Climate Change: The Threat
Scientific experts agree that the Earth's climate is changing. Climate change, more commonly known as global warming, is caused by the emission of heat trapping gases produced by vehicles, power plants, industrial processes and deforestation. As these gases build up, they act like a big blanket, over-heating the planet and threatening our health, our economy and our environment.
Research shows that the world has now become hotter than at any time during the past 1000 years. Climate models that project future conditions show that global warming will continue if emissions of heat-trapping gases continue to increase.
Earth's Ecosystems at Risk
Global warming is changing distributions of plants and animals, population sizes, growth rates, timing of plant flowering, and timing of animal migration. It is changing the intensity and frequency of storms, droughts, and fire, raising the level of the oceans, and melting glaciers.
While land is fixed in space, the climate is not. Many of the places we protect are selected because they provide the proper habitat and climate for unique and important plants or animals. Unfortunately, given global warming, these places may no longer have the right climate for the species or communities that were the reason underlying their selection.
For example, as the planet warms, Peter's Mountain mallow in Virginia, or the California gnatcatcher in San Diego County, or wet prairies in Oregon may no longer be able to survive on the same lands where they once flourished.
Scientific research shows that heat-trapping emissions from human activities have caused most of the global warming observed over the past 50 years. In addition to those emissions, the intermingling of highways, human developments, plantations, and farms with nature has enormously circumscribed the options for nature's response to the current warming.
Human Communities at Risk
Evidence is mounting almost daily of the dangers posed by global warming. Villages along Alaskan coastlines are literally crumbling into the sea as ice and permafrost melts away. Record-high seawater temperatures in 1998 may have killed as much as 10 percent of the world's corals, jeopardizing the survival of reef fish on which millions of coastal residents depend.
In New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont, maple syrup producers say they are tapping their trees one month earlier than in years past, and as temperatures continue to rise, sap production will decline and leave trees vulnerable to disease and insects. In southern New England, lobster catches have plummeted because of parasites and heat stresses.
By working now to curb heat-trapping emissions we can reduce both the pace and magnitude of global warming, and be more successful in adjusting our conservation approaches to cope with the changing climate.
Even incremental decreases in the emissions of CO2 will bring long-term benefits to biodiversity.
___________________________________________________________
Join The Nature Conservancy's group on Gather for more online events, podcasts, environmental news and opportunities for you to help save the Last Great Places on Earth.
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 9
Nothing is more important than reproductive rights. It is more basic and fundamental than anything else. And with every new person born a new ecological footprint is formed. Will this new person consume any less than those responsible for its birth? Oh? You really think so? And how much has average miles per gallon improved on our domestically made vehicles since the oil embargo in the late 70s?
The old adage, "those that don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it". As far as Americans are concerned, there really isn't any point in teaching history whatsoever.
Humanity is unbelievably short-sighted and self-destructive. I submit that any couple that has more than two children is supreme evidence of that fact. If they were really concerned about the welfare of their children then they would be concerned about the legacy left to them as well. In other words if we don't limit ourselves to two children per family, all other course of action is absolutely pointless.
To those that have been fooled into thinking that we do have fewer than two children per family. Why is our population in this country exploding? Right, its due to unlimited legal and illegal immigration and for your information they adopt OUR ecological footprint (drive big cars, waste lots of energy, etc, etc.) but retain there own reproductive rate because its THEIR CULTURE TO DO SO!
The only real way to educate America is put tits and ass on it and parade it in the form of a commerical, so whats the use.