MORE, MORE, MORE
POOR AIR QUALITY
It’s no surprise that greenhouse gas emissions are poisoning our atmosphere. Closer to the ground, smog is causing a spike in health problems such as childhood asthma.
Like global warming, smog is formed when we burn fossil fuels. It’s that nasty, hazy cloud that sits on top of large cities on stifling summer days. For the most part, smog comes out of factory chimneys and vehicle tailpipes. It can be carried by wind over large distances. In fact, much of Toronto’s smog doesn’t even originate here, but is blown across the border from U.S. states housing massive coal-burning power plants. Even the smog from Toronto can be carried to much smaller, cleaner towns like Parry Sound, which is two hours north of the city. The problem with smog is that it fills our air with fine particles, ground-level ozone, and pollutants,1 making it difficult to breathe—a big reason why children, the elderly, and people with respiratory problems are advised to stay indoors when the air quality index is too high. It's a bad scene, and just slightly unnatural.
SHIFTING HABITATS/LOSS OF HABITAT
As natural habitats begin to shift, a great number of plants and animals will have to migrate in order to survive. But on an overcrowded planet, migration might lead to a dead-end for thousands of species.
Global warming-deniers could argue that more carbon dioxide is great news for plants. CO2 stimulates photosynthesis, which makes green things grow. Longer growing seasons and more precipitation equals more crops, more harvests, and bigger yields, right? More growing zones equals more forests and more carbon sinks, right? Maybe. Some plants may thrive, but many will not. Rice, corn and potatoes—the world’s staples—do not survive in higher temperatures. No food means it's either time to move, or time to die, and that doesn’t just apply to humans. How will livestock adapt? No one knows. Shifting vegetation belts will wreak havoc on the wild animals that depend on them for food. Some animals will adapt as their habitats change. Others will not.
We’re not just talking about land here, either. Our ocean habitats are badly disturbed by human practices and the resulting climate change. Ocean acidification and the rise in ocean temperatures are killing off the coral reefs, home to 9 million marine plants and animals! That's a lot of endangered life. If something of this magnitude took place on land, heads would turn. All of the negative effects of global warming – extreme weather, droughts, fires, pest infestation – will force animals to compete for resources and habitats.
INVASIVE SPECIES
A predicted increase in species migration will bring an increase in more undesirable species entering new and vulnerable areas. We’re not talking about aesthetically inferior flowers. We’re talking about invasive insects, plants and animals that could wreak havoc on existing ecosystems.
An invasive species is any plant or animal that moves into an ecosystem outside of its traditional or historical range. It doesn’t just survive there, either. It thrives. The problem is that these drifters compete with native species for space and food, and often end up threatening the stability of native ecosystems that have been in place for ages. Shifting, disappearing habitats will force many species to adapt in any way they can, which means the number of invasive species spreading to new habitats could rise dramatically. Invasive species are considered a major cause in the increasing loss of global biodiversity, and even a contributor to global species extinction, forcing native plants and animals to survive on limited resources.
ENDANGERED SPECIES
As if human encroachment, over-fishing, poaching and loss of habitat weren’t enough of a blight on vulnerable animals and plants around the world, we can add global warming to biodiversity’s list of worst enemies.
It should come as no surprise that we’re losing more plants and animals as the planet warms. A loss in biodiversity means a loss in ecosystem structure and function.2 But how bad will it get? If we see the average global temp rise by 1.5° to 2.5°C, we’ll be on our way to losing 30% of the world’s species.3 Those expected to suffer the fallout include one third of the planet’s amphibians, one quarter of mammals, and one quarter of the world’s coniferous trees.4
There are 16,119 species on the 2006 Red List (that’s the World Conservation Union’s annual poll of species most at stake), a number that’s been described as an “underestimate”.5
Here’s a sampling of what we could lose forever. That’s it. That’s final.
Polar Bears: Their entire habitat is disappearing from underneath them. No ice floe means they can’t hunt seals. No snow caves means nowhere to rear their babies. The Polar Bear population is expected to drop 50% to 100% over the next century.
Amphibians: Frogs, salamanders and newts are facing a serious crisis. A fungus deadly to amphibians and exacerbated by global warming is spreading around the globe. Frogs’ porous skin leaves them highly vulnerable, and a third of the world's species have been lost forever.
Bengal Tigers: The Sundarbans—a mass of islands straddling India and Bangladesh—make up the world’s largest mangrove forest, and are home to the remaining Bengals of India. They’re also extremely vulnerable to rising ocean levels. As tigers and humans compete for space, they come into conflict, and the future for both looks bleak.
1 Source: http://www.toronto.ca/health/smog/faq.htm
2 Source: http://www.iucnredlist.org
3 Source: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2007-04-01-ippc-report-snapshot_N.htm
4 Source: http://www.iucnredlist.org
5 Source: http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:SGBYPOSsVgQJ:news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4963526.stm+
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