The author of the article “Implications of Arctic permafrost thaw,” published on March 2012, written by Ian Dunlop a former international oil, gas and coal industry executive. He was chaired at the Australian Coal Association in 1987-88. After years, he was chaired to the Australian Greenhouse office Experts Group on Emissions Trading 1998-2000. He was also the CEO of the Australian Institute of Company Directors in 1997-2001. A chairman of Safe Climate Australia and a Member of the Club of Rome. His article was published in a magazine which, informs people about the personal opinion Ian Dunlop has about the climate change. This source is relative for my thesis because it explains the impact of the melting ice, on the environment/humans.
Another natural cause that could have an impact on global warming is the melting of permafrost in the arctic. Permafrost is any rock or solid material that has been frozen for 2 or more years. Permafrost lies mostly in sub-arctic and arctic conditions. The ways ecosystems have changed, these regions have turned from storing carbon dioxide to being a main source and releasing it. As these solid materials continue to be frozen, more atmospheric gases and methane continue to be trapped. When the temperature of the air and the ground rises, the permafrost melts and releases the gas into the air. The thawing of this ground releases carbon and methane, which has a major impact on the climate change in that region. Methane is about twenty times
Climate change or colloquially known as global warming, now pose a new threat to civilization as the levels of greenhouse gases (GHG) are soaring to new levels. The most significant contributor to greenhouse gasses would be Carbon Dioxide (Co2). The levels of Carbon Dioxide (Co2) gas have risen to levels civilization has not seen before. As such, the effects of these levels are not known to civilization as data gathered from the ice cores drilled in the Antarctica only shows data up to 650,000 years ago. However we can conclude that present CO2 concentrations are higher compared to any time in the last 650,000 years (IPCC 2007). Current carbon dioxide concentrations are hovering around 389 parts per million (ppm) as of September 2011,
In Brian Sussman’s argument against man made global warming, he says that CO2 is not as dangerous to our atmosphere as scientists say. I agree, we need CO2 to live, which is fact. However, at the rate humans are pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere it is offsetting the balance. The plants, trees, and oceans cannot keep up, and cannot absorb the amount of CO2 we releasing into the atmosphere. This disrupted balance in the environment makes the CO2 dangerous. Going back to the Vostok (Antarctica) Ice Core Record, as CO2 levels rose, so did the global temperature.
The tundra is one of the cooldest land biomes on the planet. Due to the high winds and the permafrost there are no trees becuase it dosent allow the growth of deep roots. All the producers and othe need to get adapted to the cold temperatures, little sun and short growing season to stay alive. The tundra is considered a poor enviroment thats low in resources. The dead minerals get recycled by othe decomposers like the slime molds, fungi, and bacteria. Rain increases photosynthesis and decomposition. Air pollution kills lichen in the cold tundra. The warmer climates allow trees to invade the shade out the small tundra plants. And warmer temperatures can increase decompositon, while releasing more CO2 into the air causing mor global
Scientists have given numerous warnings that human-caused, or anthropogenic, climate change is not only occurring now, but accelerating more quickly than predicted (Maibach, Myers, and Leiserowitz 295). Global warming contributes to climate change as a result of the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (“Global Warming”). The level of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere has increased significantly over the years. Patterns of warming are sufficient to conclude that this increase has coincided with the start of the Industrial Revolution (“Global Warming”). By analyzing carbon dioxide pockets that have been trapped in Antarctic ice, scientists can assuredly confirm the correlation between recent warming
In the article, “As Earth Warms, the Diseases That May Lie Within Permafrost Become a Bigger Worry,” published in the Scientific American on its November's 2016 issue by Sara Goudarzi, it talks about the potential threat of diseases that can lie beneath the permafrost. These diseases have been expelled from underneath due to the thawing of permafrost caused by global warming, resulting in one of the first outbreaks in Siberia in 75 years. Although some scientist who have searched for such diseases have come up empty handed, it is important that we stay weary of these illnesses as they can, “Include infectious agents humans might not be prepared for or have immunity to, the scientists [say].”
The tundra is an ecosystem that has consumers, decomposer, food chain and producers so that is the stuff that I know about tundra ecosystem so let's get started with The tundra ecosystem facts about the tundra ecosystem.
Tundra is in northern parts of the earth and is also a wide range land. The Tundra can be found far away from the equator at high latitudes or on top of mountains at high altitudes. The latitude range from 75° N to 60° N. Furthermore, the tundra is in the North at the peak of the earth close to the North Pole. The average winter temperature is -34° C in tundra, but the average summer temperature is what hinders this biome to have a sustainable life. However, the rainfall may vary in different regions of the arctic. Tundra is basically split into two, one side is called the arctic and the other is the alpine. Precipitation averages from 20 all the way to 60 cm every year in arctic tundra but surpass 100 cm in alpine tundra where there are no
The Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE) is a multi-year mission conducted by NASA to obtain detailed calculations of greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide and methane from thawing permafrost by probing deep into the frozen landscape of Alaska. For the first time, NASA scientists have been accurately recording these emission sources and rates using highly sensitive airborne sensors mounted on NASA government aircraft. NASA scientists expect to make unprecedented accurate estimates of the extent of Arctic carbon cycling impacts to the Arctic atmosphere and the local Alaskan ecology. The data results of this mission will help both NASA and global scientists better understand how the estimated rate of greenhouse gas emissions affect the rise in temperature and potential impact of Earth’s future climate near and long-term.
Temperature conditions are critical in determining sufficient winter chill exposure. However, the process is physiological and likely to be driven by other, yet undetermined, processes (Dennis, 1994). Hormonal controls have been suggested as the mechanism, with early research proposing the process is controlled by a balance of growth promoters and inhibitors (Amen, 1968). More recent research
Due to global warming , the Arctic is warming much faster than the average global temperature; ice in the Arctic Ocean is melting and the permafrost is thawing. Since 1880, after carbon dioxide emissions took off with the Industrial Revolution, the average global temperature has increased about one and half degrees Fahrenheit. Each decade gets warmer than the last. A conference organized by the Geological Society in London in 2010 to evaluate how climate changed effected the earth before this time. The Geological Society warned that it could take the Earth one hundred thousand years to
Human produced carbon dioxide mainly caused by the burning of natural resources and deforestation has caused the earth’s temperature to rise (Spahni). The carbon dioxide adds to a problem known as the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse effect is the building up of different gases in the earth’s atmosphere causing the earth’s temperature to rise. Consequently, the key players in the greenhouse effect are as follows: water vapor 36-70%, carbon dioxide 9-26%, methane 4-9%, and ozone 3-7% (Russel). Thus, to determine the amount of CO2 and other gases that have been in the atmosphere in the past, ice core samples are taken and examined. There are ice core samples taken from as far back as 650,000 years ago (Siegenthaler). There has
Global warming is one of the most tumultuous topics in today’s society. Some believe it is happening as we speak, while others question its very existence, So, is it real, or is merely a hoax? There is no one answer, but evidence does overwhelmingly support the former. Surely we have all heard this word at one time or another, but few individuals actually know its true definition. Justifiably, however, global warming is not that simply explained. In layman’s terms, it is the dramatic increase in the Earth’s average air and ocean temperature since the 20th century. This increase is primarily attributed to two main culprits: the greenhouse effect and human activity, such as fossil fuel burning. In both cases, carbon dioxide (CO2) is the
The issue of global warming should be on the list of our top priorities. Studies show that the average of global temperatures have risen since the Industrial Revolution began. Since the Industrial Revolution, human emissions has quadrupled the frequency of certain heat extremes and many scientists have warned that a failure to bring greenhouse gases under control could eventually lead to a 62-fold increase in extreme heat blasts (Gillis Justin A17). Most of the increase is due to human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. These activities contribute to a build-up in carbon dioxide and other gases in Earth’s atmosphere. The Earth’s atmosphere is made of gases like nitrogen, carbon dioxide and oxygen. These gases act as a blanket that covers and gives us warmth, but once these gases such as carbon dioxide absorbs heat, but does not release it back into space in which causes the increase in global temperature. This is called the greenhouse effect because it only traps heat but does not release it.