Bio105- Climate Change

Read the following link 7 Dec 2016 Guardian news

-2016 was the hottest year EVER and is causing sea level rise as ice caps melt. Melting ice caps are predicted to cause the largest sea level rise. Last winter, in both of the global ice caps (Artic and Antarctic) when the ice is usually getting thicker, both of the poles showed a decrease in ice--the ice was melting in the middle of the winter 2016/2017 winter -The projection that everyone is striving for is less than 2 degrees centigrade each year, ideally around 1.5 degrees (according to the Paris Accord). The earth is warming much faster than we should be. If the ice caps melt completely the sea level will rise about 81 meters and many major cities along coasts and major waterways would be underwater. We are now entering a period of climate change & warming so great that it could become irreversible- 2300 the temp will be 180 degrees centigrade NO LONGER HABITABLE

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-Intense UV light breaks down folate, which seriously interferes with pregnancy -Low UV levels limit or prevent vitamin D synthesis, so the melanin sunscreen has been much reduced by evolution in northern regions - In geographical regions where UV light is less intense, lighter skin has evolved -In northern regions our folate pools are not in danger and light skin allows more light through to promote vitamin D synthesis -Dark skin in tropical regions acts to protect folate bit enough sunlight can penetrate to produce enoguh vitamin D

There are 7 major global trends that can prevent this natural disaster

1-Methane: We eat too much meat as a planet, we need to eat plant-based artificial meat to reduce the amount of methane and use CO2. 2-Renewable energy revolution: The cost of solar and wind power has gone down drastically making it cleaner and cheaper than coal. This type of energy production is very desirable. 3-Coal Power Usage: Coal use is going down because solar and wind power are cheaper and cleaner. Coal is the dirtiest and most expensive source of power. Believe that now only 1% of energy needs will be met by coal by 2040, old prediction was 40% 4- Electric Cars: Battery powered cars would slash the use of fossil fuels use/emissions. Petroleum fuels produce 1/3 of all global energy 5-Batteries & Smart Grids: Lithium Ion batters prices have gone down 75% in the past 6 years. We cannot use solar-powered batteries at night but Lithium-ion batteries are very good at effectively storing energy We seem to be right on the threshold of a new era where lithium-ion batteries will be stored in smart grids and power the earth 6-Efficiency: Boosting use energy efficiency products and habits 7-Deforestation Emissions: The only megatrend not pointing in the right direction. Reducing deforestation would drastically reduce the amount of fossil fuels emissions. This is still a huge problem and it is becoming bigger. Causes 10% of greenhouse emissions. The annual tree loss has roughly doubled since 2000

How many Africans were seized and enslaved by the American slave trade?

12 million

How many copies of the melanin gene are there in the human genome, producitng the spectrum of human skin colors?

3-4

Boston sea level

A 4 degree centigrade rise will raise the sea levels 9 m or 30 ft-much of the land & streets of Boston would be underwater but not all. Sea level rise of 80m or 250 feet will put all of Boston underwater. Only the tips of skyscrapers will peak out of the water

Predict what skin colors would have evolved in that stage of migration

A: dark B: light C: dark

How closely does skin color align with major evolutionary chnages in our species?

Almost no relationship at all

How have the ecological ranges and reproductive schedules of many species been altered by global warming?

Animals & plants will migrate more North due to the warming of the atmosphere, where the conditions are ideal for them. The North East is currently a deciduous forest but the forests that currently live here will disappear and move more north over the next century. This is exactly what happened to the Maple tree, it moved from the NorthEast US to Canada as a result of the rising temperatures. This is also seen in many other plants and animals such as birds and fish.

Explain the relationship between fossil fuel emissions, atmospheric CO2 levels, global temperature, the polar ice caps, and ocean levels.

Fossil fuels emissions cause the environment to retain more heat than it used to. As we keep adding fossil fuel emission to the atmosphere more heat is being trapped and the average temp of the earth is rising. The increasing temperature is causing ice to melt and for sea levels to rise. The scariest scenario is that both ice caps completely melt. If this were to happen, almost all major cities in the world will be underwater (Miami, New Orleans, Boston, Washington D.C., Seattle, San Diego, New York, London, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Barcelona, Venice, Shanghai, Beijing, Sydney, Havana, and many more).

Melanin is produced in what part of the body?

In the epidermis of the skin

Climate change is simple

It looks like we are going to blow past the Paris Accords desired 1.5 degrees and the necessary 2 degrees. A 4-degree centigrade rise in average temperatures would be hell on earth. We want to stop the temperature rising at 2-degrees but it won't happen. A 4-degree rise represents the threshold for a positive feedback system--the point of no return. This would be our last chance to reverse it. At a 6-degree rise, we will almost certainly not be able to gain control again. A 6-degree rise is likely to be produced by the end of the century. If we continue our current rate, by 2300, the warming will be 12 degrees and half of the planet will have a temp of 180 and it will be too hot to live here.

What story do these plots illustrate?

Sea level rise was modest in the past, but by the end of the 1800s, it became obvious that sea levels were rising. In 1896, the first report came out that said if we do not stop sea level rising global warming will occur. Due to changes during the 20th century, sea levels have continued to rise and will continue to do so for the rest of the century. This is occurring because of the level of fossil fuel emission that is melting the ice caps, causing sea levels to rise as well as rising sea and air temps. These are 3 different projections of sea level rise. By 2100, Florida will be largely underwater according to some projections. unfortunately, Pfeffer's prediction seems to be the path we are following due to the data from recent years.

What is the greenhouse effect?

The greenhouse effect is the machine that produces global warming. Under normal conditions, sunlight enters the earth's atmosphere and warms the earth, infrared radiation is given off, most heat escapes allowing the earth to cool, some gets trapped--keeping the earth warm enough to be habitable. The concerning step is when the increasing levels of CO2 and other gasses leads to an increased amount of heat being trapped within our atmosphere, causing our surface to head up/leading to the warming of our planet, aka Global Warming

What do they indicate about the deniers argument?

The main claim that deniers make is that the change in the Earth's temperature is natural. They are right, change in temp of the Earth is natural. HOWEVER, it has never been this high before. This level of CO2 that is threatening global warming has never existed before in the last 650 thousand years.

What aspects of global warming does this illustrate?

This indicates an increase in CO2 concentration as a consequence of fossil fuel emission, causes an increase in temperature, there have been no temperatures this high in the past 1,000 years, This is not part of the normal cycle of the Earth, this is human-fueled.

How many times has dark skin evolved in the history of our species?

Two times

Miami is already suffering from the effects of sea level rising

Unfortunately, the rock that Miami sits on is porous. It absorbs the water and it will seep up from underneath. There is no way to avoid the sea rising into and taking over Miami due to the porous nature of the rock.

Albinism occurs when

melanin genes are not expressed or do not function properly

If we examine the gene pools of different geographical regions we will find that among descendants of a recent ancestor

there will be more genetic similarity