Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Will climate change seal the fate of another species?

Though some might debate this notion, most of us know the existence of climate change to be true. But despite all the documentaries, science articles and textbook readings about it, most of us aren’t really conscious of the impact it has on the environment; one of these reasons being that nothing in our immediate surrounding has really drastically changed. But to creatures living in extreme conditions, some changes in the climate have already been noticed, and no matter how small, it can affect them in huge ways.

Take the Antarctic fur seals for instance. These cute creatures are very delicate in the early stages of their lives, requiring huge amounts of energy to grow, and to begin living independently. Now, due to climate change, conditions in the Antarctica are becoming more wet and windy. As a result, these seal pups are finding it even harder to meet these energy requirements, as they now need to use more of their energy to keep themselves warm. These can result in lower survival rates, as these pups will have less energy available to them for growth. But that’s not all, as the climate changes so does prey availability, which means the pups now more than ever, need to conserve and allocate more of their energy to keep warm instead of growth.

According to scientist Birgitte McDonald, a postdoctoral researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, these changes can have adverse effects on these seals as it they’ll find it a bigger challenge to be able to shift towards nutritional independence successfully. From a study she carried out, in which she studied the amounts of energy these pup seals invest in different areas (growing, thermoregulation, energy storage, etc), she found that the newborns use 60% of their energy they get from their mothers for growth. But as they progress to 1 month old, these number drops to 25%. This shows how important energy allocations to the right areas are in the early stage of the pup seal’s life. This is due to the fact that this stage is used to focus on growing, learning, and to prepare for a future independent from their mothers.

Even though predictions from climate models suggests that the places they live in will have higher temperatures, they expect rainfall , snowfall, and stronger winds to be more abundant, making these pup use more of their energy to keep warm, as they lack the insulation that an adult coat would offer. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the impacts that are affecting our planet, even if we don’t see it in our surroundings. The decisions we make in the next decade will shape the fate of such species and our earth as a whole.

http://news.discovery.com/animals/fur-seals-survival-120321.html


-Hermann Kam (1)

9 comments:

  1. Climate change effects creatures big and small all around the world. Amphibians are one of the groups that are hardest hit. They are so fragile in regards to temperature and humidity that even small changes can destroy entire populations. In my herpetology class we learned of a species of frogs living high in the rainforests of south America who went extinct over the course of only one year, because their population was localized in one location and climate change shifted the temperature enough that their breeding patterns were ruined.

    Rhys Ursuliak

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  2. Every living being on the planet is affected by global climate change, whether they notice it or not. This could range from being as extreme as the degradation of cold-weather habitats, to the loss of certain plant species in areas where erratic weather has wreaked havoc. Some scientists even believe that warming temperatures lead to the extinction of dinosaurs due to extreme temperature changes that resulted in infertility. Regardless, the evidence of its destruction is on the table, and the problem is serious.

    Jeff Keating (2)

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    1. We are talking about global warming right now in the introductory ecology class and what you said here is 100% true. Many species are struggling in the different temperatures and precipitation rates. Polar bears are another animal that are endangered because all their ice is melting. Polar bears are a big predator of seals, so one would think that if they are dying, seals would have an easier time. This is not the case however, which just goes to prove that the actual climate directly affects the animals.


      Posted by Jen Silva(3)

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  3. This is very sad. Global climate change is a real issue effecting every living organism on this planet, yet many people fail to recognize it, or claim that it is not actually occurring. Yet the destruction, loss of species diversity, and other effects are coming to a head and our ignorance is not going to make it go away. What can we do differently to open the eyes of those not involved in science?

    Posted by Laura Moro (2)

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    1. There are some encouraging signs, like countries agreeing to cut down carbon emissions, car companies are coming up with hybrids and so on. However, this is not sufficient, a lot more can be done to alleviate this situation. I feel that there should be more car pool lanes and public transport can be more efficient, so there will be less cars on the road hence less carbon emissions. More places should start recycling and composting. These are just some examples of what we can do to save this earth. There is nothing much we can do differently, but if the government or the respective authorities try and put some of the examples mentioned in place, those not involved in science can participate in helping our environment. Because we not only want people to be aware, but also to do something about it.

      -Hermann Kam

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  4. I think people just don't realize that their day to day actions actually attribute to the extinction of animals. When people leave the lights on in the house, typically their first reaction isn't "This is going to effect global warming and in result make animal extinct," they probably think nothing of it. I think if more advertising was posted on tv, radio, etc. to get peoples attention it could help that much more to a continuously worsening problem.

    Taylor Pirog (2)

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    1. I totally agree. There is enough media attention and education to raise sufficient awareness about climate change. However, there isn't anything substantial or powerful enough to compel people to make changes in order improve this situation. But I guess if the government put systems in place to try and get people more involved in improving the environment, people would be willing to. For example, UMass has set up recycling bins for different types of thrash so more recycling could be done, they have sustainable move-out and they compost food. This way, people will become actively involved. If not, they don't see why they should go out of their way to do something, yet not benefit directly and individually from it.

      -Hermann Kam

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  5. We all need to make a more conscious effort to decrease our personal impact on the environment. One person might not have a real impact, but if everyone did a small part, the environment would be saved for future generations.

    poster by Dorian Pillari(c)

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  6. An often overlooked thing that has a very positive affect on one's carbon footprint is going vegetarian. The amount of resources consumed in order to feed animals so that we can eat them is enormous, and feeding a large population plants rather than meat can greatly alleviate strain on the environment.

    Mike Selden (C)

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