What Effect Do Glaciers Have On The Environment

In nature, organisms of all shapes and sizes greatly affect the ecosystems which surround them. As African elephants stomp through the savannah, pushing over trees and crushing shrubs, the forest is kept from overtaking their grasslands. The predatory nature of wolves in the Pacific Northwest prevents overpopulation as they hunt out rabbits and deer. While ecosystems rely on animals to maintain a healthy status, they also rely on the environment to keep from drastic change. However, glaciers all around the world are melting. Due to global warming, polar ecosystems are being forced to change. Not only does the hydrology of melting glaciers lead to a warmer environment, but a warmer environment in turn affects polar ecosystems. The environment
One scholar writes, “increased levels of suspended sediment in the water caused the dwindling biodiversity registered in the coastal region. They say it occurs when the effects of global warming lead glaciers near the coast to begin melting, discharging large quantities of sediment into the seawater...Their findings: Some species are extremely sensitive to higher sedimentation rates” (Quaile). Melting glaciers are doing nothing beneficial to the already scarce and fragile seabed ecosystems of the poles. Although it’s not affecting all the creatures, even a small amount of marine animals being affected will alter the entire ecosystem. The loss of one species can drastically alter how an ecosystem function. Similar to wolves and elephants, a single species, not matter the population, can have a profound influence on its habitat. Dr. Doris Abele mentioned this in an article when she said, “the loss of important species is changing the coastal ecosystems and their highly productive food webs, and we still can't predict the long-term consequences” (Abele). Not only is sediment due to glacier warming affecting ecosystems right now, but the effects are also long term. As species go extinct in certain areas, the food web and ecosystem will be altered for the rest of the creatures. In turn, the entire ecosystem will be impacted in one way or another. Yet, scholars and researchers
The National Climate Assessment analyzed this issue stating, “Because of its cold-adapted features and rapid warming, climate change impacts on Alaska are already pronounced, including earlier spring snowmelt, reduced sea ice, widespread glacier retreat, warmer permafrost, drier landscapes, and more extensive insect outbreaks and wildfire…” (Chapin). Sea ice is a lynchpin to polar ecosystems. In areas surround by ice, the water underneath is kept cold as the ice reflects sunlight away from it. Yet while sea ice deteriorates due to glacial warming, aquatics organisms will experience a large change in the temperature of their environment. As sea ice is reduced with snowmelt, many marine and aquatic species will be affected by even the slightest change in temperature. While Alfred Wegener was researching the effect of climate change on polar organisms, he discovered:
Polar organisms have adapted their seasonal cycles to the dynamic interface between ice and water. This interface ranges from the micrometre-sized brine channels within sea ice to the planetary-scale advance and retreat of sea ice. Polar marine ecosystems are particularly sensitive to climate change because small temperature differences can have large effects on the extent and thickness of sea ice