I guess this is the last blog post I'll write on a topic I am extremely passionate about, that's kind of sad. I have to go out with a really solid post if this is my last one, right? What should I talk about? The sea level having the potential to harm California's coast due to global warming? Or maybe the fact that James Hansen, the guy who is known as the "father of climate change awareness" (you know like Freud is the father of psychoanalysis) is agreeing with the Republican's carbon fee? Or the fact that global warming is thawing the world's frozen tundras. I think the last one works the best, so... that's what I'm going to talk about.
Basically, tundras are the coldest biome, which is defined as the world's major communities, classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment, on the planet. There are two types of tundras and they are categorized as Arctic and Alpine Tundras. The Arctic Tundra is categorized as a desert like a climate since it gets less than ten inches of rain per year; the plants that live in this environment can only survive in extremely harsh climates. These plants produce energy through photosynthesis instead of using water because the ground of this tundra is completely frozen. The Alpine Tundra is an ecosystem where no trees can survive since their elevation is so high. The elevation begins anywhere from 11,000 to 15,000 feet and have extremely strong winds and cold temperatures,
Now that you know little more about tundras, assuming you knew little about them before... they are now beginning to melt! Isn't that just so cool?
Scientists now believe that global warming has the ability to eliminate these arctic tundras for good because of how negatively greenhouse gasses are affecting the environment. Permafrost melting could drastically change the landscape of the tundras and the plants that are able to survive in the climate at this time. You might be thinking, well how does this drastically changing environment really affect me? I mean, it is just plants that survive in really freezing cold environments, right?
WRONG.
If this permafrost melts, which it is, then more greenhouse gasses become trapped in the Earth's atmosphere. More carbon dioxide would be released into the air because permafrost soil contains about twice the amount of carbon than the atmosphere does. The Earth warming one degree celsius also has the ability to thaw one-quarter of Earth's frozen tundra area. This means that with the Earth constantly warming that permafrost is consistently putting more carbon dioxide into the air.
The reason there is so much carbon in the tundras is because of the dead animals that are preserved under the layers of ice. With this ice melting, humans and animals alike would become more at risk because there are so many dead animals buried underneath the thick layers of ice. It's kind of like coal in the way that this greenhouse gas is made up of dead animals.
The last thing we need in our atmosphere is more greenhouse gasses, seriously. It is actually crazy how much carbon dioxide is put into the air from the human process of breathing, by itself, and we do not need to continue to harm the environment by putting manmade greenhouse gasses into it.
I wish more people would realize what's really happening to the environment right now. You barely see anything on the media anymore about global warming, besides the fact that our president backed us out of the Paris Agreement (ugh). No one really knows that this recent development of the tundras having huge parts of their environment melt is going on because the media isn't giving it the attention it deserves. Sure some articles online are speaking out about this issue, but it's not being shown on television on the news for all to watch and hear.
Our environment is being so damaged by all of the gasses we're putting into the air and there is now a huge risk that a chunk of permafrost as big as India will soon be gone due to the rising temperatures in the air. Small steps like carpooling or taking public transportation could do so much good for the environment and allow the Earth to thrive.
I hope you got something out of these posts I've gotten to share with you. With one last goodbye...
Take care, environment.
