preview

Global Warming and Climate Change: Melting the Marine Life Essay

Decent Essays

“Reef Fish Find It’s Too Hot to Swim” (600 words) Global warming has effected the world. The earth has had a drastic and devastating aftermath since humans have decided to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This resulted in the ground (above or below water) temperature to rise; the very definition of global warming. This has warmed up the waters and the fish of the ocean are now living in an environment that is too hot for them to live in. The example given is the coral trout, a fish that is commercially important. Since the water temperature has risen higher up in the water, these trout tend to be more lethargic now; they stay lower in the water. This is crucial because all of their hunting and mating ground is higher …show more content…

The polar bear lives up in the Arctic region where global warming and climate change are melting the ice caps that the bears thrive on. They use the ice as a platform from hunting and rest. The random pocket holes in the ice, where the seals pop up at, is where the polar bear catches its prey. With this reduction of ice, “the abundance of seals, and increases the amount of energy and time needed for hunting, leaving less energy for reproduction” (Endangered Species and Habitats). The climate change has caused not only waters to raise in temperature, but also in the sea level; this is having a major negative effect on sea turtles. When the female sea turtles lay their eggs and bury them in the sand, the rising waters make the eggs’ nest a dangerous place to be, resulting in even lower amounts of turtles hatched. Also, the rising temperatures effects the natural eggs’ incubation temperature of 34°C higher, which effects the sex of the turtle. Loggerhead turtles in Florida are ninety percent female due to this factor. If the temperature continues to rise, there may be no males left at all. The next innocent animal forced to cope with global warming is the whale. With the ocean waters warming more and more, the patches of zooplankton that female whales need to “bulk up” for a full pregnancy and being able to produce milk for her young. When the amount of zooplankton is too low, the right whale,

Get Access