ENGL 1100: Exploring Global Warming's Impact on Marine Life

This essay explores the significant impact of global warming on marine life, emphasizing the rising temperatures and the subsequent effects on ocean ecosystems. It details how increased greenhouse gas emissions lead to global warming, causing sea ice and glacier melting, and shifts in precipitation patterns. The essay highlights the vulnerability of marine animals, including the threat to polar bears and seals due to habitat loss, and the bleaching of coral reefs. It also discusses the two main causes of global warming: man-made coal burning plants and the use of personal vehicles, advocating for clean energy alternatives and sustainable practices to mitigate the damage. The essay concludes by emphasizing the urgent need for action to prevent further devastation to marine life and the potential for complete ecosystem alteration.

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Impact of Global Warming on Marine Life
Earth is rapidly warming, from North to South Pole and this is significantly
influencing the life under oceans. Since the year 1907, the average surface temperature
globally has increased by more than 1.7°F and this is even more in the Polar Regions
(DeLong et al.). These impacts of the rising temperature are experienced by each and every
single living beings in the earth, be it humans, land animals or marine. The heat is melting the
sea ice and the glaciers and is also shifting the patterns of precipitations. With the same, is
also setting the innocent animals on the move. This paper is going to elaborate on examining
one of the key issues of global warming and that is- the impact of this global warming on the
marine life.
Global warming is the increase in the average atmospheric temperature of planet earth
that results in corresponding climatic changes. Today, it has become a growing
environmental concern for many. It is basically the result of high emission of greenhouse
gases like methane and carbon dioxide, from the industries and agriculture from the mid
twentieth century to (Trenberth et al.). It is to note that the high emission of greenhouse gases
that are released in the atmosphere forms a shield around the earth and then, traps the heat
and create general warming effect and oceans are the most vulnerable area. Oceans are the
most affected ones by global warming. According to Constable et al., rise in the air
temperatures influence the physical nature of the oceans and this directly effects the marine
life. As the temperatures of the air rise, the water becomes less dense and at the same time,
this separate the water from the nutrient filled cold layer present below. It is the basis for a
chain effect that influence all the marine life, which counts on such nutrients for the survival.
During the 1950s, the things were not so much deteriorated as they are today. Not
only is the surface temperature of earth rising with the passing years, the ocean animals are

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also badly affected. Most of the sea animals are going extinct presently and there are many
who are endangered. It is just that one cannot see what is happening under the sea and
therefore, not much is being done regarding the devastating impact of global warming on the
sea life. According to Keeling et al., marine animals are the most significant part of sea life
there is. They depend on smaller tropical fishes for their source of food and apart from this,
they do not have anything else to consume. At present, the sea life about which humans are
most concerned are the marine life that are closest to the Poles, particularly the arctic pole,
where there are huge numbers of polar bears, leopard seals, who are rapidly losing their
habitats due to the melting of ice and rise in the sea levels.
There are several marine animals who are forced to live out of their natural habitats
and migrate to find a new home to survive. It is particularly true for the cold water and salt
water species. They are highly on the move in search for colder and deeper water for being
able to survive. With the same, it is also to mention that as per Spalding and Brown, many of
the coral reefs are going through a phase of bleaching due to the influence of global warming.
Muller-Parker, D’elia and Cook in this context have claimed that “the ocean temperatures is
increasing to more than what the corals could actually handle, they are expelling their algae
and are showing white skeletons”. This is also known as bleaching. Apart from this, it is also
to mention that the coastal wetlands, the mangroves and the sea marshes are rapidly
becoming highly vulnerable to harm and destruction. It is not only due to the increasing sea
levels, instead it is due to the droughts that are taking place all around the world.
It is to note that there are a total of two main causes of global warming. Firstly, it is
the fact that there are several man made coal burning plants that are making electricity. While
human beings are burning coal for generating electricity, this releases carbon dioxide into the
earth’s atmosphere and this causing too much warming. Secondly, it is the mode of
transportation. Today, human use different mode of transportation and majority of them use

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personal cars and two-wheelers instead of using car pools or public transport. This is
increasing the emission more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These two things are
resulting in global warming. Due to pollutants in the atmosphere, the ocean animals are
suffering a lot, even more than the human beings. One thing that can be done to stop this
global warming from getting worse is to stop burning out the coal in the power plants for
generating electricity and start making clean energy. Just a small gesture can result in
significant positive impact on planet earth. For example, riding a bike to school and work
instead of riding cars; preventing pollutions, throwing garbage in proper recycling containers,
practicing recycling, walking more often instead of rding two-wheelers or four-wheelers,
purchasing electric cars, keeping the ocean and the other water bodies clean by preventing
throwing garbage into them.
Hence, from the above analysis it is clear that the unpredictable changes in the climate
in today’s world is a significant concern to the overall health of the marine or ocean life.
Global warming is causing several negative impact to the ocean like destroying all the
habitats of the marine life and rapidly increasing the water temperature. These impacts are
threatening the marine life to a point where they might never ever be able to recover. Global
warming is one of the serious conditions that have the potential of absolutely altering the
entire ecosystem of the ocean. Majority of the species in the ocean are at a high risk of
becoming extinct soon. If nothing is done soon to prevent any more damage from taking
place, there will be time when the entire marine life will become extinct

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Works Cited:
Constable, Andrew J., et al. "Climate change and Southern Ocean ecosystems I: how changes
in physical habitats directly affect marine biota." Global Change Biology 20.10
(2014): 3004-3025.
DeLong, Kristine L., et al. "A reconstruction of sea surface temperature variability in the
southeastern Gulf of Mexico from 1734 to 2008 CE using cross‐dated Sr/Ca records
from the coral Siderastrea siderea." Paleoceanography 29.5 (2014): 403-422.
Keeling, Patrick J., et al. "The Marine Microbial Eukaryote Transcriptome Sequencing
Project (MMETSP): illuminating the functional diversity of eukaryotic life in the
oceans through transcriptome sequencing." PLoS biology 12.6 (2014): e1001889.
Muller-Parker, Gisèle, Christopher F. D’elia, and Clayton B. Cook. "Interactions between
corals and their symbiotic algae." Coral reefs in the Anthropocene. Springer,
Dordrecht, 2015. 99-116.
Spalding, Mark D., and Barbara E. Brown. "Warm-water coral reefs and climate
change." Science 350.6262 (2015): 769-771.
Trenberth, Kevin E., et al. "Climate variability and relationships between top‐of‐atmosphere
radiation and temperatures on Earth." Journal of Geophysical Research:
Atmospheres 120.9 (2015): 3642-3659.