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Effects of Global Warming on Plants and Animals Worldwide (January 10, 2003, Two)

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Program Summary

We’ve been hearing about global warming and its consequences for years now; what’s so new about this news? Plenty of research has already been done about the effects of global warming on species, but for the most part these studies involved a single habitat or a single species. For the first time, scientists have examined 150 studies together and found overwhelming evidence of a worldwide pattern of climate change due to global warming. Climate changes have in turn led to changes in the behavior of wild flora and fauna.

There’s no denying that our planet has warmed up—one degree Fahrenheit in the last 100 years. The results of this warming are melting glaciers and polar ice caps, hotter summers, milder winters (though the residents of Buffalo, New York, would probably not agree), longer growing seasons, and the expansion of warm-weather plants and animals into new territories. Birds and insects migrate earlier in the spring and later in the fall, flowers bloom earlier, trees lose their leaves later. It doesn’t seem like such a big deal, but what about the species that already inhabit the areas that are warming up? Evolutionary theory tells us that they will adapt. Adaptation, however, can take hundreds, even thousands, of years. The world’s climates are changing too rapidly for many species to adapt, leading to extinction or endangerment for some of them.

Warmer weather can be a plus for farmers in parts of the world where the growing season is extended, but it’s a negative in places where it has caused years of dryness and famine. We may be seeing beautiful, tropical birds in our backyards, but we’ll also be seeing a lot more pesky insects that can spread disease. Scientists speculate that by 2100, Earth could warm up by as much as 10 degrees. If one degree of change has this much of an effect on the world, what could 10 degrees have?

Guests

Dr. Terry Root, senior fellow at the Center for Environmental Science and Policy at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California

Related Links and Resources

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Stanford University News Service, Jan. 3, 2003: “Effects of Global Warming Already Being Felt on Plants and Animals Worldwide”

New York Times, Jan 1, 2003: “Global Warming Found to Displace Species”

For Discussion:

• What is causing global warming?
• What has caused the hole in the ozone layer? What is the term used for this condition?
• How are humans affected by global warming?
• Earth’s climate has been through many dramatic changes over millions of years, and a caller comments that this warming may be part of a natural cycle. How do scientists gather information about climatic history?
• What can we do to reduce the production of carbon dioxide and lessen the greenhouse effect?

Activities

Hot enough for you? The Environmental Protection Agency’s Global Warming Kids Site is a terrific, comprehensive page about climate and global warming. Sections on climate history, climate science, solutions to global warming, and more are enriched with games, animations, links to other sites, and materials for teachers.

Hands-on, hot fun. For sophisticated experiments, visit National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Research. Units on El Niño, atmospheres, oceans and more contain activities involving data gathering and analysis, mapping, and graphing, as well as lesson plans and learning standards for teachers. NOAA Education’s Climate Change and Our Planet lists great sites too numerous to list here with materials and information for classroom use. Check out the Teacher At Sea Web site and El Niño Theme Page for lesson plans, photographs, videos, animations, and activities that use science, math, geography, and language arts skills. The Greenhouse Effect in a Jar at the Franklin Institute visually demonstrates the greenhouse effect.

Talking heads. Invite a meteorologist to do a presentation on climate or a representative from the local Audubon Society for a talk on changes in local bird populations.

Use the search box below to perform a Google search within any of the specifc sites or general domains mentioned in this Activities section.

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