How Humans Have Affected the Antarctic Food Web

Antarctica is the coldest, driest, and most inhospitable continent on Earth. Yet it is yields some 90 percent of the Earth most precious natural resource: water. But behind this pristine exterior, Antarctica is fighting a losing battle. New data suggests that the continent as a whole is warming at an alarming rate. According to recent studies gathered from Nature Magazine, the western half of the continent is warming five times faster than any other place

The Earth's rise in temperature is melting ice in its colder regions. Many animals who live in the Arctic Circle, the lands surrounding

Arctic ice caps are melting, causing many animals to find either a new habitat or new food, which are both extremely challenging. For example, in Document A, sea lions

My name is Zachary Rowe, I am going to talk about the global warming weather effects in Alaska and how it has affected the population of various living animal species. The number of large predators living in the southern Beaufort Sea of Alaska has decreased from 1,500 animals in 2001, to just under 900 in 2010. As the species are decreasing in numbers, they are now listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Another problem in 2013, a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have seen a decline in reindeer inside Alaskan boundaries. These aren't the only species whose populations has

The inuit have to understand the natural patterns of Arctic wildlife because of global warming. Global warming is causing problems because the number

Kathy Conlan is an expert in understanding the weird and wonderful world of marine creatures that live deep under the Arctic ice. She specializes in marine benthic biology and amphipod systematics. Kathy studies how human and natural changes affect marine life in the Arctic and Antarctic, the effects of pollution on marine life as well as global warming. She is past chief officer for Life Sciences in the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and is a judge for SCAR’s Martha T. Muse Prize for Science and policy in Antarctica, represents Canada for the Canadian Committee on Antarctic Research, taught at Huntsman Marine Science Centre and Students On Ice, mentors university students and gives speaches and “Show and tells” at the museum.

More than 90% percent of the food in Alaska comes in from elsewhere. Also the Circumpolar Council-Alaska looks out for coastal villages in the state. The United States and the other countries all contribute to global warming and pollution that affects the Arctic. The oogruk are the largest of Alaska’s Ice seals. The inuit live in the Arctic region, which includes parts of Alaska, a few European countries and Russia. The Inuits in Alaska are having many problems because of global warming. They are having trouble finding food while hunting and Alaska already has to find it's food from other places.

Sea ice is a vital breeding and nursing habitat for emperor penguins, where their colonies are formed far from the open sea. The breeding penguins, would then, go on scavenging trips throughout the entire development and chick nurturing stages. However, during the period with thick and wide sea ice cover, the trips become longer. Adult penguins would have to use up more energy for travel, which will result in lower offspring provisioning and hatching success (Barbraud & Weimerskirch, 2001, p. 185). Also, sea ice could influence the emperor penguin by “topdown processes”. Diminished sea ice could allow access to hunting areas of the emperor penguin by potential predators, such as killer whales (Jenouvrier et al., (2012), p. 2759). Consequently, there are no emperor penguin remains found in killer whale diets. Nevertheless, penguins that have used up so much energy (especially males after their 4 months fast) are vulnerable to other predators, which could result in a lower survival rate. This predicament is mainly caused by the change of variables called “sea ice concentration” and “sea ice

The Ted Talk video “Pay Attention to Penguins” shows one example of a change that can affect populations. Global warming affected the penguin’s ecosystem by melting the ice caps and killing the penguins. Global warming caused by humans has several negative impacts such as melting ice caps, reducing land used for breeding, and decreasing food supplies for penguins. The melted ice caps will raise sea level which will make no land for mating and laying eggs. The food levels will diminish like squid, krill and fish which will affect the survival of the penguins. Another way to interpret the change is that

The increasing global temperatures have caused many problems in Arctic ecosystems. The increasing warmth has caused ice caps to melt, and permafrost to thaw, causing shifts in the ecosystems around them. 1According to Harris (2005) “Permafrost is soil, rock or sediment that is frozen for more than two consecutive years. In areas not overlain by ice, it exists beneath a layer of soil, rock or sediment, which freezes and thaws annually and is called the "active layer".” (p. 17). While the melting of ice may not seem like a big issue at first glance, its effects are truly catastrophic. Many professionals in this field, such as Houghton (2009) have said 2“Warming is expected to be strongest in the Arctic, with the continuing retreat of

In the last few decades, various marine species of Antarctic ecosystem have been brought close to extinction because of human activities in various forms such as pollution from sewage and other contaminants, overfishing and other mixed activities and

Growing up, I have always heard the adults around me talking about the laws and policies to save the Earth, and the controversies that came from them. At the time, those conversations were way over my head, but now they fuel my current ideas about the Earth and its oceans. While in Key Largo, I hope to learn how the many scientists involved in the upkeep of the world use their skills to help our oceans, so that I can create an earth-friendly lifestyle for myself and others. The poor state of our Earth and its oceans is a problem caused by every country, business, and person, and unless every person helps, it will continue to be an ever-present problem. After all, we only have one Earth. If we destroy it, we won’t receive another one.

"We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words” (Anna Sewell). There is undeniable evidence that animals are being affected by climate change. Even though the effects are difficult to measure, there are many different ways animals are being affected. With the loss of predator and prey species it affects the life cycles in the food chain. The earth’s climate change causes habitats such as snow, ice, or forest areas to alter, resulting in loss of habitat and food accessibility as well as causing extinction.

There are possible solutions to climate change and its effects on Antarctica but if not taken there will be grave consequences of inaction. A solution to climate change is reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. A solution to climate change is reducing our dependency on fossil fuels. Another possible solution is to start more green initiatives. Corn

The melting ice caps are having a dramatic affect on the polar regions of the earth. For example, the average temperature in the Arctic is rising twice as fast than the rest of the world (nrdc.org). The once prominent ice is now melting at a dramatic speed, which is affecting native people, wildlife, and plants. When the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf splintered, the freshwater lake that it surrounded drained into the ocean, along with the ecosystem that inhabited it. Polar bears, whales, walrus and seals are changing their feeding and migration patterns, making it harder for native people to hunt them (nrdc.org). Because of the flooding, entire villages will be uprooted order to avoid being swamped. Also, the Arctic coastlines are beginning to move as well. The melting ice caps are threatening the native peoples’ cultural identity and their very survival. Ice-dependant animals, such as walruses and ring seals will be greatly affected by the melting ice caps (treehugger.com). They have fewer places to rest on, as well as fewer places to hunt. If the ice caps keep melting, their lives will become in great danger. The melting ice caps are not only affecting the Polar Regions, but they are also affecting the rest of the world as well in the form of rising ocean levels.