07/01/2015

The Change in
Biodiversity in
the 21st Century
By Michael Ita,
Please ask if spelling mistakes or
confusion. As I was ill over the holidays
and did not get to check properly.
Enjoy the 64 pages!
1

By Michael Ita

07/01/2015

Human population
growth
How is this changing Biodiversity:
This is effects the biosphere as when there are more
people there is a higher demand on the amount
resources we need from Biomes so we need more from
the biomes in sources but also produce more waste so
we are a sink to it. This means we get more food from
further away need more homes and burn fossil fuels
having a detrimental effect on the biosphere. Which in
turn has a detrimental affect on biodiversity
By Michael Ita

07/01/2015

Habitat loss- anthropogenic factors

Desertification

Desertification is happening in the semi-arid

Sahel region. It is caused by cutting down trees
and vegetation as well as grazing on it so less
water is trapped and given off as transpiration by
plants so less rainfall killing more plants to die as
well as over farming meaning it become an
increasingly dry place and we lose savannah

Conversion of Land to
Agriculture

habitat.

Statistics: Dry-lands occupy approximately 40

41% of Earths land area, and are home to more
than 2 billion people and is our second most
productive biome. It has been estimated that
some 1020% of dry-lands are already degraded
and beginning to turn into desert, the total area
affected by desertification being between 6 and
12 million square kilometres, that about 16% of
the inhabitants of dry-lands live in desertified
areas, and that a billion people are under threat
from further desertification. This loss of land
affects life as deserts are amongst the least bio
diverse areas on the plane

In order to make food we

destroy habitats by removing
vegetation and only planting
the vegetation we want so we
lose habitat and biodiversity in
one as we actually narrow
biodiversity range of area by
only having our plants.
In 2008, the world's arable land
amounted to 1,380 M ha, out of
a total 4,883 M ha land used for
agriculture which means we
have destroyed 3503 M ha of
habitat to just suit our needs for
a food resource.
By Michael Ita

07/01/2015

Habitat loss- anthropogenic factors

Urban sprawl

This is the process where a big city expands to a low density urban area
with lots of houses in areas in America called suburbs this is bad for many
reasons especially in las Vegas. The major impact is increased use of
cars here is how it works.
More farmland and wildlife habitats are displaced per resident in suburbs
than any other area. As forest cover is cleared and covered with
impervious surfaces (concrete+ asphalt), so in the suburbs, rainfall is less
effectively absorbed into under-ground water supplies (aquifers). This
threatens both the quantity of water supplies. What affects the quality is
water pollution as rain water picks up gasoline, motor oil, heavy metals,
and other pollutants in runoff from parking lots and roads. Sprawl
fragments the land, which increases the risk of invasive species spreading
into the remaining forest which is very bad for biodiversity as local
species may be out competed.
On average, suburban residents generate more per capita pollution and
carbon emissions than in urban areas because of their increased driving,
this also decreases air quality.

By Michael Ita

07/01/2015

Habitat loss- anthropogenic factors

Infrastructure

This affects habitat by taking up land that was originally free to use before in
similar reasons to Urban sprawl however pipelines and the electrical grid are
particular problems.
This is as pipeline leaks can cause major devastation I mean you just have to
look to the gulf of Mexico spill to see the affects on birds as there wings get
covered in oil and around million died. The sea bed is also a problem as the
oil devastated the whole bed where much life is. Another things is that oil has
a lot of methane in as well as contributing to global warming but 23x more per
gram of methane compared to CO2. However this is not the only danger
methane can cause dead zones which mean that all life in the sea is dead in
that particular area so no biodiversity this is very bad. These areas can also be
caused by rubbish being deposited in the sea and eutrophication.
Gas pipelines are problematic as they leak which releases methane which as I
explained earlier is bad
The electrical grid causes problems as the electrical field can cause cancer
possibly in animals as well as mess with birds natural compasses to guide them
during migration.
They also destroy habitat outside the area that is built, as 50 % animals that live
in rural areas like to be a mile radius away from any infrastructure, in fact only
1% animals like urban areas or infrastructure which these days highly limit the
areas they can live in. So without accepting the horrible toxins humans give
them as well as facing there fears of humans many animals may die. Also
infrastructure can affects key ecology of the area in particular dams.
By Michael Ita

07/01/2015

Dead zones of the seas

2007 dead zones

By Michael Ita

07/01/2015

The Rainforest
See later for coral bleaching other major factor of habitat loss

Construction

Dams

settlements Roads and

This causes deforestation as roads need land and dams flood. This means
that much habitat is lost which means much biodiversity is lost. This is as the
tropical rainforest is the most diverse of all the biomes which means much
biodiversity is lost. Also the dams of the amazon reduce human culture
biodiversity and force people to move from a way of life their tribes have
been living for 1000s of years. I mean you only have to look at these pictures
to see the impact.

By Michael Ita

07/01/2015

Farming and Plantations

Soya

Palm oil

Cattle

In order to plant soya

beans Lots of area is
cut down in a slash
and burn farming

technique, this means

CO2 that was locked
and producing oxygen
is now released. Also
this is a very short term
technique as this gives
the soil only very
limited nutrients this
means that more and
more areas need to
be slashed and
burned each year.

Raising cattle is doubly bad

as it increases the demand
for soya beans which .
The cows themselves also
produce methane which is
an extremely bad
greenhouse gas in and of
itself. Furthermore cows
produce 2/3 of the worlds
ammonia which adds to
eutrophication and can be
incredibly poisonous to
wildlife; but the amount of
methane they produce is
from 200-500 litres a day
which is 4-10x the average
amount a car emits in a day.

Huge amounts of palm oil are

made each year to go in a
variety of products as it is used to
make 40% of vegetable oil in 5%
of vegetable farmland and
vegetable oil is in everything
from crisps to sweets to popcorn
to tomatoes to ham. POMEs is a
fertilizer used which is deadly to a
rare orang-utan if it drinks it if its
dissolved in water. Also they are
produced on peat bog areas
which is a huge container of
methane gas. And any
disturbance to the area can
release gas, Greenpeace
estimate that the peat bogs in
Indonesia are already damaged
and the benefits of biofuel that
palm oil it brings are negligible.

Palm oil plantation

lower in development

By Michael Ita

07/01/2015

Deforestation
Commercial Logging

Mining

Commercial logging is heavily linked to

Deforestation. This is due to road production;

however it also brings in $500 billion per annum.
According to WWF most logging is illegal an 12
out of the 13 companies broke the law in 2010,
also companies dont log sustainably as they
go to quickly and dont replant trees or harvest
efficiently, This means for every tree sold 600m2
of canopy is opened up.
Once felled the trees have to be transported
by tractor which causes mass erosion which
reduces nutrients and increases
eutrophication, in addition the forest takes lots
of time to regrow providing it isnt taken over
by cattle or agriculture like it is 60% of the time.
Unlike in mountain areas the forest does not
grow back quickly once felled as it only
recovers at a rapid rate for 3 years provided
that the forest is not affected by seasonal
flooding
Deforestation has such a high impact on soil
health as when the trees leave there is no
material to be broken down. Also we grow
plants that need lots of nutrients but do not
contribute as much to the cycle. This means
that the nutrient rich Humus is taken up quickly
and means the soil become unfertile

An example of mass
deforestation due to mining
the Grand Carajas
programme. This is where
mining companies were
allowed to put plants where
originally virgin forest was.
Deforestation is bad as the
nutrients in the soil decreases
and that there is no longer a
carbon sink there and there is
less area that can act as
green lungs by giving us the
amount of O2 we need in
order to survive. moreover
they have caused even more
deforestation as they cut
down more forest to use as
fuel for smelting furnaces.

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Waste increase- Ghana

With our banana culture when it comes to technology, we are

increasingly finding electronics obsolete; especially when bigger, newer
and better things come out, but what happens to it all?
Ghana is the biggest receiver of this e-waste, receiving 40% of it. Wealthy
countries get away with this waste by saying there second hand goods
but only 1 in 100 computers may actually work.
This means most of the time they end up in scrapyards where children go
through the filth to try and extract precious metals with nothing more than
a stone. For this little good the environment is heavily polluted with heavy
metals, mercury and even bromine flame retardants.
These are all extremely toxic and decrease the air, land and water quality
so animals and humans die alike which is terrible!
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

The Ganges sewage problem.

In this most sacred river many people in especially built up areas risk their lives
by bathing in the Ganges each year it is estimated that 3 billion litres of
sewage are pumped into the river each day (only a 1/3 is treated in any way)
and the sewage causes mass destruction by eutrophication which I will explain
how it affects biodiversity later.
However that is not the only problem due to religious activity many oils from
Hindu lamps are sent down the river each year which can poison both the
animals in the water and those drinking from it even plants can have adverse
affects
Also the human remains that are burnt everyday have similar detrimental
affects as sewage.
However the use of water in power
stations is also bad as the water is both
depleted making it more toxically
concentrated and there is thermal
pollution as the water is heated to cool
steam towers, this warming of the water
makes bacteria and their enzymes more
effective which can lead to eutrophication
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

The Average UK waste

We are getting better, but as a country we throw out 4.2 million tonnes of
food and drink per annum which would be enough to give each household 6
extra meals per weak
With all the food we dont eat we could benefit the planet the same amount
as if we took 1 in every 4 cars off the road.
4% of our water footprint comes from waste so we could save resources if we
wasted less
The main reason we waste food is we prepare too much food or we forget
about our leftovers till they spoil.
The sink we have on the environment is increasing all the time even though
due to the introduction of food recycling we are getting better

To see big right click and open as

acrobat file or double click

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Going nuclear

There is no known way to deal acceptably with our nuclear waste

except to bury it underground or to keep it in a cold swimming
pool for 100s of years.
The former is cheaper so it is more widely used, but who is to say
that this waste wont leak back into the environment or water
supplies which could cause cancer kill off many animals and
maybe even deform them severely so we dont have complex
working life.
However there could be some advantages such as the fact that
more advantageous mutations could happen which would
increase the biodiversity by causing a difference in the species
In addition to all this there are the costs of refining and mining the
uranium which just add more emmisions
There is much thermal pollution and the roxby plant in australia
uses 150,000m3 of water per day
However here is an interesting fact for you a coal plant release
100x more radioactive polltuion than a nuclear plant
But whats the point of all this when renewable is cleaner easier and
cheaper as renewables have no emmisions and cost is 0.00060.0009/kwh, nuclear is 0.0019/kwh and coal is 0.06/kwh.
By Michael Ita

London example

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07/01/2015

Food miles make lots of the eco footprint of London as 81% of food comes from outside the
UK and this adds to climate change which I will explain later how it is bad.

Suburbs and semi rural area make huge part of eco footprint as they have to commute to
work every day which means that people in the countryside can actually cause more
pollution apart from train commuters they only produce a fraction of the CO2 per capita
as many people share trains and they give off half the CO2 of a car per mile.
Around 1.3 million people commute on trains there are around 15 million private vehicles
and 10s of thousands of buses. 36 million people commute to work. And commute
changes as people also go to retail parks outside the city. So less public transport use

Most of the recycling I the UK is sent overseas 10% of newspapers and pamphlets are sent
to Malaysia the rest to Indonesia. A fifth of mixed papers are sent to china, only steel
aluminium and glass are recycled in the UK which is ridiculous.

Waste: 8% of London's waste ends up in Bedfordshire Shanks and MC Ewan which are big
landfill companies, which account to 50% of there waste.

20% London's waste comes goes to mucking, there are 200 hectares of waste up to 30m
deep. 20% is transported out by ships in the river Thames. Mucking was good as it had no
use as sand and gravel ran out so it could no longer be used for gravel quarry. This is
damaging as waste can leak into Thames and the toxins dumped there killed the
neighbouring nature reserve in the village of mucking
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Higher resource demand

Higher resource demand encompasses all of what I have

talked about so far, as when population grows we need
more resources and towns. This uses more energy, pollutes
more gets rid of more habitat and makes animals except
from perhaps scavengers and bacterial decomposers can
unable to compete/live with us.
It also means we are using up finite resources quicker than
they can be supplied as fossil fuels are expected to all go
in the next century and uranium in the next couple of
centuries
Particularly in the rainforest this means we can even
destroy medical cures as our lust for lumber made sure
that the periwinkle tree was destroyed which increased
survival chances from 20-80%.
If we have a continued exponential increase we could
also experience a Malthusian natural check which means
many animals and plants die as there simply isnt enough
food or energy to sustain us all!!
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Introduction of Alien Species

Now Im sure you have heard about the grey squirrel coming to
the UK and out competing the red squirrel in the south of the UK
but this is a minor example compared to the buffalo carp in the
US.
This reduced the numbers of other carp and bass by 30% when it
was introduced and the mirror carp is very endangered in the
US. This is as the Buffalo carp clean up everything, the reason for
why they were first introduced but it means often there is not
enough food left for anyone else so they die. This is as the buffalo
carp was originally in Canada and only active for about 3-4
months of the year when it was warm enough and it hibernated
the rest of the time. However when it was introduced to the
south of the US mass destruction happened all year round.
This shows just how bad a simple thing can be to a delicate
ecosystem and we as humans when we meddle with the
animals meddle with the system and lose fish with genes that
may be needed in the future
This isnt even the most serious example as I'm sure many of you
have heard about the dodo and that we no longer have this
flightless bird.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

CLIMATE CHANGE- the

source of most negative
change
A Negative outlook
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130
726112209.htm

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Overview

Climate change is bad as it makes more

extreme weather so certain biomes can get
to much sun or not enough rain as weather is
made more extreme so more droughts and
floods are likely to happen. This is caused by
all the world in burning of fossil fuels, using to
much electricity and cutting down forests. It
also means the earth becomes hotter which
will lead to places in the Artic and Antarctic
having less land as the ice is melting.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Thaw of Artic/Antarctic
Permafrost and ice

This is Dangerous in the Tundra biodiversity area.

This is because in this all organic matter that dies is
frozen so it is preserved. However bacteria can
reach this eventually and when they do it is usually
under the ice. This will then form a methane
bubble. After this is formed it is trapped under ice.
However due to global warming the permafrost is
melting which means that methane gas is being
released which is 23x times as damaging to the
environment than CO2 as it is a very bad
greenhouse gas which will then lead to further
extreme weather which will damage the
environment.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Sea level rise+ floods

This

is happening due to thermal

expansion and ice sheet melting.
Sea levels are expected to rise by about
1m in the next 100 years or 2m in the
Greenland ice melt increases pace.
There are varying impacts but here is an
example about Tuvalu, double click to
view fully.

N
W

E
S

N
W

E
S

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Heat waves + forest fires- US

You may have heard about the Colorado fires however

the Nebraska fires were much more detrimental to
biodiversity and they both happened in 2012
This is as the Colorado fires happened in higher
populated areas where as the Nebraska fires effected
more land but less people which is why we never heard
of it.
This means that an area where animals are virtually free
to roam, eat and sleep was decimated and habitat loss
was catastrophic as about 100 square miles were lost
compare this to Colorado and only about a of the
land was affected.
This meant that in the tropical grassland area, our
second most bio-diverse biome, we lost huge amounts
of insects and habitat
Despite short term loss from farmers the greater nutrients
in the soil will now encourage them to move in place
lots of chemicals on the land and start as usual and in
such as the us many of the impacts for legal chemicals
is unknown but most are toxic to everything except soya
beans or corn
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Extreme weather
Global warming is making the days hotter, rainfall and flooding heavier, hurricanes stronger and droughts
more severe. This intensification of weather is the most tangible impact of global warming in our everyday
lives. It is also causing dangerous changes to the landscape of our world, which adds stress to wildlife species
and their habitat.

Hurricanes- these will become stronger as more heat energy

needs to be transferred around the globe this means tropical
storms will have 3-31%stronger rainfall and wind speeds 2-11%
higher. Also there will be much higher storm surges, so
flooding is more likely .
Heat Waves- we get more and severer heat waves, this is an
obvious change however it makes habitats more vulnerable as
plants can over respire at night and animals often overheat, this
could be a serious problem and is linked to my next point. Also
warming of night has impact on this see slide 59 for more detail.
Wildfires- it is not bad that we have them as many habitats like
Yellowstone need this to regenerate and carry on the next
generation. However the increased amount of them particularly
in the US and Australia is alarming as they have risen by 20% in the last 8 years and destroyed just over a
billion hectares (British billion). This means that more habitat is lost in a relatively short amount of time that
takes years to recover from. Also warming of night affects these see later for details.
Floods- this mainly impacts the coast however in 2009 Omaha flooded which is right in the centre of the US.
This was due to high melt from the Rockies due to heavy snowfall that winter. With areas flooded many small
land species die and much land is made unusable, this means animals cant feed and plants cant grow. Sure
some water species like algae and pathogens grow like crazy but for some of the less hardy species it can be
detrimental. In fact our coasts have seen over 100 species die out due to the fact they werent hardy
enough to survive flooding which is a real shame as who knows what a frog species or any other animal may
teach us.

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Extreme weather

Drought- The skimmer and swimmer critters in ponds, when dried

out by drought end up looking the same as each other when the
water returns. Causing a huge decline in biodiversity, according to
a new study by Jonathon chase. In worst affected areas this drop
can lead to more serious consequences, such as ecosystem
collapse, this affect the web of life and food that supports all
animals and humans.
This is as when he did his experiment to replicate drought conditions
a pond faces; he found that biodiversity decreased by 10% for that
pond. This is as there are the ones who deal with drought
effectively. This means that they recover more quickly and out
compete other animals. This leads to homogenization. However in
an area of ponds this is much more serious as biodiversity
decreases by 50% due to the fact that the rarer species that only
live in specific ponds die and form the 10% loss for one pond
however they accumulate to a bigger number in more ponds as
that species in now not in entire area.
http://www.livescience.com/4650-drought-destroy-biodiversity.html

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Less, unreliable rainfall-Sahel

In

this semi-arid region much grazable,

arable land is being lost. This is mainly due
to over grazing or poor farming methods.
This means that there ends up being not
enough plants. This means there is less
transpiration and therefore less rainfall.
This is bad for biodiversity as we lose a
whole range of species who can survive
the hot but not the desert and some of
them could have been very important to
science.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Climate change
advantages
A HIGHLY optimistic outlook.

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Not so much an advantage

Mass extinction the result of acid rain and ozone loss!

Widespread rain as acidic as lemon juice and the
destruction of as much as 65% of the ozone layer may
have played a major role in the largest mass extinction
in the fossil record. This conclusion was reached by a
US team that used geological samples to develop a
climate model that predicted extreme atmospheric
effects that could have been behind the mass
extinction at the end of the Permian.
Sometimes called The Great Dying, the mass extinction
event 252 million years ago saw the death of around
90% of all living species, including the trilobites, sea
scorpions and two major groups of coral. Why this
happened has been the subject of considerable
scientific debate with the primary suspect large-scale
volcanism in the Siberian Traps

Source AS chemistry bulletin see outside presentation for more

So essentially all the bad stuff we are doing has

happened before without our intervention so are we
really that bad or could it all simply be natural
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Oak Processionary Moth

insect or small animal
example.
Numbers expanding due to climate change

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Problems with moth

Caterpillars can cause respiratory problems in

humans as their hair contains thaumetopoein
which mostly just irritates the skin but if the
hairs are inhaled then it causes many cold like
symptoms.
They are killing our oak trees so we need to
report nests, this is as they are like locusts the
come and strip an oak tree of much of its
bark and leaves which means if they dont
die then, then they will die when a disease or
drought hits them.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Description
Caterpillar
The

caterpillars are recognised by their movement

in late spring to summer as well as their processions
(hairs) which go from the front to the back
They pretty much exclusively live on oak trees
They build white nests made of silk in the summer
but they become colourless quickly so become
harder to notice as summer goes on
They have been known to even encase cars in their
ingenious protective web which stop them getting
eaten
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Description
The

moth itself is far less interesting then the

caterpillar it is a brown moth like any other and is
very hard to distinguish
However they only last for three days in this stage
before they die but they can lay up to 500 eggs in
this time

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Where are they usually found?

Can

be found all over the

South of England
However it thrives mainly
in London and Berkshire
However they have been found as
far north as Leeds and Sheffield
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

A Bigger picture in Holland

As you can see the
numbers greatly increase
from 2005-2009 as well as
they are moving further
north. So its not a very
good outlook for us then is
it?
Note keep as PowerPoint
to see effectiveness of
display
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Why the expansion

The larvae needs very mild temperatures in

order to spawn, however due to Global
warming an expansion northwards has been
made possible. This is as in spring in recent
years it has been drier and warmer in order to
expand
This coupled with the lack of predators here
and the reduced resistance of English oak
trees to them has caused mass devastation to
our forests.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

When was the problem recognised/

what has been done about it?

This is a fairly recent problem, this is as they

were only found here in 2006 but they have
expanded by 350% since then
The Plant health forestry order was amended
in 2008 in order to give the UK rights to check
oak trees coming through customs.
This means they will stop new introductions of
the species and can try to contain the
numbers we already have.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Polar bear
A large animal example

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Warming up
In

2012 the artic experienced the warmest

temperatures on record.
Polar bears rely on sea ice so much that
the tiniest change to temperature can
affect where the hunt breed and den
(live).
Also there is now to much open water as
before a swim a polar bear could have
made caused 4 to drown in 2004

By Michael Ita

Specifics

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07/01/2015

In the winter the polar bears are leaving their sea to den on land
instead, this means they cause havoc on animals in north Russia as they
cannot get back to the ice in summer and also for themselves as it
encourages tourists to come up and hunt them.
Their new land dens are susceptible to forest fires as the permafrost has
declined. This can also lead to their collapse due to increased spring
rainfall which can be detrimental as bears are trapped at a key time of
year when they need to get out and breed.
They also cannot hunt as longer with less sea ice, particularly in the
Hudson bay which has seen the hunting season grow shorter by about
a month has seen a decrease of 22% in its polar bear population. As
well as 37% drop in cub survival rates
In the southern Beaufort sea study it shows that this drop in cub survival
rated also has lead to a decline in adult weight and skull size
The main reason this all is due to the fact they cannot reach the seal
prey in order to get enough nutrition this affects the whole eco-system
from copepods to seals to walruses. This is as when tertiary predator
numbers drop secondary consumers increase which decreases primary
consumer numbers. They then get wiped out so the secondary
consumers then end up starving. The plants particularly in sea cannot
survive in high methane atmospheres so they die. This means we are
only left with bacteria.
Another thing this unfortunately leads to is cannibalism which further
reduces numbers but could be said to help make sure the next polar
bears are the strongest ones
By Michael Ita

Pictures

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07/01/2015

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Eutrophication and Coral

Bleaching
Monera/Protista example
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2013/07/03/Stu
dy-Climate-change-could-have-impact-on-oceanfood-chain/UPI-75951372888940/
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Coral bleaching
Global warming, Sedimentation, Blast Fishing Tourism
and hurricanes.

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Global warming

Human activities has resulted in atmospheric CO2

concentrations that have increased from approximately 280 to
385 parts per million (ppm). The atmospheric concentration of
CO2 is now higher than experienced on Earth for at least the
last 800,000 years and probably over 20 million years, and is
expected to continue to rise at an increasing rate, leading to
significant temperature increases.
Also the Ph level of oceans has decreased by 0.1 of a unit
compared to what it normally was. A higher Ph means there is
less carbonate ions available needed to make shells or the
skeleton for coral. Also the acid makes the cells weaker so
waves are more likely to damage them and they are more
vulnerable.
Coral bleaching occurs with temperature rises as they expel
the algae (that live symbiotically with the coral) if they are
stressed by being too hot or if they have too much ultraviolet
radiation. The algae are called zooxanthellae (zoo-zan-THELee) normally provide the coral with up to 80% of its energy. This
means that they often die and lose their colour as they algae
makes them have their colour. This is why they are called
bleached corals.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Sedimentation
Industry

and town and cities on coasts

can lead to rivers being eroded by
farming, mining, logging and
construction. This means that they get
covered in sediment or the water gets
murkier so The coral get less sunlight. This
means they cannot get food. Also
mangrove forest destruction and prawn
farms are increasing sediment.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Blast fishing
This

blows up the coral. This means that

the reefs the fish live in as well as fish are
destroyed, for the sake of only a few fish
that float to the surface. In addition it also
kills unnecessary fish that dont have to be
killed.

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Careless tourism
Sewage

released from resorts degrades

the coral. This can be pumped directly or
seeps into the water from poorly designed
septic tanks. Also bad practices on diving
and boating can lead to the coral being
touched and destroyed/killed, as
whenever people grab, kick/walk on, or
stir up sediment in the reefs they die. They
are also destroyed by anchors and
people collecting coral.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Increased hurricane activity

Coral

reefs can be damaged by natural

events such as hurricanes, cyclones, and
tsunamis. Wave activity can break apart
corals, this is especially true as their shells
are becoming weaker. This is happening
most likely due to climate change,
caused by global warming, caused by
the enhanced greenhouse effect. As the
extra thermal energy has to be transferred
somehow around the earth
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Affects on
biodiversity of
Coral
bleaching
The destruction of coral and how key a marine
habitat it is.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Habitat
Coral

is an incredibly good habitat as it

provides protection for animals behind it
as well as being in warm waters packed
full of nutrients thank to the coral
producing it.
This means that 25% fish species live in
these areas despite being only 5% of
habitat and 40% of total amount of fish
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Coral itself
Coral

are one of the biggest contributors

in oxygen production of the sea so
destroying them increases climate
change
Also the coral are used to make lots of
jewellery that is biologically friendly with
them dead we will pollute even more.

By Michael Ita

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2000

07/01/2015

2010

Eutrophication

Causes + affects as well as statistics, getting mildly

better in developed countries which were the only
ones which allowed researcher to create a map like
the one above.

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Causes + affects

By either an increase of dead content due to

methane killing animals or an increase in algae to
due warming temperatures or chemicals the
process is almost always the same.
First the key factor happens which I have then
explained above
Then algae and zooplankton begin to grow like
crazy until they block out the sunlight
This means that other plants cannot create
oxygen below or photosynthesise so they die
This then means the animals have no oxygen or
anything to feed on so eventually they die
The water becomes oxygen-less and even the
algae begin to die
The bacteria feed of all the dead matter and
produce co2 and methane which kills the ocean
further and adds to global warming.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Statistics
This

has made around 5% of our oceans

dead
3% increase throughout the world of
Eutrophied waters.
This is the second biggest cause of marine
biodiversity loss
These dead zones could mean that in 2060 years there will be no fish in waters
within 30 miles of the coast
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Thumbs up for Climate

Change, Thumbs Down
for habitat loss
Fungae example

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Not much information

We now that the saproxylic species (ones that live

of dead wood) have reduces by 90% to human
clearing of paths and the forest floor
However in respect to other species it is much
harder to tell, however around 45% of species live
in 1% of land if you want to know more look here:
http://www.helsinki.fi/~ihanski/Articles/Oikos%2020
06%20Penttila%20et%20al.pdf
The reason I did not summarise this is that it is long
winded and a little confusing for me. However it
does show that that unless we manage forests the
habitat loss could cause us to have much less rare
species of fungus only growing in specific areas.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

The warming of the night

Plantae example but affects a bit more

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Causes and pests

This is as we all know the earth is getting warmer, but when

separating day and night you find something interesting. The normal
average temperature for days rose by 50% for 1961-90 however in
the same period nights temperatures rose by 70%. This is as
greenhouse gases have a larger affect on night temperatures.
Warming also means increased evaporation which means that there
are more clouds which makes it warmer at night and cooler in day.
However it is not just due to CO2; it is also due to with: increased heat
waste from homes and concrete radiating solar heat after dark.
A specific reason in North America where this has an impact is due to
the fact more pests can survive if there are fewer frosts so pine
beetles are chewing through forests at a rate of knots.

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Plants dying of exhaustion

Warming up means that the respiration of plants at

night is higher than it would have been previously.
Although this tends to help plants in drier areas like the
grasslands of china it hinders animals in wetter areas
like Japan and north-western USA. This has a great
impact on biodiversity as it gives some species a boost
and is hurting others. A long term study in Costa Rica
concluded that growth in tropical rainforests may be
stumped by the warming of the night.
This has a negative impact on human food supply as a
1C increase in night temperatures in the Philippines
has led to 10% decrease in night time temperatures
there.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Animal threats of night warming

Also

in Costa Rica due to increased cloudiness

has helped the frog-killing chytrid fungus grow
and rapidly decrease the numbers of some of
the rarest amphibians on our planet.
Ultimately more damaging though would be a
rise in malaria, Andrew Dobson an infectious
disease ecologist at Princeton university says:
What we worry about a lot is mosquitoes being
more active at night Being warmer for longer
is likely to speed up the life cycle of pathogens
like malaria, which means it can infect more
people.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Wildfires and heat waves

It will make fires easier as less dew will settle on potential fuel and
kindling with a warmer night. This may not affect so much once the
inferno is roaring however what is needed to cause it to start could
go from deliberately throwing gasoline everywhere and lighting it, to
igniting when a small cigarette drops. This effect is particularly hard to
measure against the affect of global warming as a whole. Which
shows how subtle and unnoticeable to us the warming of the nights
are.
Heat waves on the other hand are easy to tell, as many are
determined by highest minimums not maximums. In 2012 in the US
25% weather stations recorded a hotter night time in June, July and
August than at any time since records began (1895). In Europe a heat
wave which struck us in 2003 and killed 21,000 people linked to
warmer nights.
Hot nights mean that bodies stress more as in the day animals can
find more shade wind and relax in the water. However at night we
have to go to our shelters which are generally warmer and animals
bodies who arent used to heat cant cope anymore.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Mild upside
However

in California they can now grow

more as well as more varied grapes due
to the fact there are less frosts. This means
it is good for biodiversity and Californian
wine makers. In fact the number of types
of grapes could increase by 60% in the
region.

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Conclusion
What will happen to our earth by the 22nd century?

By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

The hope

During the dinosaur times there was 5 times as much co2 in the air as there
is now, and 55 million years ago in the Palaeocene epoch the rise of
mammals came due to a methane burp causing temporarily high
temperatures so they could get bigger. This means in the history of the
world our actions may cause damage, however life will change adapt and
move on.
On the other hand this change is happening very quickly and some animals
may not adapt. Furthermore today we need agriculture and cooler
temperatures for technology and if these go down with hotter temperatures
then we are doomed.
However does that really matter? I mean what I one species among many,
if we destroy our numbers vastly by our own actions that may actually be
really good for every other living creature on the planet.
In fact by us killing a minority of things would likely increase biodiversity by
20%, however somehow we always find a way to survive.
This means we have to hope that species that like the warm expand and
evolve so the gene pool remains large and who know by this and mutations
caused by nuclear waste we may actually create a new breed of
dinosaurs or other reptiles or even another Family of animals completely.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

The negative

Despite the slide before, from all that I have shown you a
trend emerges; it seems that even if some of what we do
has a mild benefit to biodiversity, then something else we do
almost certainly does not.
The only species that will truly grow is bacteria however due
to our killing of the deadly ones that is even limited.
It appears to me that unless we drop birth rates dramatically
and allow only so much care for the elderly (sad and wrong
I know) we will not drop our population enough. This means
we need ever more resources and power which will destroy
habitats and cause climate change.
This means I think that biodiversity will drop hugely over the
coming century, however what will happen in the next as I
said more sceptical. But we may loose pole species like
penguins and polar bears forever and who knows how
many in the rainforest. As the world is likely to be drier in
these areas in the future.
By Michael Ita

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07/01/2015

Bibliography

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/opm
www.hantsmoths.org.uk
http://www.rentokil.com/blog/effects-of-climate-change-on-pests-cockroaches-mothsand-rodents/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arable_land
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat_destruction#Impact_on_human_population
http://www.fastcompany.com/1674335/dead-zone-deconfusinator-oil-not-only-problemgulf-mexico-nasa-study-shows
New Scientist Magazine November 30th issue (pg. 51-52 for warming of night)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutrophication#Decreased_biodiversity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_reef_fish
www.eea.europa.eu
http://www.seos-project.eu/modules/coralreefs/coralreefs-c04-p01.html
Personal GCSE geography books
http://science.howstuffworks.com/zoology/methane-cow.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_and_environmental_impact_of_palm_oil#Environment
By Michael Ita
al_issues

64

07/01/2015

Bibliography

www.bbc.co.uk
www.internationalrivers.org
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_08/014301.php
www.hindustantimes.com
http://www.dw.de/indias-polluted-ganges-river-threatens-peoples-livelihoods/a-17237276
AS Chemistry December bulletin
http://england.lovefoodhatewaste.com/node/2472
http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/estimates-household-food-and-drink-waste-uk-2011
http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/nuclear/problems
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_nuclear_power#Radioactive_waste
River monsters
http://climate.nasa.gov/effects
http://www.serdp.org/Featured-Initiatives/Climate-Change-and-Impacts-of-Sea-Level-Rise
http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Threats-to-Wildlife/Global-Warming/Global-Warming-is-CausingExtreme-Weather.aspx
http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/about-polar-bears/essentials/climate-change
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Polar_Bear_Habitat.pngv
http://www.helsinki.fi/~ihanski/Articles/Oikos%202006%20Penttila%20et%20al.pdf
http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/dinosaurcontroversies/a/Dinosaurs-Global-Warming.htm

By Michael Ita