5. Impacts of Climate Change
• Increase in temperature
• Shifts in Climatic envelopes
6. Increase in Temperature
• The world is heating up.
• The increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases,
such as CO2, in the Earth’s atmosphere are causing
the planet’s climate system to retain more energy.
• More frequent extreme high maximum temperatures
and less frequent extreme low minimum
temperatures, and warmer winter conditions
7. Climate
• The weather conditions prevailing in
an area in general or over a long
period of time
• Different than weather
8. Shifts in Climatic Envelope
• To estimate the effect of climate change on species,
scientists use what they call a climatic envelope (sometimes
also referred to as a bioclimatic envelope), which is the
range of temperatures, rainfall and other climate-related
parameters in which a species currently exists.
• The geographic location of climatic envelopes will shift
significantly, possibly even to the extent that species can no
longer survive in their current locations.
9. Migration
• Such species will need to follow their climatic envelopes by
migrating to cooler and moister environments.
• Marine species will also need to adapt to warmer ocean
temperatures.
• Migration might not be possible because of unfavourable
environmental parameters, geographical or human-made
barriers and competition from species already in an area.
13. Climate
• The weather conditions prevailing in
an area in general or over a long
period of time
• Different than weather
14. Threats to Biodiversity
• Coral Bleaching
• Increase in Extreme conditions
• Changes in Rainfall
• Increased CO2
• Sea Level Rise
15. Coral Bleaching
• Warmer sea surface temperatures are blamed for an
increase in a phenomenon called coral bleaching.
• This is a whitening of coral caused when the coral expels
their zooxanthellae, a symbiotic photosynthesising algae
that lives within the coral tissues and provides it with
essential nutrients.
• The zooxanthellae also give corals their spectacular range of
colours. Zooxanthellae are expelled when the coral is under
stress from environmental factors such as abnormally high
water temperatures and/or pollution.
• Since the zooxanthellae help coral in nutrient production,
their loss can affect coral growth and make coral more
vulnerable to disease
16.
17. Increases in extreme events
• Predicted changes in the intensity, frequency and extent of
disturbances such as fire, cyclone, drought and flood will
place existing vegetation under stress and favour species
able to rapidly colonise denuded areas.
• Spread of weed
• Migration of Sharks and rays
18.
19. Changes in Rainfall
• The marginal nature of the environment, however,
means that even minor changes in rainfall patterns
could have major impacts on wildlife.
• Biological clocks
• Rain waiting animals
20.
21. Increased CO2
• Greenhouse effects
• A lot of CO2 that has been emitted into the
atmosphere has been absorbed by the oceans.
• This has resulted in a decrease in the ocean’s pH,
which in turn affects the rate at which many marine
organisms build skeletons, meaning that reefs
damaged by bleaching or other agents would recover
more slowly.
22. Sea-level rise
• Due to the thermal expansion of the
oceans and the melting of polar ice-
caps and ice sheets.
• Coupled with the effects of storm
surges, which are expected to be of a
greater magnitude in a warmer world,
this increase in sea level could
threaten many coastal ecosystems.
