Tsunami:man made source of destruction?

With the recent tragedy that has devastated Japan, many non-specialists are looking for answers as to how something like this could even be possible. I am one of those people! I decided to do some minor research and try to formulate my own idea of how this occurred. To begin we must first solidify our understanding of global warming and greenhouses gases and follow with how it possibly could relate to the destructive Tsunami.

Well, global warming is basically caused by the earth’s temperature rising. This occurs as gasses such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and water vapor (Greenhouse gasses) trap the sun’s heat within the atmosphere. Due to our society’s Unwillingness to accept the fact that we need to change significantly to try to slow down our damage to our planet, we have caused much harm. With the large amount of Greenhouse gasses becoming trapped in our atmosphere, the world has been steadily warming up. A direct effect can be the melting of glaciers and large sheets of ice. These frigid structures, experts say, exert a massive amount of pressure on the
Earth’s surface so if they were to melt, the change on pressure could lead to massive geological repercussions. The tsunami itself was triggered by a massive Earthquake near north-east Japan. It is quite plausible that the pressure change on the earth’s surface due to global warming was the cause of this earthquake. To dissect this further; the initial incident was actually our pollution issues! The push to go green in recent years has sparked a global trend to start becoming more Environmentally friendly. It however is being undermined by large companies who
refuse to get with the program. We could be the cause of our own demise. We had to have millions upon millions of things be perfect for us to be able to sustain life on this planet. It is quite a blessing as to how perfect our planet is for us. Now with that in mind, why must we be the ones destroying it?

Websites used:
http://www.webgreenworld.com/climate-change-fanatics-blame-japan-earthquakes-tsunamis-on-global-warming-913/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709598

http://www.ourfutureplanet.org/news/549-is-japans-tsunami-linked-to-climate-change

Ocean's Animals- How will climate change impact ocean life?

Animals are in the greatest danger of demise from the results of climate change, especially those to whom the ocean plays a major role in their existence. Many people associate the polar bear with animals that are affected by global warming, but the polar bear is not the only animal whose future is jeopardized by this climate change. All animals, even the ones you can barely see, are affected. Climate change has an impact on oceanic animals’ habitat as well as the food web of oceanic animals. A recent study of the Bering Sea’s ecosystem has shown that phytoplankton populations will be greatly impacted by global warming. Phytoplankton are considered to be the foundation of the ocean’s food web, with zooplankton feeding on them and larger fish feeding on zooplankton. As you can imagine, it’s a chain reaction and only a matter of time before most oceanic species are endangered or completely gone.
  To give you an idea of how climate change affects animals of the ocean here are a couple of examples of effects:
  First, is warming of the ocean water. Warmer water impacts ocean animals because many have to migrate to cooler waters that is more suitable for their survival, this could led to more highly populated regions with high diversity and high competition for space and food. Warmer water temperature also increases the stratification of water and decreases the upwelling of nutrients that many animals rely on for survival. It has also been observed that warmer ocean temperature has affected the sex ratio amoung sea turtles. Turtles’ sex is determined by the temperature at incubation in which high temperature results in a female. Many species of sea turtles are on the endangered species as a result.
  Another aspect of climate change that impacts oceanic animals is the acidification of the ocean. The acidification is due to burning of fossil fuels altering the chemical composition of the ocean. Animals that are directly impacted by this are animals with a calcium carbonate shell or exoskeleton, such as corals and mollusks. These animals provide habitats and food for other animals so what affects their survival indirectly affects their cohabiters and predators.
  This raises another question, will what happens to ocean life have an impact on humans? The answer, I believe, is absolutely. People all over the world use ocean animals as a food source, some regions are completely dependent on it. Parts of the world that’s greatest source of income is based on the fishing industry or tourism will experience a significant impact.

 For more information on climate change’s affects on ocean life and how people can help to reduce it’s effect here is a video done by the organization, Oceana.

 Websites used:

http://www.neaq.org/conservation_and_research/climate_change/effects_on_ocean_animals.php

http://www.conservation.org/Documents/climate change on the ocean.pdf