisms that do not have the genetic capacity to adapt to
rapid climatic changes will be forced to move, or will be driven to extinction,
climate scientists say.”
This means that with the foreseen climate change, the
organisms of the tropics are doomed. This is a great threat to the relationship
between these organisms, more specifically, the ‘what eats what’ relationship
we discussed in biology class. If the climate change is too great for the
producers of the tropics to handle, they’ll die off, and without them, the rest
of the food chain will suffer. The primary consumers will die without their
food source, following them, the secondary consumers will die because of the
lack of their food source, then the tertiary consumers, and eventually, the decomposers.
The article continues on to state that if the human kind
works to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions we make to the
environment, we could buy ourselves some time. New York City wouldn’t face the
extreme temperatures until about 2072. But with high emissions, Mexico City’s
date would be 2031, Nigeria’s would be 2029, and Colombia’s would be 2033. This
news is terrifying and I’m sure I’m not the only one who believes so.
I’ve always been told that there wouldn’t be significant
change in the Earth until many years after I’d passed, but now I see that that’s
not the case. It’s a very nerve racking realization that we’re not even half a century
away from such a drastic change in our environment. This needs to be brought to
more people’s attention so that we can do something about it. And we need to
act fast.
I can’t believe that global warming will become such a big problem so quickly. I always thought it would take hundreds of years for the temperatures to reach such high levels, but now I know that it will happen way sooner than I expected. I agree that this needs to be brought to more people’s attention because this is a big issue, and we need to stop it before it gets any worse. Overall, your post really grabbed my attention because it had a lot of new information that I had no idea about. After reading your article and learning about the effects that global warming can have, I feel like I need to try to do whatever I can to make a difference.
ReplyDeleteIt is weird to imagine having everyday temperatures be so high. I also like you, don't enjoy the days in the summer where the temperatures reach up into the 90s and I sure wouldn't like to have that more often. I never realized how big of an effect global warming would have during my life time. I always thought nothing big would happen until I passed like you, but now I learned that that is not the case. It really got me thinking how bad this could be if it starts effecting organism populations. I was thinking back to our vernal pool projects. Now, I am more aware of this global issue, and I will try to reduce my own carbon footprint so that we have more time before the temperature get so high. I think you did a great job of keeping your blog post interesting and informative.
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