How does climate change affect biodiversity and how loss of biodiversity will affect the ecosystem services?
The risk of species extinction increases with every degree of warming. In the ocean, rising temperatures increase the risk of irreversible loss of marine and coastal ecosystems. Live coral reefs, for instance, have nearly halved in the past 150 years, and further warming threatens to destroy almost all remaining reefs. Biodiversity loss can reduce the ability of ecosystems to buffer these events, increasing the vulnerability of human settlements to natural disasters. Reduced resilience to climate change: Biodiversity is crucial for ecosystem resilience to climate change. Climate change is affecting some of the critical services that ecosystems provide to society. As, ecosystems provide a bounty of food to people. A wide variety of species in an ecosystem provides an ecosystem with greater resistance to disease and pest outbreaks. Plants help protect soil from erosion. Bacteria, insects, plants and other living creatures release nutrients and help keep soils fertile.Rapid climate change and global warming is a substantial reason for the extinction of many species. Rapid climate change affects the ability of species to adapt to the changing environment and causes death which contributes to loss of biodiversity. The shift in climatic conditions has an adverse effect on sea levels, availability of food, amount of rainfall, the composition of an ecosystem and temperature levels. In fact, early instances of life extinction have been attributed to climate change. There are signs that rising temperatures are affecting biodiversity, while changing rainfall patterns, extreme weather events, and ocean acidification are putting pressure on species already threatened by other human activities. Biodiversity can support efforts to reduce the negative effects of climate change. Conserved or restored habitats can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thus helping to address climate change by storing carbon. Climate changes, like drought and heat, could affect the availability and quality of some foods, as well as farmers' ability to grow certain crops. Impacts of climate change on ecosystems reduce their ability to improve water quality and regulate water flows. Rapid changes to ecosystems may cause the displacement or loss of many species. Recent warming has strongly affected natural biological systems. It has degraded land by raising temperatures, drying soils and increasing wildfire risk. Species worldwide are migrating pole ward to colder areas. On land, many species move to higher ground, whereas marine species seek colder water at greater depths. Many animal and plant species are likely to become extinct as ecosystems adjust to climate change. While adaptable species will survive, and other migrates, the end result will be lost biodiversity. Biodiversity loss refers to the decline or disappearance of biological diversity, understood as the variety of living things that inhabit the planet, its different levels of biological organization and their respective genetic variability, as well as the natural patterns present in ecosystems.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Statistics
- Time Series