Was Climate Change Affecting Species?

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Table of Contents

Inquiry Question
Purpose
Thought Narrative
Sources Consulted
Works Cited

Inquiry Question

An initial inquiry question was whether climate change affects species. However, after some consideration, I concluded that it was a fact that global warming has certain effects on biodiversity. Therefore, I refined the opening question and decided to investigate the exact ways in which climate change influences species. Thus, the proposed research will evaluate the impact of global heating on flora and fauna around the world.

Purpose

The research aims to answer the question of how climate change affects species. This aim is exploratory since it is intended to broaden the audience’s knowledge of global warming effects rather than make an argument. I am driven to this topic because I realize that climate change is not a myth: scholars have already noted a 1°C increase in the average global temperature since 1880 (Nunez 352). It is projected that by 2100, global temperature will rise to 2-5°C above the pre-industrial level (Nunez 352). Although the increase seems small, it may be crucial for the survival of species dependent on specific temperature ranges.

By researching the proposed question, I hope to discover what detrimental effects climate change has on biodiversity and whether any species can benefit from global warming. I also aim to identify specific mechanisms, such as modifications in the habitats of organisms, through which climate crisis affects flora and fauna. The findings that I might discover will matter to others and me because they will show that global warming is not an abstract phenomenon posing no significant threat. Rather, the research results might help my audience realize the risks of this environmental crisis and take action to reduce their individual contributions to global warming. For some readers, this research may serve as a motivation to join wildlife conservation projects as volunteers.

Thought Narrative

When I started researching the topic, I assumed that climate change did affect various species. This is because organisms were accustomed to one set of conditions for a long time, but with an increase in temperature and sea levels, they had to adapt to new circumstances. However, I was not sure about what exact effects climate change had on species and how significant these influences were. I believe that the impact had been insignificant so far because of a low rise in the average global temperature. I also thought that since the temperature was rising gradually, species had time to adapt to the altered conditions. One final assumption I had at the beginning of my research was that the impact of global warming was negative for all organisms.

The initial research has confirmed my thoughts that climate change indeed affects biodiversity. Yet, I underestimated the scope of this impact since it turned out to be larger than I expected. The findings that influenced my assumptions most are that due to climate change, 19 species have been extinct, and 4161 species are being threatened (Sintayehu 227). These figures show that global warming is a significant environmental crisis that affects the most vulnerable organisms so profoundly that they cease to exist. I also changed my belief that climate change affects all organisms negatively. While doing research, I discovered that invasive species benefit from climate change: their growth is accelerated and their distribution is widened, causing harm to local species (Sintayehu 232). However, due to detrimental effects on local ecosystems, this impact cannot be considered truly positive.

Sources Consulted

So far, I have consulted five scholarly articles on the topic. The publication by Nunez et al. was used because the authors estimated the loss of biodiversity at two °C of the average global temperature increase (361). This article helped to shift the focus of the paper to investigating the exact effects of climate change on species. The article written by Foden et al. is focused on describing climate change vulnerability assessment (1). However, it was utilized because of its comprehensive overview of the effects and mechanisms of impacts of climate change on organisms (Foden et al. 13). Due to this source, it was decided to include the exploration of mechanisms of impact in the initial inquiry. The third article, written by Sintayehu, examines the projected loss of biodiversity in Africa and its impact on African ecosystems (225). It was used because it helps establish the significance of the research topic and describes the specific effects of climate change on species.

The other two articles are concerned with particular aspects of global warming effects and help gain a deeper insight into the topic. Schleuning et al. focused on how species with different traits, such as temperature tolerance or drought resistance, are influenced by climate change (319). Researchers specifically investigated the impact of global warming on species whose survival depends on other organisms, for example, plants that disperse their seeds through birds or animals (Schleuning et al. 322). This source was used because it details climate change’s impact on a specific species group. One final article, written by Walsh et al., focuses on the influence of global warming on organisms’ fertility (249). It was utilized because it explains how a rise in temperature affects species’ reproduction with specific examples of insects, vertebrates, and others (Walsh et al. 251). These two articles will make the research more detailed and specific.

Works Cited

Foden, Wendy B., et al. “Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment of Species.” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, vol. 10, no. 1, 2019, pp. 1-72.

Nunez, Sarahi, et al. “Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity: Is Below 2 °C Enough?” Climatic Change, vol. 154, no. 3, 2019, pp. 351-365.

Schleuning, Matthias, et al. “Trait-Based Assessments of Climate-Change Impacts on Interacting Species.” Trends in Ecology & Evolution, vol. 35, no. 4, 2020, pp. 319-328.

Sintayehu, Dejene W. “Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Associated Key Ecosystem Services in Africa: A Systematic Review.” Ecosystem Health and Sustainability, vol. 4, no. 9, 2018, pp. 225-239.

Walsh, Benjamin S., et al. “The Impact of Climate Change on Fertility.” Trends in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 34, no. 3, 2019, pp. 249-259.

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Was Climate Change Affecting Species?

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