In this video, two polar bears were living their daily lives, but started to realize that something was wrong. The ice in which they lived in most of their lives, started to sink and they were discussing what could possibly cause the sinking of ice. They come up with bizarre conclusions but in the end, they question that humans might have played a part in it. One of them says, "Do you think for one moment, that the humans would do this to us?"
Well, do we? Do we actually realize that every single action we do to comfort ourselves has an effect on this beautiful planet and everything within it. No, we don't! Do we realize it when we buy a luxurious car with high fuel consumption, that we will be polluting the atmosphere? Do we realize that when we are too lazy to turn that light off before we sleep, that we will waste energy which in turn, causes the burning of fossil fuels, which in turn, causes greenhouse gases that will pollute our atmosphere? Again, no we don't! All the things we do have a chain affect and the outcome of it harms our planet. All that we do now, will come back to us in the future and it is already starting to show that sign in the form of Global Warming.
Naturally occurring gases in the atmosphere act like the glass that covers the Earth by trapping heat from the sun so that the Earth's temperature is warm enough to sustain life for humans, plants and animals. That glass is slowly starting to crack as a result of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are being released into our atmosphere, destroying those naturally occurring gases. This is known as Global Warming. We, humans have increased the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by almost 20% from 1958 to 2004. [1] This has caused the surface temperature to increase drastically in the last 10, 000 years. [1] If this doesn't reduce in the upcoming years, Earth's biodiversity might come to an end.
The effects of Global Warming have affected the mighty polar bear, also known as Ursus Maritimus. This is the world's largest bear species and the largest land carnivore. These species habitat on ice especially in the Arctic Sea, and depend on it for most of their survival such as, feeding, mating, traveling and giving birth. The polar bear is a very unique specie due to its ability of adapting to harsh and freezing temperatures. These polar bears have not one, but two layers of fur and can survive temperatures as cold as 50 below zero Fahrenheit [4]. Did you know that although polar bears fast during maternity, they are highly alert and reactive and although they do not eat, drink, or urinate they not only survive during maternity, but even grow [1]. As you can see, polar bears have capabilities that even exceed humans. Bears do not develop osteoporosis because bears never lose bone mass. So if we keep these species alive for a long time and derive insights from their ways of living, we can lead to new treatment options for osteoporosis. Therefore, polar bears are such a unique and important part of our biodiversity that they can even help humans in the future, find for cure certain diseases.
Unfortunately, these mighty hunters are most likely to be extinct by the end of this century due to Global Warming [1]. Global Warming shrinks the Arctic Sea up to 5% every 10 years [3]. If you do the math, in the next 200 years or less, the Arctic Sea will be totally wiped out off the face of the Earth. Due to the shrinking of ice in the Arctic Sea, most of the polar bears are forced to live ashore during summer fasting. Also, many reports of polar bear deaths have occurred due to drowning since their home ground has melted away[4]. Also, if the Earth's temperature starts to increase, the polar bears will overheat because as I mentioned above, every part of their body is designed to prevent heat from escaping and they cannot simply survive if the temperature of the Arctic keeps increasing. All this boils down to Global Warming and if this keeps up, the polar bear will be like the dinosaurs, EXTINCT!
Something needs to be done, and soon before it’s too late. Humans are so intelligent that they have created technology with cell phones having mp3 players and camera's, to body parts that work for the handicapped. So why can't we put an end to this! We are saving our own planet and in fact, our own lives! Stewards are people who take care of their surroundings. So, are we stewards of the Earth? Well, you can answer that yourself. Are we going to be stewards of the Earth? Yes we can, by making a change! For those of us who aren't as smart in building new technology to reduce Global Warming, we can do our small part by walking or taking the TTC instead of the driving the car, and turning off that light or computer before we head to bed and by not thinking about luxury, but standard. Like my mom says, is it a need or is it a want? So every time you plan on buying something that you want, which will have an effect on our biodiversity, ask yourself if you really need it. And, by doing all this we shall hopefully call ourselves "stewards of the Earth".While I was browsing Youtube, I had also found another video concerning Global Warming. If you have the time, please take a look at it. It is very useful and informative and narrated by the famous movie star Leonardo Dicaprio.
[1]http://www.daversitycode.com/earthscope/
[2]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDIP71Lviys
[3]http://www.naturecanada.ca/climate_change_polar.asp
[4]http://www.bearplanet.org/global-warming-polar-bears.shtml
[5]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3pujlkSTqo
Jarvis,
ReplyDeleteExcellent work! Your blog is very interesting and have lots of information about the issue of global warming. I find this blog a very good tool in making people aware of the causes and effects of global warming. The Circle of Life- What Goes Around Comes Around shows that humans are responsible for this issue and their actions lead to the problem of global warming. The first video you posted was very useful in explaining this. The images were also useful in showing the consequences of global warming. It is very surprising that our actions have a huge impact on the whole environment. Global warming can cause warm temperatures in the Artic and the ice will split up so the polar bears will get overheated and die. I learned from this blog that polar bears do not develop osteoporosis as they never lose bone mass. So we should try to keep them alive and derive insights from their ways of living because it can lead to new treatment options for osteoporosis. This makes them a unique and important part of our biodiversity that they can even help humans in the future, find cure for certain diseases. Therefore, humans have to be environmentally conscious about global warming. Global warming is resulted by them for doing: deforestation, pollution, etc. The conclusion gives ways to stop global warming by doing simple actions such as taking public transportation, reforestation, recycling, turning lights off when not in use. I learned a lot about global warming and we can do to put an end to it.
John,your comment was very insightful.It made think about his poor bears. But Jarvis, seriously, I liked all the information that you researched and how you explained it very well. I thought it would be kind of easy to deal with the polar ice melting and the drowning of the bears. The videos and pictures presented in the blog created a great visual, maybe giving you extra marks. You really nailed it when you blamed this cause because of global warming and back it up with some research and opinion. Good job man.
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