Global climate change has gotten everyone thinking about the environment. Its changing the weather and its affecting each and every ones lives. But humans aren’t becoming endangered because of climate change. Countless helpless animals are falling to climate change. The commercials always show the polar bear, not being able to hunt for food and losing their homes to the great seas. They aren’t the only animals suffering from this catastrophe! Already endangered animals are feeling the heat even worse. An article written about the top ten most endangered species in America covers animals from small birds to large marine mammals. One endangered species is the Kaua’i Creeper which lives on the Hawaiian islands. The big problem facing these little birds are mosquitos carrying malaria. Since mosquitos didn’t reach the islands until the 19th centuries, these birds have no natural resistance to their diseases. The Elkhorn coral species have dropped by 90 percent, leaving this and other corals to be the most threatened organisms due to climate change. Bull trout require clean, cold water, which is vanishing by the day. Canadian Lynx require the cold and snowy winters in order to hunt for food. Pacific salmon can’t live in waters about 72 degrees and are therefore threatened by the rising sea temperatures and the heavy pollution in the oceans. Leatherback turtles who have been coming closer to extinction every year from pollution and destruction face a new problem with global warming. Water temperatures determine the sex of the turtles, with cold water creating males and warm waters creating females. If the water temperature keeps rising, the male turtles may cease to be produced. Grizzly bears are losing food sources due to warmer weathers as well. The bog turtle is threatened by the erratic weather patterns and destruction of bogs. Almost every animal on mother earth, just like every human, is affected by global climate change in some way. These animals have no way of helping themselves like humans can. Almost on the brink of becoming extinct, action needs to be taken now to make sure these animals make it to see the future of our planet!
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December 6, 2009 at 12:56 am
bfuller19
the reason why the birds are beggining to fall prey to malaria carrying mosquitoes is because malaria is now able to survive in areas farther north. Typically malaria is only able to survive in areas near the equator because that is where it is warm. With global warming becoming worse, areas farther north are beginning to warm and malaria is able to survive in these northern areas.
December 9, 2009 at 7:19 pm
jmtorres89
Its sad that all these animals are dying out. The worst part is that some studies show that unless we destroy the economy of the world and halt it today there is no way to decrease global warming