Drop in Polar Bear Population Due to Global Warming

Global warming is a big problem. The ice age happened 1.8 million years ago, it only got six degrees colder and it nearly froze the Earth. Now all the scientists agree that earth has gotten one degree hotter and that is very dangerous for our planet and we are afraid that it will gradually get hotter each year and that we won't survive all these horrific forest fires. Scientists are even calculating what our planet would be like with it 2 degrees hotter even 3 degrees hotter and it is not looking good. What will the future look like if global warming doesn’t come to an end?

Earth's average temperature is rising, winds and ocean currents move heat around the globe in ways that can cool some areas, warm others, and change the amount of rain and snow falling. Global warming is now accelerating the rate of sea level rise, increasing flooding risks to low income communities and high-risk coastal properties whose development has been encouraged by today's flood insurance system. Some people ask are the effects of global warming really that bad? The answer honestly is yes. If the temperature goes up even a little than that is enough to cause a dramatic transformation of our planet. If the Earth's temperature goes up in even one degree than we could suffer from something so traumatic. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

According to the IPCC, the extent of climate change effects on individual regions will vary over time and with the ability of different societal and environmental systems to mitigate or adapt to change (Jackson, 2018). Some people say that there is nothing wrong, nothing is happening to our earth. They don’t need to be saying that because there are people out there actually fighting to survive all these intensifying natural disasters. Like people in southern California, Arizona, and even some part of Texas. The country with the most flooding is Bangladesh. It is located next to India. Bangladesh is a low-lying country with over 230 rivers. 18 percent of Bangladesh is flooded every year. They have a population of 14.4 million people and they lose about 5,000 people and destroying more than seven million homes. Global warming is heating up this planet, and that means that wild fires are bigger and more harmful towards all animals including humans. Most wild fires happen in the west of the united states. The largest wild fire recorded has been the wallow fire in Arizona and New Mexico. The wallow fire covered over 788 sqaure miles (504,409 acres). This fire was massive, and it destroyed many people's homes. The Wallow Fire, named for the Bear Wallow Wilderness area where the fire originated, was a massive wildfire that started in the White Mountains near Alpine, Arizona on May 29, 2011.

The fire eventually spread across the Stateline into western New Mexico, United States. The fire was started accidentally by two men who were camping. Four commercial buildings were destroyed; 36 outbuildings were destroyed and one damaged; 32 residences were destroyed and 5 damaged. The estimated cost was $109 million. On July 3, the fire was 95% contained. The Wallow Fire was declared 100% contained as of 6 p.m., July 8. The wallow fire is something that is going to take a very long time to recover from, and it did. Five years after the wallow fire happened, they now have rebirth, and regrowth (jeong,2016). Some evidence that global warming is happening is the ocean is warming, global temperatures are rising, shrinking ice sheets, glacier retreat, decrease is snow coverage, sea levels are rising, extreme events. Plenty more damage has come from global warming like, temperatures will continue to rise, hurricanes will become stronger and more intense, sea levels will rise 1-4 feet by 2100, more droughts and heat waves, changes in precipitation patterns, artic likely becomes ice-free, change will continue through this century and beyond (Jackson, 2018). The polar bears are being affected in a bad way.

Polar bears are affected by several factors, including hunting, pollution and oil extraction. Most notably, hunting, particularly following the introduction of snowmobiles, airplanes and ice breakers, led to a huge decline in certain subpopulations. Polar bears are found in the Arctic circle and surrounding land masses. There are 19 recognized subpopulations, and estimates place their numbers at about 20,000 to 25,000. According to skeptical science.com not all subpopulations are affected to the same degree by climate change, and while some subpopulations are well studied, for others there is insufficient data to make broad statements about current and past numbers. Changes in habitats due to global warming have also affected polar bears negatively. Some polar bears are stranded on land during long summers that prevent sea ice from forming and packing. Declines in permafrost levels can also lead to forest fires that destroy polar bear dens during the summer. Climate change is a very big threat to the polar bears. There are also a variety of animals effected by global warming like, moose, rising temperatures and booming parasite populations, salmon, salmon require cold, fast-flowing streams and rivers to spawn, snowshoe Hares, and many other animals.

Climate change is doing 'widespread and consequential' harm to animals and plants, which are struggling to adapt to new conditions. Sea turtles are harmed a lot by global warming. Various populations of sea turtle species and their nesting sites are vulnerable to sea-level rise, increased storminess and changing temperatures, all impacts of climate change can affect them. These factors may result in current nesting and foraging sites becoming unsuitable for federally threatened and endangered turtle species. Sea turtle have a wide range of habitat, since sea turtles lay eggs on beaches but spend their lives in the ocean, they are affected by climate change by both the land and the sea, if they even make it to the water once they are born. The world will get much worse if nothing is done to stop global warming. Periods of great change make the biggest difference. 97% of climate scientists agree that greenhouse gases emitted by human beings are having a dominant influence on the climate. So, us humans are making worse and may have even started up this whole thing. As the years go by it gets hotter and hotter. Earth's average temperature has been climbing. Ocean and wind currents move heat around the globe in ways that can warm some areas, cool others.

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