The Impact of Climate Change on Tundra and Other Cold Biomes

In recent years climate change has become a bigger topic of discussion than it has ever been in the past. Anthropogenic activities are the main source of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. Consequently, as CO2 levels continue to rise surface temperature will increase simultaneously as a result of the greenhouse effect. This can affect plant assemblages in vulnerable ecosystems such as the Arctic. The majority of the Arctic is within a tundra biome, which is characterized by long cold winters, short cool summers, a short growing season, and low precipitation rates. Temperatures in this region can average around -34°C during the winter and between 3-12°C during the summer (The tundra biome). Vegetation in this type of biome is restricted by the cold temperatures and lack of rainfall making tundra’s more susceptible to the effects of increased CO2 levels and warming temperatures.

The Arctic provides important ecosystem services and contributes to the global carbon cycle. The majority of soil in these ecosystems experience permafrost and have acquired vast quantities of carbon stocks. About 50% of the world’s belowground carbon deposits are contained within these frozen tundra soil layers (Bjorkman et al., 2018). As a result, an increase in ambient temperatures will release carbon that was once locked belowground, and these new carbons sources will be bioavailable to plants and a portion of it will be admitted back into the atmosphere. Bjorkman et al. (2018) used vegetation survey data across 117 northern hemisphere tundra sites, over a period of three decades, to explore how vegetation in tundra biomes are affected by climate warming. Plant height, specific leaf area (SLA), leaf nitrogen content and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) were all investigated to examine how these variables affect plant productivity, soil carbon storage, decomposition rates, and nutrient cycling. Bjorkman et al. (2018) found that plant height increased rapidly throughout the majority of each site surveyed. This increase in height was attributed to species turnover and migration of taller plant species further north (Bjorkman et al., 2018). Plant height and SLA both increased with warming temperatures but, the SLA relationship was stronger at wet sites compared to dry sites, and LDMC experienced the opposite effect compared to SLA. (Bjorkman et al., 2018). This outcome is as expected, a plant is more likely to put out more robust leaves as sunlight and water availability increase, therefore decreasing LDMC.

Post el al. (2009) compiled a lecture review of several studies into a lecture review to discuss the changes in ecological dynamics across the Arctic. Post et al. (2009) predicted that there will be an increase in graminoid species and a decrease in moss and lichens within the arctic tundra biomes in response to warming temperatures. Post et al. (2009) found that the growing season would lengthen in tundra biomes located in Greenland and Canada due to earlier snowmelt in the spring. Bjorkman et al. (2018) and Post et al. (2009) both concluded that treelines would expand to the north and that taller new vegetative species would enter the tundra ecosystems. This ecological shift would only aid in the abundance of more complex plant species by promoting microbial productivity, nutrient availability, and increasing soil temperatures within tundra soils.

The bioavailability of carbon, warming temperatures, and increased water ability due to snowmelt will cause ecological shifts in arctic habitats. Polar artic deserts will shift into tundra biomes and tundra biomes will shift into boreal forests (Artic Climate Change). These shifts can have detrimental impacts on not only the vegetation but also the fauna that reside in these areas. Animals that were highly adapted to the extremely cold environments will become extinct as they’re outcompeted by invading species as a result of shifting habitats.

Biggest Threats To The Tundra Biome

The tundra biome is mostly cold, its climate is 10-20 degrees all year round except for during the short summer when the wildflowers bloom and the sun shines 24 hours a day. The treeless region is found on tops of mountains and in the arctic where there are low temperatures, it’s windy and there is very little rainfall. The tundra biome is made out to be desert-like and is said to be one of the harshest biomes. One of the biggest threats to the tundra biome is global warming, pollution is causing holes in the ozone layer which allows more UV rays to hit Earth. “Many scientists believe global warming caused by greenhouse gases may eliminate arctic regions…”Not only does pollution cause global warming but it reduces the amount of lichens which animals in the tundra feed off of. With global warming the environment isn’t as harsh which makes people want to explore and learn more about the tundra biomes, tourism has caused vehicular tracks throughout the tundra and it “is slow to repair itself from physical disturbances”.

There are a bunch of ways humans can help to prevent his from happening such as reducing the use of vehicles. There is a wide range of organisms that live in the tundra such as the caribou which people us for meat, milk, hide, etc. The arctic hare has a white color to blend in with the snow during the winter which helps it hide from predators and they live underground in burrows. Plants that grow within the biome grow in some sort of cluster “to form a natural barrier against the wind.” Bearberries is a type of plant that grows in the tundra, it grows low to the ground and does not cover much ground as it does get some height. “Arctic willow is 15-20 cm in height, has long trailing branches and grow prostrate, shrub, and carpet.” The organisms found within the tundra have to be able to withstand the harsh environment and temperatures.

These organisms react with each other by competing for food or by cooperation. An example of competition would be a wolf and a polar bear competing for which animal would kill the caribou and eat it. The two animals may even fight over this situation sometimes. Cooperation would be the arctic fox tagging along while a polar bear hunts and kills an animal and when it is done eating the fox eats the remaining meat, the polar bear is okay with this as long as the fox stays out of its way. Another interaction would be a liver tapeworm which feeds on the food consumed by a moose, the moose then becomes malnourished and the liver tapeworm benefits.

Humans can help by learning how to take care of this biome and doing the right thing regardless of our selfish wants. We should stop polluting the earth and go around helping out by picking up trash thrown out by careless people, even though people think it does not make a difference it actually does. It can make a huge difference in an organism’s everyday life. Humans should start to think about their actions before just doing them. And instead of driving everywhere people could start walking to the gas station right down the road. “Go Green!”

Cultural Relativism in Connection to Everyday Values

American author Mark Twain once stated, “Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other.” While they may not appear to be so at first, morals are very questionable grounds, with different viewpoints. Two view of this are cultural relativism and universalism. In this essay, I will be pointing out the flaws of cultural relativism, and why it is philosophically more defensible to be objective towards certain moral values. Cultural relativism is defined as “the principle that an individual human’s beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual’s own culture”.What this means is that all of the morals of a society are relative to that culture, and thus should not be judged. The people in that society are to follow all of the rules presented. According to cultural relativists, it is right for a society to follow the rules and traditions of their ancestors. According to cultural relativists, any action can be right as long as it is acceptable in the culture.

This idea presents three different problems, which I am going to present below. First, those who follow this system are stuck in the mindset that the society in which they live is perfect. You can’t criticize your culture, even if you disagree with an aspect. In America, for example, it is not uncommon for college tuition to cost tens of thousands of dollars, often leaving students in years of debt trying to pay off their education. This contrasts many European countries in which college tuition is either greatly reduced or even free. As an American citizen, I could not criticize this system, as much as I may disagree with it. The only thing that I could do is question if it fits into America’s moral system. If the answer is yes, then I would be forced to believe that yes, such outrageous prices for college tuition are morally acceptable. With this problem, nobody would not be allowed to question their society. Insead, everyone is forced to blindly follow their system. Such an idea hinders progress. Other societies cannot be looked at for ideas to improve one’s own. The only way that your society can be improved is by having it fit its own ideals even better. No new proposals, no game-changing revolutions. Just the same ideas, reapplied over and over.

The second problem is that you cannot criticize other cultures. The moral code of that specific society determines what is right and what is wrong. It would be wrong for anyone else to tell them what is wrong with their society.

Following the Cultural Relativist mind set, the Allies had no right to step in and intervene in World War II. When Adolf Hitler purged Europe of millions of its Jews, homosexuals, and handicapped individuals, it was his right to do so. What Hitler did fit within his society’s moral codes, thus it was warranted. When such horrendous acts are heard of, it can be hard not to want to criticize them and even intervene, However, as long as the acts are okay within the society, they cannot be criticized. The third point is that the term “society” is hard to define. What really is a society? Is it a country? A specific group? Can it be made up of only two people? These are the problems that surround such a loosely defined word, which can create parameters that test the bounds of it. As long as it is part of their culture, subcultures can do whatever they like as it is part of their moral codes.

Unfortunately, there are subcultures out there with negative characteristics. An example of this is pedophilia rings, which can be argued to be subcultures in many different . While we know them to be morally wrong, they are acceptable in the eyes of cultural relativists. The deeds they participate in are the ways of that subculture. As pedophilia is not against the rules of the group, they are technically morally acceptable. It is acceptable to harm innocent children, as long as it is not breaking any rules of that group, and its members cannot be punished. It is just that culture’s way. It is hard to define exactly what a culture is. With the proper amount of working, any group can be considered a culture–and their ways have to be accepted.

No matter how silly or outlandish a group may appear to be, as long as it is a subculture it must be acknowledged by all cultural relativist parties. Obviously, this is an outlandish idea as it is a well-known that not all subcultures should be legal, including groups that cause unconsenting harm to others or its members. Such groups should be monitored by the law, not openly accepted. While there certainly are downsides to cultural relativism, it also has what many will argue as its upsides. If there was not, it certainly would not have a following. Below, I am going to present two of the arguments for cultural relativism.

One of the arguments presented for cultural relativism is that it encourages us to keep an open mind towards other cultures–that we should be accepting towards all cultures, despite their differences. This idea is sound in its core concepts. Yes, it is good to be tolerating of other cultures, even encouraged. There is a lot of diversity in the world, and it would be a shame to not be able to experience it at its fullest. Each and every one of us is a human being, despite our differences. Someone is no less of a person because they wrap their hair in a different way, or any less feeling just because they believe in a different religion. It is when this idea of cultural tolerance is taken to an extreme, however, that it becomes a problem. It becomes a problem when you believe that everything in a society is just as it should be for them, and that judging them for it makes you ignorant in the process. You do not have to be tolerant of every single aspect in a society. It is through questioning and the recognizing of unsightly practices that cultures are allowed to flourish, It is through recognizing exactly what does not work in other cultures and what beliefs are poisonous that we can change our own society to become even better.

Another one of the arguments presented is that it is not our place to judge another culture’s ways in the first place. What they have been doing has, in many cases, been handed down by their ancestors for generations. If it has worked for their ancestors, then there is no reason to try and change what is already ingrained in their culture. Who am I to try and change their way of life, especially if it is none of my business in the first place? While this is usually the case, there are instances in which what ancestors taught may not be morally right.

Female circumcision is a prime example of this. Performed in northern Africa and southern Arabia, female circumcision is the act of cutting or removing a female’s genitals. This act can lead to a number of negative side effects, including pain, obstructed labor, and even death. This painful tradition should not be continued merely because it has been performed for generations;instead, it should be stopped, as the risks far outweigh the benefits. The dangers of a certain practice or belief need to be evaluated before being blindly accepted. Having something being passed down by ancestors does not make it ideal for that culture; it just means that it has been going on for longer. Any tradition can still be threatening to the health of others, and that is when intervention needs to occur. This is when universalism is ideal.

Universalism is the belief that there is a small number of moral values that hold true for everyone. They are core values that are beyond the person or culture, but are just genuinely believed to be universally true. These moral values hold true in any situation, and in any culture. Unlike cultural relativism, universalism does not hold onto the fact that any action in a culture can be morally right if it is accepted by that culture. Instead, it believes that acts are morally wrong if they violate one of the known moral values. These known values include the wrongness of such acts as murder, lying, and stealing–all of which are universal truths held constant across cultures. Universalism is the more morally defensible position as it is far easier to rely on, as presented below. At some point in your life you’ve probably heard of “the golden rule.” The golden rule states that you should do to others as you would have others do to you. This is a rule stands simple enough on its own in every applicable situation. If you would not want somebody to do something to you, then it is probably safe to say that you should not go about doing it to them. It calls forth a role reversal of seeing something from another person’s point of view.

Say, for example, that at a fast food restaurant, you sit down to eat. As you put your food down, your hand lands in a puddle of ketchup that the previous customer had neglected to clean up. Obviously, you would be fairly upset with this; it wasn’t your mess that you stuck your hand in, it was somebody else’s! It was their fault because they were too careless to clean it up! Taking this scenario to heart, one can think of what they’d do in a similar scenario and, hopefully, clean up their mess. Would somebody else like it if they had to clean up your mess? The golden rule presents a universal code to fall back on by using yourself as a basis of morality.

Another way that universalism can be applied is through the harm principle. The harm principle states that an action is morally unacceptable if it causes harm to another individual. This serves as a good rule of thumb, as it can be applied to every culture; people deserve the right to be free of harm, no matter what society they are living in. Since violence is such an easy to understand concept, the idea that it is not morally okay to harm others. With this in mind, it is easy enough to say that practices such as spousal abuse and murder are not okay, no matter the culture. With this point, however, one may question if all practices involving harm are morally wrong. The simple answer is no–it depends on the context. If an action is performed with the intent of causing suffering to the other person, then it is morally wrong. With activities such as boxing it is a different case. Seeing as how the main goal is to have your opponent submit, the fighters are not intentionally causing pain to one another with malicious intent. This contrasts such acts as physically abusing your wife, as it is with malicious intent and the harm is intended.

One criticism of universalism is that establishing a set of values that hold true for everyone is impossible. Some people may argue that there are too many differences between people, and that what constitutes as morally right and wrong will never be agreed on. While there certainly are many differences between cultures, these differences are often exaggerated. Differences between cultures does not lie as much in the values as it does in beliefs. It is because of the ways in which these beliefs are exhibited that people believe we are so different. For instance, in Eskimo culture, it was common for parents to leave their children to die out in the snow. While American culture may frown upon this and readily call it infanticide, the moral value is sound, It is not like the Eskimos enjoy killing their children; instead, they leave them out of necessity–so that the rest of their family can survive in the supply-limited tundra. Just like many other cultures, Eskimos strongly believe in the value of family.

Contrary to the belief of naysayers, there are values that are shared by all cultures, and this is what holds the grounds of universalism. If certain values were not shared, then all cultures would fall apart. No group could flourish if all of its occupants lied nonstop; nothing would get accomplished. Would you feel safe in a society in which there were no rules against randomly murdering someone on the street? Traits such as honesty,and caring for its members are a requirement of a society if it is to flourish, thus they are shared between all cultures.

While there is no agreed upon set of rules for a society to follow, there are different guidelines that try to judge how they should act. In this essay, I have analyzed two of those guidelines: cultural relativism and universalism. Cultural relativism explains that a society should act in a way that suits them, and how it is a part of their culture. This view is wrong in that too many problems arise with it such as the inability to criticize your own or other cultures, hindering progress. The other problem with it is that it is hard to specifically define what constitutes a culture. I defined universalism as the idea that there are a set of values that hold true in every situation, no matter the culture, This system proves to be the best basis for a set of rules. The golden rule says to treat others as you would want to be treated, and provides a basis for judging what the proper way of treating people is. The harm principle states that actions that intentionally cause harm to other people are not morally acceptable.

Finally, I debunked the criticism of how there are no common values between cultures as we are too different. Contrary to belief, cultures share more values than you would think. All societies strive on basic concepts such as honesty and caringness. Without them, they would fall apart. All of these ideas come together to provide ideas of morality. When it comes down to it, we are all human beings with our own set of morals that we depend on to get through life. We can only do what we think is right, as Mark Twain said.

Discovering Tundra, Its Climate and Main Features

Merriam Webster defines tundra as a large area that has continuously frozen ground and no trees, and it defines biome as a large ecological land type (Tundra; Biome). According to these definitions, tundra biome is a large ecological piece of land that does not have any trees and is characterized by permanent frozen ground. Interesting, tundra comes from the Finnish word tunturia which means “treeless plain” (Pullen, 2004). Tundra biome can be separated into two different types, arctic tundra and alpine tundra, which are distinguished by their climates and locations (Pullen, 2004). Tundra has a specifically harsh climate with cold temperatures that help form a permafrost layer that affects the tundra’s soil formations and plant growth. Although the tundra has a harsh climate, it is home to numerous animal species that are able to survive in various ways. Finally, the tundra is heavily affected by human interaction and could contribute heavily to global warming.

Tundra is one of the youngest and most recently formed biomes since it is believed to have formed only 10,000 years ago. Despite its youth as a biome, tundra is a large biome that covers approximately 20% of the Earth and is mostly located within 60 and 70 degrees latitude north (BioExpedition, 2015).Arctic tundra is concentrated around the Arctic Circle and North Pole and is located in several northern continents such as North America, Europe, and Asia as well as numerous northern countries including Russia, Greenland, Canada, Sweden, Finland, and the United States through Alaska (Born Free Foundation). Alpine tundra is typically found in more diverse areas of the world and can be found above the timberline, the elevation at which trees can no longer grow, on the coldest and highest parts of mountains. Since it is found on the coldest parts of mountains, alpine tundra is located on nearly all the continents including North America in the Rockies, Sierra, and Cascade Mountains, South America in the Andes Mountains, Asia in the Himalayan Mountains, Europe in the Alps Mountains, and Africa in the Rift Mountains (Alpine Tundra).

Characterized by extremely cold temperatures, brutally low levels of precipitation, and heavy winds, the tundra’s climate is one of the harshest climates of all of the biomes. The tundra is known as the coldest biome because its average temperature during the winter is around -30 degrees Fahrenheit, and temperatures can become as freezing cold as -70 degrees Fahrenheit. Summers are a little warmer in the tundra; however, the temperature during the summer ranges from 37 degrees Fahrenheit to 54 degrees Fahrenheit. Winter tends to be much longer than summer in the tundra; consequently, there is a very short summer and growing period of about 50 to 60 days in the arctic tundra. Along with the freezing temperatures, the tundra also receives very little precipitation and is almost like a frozen desert. Annual precipitation including rain, snow, and melted snow only averages from six to ten inches which leaves the tundra with a very dry climate (Pullen, 2004). Finally, the tundra is also known for its windy climate with wind storms that can reach close to 100 miles per hour (BioExpedition, 2015)

Consistent, extremely low temperatures and the harsh tundra climate help form a thick permafrost layer which is the tundra’s defining terrain. Permafrost is a layer of frozen soil which remains frozen throughout the year for at least two consecutive years and can be as thick as 2,000 feet. During the winter, permafrost helps protect and preserve the plants that are able to survive in harsh conditions (Foster, Koski, &Johnson). During the warmer months of summer in the tundra, the very top level of permafrost, referred to as the active level, often begins to melt (Klappenbach, 2015). Since the tundra is a very flat terrain, there is very little drainage of the melting permafrost layer which results in small ponds or bogs. These ponds and bogs that are formed from the melted active layer help nourish plants and boost the tundra’s low precipitation levels (Foster, Koski, &Johnson). The permafrost level under the active level traps some water and allows plants to grow slowly in cooler soil temperatures (Klappenbach, 2015).

The alternation of thawing and freezing water in the permafrost gives the tundra some of its unique soil formations including polygons, pingo, and thermokarst soil formations. A polygon soil formation forms when the soil shrinks, cracks, and begins to absorb water from the permafrost layers. Pingo soil formations are formed when the soil collects a large amount of water that eventually freezes and expands which forms a large mound of soil. Thermokarst soil formation occurs when human disturbances cause the permafrost to unnaturally melt and leads to collapses and large holes in the soil formation (Klappenbach, 2015). Although the permafrost layer is important in forming these soil formations, the permafrost serves a much more important role in helping certain plants sustain life in the tough tundra climate.

Due to the harsh temperatures and permafrost layers which only allow a short growing period, there are no trees in the tundra because their roots cannot take hold and grow in the permafrost layer. There are also no trees because the growing period in the tundra is too short for trees to have time to grow, and the temperatures are too harsh to support tree growth. Although the tundra’s climate seems unable to support the growth of any plants and leads to lower biotic diversity, there are actually over 1,700 different types of plants that are able to adapt to the harsh tundra environment and sustain life. These types of plants, which include small shrubs, grasses, mosses, liverworts, and over 400 types of flowers, are able to grow close together to withstand the cold temperatures. They are covered and protected by snow during the winter and are able to grow during the short growing season in the summer. They do not rely on deep roots; therefore, they are able to adapt to the changing soil compositions in the permafrost levels, gain the limited nutrients available from the permafrost, and are low enough to withstand the winds. In order to accommodate the harsh temperatures and short growing seasons, these plants are able to perform photosynthesis with limited sun exposure so they thrive during the summer, and they also rely on asexual reproduction methods like budding instead of sexual reproduction (Pullen, 2004).

Even though the climate is harsh and available food sources can be scarce, there are numerous species of animals and wildlife that are able to survive and adapt to the tundra environment. Herbivores such as caribou, reindeer, the arctic hare, and muskox are able to survive by grazing on grass and other plant life while carnivores including wolves, red foxes, and polar bears survive by preying on smaller animals like rabbits or some fish that are able to live in the melted parts of the permafrost during the summer. Several species of small birds also are able to live in the tundra by nesting in small shrubs during the summer and feeding off the few insects such as grasshoppers and flies that inhabit the tundra (Foster, Koski, & Johnson). Mammals are able to survive in the tundra during the winter because they have a thick layer of fat for insulation and because they hibernate. Although they can survive during the summer, birds that live in the tundra tend to migrate south during the winter in order to avoid the harsh temperatures. Several other mammals such as mountain goats, sheep, pika, and elk are also commonly found in the alpine tundra in the mountains (Pullen, 2004). Since there are more animals than plants living on the tundra, the tundra is one of the few areas in the world that is considered to be a carbon dioxide sink. When an area becomes a carbon dioxide sink, much more carbon dioxide is produced than removed from the atmosphere. In the tundra, there are more animals to produce carbon dioxide than there are plants to remove carbon dioxide from the air; consequently, there is an excess of carbon dioxide (BioExpedition, 2015). Permafrost also stores a bountiful amount of carbon under the frozen soil which can be released during climate changes. Human interactions in the tundra such as oil drilling (https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/how-offshore-drilling-affects-theenvironment/) and pollution can upset the ecological balance and cause climate change. Climate changes can cause the permafrost layers to heat up and thaw more quickly than usual which forces the permafrost layers to release more carbon. The melted permafrost allows organic material in the soil to decompose and releases carbon into the air as carbon dioxide which also contributes to the tundra’s carbon dioxide sink. Carbon dioxide is also a heat-absorbing gas and too much carbon dioxide in the air can cause abrupt climate changes that could result in more permafrost melting and could eventually contribute to global warming (Weather Underground, 2015).

The tundra biome is one of the youngest and most interesting biomes in the world. Characterized by its harsh temperatures, lack of precipitation, and wind storms, the tundra is known for its harsh climate and permafrost terrain. Although permafrost is unable to support large tree growth, it is able to support and protect smaller plant life that is able to adapt and survive despite the harsh conditions. Many animals also inhabit the tundra and are able to survive in various ways. The imbalance of plant and animal life combined with human interactions cause the tundra to be a carbon dioxide sink which could have devastating consequences for the Earth if it leads to global warming.