Discuss the implications of global climate change in the future for the biogeography of any organism, group of organisms, or ecosystem/biome of your choice.

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Discuss the implications of global climate change in the future for the biogeography of any organism, group of organisms, or ecosystem/biome of your choice.

Climate change has now been officially recognized as the dominant environmental problem facing the globe. The concept of global change is not a recent idea; it has been around since the mid nineteenth century particularly in the writings of George Perkins Marsh. According to Walker, global change is the net effect of individual and interactive effects of changes in land use, atmospheric composition, biological diversity and climate.

Global climate change will alter the structure of the oceans thus having a direct impact on marine ecosystems. Recent research conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has indicated that sea levels, ocean temperature and the overall chemistry of the oceans is changing as well as the frequency and intensity of ocean storms. Massive carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere adversely impacts both the chemical and biological processes in oceans which in conjunction with overall sea level warming could lead to a gross destabilization of methane deposits on the sea floor and exponentially increase oceanic acidity (Lehrnkoster,).  The rapid warming of oceans and coastal waters will result in the displacement of many marine organisms; there have already been incidences of coral reef organisms showing mortality from El Nino effects coupled with the extinction of several species of bivalves throughout coastal waters (Kennedy). Changing global temperatures therefore have a direct influence on both the distribution patterns and abundance of marine life. This paper will attempt to examine the implications of global climate change on marine ecosystems.

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The effects of climate change on the marine carbon cycle

The natural carbon cycle is responsible for the transportation of billions of tons of carbon dioxide annually. The oceans play a critical role in this transportation in the form of carbon pumps which include a variety of physical, chemical and biological processes (Lehrnkoster). These processes are strongly influenced by climatic factors which alter ocean currents and circulation which subsequently affects ph balances and overall oceanic temperatures. The total amount of carbon in the world’s oceans is approximately fifty times greater than the amount in the atmosphere. ...

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