Global Warming and Its Effect on Marine Populations

Global warming, an increase in the Earths average atmospheric temperature that causes corresponding changes in climate, is a growing environmental concern caused by industry and agriculture in the mid-20th century to the present. As greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide and methane are released into the atmosphere, a shield forms around the Earth, trapping heat  and, therefore, creating a general warming effect. Oceans are one of the areas most affected by this warming. Rising air temperatures affect the physical nature of the oceans. As air temperatures rise, water becomes less dense and separates from a nutrient-filled cold layer below. This is the basis for a chain effect that impacts all marine life that counts on these nutrients for survival. There are two general physical effects of ocean warming on marine populations that are crucial to consider: Changes in natural habitats and food supplyChanging ocean chemistry/acidification Changes in Natural Habitats and Food Supply Phytoplankton, one-celled plants that live at the oceans surface and algae use photosynthesis for nutrients. Photosynthesis is a process that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and converts it into organic carbon and oxygen, which feed  almost every ecosystem.   According to a NASA study, phytoplankton is more likely to thrive in cooler oceans. Similarly, algae, a plant that produces food for other marine life through photosynthesis, is vanishing due to ocean warming. Since oceans are warmer, nutrients cant travel upward to these suppliers, which survive only in oceans small surface layer. Without those nutrients, phytoplankton and algae cannot supplement marine life with necessary organic carbon and oxygen. Yearly Growth Cycles Various plants and animals in the oceans need both a temperature and light balance in order to thrive. Temperature-driven creatures, such as phytoplankton, have started their yearly growth cycle earlier in the season due to warming oceans. Light-driven creatures start their yearly growth cycle around the same time. Since phytoplankton thrive in earlier seasons, the entire food chain is affected. Animals that once traveled to the surface for food are now finding an area void of nutrients, and light-driven creatures are starting their growth cycles at different times. This creates a non-synchronous natural environment. Migration The warming of oceans may also lead to migration of organisms along the coasts. Heat-tolerant species, such as shrimp, expand northward, while heat-intolerant species, such as clams and flounder, retreat northward. This migration leads to a new mix of organisms in an entirely new environment, ultimately causing changes in predatory habits. If some organisms cannot adapt to their new marine environment, they will not flourish and will die off. Changing Ocean Chemistry/Acidification As carbon dioxide is released into the oceans, the ocean chemistry drastically changes. Greater carbon dioxide concentrations released into the oceans create increased ocean acidity. As ocean acidity increases, phytoplankton is  reduced. This results in fewer ocean plants able to convert greenhouse gasses. Increased ocean acidity also threatens marine life, such as corals and shellfish, which may become extinct later this century from the chemical effects of carbon dioxide. Acidifications Effect on Coral Reefs Coral, one of the leading sources for the oceans food and livelihood, is also changing with global warming. Naturally, coral secretes tiny shells of calcium carbonate in order to form its skeleton. Yet, as carbon dioxide from global warming is released into the atmosphere, acidification increases and the carbonate ions vanish. This results in lower extension rates or weaker skeletons in most corals. Coral Bleaching Coral bleaching, the breakdown in the symbiotic relationship between coral and algae, is also occurring with warmer ocean temperatures. Since zooxanthellae, or algae, give coral its particular coloration, increased carbon dioxide in the planets oceans causes coral stress and a release of this algae. This leads to a lighter appearance. When this relationship that is so important for our ecosystem to survive vanishes, corals begin to weaken. Consequently, food and habitats for a great number of marine life are also destroyed. Holocene Climatic Optimum The  drastic climate change known as Holocene Climatic Optimum (HCO) and its effect on surrounding wildlife is not new. The HCO, a general warming period displayed in fossil records from 9,000 to 5,000 BP, proves that climate change can directly impact natures inhabitants. In 10,500 BP, younger dryas, a plant that once spread throughout the world in various cold climates, became nearly extinct due to this warming period. Toward the end of the warming period, this plant that so much of nature had depended on was only found in the few areas that remained cold. Just as younger dryas became scarce in the past, phytoplankton, coral reefs, and the marine life that depend on them are becoming scarce today. Earths environment is continuing on a circular path that may soon lead to chaos within a once naturally balanced environment. Future Outlook and Human Effects The warming of the oceans and its effect on marine life has a direct impact on human life. As coral reefs die, the world loses an entire ecological habitat of fish. According to the World Wildlife Fund, a small increase of 2 degrees Celsius would destroy almost all existing coral reefs. Additionally, ocean circulation changes due to warming would have a disastrous effect on marine fisheries. This drastic outlook is often hard to imagine. It can only be related to a similar historical event. Fifty-five million years ago, ocean acidification led to a mass extinction of ocean creatures. According to fossil records, it took more than 100,000 years for the oceans to recover. Eliminating the use of greenhouse gases and protecting the oceans can prevent this from occurring again. Nicole Lindell writes about global warming for ThoughtCo.

Nietzsche versus Gandhi Essay - 1378 Words

Friedrich Nietzsche and Mahatma Gandhi, two mammoth political figures of their time, attack the current trend of society. Their individual philosophies and concepts suggest a fundamental problem: if civilization is so diseased, can we overcome this state of society and the sickness that plagues the minds of the masses in order to advance? Gandhi and Nietzsche attain to answer the same proposition of sickness within civilization, and although the topic of unrest among both may be dissimilar, they have parallel means of finding a cure to such an illness as the one that plagues society. Nietzsche’s vision of spiritual health correlates directly with Gandhi’s image of industrialism and the self-sufficiency. This correlation prevails by†¦show more content†¦Gandhi claims that â€Å"passive resistance, that is soul force, is matchless†¦ How then can it be considered a weapon of the weak?† (Gandhi 49) By Gandhi’s standards, it cannot be conside red weak if standing up against laws that are disliked; those that are truly weak attempt to find the answer behind brute force. Gandhi claims that â€Å"passive resistance cannot proceed a step without fearlessness† and strength of mind. By this standard, brute force, not passive resistance contributes to the sickness of civilization by being void of mental strength. The professional occupations of man contribute to the spiritual sickness of civilization. Nietzsche isolates the priests as the â€Å"most evil enemies† stating that their hatred is both â€Å"spiritual and poisonous† (Nietzsche 33). The reason for such a lustrous claim is that Nietzsche believes that priests are responsible for influencing the decisions of the general public, brainwashing the masses to blindly believe church doctrine. Nietzsche accuses the priests and Jewish population of creating a â€Å"radical revaluation of their enemies’ values, that is to say, an act of the most spiritual revenge† (Nietzsche 33-34). By reshaping and convincing the masses to believe as the church believes; the priests are contributing to the sickness of civilization. According to Nietzsche, priests do not allow people to think on their own and therefore lull them into a mindless state of blind acceptance. The sickness of civilization, asShow MoreRelatedNietzsch e and Gandhi, Society1414 Words   |  6 PagesFriedrich Nietzsche and Mahatma Gandhi, two mammoth political figures of their time, attack the current trend of society. Their individual philosophies and concepts suggest a fundamental problem: if civilization is so diseased, can we overcome this state of society and the sickness that plagues the minds of the masses in order to advance? Gandhi and Nietzsche attain to answer the same proposition of sickness within civilization, and although the topic of unrest among both may be dissimilar, theyRead MoreGodards Breathless Essay Questions1553 Words   |  7 PagesVanishree Gandhi Godard’s Breathless 4. In a world where there are no ultimate reasons for action, how does Michel find freedom to act and to live creatively? Why does Patricia, who shares Michel’s nihilistic world-view, draw the opposite conclusion from it? Why is she only capable of negative freedom expressed as independence in the course of the film? In the movie Breathless, written and produced by Jean-Luc Godard, is a French film about a thief named Michel Poiccard, who spends his time in Paris

Learning What Was Never Taught free essay sample

Her main focus is the lack of history being taught at that time. The specific history she is referring to being that of Adolf Hitler, the holocaust, and the Third Reich. She looks at her own experience with her teachers and then talks at length about an interview she conducted later in her life with an older man who was a teacher in post-war Germany. This teacher, Casar Hagener, was a relatively young man at the time of the war and was very much against what was going on. Reichel conducted this interview when Hagener was seventy-six. He speaks of being forced into the Nazi party, being drafted, and his contempt for his contemporaries. The majority of her experience with teachers involves them dancing and side-stepping around the entire block of time that Germany was at war. The piece concludes stating that the German students today know more about Hitler and the Third Reich than any previous generation. We will write a custom essay sample on Learning What Was Never Taught or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Reichel could give more fact than observation if this piece were to truly hit home. She merely gives her own biased observation of what was going on with her teachers rather than any facts or case studies. Her inductive makes the story a bit weak in my opinion. I didn’t really find much to sink my teeth into in this story as Reichel only gives her point of view. There are no facts backing up her claim that German students today know more about Hitler and the Third Reich than any other generation. The language used in the story is quite descriptive. There were a few images that jumped off the page at me. One in particular was, â€Å"The dark clouds were gone, the past had been left behind, and he turned jocular and voluble again. † Another device used in the story is the simile. For instance when Reichel says the German youth must be, â€Å"resilient as leather, fast as a weasel, and hard as Krupp steel. The other example being, â€Å"A house without a fence is disorderly, like a coat with a missing button. † I read this story immediately after writing my response to Hotel Rwanda and it made me think about how much history repeats itself. In thinking about the genocide in Rwanda and the lack of action from the international community I think about the lack of action right now in Darfur. Watching Hotel Rwanda, I could only think that the international community would learn from what happened in Europe during WWII and learn from that. Learning What Was Never Taught free essay sample In this short story, author Sabine Reichel tells her tale of growing up in a post-WWII Germany education system. Her main focus is the lack of history being taught at that time. The specific history she is referring to being that of Adolf Hitler, the holocaust, and the Third Reich. She looks at her own experience with her teachers and then talks at length about an interview she conducted later in her life with an older man who was a teacher in post-war Germany. This teacher, Casar Hagener, was a relatively young man at the time of the war and was very much against what was going on. Reichel conducted this interview when Hagener was seventy-six. He speaks of being forced into the Nazi party, being drafted, and his contempt for his contemporaries. The majority of her experience with teachers involves them dancing and side-stepping around the entire block of time that Germany was at war. We will write a custom essay sample on Learning What Was Never Taught or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The piece concludes stating that the German students today know more about Hitler and the Third Reich than any previous generation. Reichel could give more fact than observation if this piece were to truly hit home. She merely gives her own biased observation of what was going on with her teachers rather than any facts or case studies. Her inductive makes the story a bit weak in my opinion. I didn’t really find much to sink my teeth into in this story as Reichel only gives her point of view. There are no facts backing up her claim that German students today know more about Hitler and the Third Reich than any other generation. The language used in the story is quite descriptive. There were a few images that jumped off the page at me. One in particular was, â€Å"The dark clouds were gone, the past had been left behind, and he turned jocular and voluble again. † Another device used in the story is the simile. For instance when Reichel says the German youth must be, â€Å"resilient as leather, fast as a weasel, and hard as Krupp steel. The other example being, â€Å"A house without a fence is disorderly, like a coat with a missing button. † I read this story immediately after writing my response to Hotel Rwanda and it made me think about how much history repeats itself. In thinking about the genocide in Rwanda and the lack of action from the international community I think about the lack of action right now in Darfur. Watching Hotel Rwanda, I could only think that the international community would learn from what happened in Europe during WWII and learn from that.