Climate Change Affects Biodiversity

Climate Change Affects Biodiversity
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by Anup Shah
This Page Last Updated Tuesday, August 10, 2010
This page: http://www.globalissues.org/article/172/climate-change-affects-biodiversity.
To print all information e.g. expanded side notes, shows alternative links, use the print version:
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The link between climate change and biodiversity has long been established. Although throughout Earths
history the climate has always changed with ecosystems and species coming and going, rapid climate change
affects ecosystems and species ability to adapt and so biodiversity loss increases.
Biodiversity and Climate Change, Convention on Biological Diversity, December, 2009
From a human perspective, the rapid climate change and accelerating biodiversity loss risks human security
(e.g. a major change in the food chain upon which we depend, water sources may change, recede or disappear,
medicines and other resources we rely on may be harder to obtain as the plants and forna they are derived from
may reduce or disappear, etc.).
The UNs Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, in May 2010, summarized some concerns that climate change will
have on ecosystems:
Climate change is already having an impact on biodiversity, and is projected to become a progressively more
significant threat in the coming decades. Loss of Arctic sea ice threatens biodiversity across an entire biome and
beyond. The related pressure of ocean acidification, resulting from higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere, is also already being observed.
Ecosystems are already showing negative impacts under current levels of climate change which is modest
compared to future projected changes. In addition to warming temperatures, more frequent extreme weather
events and changing patterns of rainfall and drought can be expected to have significant impacts on biodiversity.
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2010), Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, May, 2010,
p.56
Some species may benefit from climate change (including, from a human perspective, an increases in diseases
and pests) but the rapid nature of the change suggests that most species will not find it as beneficial as most will
not be able to adapt.
This web page has the following sub-sections:
1. Climate change impacts on biodiversity in the Arctic
2. Increasing ocean acidification

3. Increasing ocean stratification
4. Increasing oceanic dead zones
5. Coral reefs threatened by climate change
6. Lizards threatened by climate change
7. Other examples
Climate change impacts on biodiversity in the Arctic

The Arctic, Antarctic and high latitudes have had the highest rates of warming, and this trend is projected to
continue, as the above-mentioned Global Biodiversity Outlook 3 notes (p. 56).
In the Arctic, it is not just a reduction in the extent of sea ice, but its thickness and age. Less ice means less
reflective surface meaning more rapid melting. The rapid reduction exceeds even scientific forecasts and is
discussed further on this sites climate change introduction.
The polar bear depends on sea ice. (Image source)

In terms of biodiversity, the prospect of ice-free summers in the Arctic Ocean implies the loss of an entire
biome, the Global Biodiversity Outlook notes (p. 57).
In addition, Whole species assemblages are adapted to life on top of or under ice from the algae that grow
on the underside of multi-year ice, forming up to 25% of the Arctic Oceans primary production, to the
invertebrates, birds, fish and marine mammals further up the food chain. The iconic polar bear at the top of that
food chain is therefore not the only species at risk even though it may get more media attention.
Note, the ice in the Arctic does thaw and refreeze each year, but it is that pattern which has changed a lot in
recent years as shown by this graph:
The extent of floating sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, as measured at its annual minimum in September, showed a
steady decline between 1980 and 2009.Source: National Snow and Ice Data Center, graph compiled by
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2010) Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, May 2010
It is also important to note that loss of sea ice has implications on biodiversity beyond the Arctic, as the Global
Biodiversity Outlook report also summarizes:
Bright white ice reflects sunlight.
When it is replaced by darker water, the ocean and the air heat much faster, a feedback that
accelerates ice melt and heating of surface air inland, with resultant loss of tundra.
Less sea ice leads to changes in seawater temperature and salinity, leading to changes in primary
productivity and species composition of plankton and fish, as well as large-scale changes in
ocean circulation, affecting biodiversity well beyond the Arctic.
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2010), Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, May, 2010,
p.57
(This sites intro to climate change and Arctic geopolitics has more about the impact to the Arctic.)
Back to top
Increasing ocean acidification

Although it has gained less mainstream media attention, the effects of increasing greenhouse emissions in
particular carbon dioxide on the oceans may well be significant.
NOAA Ocean Acidification Demonstration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, February 26,
2010
As explained by the US agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the basic
chemistry of ocean acidification is well understood.
These are the 3 main concepts:
1. More CO2 in the atmosphere means more CO2 in the ocean;
2. Atmospheric CO2 is dissolved in the ocean, which becomes more acidic; and
3. The resulting changes in the chemistry of the oceans disrupts the ability of plants and animals in the sea
to make shells and skeletons of calcium carbonate, while dissolving shells already formed.
Short overview of ocean acidification: Ocean Acidification, ABC World News Webcast, June 7, 2008
Scientists have found that oceans are able to absorb some of the excess CO2 released by human activity. This
has helped keep the planet cooler than it otherwise could have been had these gases remained in the atmosphere.
However, the additional excess CO2 being absorbed is also resulting in the acidification of the oceans: When
CO2 reacts with water it produces a weak acid called carbonic acid, changing the sea water chemistry. As the
Global Biodiversity Outlook report explains, the water is some 30% more acidic than pre-industrial times,
depleting carbonate ions the building blocks for many marine organisms.
In addition, concentrations of carbonate ions are now lower than at any time during the last 800,000 years. The
impacts on ocean biological diversity and ecosystem functioning will likely be severe, though the precise timing
and distribution of these impacts are uncertain. (See p. 58 of the report.)
Although millions of years ago CO2 levels were higher, todays change is occurring rapidly, giving many
marine organisms too little time to adapt. Some marine creatures are growing thinner shells or skeletons, for
example. Some of these creatures play a crucial role in the food chain, and in ecosystem biodiversity.
Clay animation by school children: The other CO2 problem, March 23, 2009 (commissioned by EPOCA)
Some species may benefit from the extra carbon dioxide, and a few years ago scientists and organizations, such
as the European Project on OCean Acidification, formed to try to understand and assess the impacts further.
One example of recent findings is a tiny sand grain-sized plankton responsible for the sequestration of 2550%
of the carbon the oceans absorb is affected by increasing ocean acidification. This tiny plankton plays a major
role in keeping atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations at much lower levels than they would be
otherwise so large effects on them could be quite serious.
Other related problems reported by the Inter Press Service include more oceanic dead zones (areas where there
is too little oxygen in the sea to support life) and the decline of important coastal plants and forests, such as
mangrove forests that play an important role in carbon absorption. This is on top of the already declining ocean
biodiversity that has been happening for a few decades, now.
Back to top
Increasing ocean stratification

As climate change warms the oceans (even just an increase of about 0.2C per decade, on average), the warmer
water (which is lighter) tends to stay on top of what is then a layer of colder water.
Tiny phytoplankton: the foundation of the oceanic food chain. Source:

NOAA MESA Project.
Phytoplankton Bloom in the North Atlantic. Source: NASA Earth

Observatory.
This affects tiny drifting marine organisms known as phytoplankton. Though small, Phytoplankton are a
critical part of our planetary life support system. They produce half of the oxygen we breathe, draw down
surface CO2, and ultimately support all of our fisheries, says Boris Worm of Canadas Dalhousie University
and one of the worlds leading experts on the global oceans (quoted by Inter Press Service IPS.)
In the same news report, IPS explains that phytoplankton can only live in the top 100 or 200 meters of water,
but if it is getting warmer, they eventually run out of nutrients to feed on unless the cold, deeper waters mix
with those near the surface.
Ocean stratification has been widely observed in the past decade and is occurring in more and larger areas of the
worlds oceans, IPS also adds.
Researchers have found a direct correlation between rising sea surface temperatures and the decline in
phytoplankton growth around the world.
As NASA summarizes, stratification cuts down the amount of carbon the ocean can take up.
Back to top
Increasing oceanic dead zones

The past half-century has seen an explosive growth in aquatic dead zones, areas too low in dissolved oxygen to
support life.
Aquatic dead zones often

occur near high human population density. Source (including larger image): NASA Earth Observatory.
Fertilizer and sewage run-off cause huge growth of plankton. However, these then quickly die and are
consumed by bacteria that deplete waters of oxygen. For example, the Gulf of Mexico has a 22,000 square
kilometer dead zone every spring due to run-off from the Mississippi River.
There is also a linkage with climate change:
Ocean stratification, where warm water sits firmly on top of cold, nutrient-rich water, also creates dead zones
and lowers the overall productivity of the oceans. Such dead zones were rare 40 years ago but now number
several hundred. Without urgent action, climate change will continue to warm oceans, increasing stratification
and producing larger and more dead zones with a major impact on future fisheries, a 2009 study in Nature
Geoscience warned.
It will take a thousand years for the oceans to cool down, so it is imperative to pull the emergency brake on
global warming emissions, the study concluded.
Stephen Leahy, Ocean Losing Its Green, Inter Press Service, July 31, 2010
Back to top
Coral reefs threatened by climate change

Around the world, coral reefs have been dying largely due to climate change.
Coral bleaching results in white, dead-looking, coral. Healthy coral is very colorful and rich with marine life.
At the beginning of September, 2009, the Australian agency looking after the Great Barrier Reef released an
outlook report warning the Great Barrier Reef is in trouble.
But it is not just the Great Barrier Reef at risk. All of them are at risk, says Charlie Veron, an Australian marine
biologist who is widely regarded as the worlds foremost expert on coral reefs.
The future is horrific, he says. There is no hope of reefs surviving to even mid-century in any form that we
now recognize. If, and when, they go, they will take with them about one-third of the worlds marine
biodiversity. Then there is a domino effect, as reefs fail so will other ecosystems. This is the path of a mass
extinction event, when most life, especially tropical marine life, goes extinct.
Coral reefs provide many ecosystem services to humans as well, for free. This sites page on coral reefs goes
into these issues in more depth.
Back to top
Lizards threatened by climate change
(Image credit: Iker Cortabarria)

What the BBC described as a global-scale study published in the journal Science found that climate change
could wipe out 20% of the world's lizard species by 2080.
Global projection models used by the scientists suggested that lizards have already crossed a threshold for
extinctions caused by climate change.
The fear of lowland species moving to higher elevations has long been predicted as an effect of climate change.
This has been observed with lizard populations too, as the leader of the research team told the BBC: We are
actually seeing lowland species moving upward in elevation, slowly driving upland species extinct, and if the
upland species cant evolve fast enough then theyre going to continue to go extinct.
Why are lizards so sensitive to climate change? The BBC summarizes:
Lizards, the researchers say, are far more susceptible to climate-warming extinction than previously thought.
Many species live right at the edge of their thermal limits.
Rising temperatures, they explained, leave lizards unable to spend sufficient time foraging for food, as they
have to rest and regulate their body temperature.
Victoria Gill, Climate change link to lizard extinction, BBC, May 14, 2010
Back to top
Other examples
The above areas of biodiversity affected is by no means exhaustive. Other areas affected by climate change
include terrestrial animals, and forests, water sources and related ecologies, and so on. For more information on
those areas, see this sites sections on
Biodiversity
Climate Change and Global Warming
Water and Development

Climate Change Affects Biodiversity

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This Page Last Updated Tuesday, August 10, 2010

This page: http://www.globalissues.org/article/172/climate-change-affects-biodiversity.

2. Increasing ocean acidification

Climate change impacts on biodiversity in the Arctic

The polar bear depends on sea ice. (Image source)

Bright white ice reflects sunlight.

Increasing ocean acidification

Increasing ocean stratification

Tiny phytoplankton: the foundation of the oceanic food chain. Source:

Phytoplankton Bloom in the North Atlantic. Source: NASA Earth

Increasing oceanic dead zones

Aquatic dead zones often

Coral reefs threatened by climate change

Lizards threatened by climate change

(Image credit: Iker Cortabarria)

Climate Change and Global Warming

Water and Development

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