Ice caps melting, Earth’s temperature changing: this is usually due to the greenhouse effect.
The “greenhouse effect” is more commonly known as global warming, which is a dramatic change in temperatures that affects all living organisms.
The most well-known affected animals are in the Arctic; specifically, polar bears.
A well-known fact about global warming is the melting of the ice caps, but many don’t really know why this phenomenon occurs.
“Burning fossil fuels, of course, is another contribution to global warming,” Keara Schaffer said.
Animals inhabit places all over the world, but far down south and way up north are animals like the polar bear.
Scientists at Brigham Young University even concluded that they use up to five times more energy in the same amount of distance swimming than walking.
Their survival is incredibly dependent on the ice caps because they help the polar bear while hunting for seals, which are their main food source.
So while the polar bear issue is detrimental, they inhabit far-off places like Greenland, Russia, Alaska, and Norway; however, people and other organisms all over the world may be faced with a similar situation to the bears.
Global warming seems to have a horrible effect on the ecosystem, but in reality, we may have helped create this issue.
“Deforestation, itself, is contributing to more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and it also destroys a lot of natural habitats and the biodiversity within those habitats,” Schaffer said.
In addition, deforestation occurs globally; it could be right outside of your window or a block from your house.
Even Idaho manages to have its own issues that have been caused by global warming, especially affecting the wildlife that inhabits the state.
Climate change, global warming, has endangered species like the Southern Mountain Caribou, Snake River Sockeye Salmon, Kootenai River White Sturgeon, and many others.
While this may not be a very long list of species, it does not mean that it is affecting any other organisms, because as soon as one animal is endangered, it unbalances the entire ecosystem.
Because climate change endangered so many of the predators’ prey, it ended up affecting every species in the animal community around Idaho.
The black bear, another bear species, has also been affected by climate change due to its loss of its prey.
Although the black bear consumes a lot of berries, it still needs its source of protein like all living organisms.
Everything on earth revolves around each other in one way or another; it is the circle of life after all.
So while one organism is affected in countries far away from your own, it does not mean that you are not threatened by a similar issue.
In addition, this issue never truly disappears; these ecological problems are a constant issue throughout the entire world.
“I believe that there is historical data that suggests that we may be having a warming trend; however, there’s historical data that shows that we have cycled warmer and colder over time,” Brian Williams said. “So the question is actually whether or not any warming trend would be man-made or avoidable.”
All organisms can be affected at the same time, no matter the distance or difference.
Bears all around the world are infected by this dramatic change in weather conditions.
Polar bears in the Arctic can be suffering a very similar issue to the black bears in northern Idaho.
