Toxins

We as people are releasing ungodly amounts of toxins into the air and water which in turn are changing our climate and affecting our health.  Things that we use everyday have massive effects on our climate and our ozone.  Everyone has heard of global warming and carbon footprints and greenhouse gases due to the recent attempts to try and help raise awareness and try to start helping if not reversing our effects.  We release toxins like emissions from our vehicles and use things like hairspray in our every day lives.  Many things have a negative effect on our environment.  Although we are making valuable attempts in order to help our dieing environment, there is still a lot that can be done.  Things are being done like: Wisconsin Act 44 takes effect on November 1 and bans the sale of certain mercury devices as well as the use of mercury in Wisconsin Schools (Vanrossum). Toxins that humans release into the atmosphere not only harm our environment but also us.  The largest exposures for many toxins are found in industrial settings, where workers may encounter doses thousands of times higher than would be found anywhere else (Cunningham). However, we are all exposed to hazardous chemicals and deadly toxins everyday.

Woolly Mammoths

If there are constraints on an organisms biotic potential then the organism runs the risk of not being able to reproduce and therefore eventually becoming extinct or endangered.  A possible constraint can be global warming or climate change.  If the climate changes even by a little some organisms may not have the necessary conditions to reproduce. An abiotic factor such as climate change has taken place in our history and is evidence when it comes to the woolly mammoth.   A climatically-triggered retraction of steppe-tundra reduced maximally suitable habitat by some 90%, resulted in extinction (Brook).  Thus meaning that the climate changed in the tundra regions causing massive extinction to the woolly mammoths.  This is just one example of how climate changes can impact an organisms population.

Climate Change and Adaptation

As the climate is changing many organisms are having to adapt to the changes in order to continue their existence.   Daniel Sarewitz, director of Arizona State University's Consortium for Science says "... the future will be different from the present no matter what, so to not adapt is to consign millions to death and disruption." (Arizona State University)  As the climate gets warmer species have to change to their surroundings.  In order for future generations to survive, parents have to pass these new traits onto their offspring.  The passing down of new DNA in order to survive is called adaption.  If the new traits continue to go through a population and then they become common trait throughout.  Animals, plants, and other organisms that do not adapt to the changing environment will eventually become extinct.  For example, Polar bears evolved from a group of Brown bears, who became isolated from the others and began to evolve and change into what we now know as a the Polar bear.  Not that glaciers are melting and the polar bears food supplies is diminishing due to warmer temperatures, their future is uncertain.  (Derocher)

Citations

Brook, Barry. "Did climate change kill off woolly mammoths and giant wombats?." (1999): n. pag. Web. 28 Feb 2011.

Cunningham, William P., and Mary Ann Cunningham. Environmental Science A Global Concern. 11th ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 2010. 166. Print.

"Global Warming." New York Times 13 Jan. 2011: n. pag. web. 5 Feb 2011.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html.

Uherek Elmar. "The Sulfur Cycle." Global Change Magazine For Schools 06 Feb. 2006: n. pag. Web. 7 Feb 2011. http://www.atmosphere.mpg.de/enid/Nr_6_feb_2_6_acid_rain/c_the_sulfur_cycle_5id.html.

Vanrossum, Joseph. "Ban On Sale Of Mercury Products Begins November 1." Solid & Hazardous Waste Education Center News. 27 Oct 2010. Web. 1 Mar 2011.

Sulfur Cycle

Many components are leading the climate change we are currently experiencing.  There are many natural cycles that take place in small quantities.  However, humans are contributing to the sulfur levels being released into the air in overwhelming amounts.  The burning of fossil fuels are adding to sulfur levels in the atmosphere which is throwing off the greenhouse effects of carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrates. (Uherek, Elmar)  Evaporation of sulfur (S) is what causes acid rain.  Acid rain is meant to be in low amounts of acid, in recent years the acidic level in acid rain has greatly increased and has caused severe issues.

Introduction

Climate change is a growing issue all over the world.  Although there is much research into climate change, many people decide to ignore the facts.  It is a widely debated topic, especially when it comes to global warming. Climate change is more than just global warming though, it also affects our seasons and causes severe storms like Katrina and Rita.  Climate change is a serious environmental issue because of all the possible negative outcomes that most people do not think of like extinction of species of plants and animals, or that land is being sucked away by the ocean.  Over the last few decades attempts by government agencies, journalists, and ecologists to inform the public about climate change has greatly increased along with the need to do something to reverse or stop the effects of climate change.  In order to combat some of the climate change issues a recent article in the New York Times states, "[The Environmental Protection Agency] plans to regulate virtually all sources of greenhouse gases, imposing efficiency and emissions requirements on nearly every industry and every region." (New York Times)  There's a possibly that climate change can lead to worldwide social and economic problems, however, attempts are headed in the right way in order to help with the issue.