Melting of the Poles

1. Introduction

With the pass of the time global warming have been increasing more and
more, because of pollution, technological equipment, factories, wastes,
chemicals, and other factors. The ozone layer is becoming thinner and this
allows sunlight reaches the planet with greater intensity, causing harm to
humans and animals; it causes diseases, like skin cancer. Another of the
damages that global warming causes is the melting of the north and south
poles, which is where most of the freshwater in the world exists. Water is the
most important resource in our life, but we must know that not all water is
consumable and ready to drink, such as salt water that is situated in the
ocean, is not drinkable. The water is a natural resource which is supposed to
be free so it should not have a price now and neither in the future, but every
day there are more studies that say that water is running out, because of the
bad care we are giving to water. So if we continue not taking care of water,
in the future water price is going to increase and it will become an expensive
resource but a necessary resource for our lives. The glacier water is fresh
and its density is lighter than salt water, therefore when the poles melt these
waters often remain floating on the salt water, and mixing this water is less
salty than the ocean. When glaciers form again, just freezes the water and
salt remains floating in the ocean, therefore this water is saltier. In addition,
this freshwater becomes into streams like rivers traveling through the ocean,
are paths used by marine species, for their mobilization. The melting of the
poles can increase the level of water in the sea, causing floods in areas near
the coasts and this also affects the life of many animals that live near the
poles. Animals that are at the poles need a lot of space but they get the
opposite when the poles melt, many of those animals such as polar bears,
penguins, harp seal and among others, have no place to live and end up
dying in the sea, obviously because they are forced to live in conditions that
they are not used to. In conclusion, the melting of the poles is causing
serious damages to our life and to other living creatures that inhabit our
planet. At the future, the poles are going to melt completely and we are
going to lose one of the biggest reserves of freshwater; it all depends on the
care and the importance human give to this issue.
2. Hypothesis

If the poles are melting, then animals are going to be in danger of extinction,
because of the lack of habitat and food.

3. Objectives

Determine species in danger of extinction.

Determine the causes and effects of the melting.

Determine how is the global warming affecting this issue.

4. Subtopics

Causes and consequences of the melting of the poles.

North Pole is the northernmost point on Earth. This is the precise point of
the intersection of the Earths axis and Earths surface. North Pole has an
altitude of 90 and also is the point where all the lines of longitude meet.
North Pole occupies the middle of the Arctic Ocean. This region used to
be almost always covered of a thick ice layer. However, an interesting fact
of this pole is that the North Pole is warmer than the South Pole and also
it reaches higher temperatures at summer. This is due to the fact that the
North Pole lies at a sea level that is in the middle of the ocean, what leads
it work as a reservoir of heat.

Nonetheless, as Global Warming became a global issue that is

impossible to stop, Poles have been affected because as the temperature
rises, ice starts to melt, provoking poles slowly loss their big amount of ice
they used to have, and leading Arctic Ocean recovers its original water
state, liquid.

Nevertheless, there are a lot of causes that provoke this critical reality. At
first, we could say that the strongest reason of melting poles is the climate
change and the increase of water temperature.

Global warming causes the ice caps to melt. As they melt, the moving
water corrodes at the remaining ice, speeding up the process.
 In the past, people have thought the melting of the polar ice caps was due
to "global warming". As the ice caps are growing again, we now see that
global warming is not the cause and actually a natural cycle in itself.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA, in the last

100 years the sea level has risen about 6 to 8 inches. A variety of things
are causing this rise but the thing that is triggering all this seems to many
like global warming. Antarctica accounts for 90 percent of the worlds ice,
which is where many icebergs come from. Icebergs are formed when ice
breaks off from these glaciers. It is one theory that rising temperatures
cause more ice to break off from these glaciers and fall into the ocean
displacing water, which could cause sea levels to rise. But even this could
not account for all the change in Earths sea level. Antarctica is covered in
ice about 2,133 meters of ice. If this were all to suddenly rise the ocean
could rise about 200 feet. But that could never happen in the near future,
because the temperature of Antarctica is about -37 degrees Celsius.
Another organization, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
estimated in their report that the oceans could rise 90 centimeters by the
year 2100. Which could have a profound effect on cities on the oceans,
especially during storms?

But there are also people and places affected by the melting. For
example, in Bangladesh, over one million people have been displaced do
to the rising sea and the rising rivers. It is expected that if no action is
taken, that thirteen million more people will lose their homes in the near
future. There is also a vital rice crop there, which would be lost. This
would only take one meter of rising to do all this damage. There are also
many island nations; like Tuvalu, that is no more than fifteen feet above
sea level in any place, but most of it isnt even a meter high. Much of the
island is already extensively flooded.

Flora and fauna in danger of extinction.

Extinction is the disappearance, brought about by natural or unnatural

means, of an entire species. Some species of plants and animals die out
 naturally because newer species are more successful at competing for
food and living space. Others have become extinct because of changes in
the planet or because of natural disasters.

Dinosaurs, for example, may have died out because the climate became
cooler, maybe because an asteroid collided with the earth and caused a
big cloud of dust that blocked out the sun.

In today's world, however, species mostly become extinct or are

threatened with extinction because of humans. Humans hunt animals,
destroy their habitats, and introduce other animals that prey upon the
endangered animals or compete for their resources. Among these factors,
the greatest threat to plants and animals is habitat destruction.

It is estimated that about 125 species of birds and 60 species of

mammals have become extinct since 1600. Currently, there are
approximately 1000-1100 species of birds and mammals that are facing
extinction. If invertebrates and plants are included, the total number of
species in imminent danger is around 20,000 1.

Ecuador is wild holder of a great wealth of flora and fauna. Nevertheless

these natural resources have been substantially altered by the
deforestation, the illegal trade of species, the furtive hunt, burning of the
forests, etc., which has caused that many of the wild species in Ecuador
are threatened or on the verge of extinction. The truth is that if we do not
help them save, they can be the last generation of these animals that
allow see the beauty of our country. (Biologist. Darwin Vega C.)

Effects of Global Warming

Global Warming refers to the increase in the average temperature of

global surface. This term is also employed to indicate the climate change
Earth is facing nowadays. However, the global issue of Global Warming
has as a direct consequence the Greenhouse Effect. Global Warming is
due to the fact that during a lot of years people has been polluting the
1 "North Pole." - National Geographic Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.
<http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/north-pole/?ar_a=1>.
Earth, using a lot of pesticides, chemicals and even throwing garbage in
streets, make ozone layer weakens.

Nevertheless, greenhouse gases play an important role in maintaining the

mean global temperature; this is actually because the preconditions for
life to exist are a source of energy, water, nutrients and warmth. With
colder conditions, enzyme reactions do not operate at fast enough rates
to support life. Atmosphere is the responsible to maintain the temperature
on Earth and without it certain gases trap radiation that heats the surface.
However, radiation trapping is caused mainly by water vapor and carbon
dioxide, but other gases are also involved in this process, some of them

CH 4 N2O O3
are Methane ( ), Nitrous Oxide ( ) and ozone ( .

Gases are extremely important because they create a thermal blanket

that maintains an average Earth temperature that can support life.

In the other hand, we have the Greenhouse Effect that tends to be viewed
negatively today, nonetheless greenhouse gases enable World
temperature to be warmer, basically because the function of these gases
is to regulate the climate allowing life exist. But there are many human
activities that have increased levels of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere, this is due to the fact that carbon dioxide release by burning
fossil fuels and the increase of other gases are linked to human activities
like deforestation, increased cattle ranching, rice farming in padi fields
and the excessive use of fertilizers in agricultural systems is one of the
worst causes that leads Global Warming becomes a hazard problem for
humanity.

By the way, as well as Greenhouse effect has terrible consequences,

Global Warming has hazard effects; in the most important and serious
impacts we have the retreat of polar ice caps and glaciers, what provokes
an increase of sea level at coastlines causing coastal flooding and with
these backgrounds there is going to be a change in biome distribution,
bringing as a consequence the extinction of some species.

Nonetheless, as the species composition in ecosystems is going to

change and temperature keeps increasing rapidly, there is not going to be
 enough time for organisms to adapt to the new living conditions.
According to the characteristics organisms have developed, some
organisms will be able to migrate to new areas where they can adapt
easily to the new living conditions. Even so, tropical diseases will tend to
increase causing a spread as warmer conditions are found in more
northern latitudes.

On the other hand, as there is a severe climate change the weather

patterns and rainfall will change, allowing climate to be unpredictable.
With this, agriculture will be affected because weather is no longer going
to be a favorable factor and the reduction of water resources will make
farmers have a lot of difficulties to irrigate fields.

Social problems will appear as a direct impact of Global Warming

because conflicts and hunger rates will increase and this will have
implications for levels of economic development. Nonetheless, national
resources bases will change, which will drive economic, social and
cultural change. These issues will tend to affect more to the Less
Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) because these countries
dont have a lot of advances in technology and they dont have a strong
economy, what them be more vulnerable than More Economically
Developed Countries (MEDCs).

Coastal flooding, caused by the melting of the polar ice caps and the
thermal expansion of the oceans, will particularly affect countries that
have land below sea level, and may lead economic and social stress due
to loss of land and resources. LEDCs are also more likely to have weak
infrastructure, communications and emergency services, which will also
2
make them less able to respond to the effects of climate change.

5. Conclusions

2 Nagle, Garrett, and Andrew Davis. Environmental systems and societies for the IB
diploma. Oxford: Pearson Education, 2010. Print. Page 269
 The melting of poles influences the ocean level causing floods in coastal
areas.
If the poles completely disappear, it would cause harm to the animals that
live in this environment and even many of these species would arrive to
extinguish.
The disappearance of the poles would cause major climate changes on
earth.
The extinction is a factor that causes the disappearance of species, flora
and fauna, for several factors like they are: the hunt for these species for
different activities, the illegal trade, the felling of trees, the deforestation,
between others.
We can see that Global Warming effects will be hazard for us and all
living beings because we are not able to stop it and not even combat
against this issue. Consequences and impacts are going to be terrible
what will provoke the extinction of many species and also it will lead for
competition in order to survive. Ozone layer is getting weak what creates
another problem, because ultraviolet rays are entering to the Earth, but
they are not able to leave, what causes several damages first to the
Earths atmosphere and then to all the population, basically because as
this rays are extremely dangerous for humans, they provoke a lot of
diseases what leads to the creation of new illnesses.

6. Recommendations

We need to be aware about what is going on around the world; diary,

thousands of animals get lost, many of them of great importance for the
world.

It is important to realize campaigns to speak about the great factor that

concerns our planet. We must begin with an example and taking care of the
habitat of our animals to avoid the felling of trees, the deforestation, between
others, in order to continue increasing new species in our planet instead of
loose them..

A major local control of the environment is necessary where the most

species of animals live in danger of extinction, in order that they have a
 major care. These places need to be protected to avoid the extinction of
these wonderful animals

7. Bibliography

What Is Global Warming?." About.com US Liberal Politics. N.p., n.d. Web.

20 Jan. 2014.
<http://usliberals.about.com/od/environmentalconcerns/a/GlobalWarm1.htm
>.

Nagle, Garrett, and Andrew Davis. Environmental systems and societies for
the IB diploma. Oxford: Pearson Education, 2010. Print.

"Melting ice forms lake in the North Pole." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, n.d.
Web. 20 Jan. 2014. <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/melting-ice-forms-lake-
in-the-north-pole/>.

"North Pole." - National Geographic Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan.

2014.<http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/nort
h-pole/?ar_a=1>.