How Will the Environment and Ecosystems be Impacted by Global Warming?

How will the environment and ecosystems be impacted by global warming? Over the last decade or so, it has come to some scientists attention that the Earth’s overall average temperatures have risen. This has come to be known as the phenomenon of global warming and it is widely viewed as a very dangerous phenomenon. So, how will the environment and ecosystems be impacted by global warming?

Both the environment - referring to the weather patterns, physical land and other basic aspects of our surroundings - and ecosystems - referring to balance of the habitats of various animals and people- will be impacted by global warming.

Environment Impacted by Global Warming

The environment will be impacted by global warming in a number of different ways:

• As the surface of the Earth heats up, unseasonal temperatures and weather phenomenon have become the norm in many areas of the world.
• The changes in the temperature and weather patterns have already begun to cause changes in land that was once able to produce or grow food.
• More and more areas are experiencing drought, which has caused a lack of food in areas which are in great need of water.
• Global warming has also had the opposite effect in some areas creating catastrophic flooding and other weather phenomenon that has impacted the environment in a disastrous way.

Ecosystems Impacted by Global Warming

Ecosystems will also be impacted by the effects of global warming in negative ways as well. For instance:

• The ongoing concern right now is the rise in sea level due to glacial ice melting and causing sea level to rise.
• The rise in sea level could have the potential to not only swallow land along the coast, but to dump salt water in otherwise fresh water habitats such as marshes and wetlands.
• The infiltration of this salt water will create an unstable environment for many of the animals that call the fresh water habitats their home.
• Just a slight change in the ecosystem can greatly affect the symbiotic relationships between the animals and organisms that are native to these areas.

Causes of Global Warming

Knowing how global warming will impact the environment and ecosystems is only part of the efforts to stop it from happening. We also need to understand why global warming occurs.

There are a number of reasons which scientists have identified as having contributed to this warming of the Earth. This massive warming of the Earth’s surface temperature has been increased due to the buildup of greenhouse gases and has come to be known in the scientific community as the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse gases are bad for people and the environment and include:

• Carbon dioxide
• Water vapor
• Nitrous oxide
• Methane

As these chemicals become trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere, the heat from the sun that penetrates the Earth day after day becomes trapped between the surface of the Earth and the atmosphere. The heat is unable to escape and like heat trapped in a parked car on a hot summer’s day, the surface of the Earth has gradually increased in temperature due to the heat not being permitted to escape. This has caused global warming to be a major global problem for the environment and for ecosystems throughout the world.