Climate Change And Arctic Research

John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath is about a family who is forced to relocate from their farm in Oklahoma to California. When one makes such drastic changes, a person may also undergo an evolution of character. Grampa is a very minor character who is featured in only about 100 pages, but still has quite a development in this short time.

The latest survey conducted by the US Forest Service shows that as many as 97% of the animals of the Arctic could be affected as a result of the observed warming. The climate change may occur faster in the Arctic region. Scientists have developed computer models to predict changes in the environment and their impact on the 162 species of birds and 39 species of mammals in the Arctic.

Scientists say that the melting of Arctic ice and ice caps are harmful to essential life of arctic animals like polar bears because they live on Arctic ice and ice caps (Rinkesh). Research has proven both of these theories wrong. The Arctic ice and ice caps have increased and are still increasing. Since 2012, the Arctic ice and ice caps have increased in volume by fifty percent (Foley). There are over twenty thousand polar bears in the world and over sixty percent of these polar bears live in Canada (Matishov). The population of polar bears is increasing and staying at a stable rate, depending on their location (Global Warming and Polar Bears). Since, both of these theories have been proven wrong, we do not believe that “global warming” is affecting the Arctic ice or Arctic

This report was prepared to reveal the effects of climate change on species. Climate change is a worrying issue that needs to be considered to lessen the degree of damage towards the environment. This includes phenological processes, which make species alter their characteristics to adapt to the changing environment. The species reported onto ClimateWatch could all be influenced by climate change, which can be attributed to their future endangerment or even

After calculating a global mean extinction rate and figuring out which factors came into play, Urban concluded that extinction risks rise as global temperature rises. It is important for us to observe the effect that climate change has on extinction because, as Urban mentioned, “0 to 54% of species could become extinct from climate change”.

Arctic marine mammals are widely considered to be icons of climate change. However, no comprehensive studies have examined available data on population abundance, distribution and trends across the Arctic. In 2011, the "Arctic Biodiversity Assessment - Status and Trends" (ABA) was launched by the Arctic Council Working Group on Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) to synthesize and assess the status and trends of biological diversity in the Arctic (CAFF, in press). The report is an international collaboration among marine mammal scientists from all Arctic countries, which serves to inventory and update the status and trends of all stocks of Arctic marine mammals. The ABA summarizes what is known about population sizes, trends, and

Anthropogenic activity has caused significant transformations to our natural ecosystems due to a diverse suite of interdependent factors. Human action includes the large-scale commercialization and industrialization of activities such as mining, fishing, agriculture, hunting and forestry. These human-driven changes have left a ‘fingerprint’ on the natural landscape, which has undoubtedly altered the structure and function of the Earth’s biogeochemical cycles (Vitousek et. al, 1997). The relatively rapid rise in global temperatures over the last few hundred years as a result of anthropogenic activities has had a grave effect on taxonomic abundance, diversity and distributions and its impacts have been studied across thousands of species (Parmesan and Yohe, 2003). One ecological response to current climate change is range shifts, where species distributions change due to taxa-specific physiological limitations and the interactions between other biotic and abiotic factors. As global warming increases, these pockets of inhabitable climatic conditions are predicted to move polewards or towards higher latitudes. Considering other factors such as motility, dispersal, resource availability and competitive

It has been observed through various researches that in the last century, average temperatures across the globe increased by over 1.3°F with an increase of more than two times in the Arctic. (Bates, Kundzewicz, Wu, & Palutikof, June 2008). The results of climate change can also be seen in changing precipitation patterns, increases in ocean temperatures, changes in the sea level, and acidity and melting of glaciers and sea ice (USEPA, 2014).

Our earth is undergoing a lot of changes caused by Global warming. This is a world issue that impacts the whole earth. Polar regions are very sensitive to these changes in temperatures. Global warming is affecting climate change on Arctic species and is likely to be felt globally. The average temperature increase annually in the arctic is almost twice the global average.

The polar ice and climate change is not only affecting the arctic, but it is affecting the human race, too. The ice melting as we all know, but what we don’t know is what is the after affect of ice melting. While the ice is melting it thins out and that causes the ice to spread. The ice has gone through Russia and now to Canada in four- five years. This distance of ice spreading used to take six-seven years. This means the ice is now melting more pushing the other ice faster! What some people may not know is that as the ice moves it carries pollution, and when it is spring and summer all the ice melts and pollution goes into the ocean.

The Arctic has huge oil and gas reserves. Most are located in Russia: oil in the Pechora Basin, gas in the lower Ob Basin, and other potential oil and gas fields along the Siberian coast. Canadian oil and gas fields are concentrated in two main basins in the Mackenzie Delta/ Beaufort Sea region and in the Arctic Islands. In Alaska, Prudhoe Bay is the largest oil field in North America 16 Arctic Climate Impact Assessment and other fields have been discovered or remain to be discovered along the Beaufort Sea coast. Oil and gas fields also exist on Greenland’s west coast and in Norway’s arctic territories.

"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.

If I have the honor to be accepted to attend the DIS Copenhagen program, I plan on studying the environment and organisms in the Arctic Sea through the Glaciers and Human Impact: Icelandic Climate Change Case Study, along with Biological Conservation and Biodiversity with Lab, and Biology of Marine Mammals with Lab. As I am hopefully moving to Denmark in the future, I plan on taking Danish I & II which will help me understand the culture and language more efficiently and cover my language requirements. Presently, I am an Environmental Science major with minors in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Biology. The biological and environmental courses relate well with my Environmental science major and my biology minor as well as covering earth space science and biology electives.

Global warming has been a problem for the last 15 years in the Arctic. The Arctic is affected by Global warming due to the fact that the earth’s surface heats up. The earth warms up through the increased level of carbon dioxide that humans make. The carbon dioxide goes into the earth’s atmosphere and traps more of the sun’s rays, making the earth warmer. Global Warming affects the Arctic sea ice, the ocean sea level, and animals in the Arctic food chain.

It’s the 21st century and global warming is making the headlines in newspapers, radio talk shows, new outlets and even popular TV shows. The prospects of melting arctic ice caps and the consequences of climate change are primary dangers that are capturing worldwide attention however, could this just be the tip of the iceberg for something far greater? Globalization, defined as the process of integration through interaction between individuals, corporations and governments. It is essentially impossible for a community to live and sustain itself within a vacuum; interactions through trade and foreign relations allow for discourse amongst nations causing mutual influences in politics, economics and culture. Although this undertaking has exponentially increased with the increase in information technology, it has been prevalent throughout history. Amongst the world’s regions, East Asia has been exposed to this process the longest as Europe has looked to the East for external resources when early civilizations expanded their geographic and political boundaries. With the effect of globalization on the region, East Asia opened up its borders to the migration of goods, services, information and people. In the 19th century, countries such as China, Japan, and Korea that were attributed to being the “Far East” not only because they were geographic distant from Europe but also culturally exotic. However, present day they are dominant world leaders because they gained economic stability