Climate Change: Our Wildlife Needs Your Help
This is a shortened version of a report prepared for Wildlife for All during an internship.
What is Climate Change?
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns.7
The Earth’s climate has been changing throughout its history, but the current warming is happening at a rate not seen in 10,000 years.5 It is an ongoing issue that many scientists are dedicating their lives to.
It’s a topic many want to look away from. Some may even doubt its existence, but the Earth is proving otherwise.
What Causes Climate Change?
Humans are responsible. Primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels. Burning fossil fuels is used to generate power, as most electricity is produced by burning coal, oil, and gas.
Deforestation is a large contributor to climate change since carbon is released from trees when they are cut. Every year, around 12 million hectares of forests are destroyed. Since forests play a crucial role in absorbing carbon dioxide, their destruction limits nature’s ability to reduce emissions in the atmosphere. Deforestation, agricultural expansion, and other changes in land use account for roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions.10
Most cars, trucks, ships, and planes run on fossil fuels. 91% of Americans commuting to work use personal vehicles. The U.S. daily travel averages 11 billion miles a day.11 Road vehicles account for the largest part due to the combustion of petroleum-based products, like gasoline, in internal combustion engines.7
We contribute to climate change without realizing it, as our societies revolve around practices that harm the planet.
What is the Situation with Wildlife?
Around one million of the Earth’s animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction. Projections suggest that if global temperatures increase by two °C by 2100, about 18% of all species on land will face a high risk of extinction.²
Even with a year as far away as 2100, scientists are trying to keep the climate change conversation going. Humankind is the cause of climate change, and our animals are paying the price.
Some animals listed below are among the most negatively affected by rising sea temperatures, melting ice, and changing weather patterns caused by climate change—and some have already gone extinct: golden toads, corals, Chinook salmon, green sea turtles, polar bears, adélie penguins, bumblebees, whales, and sharks.²
Food Loss
The animals dying off due to climate change are already affecting our food systems. But predators are in trouble since their food is disappearing.
In a 2014-2016 study, over a million common murres, a type of seabird, representing about 15% of their population, died due to a marine heat wave known as the “Warm Blob,” which spanned from Alaska to California. The Warm Blob caused chaos in California’s ordinarily cold, highly productive waters, causing fish such as anchovies, sardines, sand lance, squids, and krill to move to deeper, colder waters and be less available in other ways. This led to the birds suffering from the lack of food.¹
Habitat Degradation
Climate change has brought pollution to these habitats. Freshwater wildlife is most impacted by pollution. Pollutants such as untreated sewage, mining waste, acid rain, fertilizers, and pesticides concentrate in rivers, lakes and wetlands and eventually end up in estuaries and the food web.⁸
Wildlife that need the cool temperatures of high elevations, such as the American pika, may soon run out of habitat. Coastal wildlife may find their habitat underwater as sea levels rise.⁸
Rising Temperatures
Warmer temperatures and reduced precipitation across the western US have increased the size of wildfires and worsened insect and disease outbreaks, causing a decrease in habitat for woodland creatures.⁴
With fires contributing to lost habitats, forests are also destroyed directly by human hands. A large reason is the conversion to farmlands. Large-scale crops like cattle ranching or growing soybeans and oil palm require huge areas of agricultural land. Fuel wood and firewood are used for cooking and heating around the world, and timber is used for building houses, furniture, and paper products.¹²
What Could be Done?
This country has made its own contributions to helping wildlife, and it’s a start. Past successes prove it’s possible to help endangered animals with federal funding and attention. As of current, the ESA seems to stand and hopefully will remain so. However, for the acts to continue and prosper, we need to shine more light on these issues. The conversation on climate change needs to continue, but it should include wildlife.
Below are recommendations by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on how to get involved.¹¹
- Get involved on social media.
- Plant native grasses, trees, and shrubs that absorb carbon dioxide.
- Reduce, reuse, recycle.
- Purchase recycled or up-cycled products if possible.
- Be mindful of water use.
- Turn off electronics when not in use.
- Use reusable bags and water bottles.
- Look around your community.
- Identify natural spaces that need help being restored or protected.
- Clean up garbage.
- Stay informed.