ORGANISMAL RESPONSES TO GLOBAL WARMING

By: Ariana Partridge

POLAR BEARS

Location: Polar and Arctic Regions

Scientists believe that the polar bears won’t exist because of the Greenhouse Gases.

The earth is getting warmer because of the carbon dioxide entering everywhere including the polar regions.

The Earth’s Atmosphere is getting thicker which means that it’s not allowing the heat to go back to the sun which makes the ice melt faster.

POLAR BEARS

The Polar Bears are being affected by the climate change and they need the ice in order to live.

The reasons why they need the ice are to hunt the seals and for there own health.

Also, if Polar Bears don’t eat they won’t be able to hibernate.

Scientists predict that the Arctic Ocean will have no ice by the year 2080.

Scientist Jay Zwally says that our ice in the Arctic ice cap would be gone by the summer of 2012.

GRIZZLY BEARS

Locations: Alberta, Canada and Yellowstone

The climate change is wiping out all of the Grizzly bear’s habitat

Food sources for the Grizzly Bears is declining. The bears live off of Pine Nuts.

Scientists in Alberta, Canada believe that the changes, variations in body size of Grizzly Bears depends on the environment.

Climate Change has affected the Grizzly Bears in a positive way for weight gain, hibernation and the chances of reproduction for mother Grizzly Bears says University Of Alberta Biologist Scott Nielson.

GRIZZLY BEARS

The reason why the trees died in the forests is because of the winters warming up for the past seven years

Also, the The Mountain Pine Beetle- Killed many trees.

Nature- To control the beetles is to freeze the lava 30-35 degrees Fahrenheit for five days

Good White bark cone crops decrease the grizzly mortality

Also, it increases the amount of bear cubs

PANDAS

Location: Northwestern, China

Scientists believe that between 80 and 100 of the living Panda Habitat will disappear by the end of the 21st century.

Panda’s need Bamboo to survive off of. Eventually lead to starvation

The bamboo provides shelter for the Panda’s (Ecosystem) Can only reproduce every 30 to 35 years which is very limited to Panda’s.

Jack Liu – An Ecologist at Michigan State University says that 99% of food that Pandas eat is Bamboo.

Solution : Cultivate and Plant heat tolerant bamboo in the region.

PANDAS

Bamboo also provides shelter life for animals like the ploughshare tortoise and the purple-winged ground dove.

Bamboo serves as homes to 20% of Panda’s

Bamboo Plants are sensitive to temperature changes

BLACK BEARSLocation: Alaska,Canada,U.S and Northern Mexico

Wisconsin Glaciation- It cut off many resources: food, age, environment and habitat density for the Black Bears, climate change and a lack of survival for the Black Bears.

Jessica Phil brick an MU Undergraduate researcher says that the climate change will depend on the population of the Black Bears.

Climate Change can also cause habitat destruction. Phil Brick says if Habitat destruction continues then the Bear Populations could also be affected by this.

“Keeping climate change under control is very important” says Phil Brick.

BLACK BEARS

Black Bears survive on twigs, nuts, berries, fruits and grasses. They are considered to be omnivores. They also eat fish and small mammals.

Black Bears hibernate during the winter when the temperature gets really low

KOALA BEARS

Location: Australia

There is habitat destruction caused by droughts and bushfires. The climate temperatures of dry periods and rising in temperatures are causing the bushfires.

There is only between 45,000 and 90,000 Koalas left in the wild

The moving into urban areas, the shrinking of the habitat is causing diseases, starvation and attacks from domestic dogs. 60% decline in the past due to these things

A koala needs 500 grammes of leaves or more to survive.

KOALA BEARS

Koala’s can get easily stressed and dehydrated

Koala’s get there nutrition, water from moisture of leaves

When they’re forced out of there own habitat Koala’s use all of there resources that are available to them.

Backyard Trees, Tree lined Road Verges, and Median Stripes

This is important for Koala’s because it helps them with there movement and dispersal .

This is very important in Urban areas.

WORKS CITED PAGE

Bhandari, Neena. “Climate Change Compounds rising threats to Koala.” Guardian News and Network 30 April 2010, Guardian Environment Network . Web. 20 Oct 2013.

Liu, Jack. "Climate Change Threatens Giant Panda’s Bamboo Buffet and Survival.” Michigan State University. 11Nov.2012.Web.20 Oct.2013

Liu, Jack. “Panda’s Threatened by Climate Change.” Discovery Communications 13 Dec. 2012.Discovery News. Web. 20 Oct.2013.

McDermott, Matthew. “Climate Change and People are Wiping out the Grizzly Bear in Yellowstone.” Natural Sciences 16 May. 2009,MNN Holdings.Web.20 Oct 2013.

Prasuhn, Amanda. “Implications of Climate Change on American Black Bears.” University Of Missouri 6 May. 2012, Scixchange Web. 20 Oct. 2013

Greenpeace. “Officials Censored on Global Warming.” Summer 2007. final ed. 7D. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.

University Of Alberta. “Climate Change has Silver Lining for Grizzly Bears.” ScienceDaily,28 Oct. 2013.Web.30 Oct.2013.