Robert Mathews

ENG 111

Professor Williams

12/3/21

Climate Change Affecting Animals

The emission of greenhouse gasses have affected the rise of temperature leading to the

destruction of habitats and the way a life cycle would function. Over the many years we have

noticed that the water is rising and the temperature is increasing due to Global Warming. What

many of us don't know is what effect we have on the way other animals have to live their day to

day lives. The first animal that we think of being affected by global warming would be polar

bears. They are not the only species that are being affected by global warming; there are many

insects, reptiles, and fish that have been affected.

The most noticeable and affected animals are mammals. Seen all over the world Polar

bears habitats and hunting grounds have been melted away by the increase in temperature in the

arctic. The melting in the arctic is also leaving bears hopeless and stranded in the water. When it

comes to breeding for mammals, Caribou have been affected a lot by climate change. Their

breeding process is mating in the fall, pregnant during winter, and raising their young in summer.

A team analyzed the five populations of caribou in the northern arctic region. This area has seen

a shift in temperature, possibly changing the way Caribou breed. In this study though that was

not true. It seemed that the Caribou were able to adapt to the climate change and continue their

normal breeding process. Finally, arctic predators lack food. The predator hunting prey has
responded negatively to the change of climate. With the change of climate certain prey species

have reduced or changed movement patterns due to the weather caused by climate change. When

these species change their movement pattern it causes a mismatch scenario because of the similar

movements predators take not being affected while the prey is.

Birds have been affected a lot by the change in temperature especially during migration.

During phenological events in migration of endothermic birds (warm-blooded animals) are

connected to their ectothermic prey (cold-blooded animals). Although climate change does not

affect the birds like their cold-blooded prey, it affects their main source of food during migration

season itself. Ectothermic prey such as insects and fish will finance metabolism and other

physiological processes which can cause a great effect on the prey’s migration. Due to climate

change the seasons in some regions are becoming different and mismatched for some species of

birds. These changes are causing their natural behavior to change, their breeding, and when prey

is available to them. These animals are causing ecological communities to corrupt or be over

populated by one species of animal. With some similarities to birds, fish have caused a lot of

ecological communities to be distributed. As an ectothermic creature, fish have changed

migration patterns due to the unclear season changes. This causes the birds to lose sources of

food. One species of fish that have been affected by climate change are the Chinook Salmon. The

Chinook Salmon migrate hundreds of kilometers from their ecosystem to the ocean where they

lay their spawn. Salmon mainly prefer to stay in cold water but the increase in temperature has

caused areas of warm water that increase the fish's metabolism. This has a negative effect on the

salmon because this species of fish has to replenish metabolic substrates (mainly glycogen).

They follow this process during migration that only takes the palace in colder water. In warm
water they are unable to replenish themselves causing them to rest in tranquil warm water

increasing migration time.

Reptiles have had a different effect than most other animals. Smaller reptiles, Lizards in

particular, have become very vulnerable to predators caused by climate change. Reptiles are

ectothermic animals which means they must regulate their body temperature which varies based

on what the temperature is around them. But when their air temperature is too cold for the lizards

it causes them to immobilize. This means if a lizard were to be holding onto a tree and was

immobilized, it would lose its grip on the tree and fall to the bottom where it is more vulnerable

to predators. These cold temperatures have also changed the length of seasons which cause

certain windows to close while others open. One study shows that in Oregon, the Common SIde-

Blotched Lizard, Uta stansburiana, breeds during spring weather. If this window were to be

shortened it would cause unsuitable breeding conditions leading to reproductive busts.

After looking for a source as a counter argument. I was unable to find a reliable source

that stated animals are not being affected by climate change. Although it is more effective to get

another perspective on this topic, this shows how important and threatening this is to all species

of Earth. This is a very serious matter when there is no counter evidence against this topic.

Greenhouse causes and other events leading to Global warming have caused ecological

communities to collapse and migration patterns to fail. If we were to continue to pollute at our

rate extinction amongst many birds and small reptiles would be unavoidable. This would cause

more economies to be destroyed. Avoiding any CO2 emission is nearly impossible but reducing

greenhouse gases can help the environment be in better condition than it is now.

Work Cited:
 https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2020/climate-change-causes-collapsing-cold-lizards/

https://www.fs.usda.gov/ccrc/topics/effects-climate-change-terrestrial-birds-north-

america

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/arctic-animals-movement-patterns-are-

shifting-in-different-ways-as-the-climate-changes/

https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Threats-to-

Wildlife/Climate-Change/Habitats

https://climatechangeresponses.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40665-015-0013-9