Transcript Global Warming Effects

Global Warming Effects
Manish Semwal
The 10 warmest years since 1000 AD:
1. 2005
Source: NASA Goddard
2. 2009
Institute for Space Studies
3. 1998
4. 2007
5. 2002
6. 2006
7. 2003
8. 2004
9. 2001
10. 2008 (warmest La Niña year on record)
Signs of warming are everywhere
Parmesan & Yohe. 2003. A globally coherent fingerprint of climate
change impacts across natural systems. Nature 421:37-42.
Global Change and Effects on Terrestrial
Ecosystem
Introduction
• Temperature, precipitation, latitude and altitude all
determine distribution of major terrestrial ecosystems
(biomes).
• Plants found within the different biomes are influenced by
soil type, water shed conditions and amount of sun.
• Specific combinations of temperatures and precipitation
ensure the survival and thriving of plants within a given
environment (known as Climate space).
Major Terrestrial Biomes
•
•
Geographic distribution of biomes are dependent on temperature,
precipitation, altitude and latitude
Weather patterns dictate the type of plants that will dominate an ecosystem
faculty.southwest.tn.edu/. ../ES%20%20we16.jpg
Southeast Asia Tropical Rainforest
Monsoons role
•
•
SE Asia has a tropical wet climate which is influenced by ocean wind systems
originating in the Indian Ocean and China Sea
2 monsoon seasons:
– Northeast monsoons (Oct. – Feb) – bring heavy rains to Eastern side of the
islands
– Southwest monsoons (April – Aug) – more powerful of the two seasons –
brings heavy rainfall to the western side of the islands – Eastern side of islands
dry – but windy (due to rain shadow)
•
Change in monsoon cycle bring heavy consequences
– Ex. 1992 – 1993 – logging degraded primary foresting making it vulnerable to fires.
A drought brought on by El Nino created devastating fires destroying 27,000 km2 of
acreage.
– In 1998 the same type of thing happened again when El Nino created a weak
monsoon season – destroying many plant and animal species.
Succession and Climax Forests
•Primary succession - How temperate forests first
emerged
•As forests continue to grow – become more diverse
in both plant and animal life
•Simple plants unable to compete – live in the shade of
larger plants
•Saplings unable to develop due to shade - slowly die
out (Birch, Aspen) – gives rise to middle stage
succession
•Shade tolerant plants emerge (Maple, Hemlock) and
dominate forests – now have a climax forest
Secondary Succession
•
Secondary succession occurs quicker than primary succession (soils already there)
– Exception to this – land cleared for development and agriculture
•
Temperate forests dominate because of their resistance to fires
•
Less resistant trees eventually die off – leaving the evergreens still standing
•
Fires promote evergreen growth by busting seed coats open and scattering them
in the soil
•
Deciduous forest devastated by fires
•
Secondary succession only way new forest will dominate
people.eku.edu/ritchisong/ secondarysuccession
Pollination
• pollination is a crucial stage in the
reproduction of most flowering plants, and
pollinating animals are essential for
transferring genes within and among
populations of wild plant species
Phenology: The study of
recurring biological events
and their relationship to
climate.
It is determined that plants bloomed seven days earlier on
average than they did in last year
Black vine weevil now emerging 2-3 weeks earlier
than in 1970
Gina Penny
D.G. Nielsen, Ohio State
University
D.G. Nielsen, Ohio State University
In this century, the range of 23 of 35 European
butterfly species shifted north 35-240 km
Argynnis paphia
Parmesan et al. 1999. Nature 399:579-583
Phenology, Communities, and Ecosystems
Morisette et al. 2009. Frontiers in Ecology and the
Environment 5(7):253-260
Constrained life-cycle
One generation each year
Feeds on previous-year needles during a
short window of time
Hatch
Winter
April
 cocoon
May
June
--- Sept
Insect phenology manipulated relative to
natural host phenology
Control bioassay:
Natural
Advanced
Delayed
hatch
bioassays
bioassays
Winter
March
April
May
June
Sept
The largest recorded bark beetle outbreak in human history in
northern British Columbia where winters used to be too cold for
the beetles to survive.
http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp
Dezene Huber, UNBC
http://www.garna.org/
Plant / pollinator interactions
“A few studies have shown that climate warming may
generate temporal mismatches among mutualistic partners.
…their demographic consequences are largely unknown.”
Hegland et al. 2009. How does climate warming affect plant-pollinator
interactions? Ecology Letters 12:184-195.
Global warming and Human Health
• Infectious diseases can be carried by many different
organisms, among them are ticks, flies and mosquitoes.
• When the climate becomes warmer such organisms called
vectors such as ticks, flies and mosquitoes can breed
easier in the warmer wetter climates.
• As climate change begins to affect our planet to a greater
extent the infectious disease carrying organisms will be
able to reach higher altitudes and will have a longer
season of breeding, increasing the likelihood of a human
being in contact with the disease
• Also, as the climate warms the amount of algae and fish
that produce toxins poisonous to humans will increase
The infectious diseases
• Malaria can affect 45%
of the world’s
population today but if
global warming
continues at the rate that
it is progressing, that
number could change to
be 60% of the world’s
population
Human Health and Extreme Weather Patterns
• During global warming there is a potential for an
increase in the number of heat related deaths as there
is a potential for an increase in the number of
extremely hot days
• Extreme heat can bring about heat cramps due to a
lack of water which can lead to heat stroke which can
then lead to organ failure and even death
• The elderly and the very young are particularly
susceptible to extreme climates
• A study done in Canada suggests that the number of
people who would die heat related deaths would
increase from 70 annually to 240-1140 people by
2050, and that only in the city of Montreal
Top 10 Things You can do to stop
Global Warming
• 10.Plant a couple of additional trees around your
home.CO2 reduction = 20 lbs/year
• 9.Use a push mower to cut your lawn instead of a power
mower.CO2 reduction = 80 lbs/year
• 8.Replace your home’s refrigerator with a high-efficiency
model.CO2 reduction = 220 lbs/year
• 7.Buy food or other products with reusable or recyclable
packaging instead of non-recyclable packaging.CO2
reduction=230 lbs/year
• 6.Replace your washing machine with a low-energy, lowwater-use machine.CO2 reduction = 440 lbs/year
Top 10 Things You can do to stop
Global Warming
• 5. Install a solar thermal system to help provide your hot
water.CO2 reduction = 720 lbs/year
• 4. Recycle all of your homes waste: newsprint,
cardboard, glass and metal.CO2 reduction = 850
lbs/year
• 3.Leave your car at home two days a week (walk, bike or
take public transportation to work instead).CO2
reduction = 1,590 lbs/year
• 2. Insulate your home, tune up your furnace, and install
energy efficient shower heads.CO2 reductions = 2,480
lbs/year
• 1.Purchase a fuel efficient car (rated up to 32 mpg or
more) to replace your most frequently used automobile.
Bibliography
• Prentice, C.I., Guiot, J., Huntley, B., Jolly D. and Cheddadi, R., 1996,
Reconstructing biomes from palaeoecological data:
a general method and its application to European pollen data at 0
and 6 ka.
Climate Dynamics 12:185-194.
• "Rainforests",
http://passporttoknowledge.com/rainforest/GEOsystem/Maps/seas
ia.htm, (3/18/02)
• taggart.glg.msu.edu/isb200/fland.htm
• The Greenhouse Effect and Climate Change. Commonwealth of
Australia 2006, Bureau of Meteorology (ABN 92 637 533 532): pp. 9
– 77.
• Wing, S.L. and Boucher, L.D. 1998. Ecological aspects of the
Cretaceous Flowering plant radiation. Annual Review Earth Planet.
Science 26: 379 – 421