Global%20Warming%20

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Global Warming the Environment

• Thomas G. Barnes, Ph.D.
• Extension Professor
• Department of Forestry
• University of Kentucky
• www.tombarnes.org

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Generalized Trends

• Forests change in spp. Composition, geographic
  range, health, productivity, fire regime
• Coastal areas beach erosion, inundation of low
  lying areas (wetland buffers), coral reef die
  off, stress on fish estuaries (natures
  nurseries)
• Mountains diminish snow pack, hydrological
  change

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Generalized Trends

• Water change in supply, quality, hydrological
  cycle impact forests, freshwater, arid lands lead
  to increase flooding, droughts, storm damage
• Species natural areas loss of habitat lead to
  extinctions, greater vulnerability to alien,
  invasive species

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Global Warming

• retreating glaciers, thinning arctic ice, rising
  sea levels, lengthening of growing seasons for
  some, and earlier arrival of migratory birds
• Polar ice decreasing by 8 a year
• Louisiana has already lost more than 350,000
  acres to rising sea levels
• More than ¼ to 1/3 of all land animals will be
  extinct as a result
• Coral reefs mostly gone by 2050

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Arctic

• The Northern Bering Sea is starting to change
  from arctic to subarctic
• Warmer air and water temperatures, less sea ice
• The prey base of benthic (bottom) feeding walrus,
  endangered sea ducks like spectacled eiders, and
  gray whales is declining
• Snow crab catches have declined 85 in six years
  along with other crab decreases and crab
  populations have shifted northward.
• Yellowfin sole and Greenland turbot catches have
  been dropping, concurrently with declines in fur
  seals and seabirds.
• No reproduction in seals (dependent on sea ice)
  in 1967, 1981, 2000, 2001, 2002

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Arctic

• White spruce declines due to warmer summer temps
  that exceed tree thresholds

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US Forest Service Models Northeastern United
States

• Retreat spruce-fir forest into Canada (more pine
  and oak moving up from south)
• 10 to 50 decline in balsam fir, red black
  spruce, black, sugar, red, mountain maples,
  quacking bigtooth aspen, paper yellow birch

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US Forest Service Models Northeastern United
States

• More frequent extreme-heat days
• Longer growing season
• Earlier leaf and flowering times
• Shifts in frog mating season (earlier)
• Earlier migration Atlantic salmon
• Earlier ice break-up
• Less snow more rain (not soft soaking type but
  infrequent heavy)
• Rising sea level sea surface
• Reduced snow pack snow density

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• Tree line in Sierra Nevada has moved more than
  100 feet upward in past 100 yrs (you can only
  move so far up a mountain!)

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Wildflowers

• In NY found that 6 of 15 wildflowers bloom
  average 20 days earlier in past 50 years
• 1 in 5 species will die out because of increased
  carbon dioxide levels
• 8 decline overall in plant diversity
• 2006 study at Duke showed a 150 increase in
  poison ivy, and more potent
• USDA ARS ragweed increased pollen production by
  400
• Sonoran desert studies 25 of species are
  adapting, 75 are disappearing

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Fungi

• British study, 52,000 records of fruiting
• Found prior to 1950 avg. fruiting 33 days
• This decade 75 days and longer
• Mirrors changes in British climate with warmer
  and wetter autumns

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Birds

• Migrating songbirds
• Dutch pied flycatcher winter in west Africa
  and return to Netherlands to nest
• When hatchlings emerge adults feed them
  caterpillars (3 week period when Dutch plants are
  done flowering caterpillars are abundant)
• Plants are flowering an average of 16 days
  earlier
• No food for babies

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Birds

• Gray Jay (45 year study)
• Algonquin National Park (Boreal spruce/fir
  forest)
• Warmer winter weather, food stashes rot, not in
  good condition to breed
• Historically birds mate for life, now 50
  re-mate) means more first year birds mating
  inexperienced nest failures
• So warmer weather, nest fails, re-nest, get with
  another inexperienced mate breeding is in chaos

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Birds

• Study 35 North American Warblers
• 20 have shifted ranges northward average of 65
  miles in past 24 years
• Kentucky warbler may not be breeding resident in
  future if trend continues

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Birds

• Seabirds kittiwake populations declining
  because timing of food supply (ocean fish)
  disrupted because their food supplies (fish) have
  shifted locations
• Red Breasted goose disrupted nesting because of
  rising sea levels
• Tree Swallows laying eggs 5 to 9 days earlier

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Bird Winners Vs Losers

• Penguins Chinstrap increase while Adelie
  decrease chinstraps like open water (more of
  because of ice melt) adelie like pack ice

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Herpetofauna

• 1/3 of all 5,743 species are in trouble example
  harlequin frogs (110 species) Central South
  America 2/3 are now extinct

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Herpetofauna

• Western Toad increase in UV B egg mortality
  because of pond evaporation
• Golden Toad Costa Rica extinct in 1987
  increase droughts more susceptible to disease
  infection
• Painted Turtles sex determined by temp, warmer
  temps more females and getting unbalanced sex
  ratios

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Mammals

• Pinon mouse southwestern US species (just one
  of multiple species that is moving higher from
  1,000 to 3,000 ft)
• Pikas high elevation talus areas where food is
  scarce cut, sun dry and store hay localized
  extinction

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Arctic Mammals

• Polar bears arctic ice freezing later, thawing
  earlier less time accumulating fat and more
  time using it 10 loss of body weight yields
  10 fewer cubs
• Arctic fox/red fox snow line recedes arctic fox
  numbers decrease while red fox increase

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Butterflies

• 35 non migratory European species shifted
  ranges 20 to 150 miles north

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Coral Reefs(The tropical rainforests of the
ocean)

• bleaching caused by loss of dinoflagellate
  (symbiotic relationship) leads to coral death
  caused by warmer water higher irradiance
• 20 increased in acidity

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Fisheries

• Cold water fish, trout salmon intolerant of
  warm water stream temps increase 4 to 20
  loss by 2030, 7 to 31 by 2060, and 14 36 by
  2090 with significant losses in south, southwest
  and northeast
• Because the Yukon River has warmed over 10F, up
  to 45 of Yukon salmon are now infected with the
  parasite Icthyophonus, never found before 1985.