Climate Change Effects on Biodiversity. The peak of Mt Kilimanjaro as it has not been seen for...
-
Upload
aileen-butler -
Category
Documents
-
view
218 -
download
1
Transcript of Climate Change Effects on Biodiversity. The peak of Mt Kilimanjaro as it has not been seen for...
Climate ChangeEffects on Biodiversity
The peak of Mt Kilimanjaro as it has not been seen for 11,000 years
1980
1980
2007
2007
Upsala glacier
1928
2004Foto: © Greenpeace/De Agostini/Beltra
Drivers of loss
Latest IPCC report summary (2/07) Ocean absorbing > 80% extra heat, causing
water to expand and sea levels to rise. 1961 and 2003 average sea level rose by
1.8mm a year. 1993 and 2003 rose by 3.1mm a year.
Arctic temperatures increased x2 the global average rate over the past 100 years, and the ice has shrunk by 2.7% each decade.
More intense and longer droughts, particularly in the tropics and sub-tropics
North Atlantic there has been an increase in the incidence of typhoons and hurricanes.
Biodiversity implications?
Die-offs
Extinctions
Life Cycles
Physiology
Coral bleaching die-offs of up to 50% in the Indian Ocean
A species of Golden Toad in Costa Rica
Gothic marmots emerge from hibernation about a month earlier than 30 years ago
The average weight of adult female polar bears has decreased by more than 20%
over the last 25 years
A big “loser”: Coral Reefs Escalating level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is
making the world's oceans more acidic (not a simple C “sink”)
pH of oceans stable 1000 -- 1800, dropped one-tenth of a unit since the Industrial Revolution and likely another 0.3 units by 2100
CO2 forms carbonic acid and lowers ocean pH, making it harder for corals, plankton and marine snails to form their body parts.
Big changes in “Phenology” with unknown effects…advance of spring events (bud burst, flowering, breaking hibernation, migrating, breeding)
Root TL, Price JT, Hall KR, Schneider SH, Rosenzweig C, Pounds JA. 2003. Fingerprints of global warming on wild animals and plants. NATURE 421 (6918): 57-60.
Alastair Fitter…
Poleward range shifts have been documented for individual species, as have expansions of warm-adapted communities, on all continents and in most of the major oceans.
Nearly 60% of the 305 species found in North America in winter are on the move, shifting their ranges northward by an average of 35 miles.
Range-restricted species, particularly polar and mountaintop species, show more severe range contractions than other groups and have been the first groups in which whole species have gone extinct due to recent climate change
MacDonald and Brown 1992
Evolutionary responses have been documented (mainly in insects), butthere is little evidence that observed genetic shifts are of the type or magnitude to prevent predicted species extinctions.
Turtles and global warming
Painted Turtles - From Janzen PNAS (1994)
Conservation Implications
Hatchling loggerhead turtles in Florida from 87 to 99.9 percent females
Heavily influenced by beach management a 2 degree C warming of the sand would put
temperatures solidly in the female- producing range for the entire population
(N. Mrosvovsky and J. Provancha, "Sex ratio of hatchling loggerhead sea turtles: data and estimates from a 5-year study," Canadian Journal of Zoology, v. 70, p. 530 - 538, 1992).
Response?
Projected temperature changes ~ 2-3 degrees C
Slow generation times Remote possibility that turtles can evolve
quickly enough to track such environmental change and maintain balanced sex ratios in the wild.
The View from New York State…
see:
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/index.html
By the end of the century, New York summers may feel like those of current-day Illinois
Saltmarsh sharp-tailed sparrow, glossy ibis…
Moving waters Slower stream velocity, Low depth of flow, High water temperature Higher levels of turbidity All = lower levels of dissolved
oxygen
Winter
Spring
Summer
Temporary waters
Lakes Lake Erie and Lake Ontario Increased evaporation and
lower recharge rates Lake Erie levels to decrease by
as much as five feet by 2100
Forests
Range periphery species
Adirondacks are particularly climate-vulnerable
“Assisted migration”?
Is there a silver lining?
…of climate change for biodiversity?
Continued supply of ecosystem services depends on capacity of ecosystems to adapt to climate change, e.g.: maintenance of forests in water
catchment areas, where landslides are likely to occur after heavy rain,
maintenance and restoration of natural wetlands, to store water and regulate water base flows
Ecosystem resilience: backbone of adaptation
; Terrestrial carbon stocks
Ecosystem resilience: path to carbon mitigation
Sequester when natural, tC/ha/year
Emit when degraded, tC/ha/year
Tundra (permafrost)
0 10
Boreal forests 0.4-1.5 10-55
Temperate mixed forests
6.3 0.5
Temperate peatlands
0 3-5
Temperate grasslands
0.2 0.2
Semi-deserts 0.13 0.13
Steppe -0.0009
Carbon fluxes in ecosystems
Why? Because of permanence
Protected areas
Disaster relief: prevent and retain: Avalanche Hurricane Flooding Tidal surges Drought
Resources: for people: Clean water Fish spawning Wild food Building materials Local medicines Shelter
Future resources: from wild species including: Agrobiodiversity Pharmaceuticals Other genetic material
Sequestration: Carbon capture and storage in: Forests Grasslands Inland waters Marine systems Soil and humus
In theory PAs is the best solution
Total and stored within the protected areas network (green ) 13.7% of world’s terrestrial area is protected, but contain 15.2% of C stock
85% carbon is outside
protected areas
In practice: carbon pools protected and not
Increase coverage, level of protection and management effectiveness,
Integrated protected areas in territorial plans – networks, corridors, incl. trans-boundary,
Carbon stock management, incl. linkages to carbon markets
Ecosystem-based adaptation
Work ahead to expand role of PAs
Outside PA’s: REDD+ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and
Forest Degradation "plus" conservation = the sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks)
Generates funding and political will to protect forests combat climate change improve human well-being in developing nations.
REDD+ a suite of policies, institutional reforms and monetary
incentives for developing countries to reduce “DD” Governments, industry and local communities Developing countries:
Need policies and technical capacity, legal frameworks and financial mechanisms in developing countries
Industrialized countries need policy and business leaders involved market-based approaches to create a demand for forest
carbon offsets
REDD+: A Win-Win for Climate and Biodiversity Rate of extinctions projected to be
dramatically reduced By 46-80 percent over a period of five years
But only if: Viable investment opportunities exist. Developing and advancing standards that
stimulate markets for forest carbon. Private sector investment in REDD+ is catalyzed
http://www.buerkleforcongress.com/index.php/issues/
Energy and the Environment Energy policy is a national priority and is critically important in Central and Western New York.
Sound national energy policies will enable America to obtain energy supplies from a wide range of sources in a way that is best for the economy and at the same time addresses homeland and national security considerations while creating incentives for responsible stewardship of the nation’s resources and environment.
The solution was not, is not, and never will be “cap and trade” legislation. The passage of a cap and trade bill would mean that the federal government would set a limit on the amount of pollution companies are permitted to emit and require them to obtain allowances or credits for that specific amount. …Cap and trade legislation would place an enormous burden on Central New York families – higher gasoline prices, higher heating costs, higher energy taxes, higher unemployment. Cap and trade, if enacted, would create a new national energy tax, destroy jobs and economic growth, and further damage the economy for decades to come.
End climate change