How Does Co2 Emissions Affect the Ecosystem?
How does CO2 Emissions Affect the Ecosystem?
Kenyetta Sloan
Bryant & Stratton College
Ecology
Dr. M. McLellan-Zabielski
October 24, 2012
What would happen if we didn’t cut trees, use transportation, even turn on our lights or any electrical item we own? Then global warming wouldn’t exist. The things that we do on the daily basis is what produces carbon emissions, when we burn oil, coal, and gas, it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The result of this is climate change, temperature, and moisture, which affects our ecosystem, consisting of plant life and human life. One type of ecosystem is plant life, temperature and moisture influence birth, growth and death rates of plants (Effects on Ecosystems chapter 10). These factors also influence photosynthesis and respiration, which responds differently to temperature, in low temperatures, photosynthesis, is slow, at higher temperatures it accelerates. It is argued that global warming may result in a reduction in net carbon uptake by plants (Woodwell, 1987). Though plants have the ability to adjust to climate change, plants stay in the limited range where they are able to breathe and reproduce. If plants don’t receive enough moisture, it reduces plant growth, if too much moisture then it can cause cellular damage and a rapid increase in respiration (Hanson and Hitz, 1982). Plants absorb carbon, but when it’s burned or when they decay; carbon is released back into our atmosphere, the result being greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It is a process that carbon goes through or better yet a cycle it goes through, it is cycled from land, to ocean, to air. The ocean contains 50 times more carbon then our atmosphere because it serves as a repository system. Earths current levels of carbon in the atmosphere is something that we should be worried about, the Earth was warmer and sea levels were higher in the past, we’re below the normal averages of where Earth’s levels are supposed to be. The blame to
Kenyetta Sloan
Bryant & Stratton College
Ecology
Dr. M. McLellan-Zabielski
October 24, 2012
What would happen if we didn’t cut trees, use transportation, even turn on our lights or any electrical item we own? Then global warming wouldn’t exist. The things that we do on the daily basis is what produces carbon emissions, when we burn oil, coal, and gas, it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The result of this is climate change, temperature, and moisture, which affects our ecosystem, consisting of plant life and human life. One type of ecosystem is plant life, temperature and moisture influence birth, growth and death rates of plants (Effects on Ecosystems chapter 10). These factors also influence photosynthesis and respiration, which responds differently to temperature, in low temperatures, photosynthesis, is slow, at higher temperatures it accelerates. It is argued that global warming may result in a reduction in net carbon uptake by plants (Woodwell, 1987). Though plants have the ability to adjust to climate change, plants stay in the limited range where they are able to breathe and reproduce. If plants don’t receive enough moisture, it reduces plant growth, if too much moisture then it can cause cellular damage and a rapid increase in respiration (Hanson and Hitz, 1982). Plants absorb carbon, but when it’s burned or when they decay; carbon is released back into our atmosphere, the result being greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It is a process that carbon goes through or better yet a cycle it goes through, it is cycled from land, to ocean, to air. The ocean contains 50 times more carbon then our atmosphere because it serves as a repository system. Earths current levels of carbon in the atmosphere is something that we should be worried about, the Earth was warmer and sea levels were higher in the past, we’re below the normal averages of where Earth’s levels are supposed to be. The blame to
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