Essay Example on Rising Sea Levels due to Climate Change

Introduction

Global sea levels have risen eight inches over the last century. In the previous two decades alone, the rate of rising has nearly doubled. This is a direct cause of melting ice caps and increased global temperatures. If this rise continues, some countries could be underwater (NOAA, 2019). The major contributors to this phenomenon are climate change, particularly global warming. Climate change can be termed as the phenomenon where the climatic conditions of a particular region gradually changes. It primarily affects water bodies such as oceans and seas (Ninawe et al., 2018) as they are the largest constituent of the globe occupying over 71 percent. These water bodies contain rich biodiversity. This temperature fluctuation by a few degrees may not affect the water body temperature, but it initiates other hydrological activities that contribute to an adjustment in the chemical and physical characteristics of water. While the impacts of climate change on fisheries are far less well known than implications on agriculture, climate change poses long-term and unprecedented threats to fisheries because this idea is based on the fact that increasing temperature, change in ocean currents, and sea-level rise, affect the fish physiologic process and force them to migrate to seek optimal conditions for survival, year-to-year climate variations cause the absence of fish leading to fluctuations in fishing activity, and with total fishing activity dropping, overall catch, and profit decline.

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Problem Statement

The world is currently facing accelerated global climate change caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuel, threatening the planet's ecosystem. Questions have been raised on the greenhouse levels, the overall rise in temperature, and the associated consequences on the environment and life, triggering many environmental scientists to engage in research. The estimation is by the year 2050, the levels of carbon dioxide recorded in the 1980s will have doubled (Ninawe et al., 2018). In the past 100 years up to 2005, the average global temperature is estimated to have risen at the rate of 0.74 ± 018 (Ninawe et al., 2018). Global warming is estimated to have contributed substantially to the glacial retreat, reducing arctic, and the overall rise in the sea levels, causing mass mortalities of several aquatic species, such as fish, corals, plants, and the sea mammals. The rising waterbodies temperatures and acidity are also associated with changing the ocean current, thus radically changing the marine ecosystem. Climate change is altering the fish distribution as well as the productivity of the aquatic life, including in the freshwater resources such as lakes, dams, and pods (Lynch et al., 2016). The sustainability of fisheries, and aquaculture on the livelihood of the societies, have been affected substantially.

Impact on Fisheries

Mangrove

Mangrove enhances fisheries in numerous ways, with the two main ways including the provision of food and shelter. The mangrove forests also provide a highly productive environment. There are various mangroves associated with fisheries, including the coastal mixed-species fisheries related to low-income fisheries, inshore mollusc and crustacean fisheries which generate a majority of the upmarket though it might include the low scale fisheries. Offshore commercial fisheries mainly operate several kilometers away from the mangroves but generally benefits from the mangrove nursery habitat functions. Lastly are the recreational fisheries where mangroves are critical habitats for numerous species, which are considered price game fish and are located in areas with healthy and high-value aquatic life (Hutchison et al., 2014). However, climate change is likely to have a substantial effect on the mangrove life through the associated processes like the gradual rise in sea level, which is estimated to have risen by an average of 40-60cm (Ninawe et al., 2018) this century alone. Other processes that will have a substantial impact are the changing ocean currents, global warming, and the change in the precipitation, and the level of the greenhouse gases. The sea-level rise is undoubtedly the most significant threat because these mangroves are very sensitive to any change in the inundation period, rate, and the salinity levels, which are beyond a certain physiological threshold of natural tolerance (Ward et al., 2016). It is undebatable that an increase in flooding period often leads to plant death and the oceanward mangrove margins and the shift in the species distribution and the composition leading to a reduction in the productivity and other associated ecosystem services. It is estimated if the current trends persist, the Coastal flooding is expected to rise. The global temperature is expected to rise by 4.8 by the end of the 21st century, relative to the same period ended in 2005 (Ninawe et al., 2018). This phenomenon is likely to increase the impact on the mangrove species composition, productivity, phenology, and latitudinal range of their distribution. Currently, a majority of the mangroves are confined within area with minimum temperatures of 16 and a peak of 28 – 32 (Ward et al., 2016). Temperatures also affect the floatation time of species like propagules, although some areas in North America show that short time freezing impacts the latitudinal distribution. Temperature is also associated with the disrupted rainfall pattern, which influences the distribution, growth rates, and the extent of the mangroves forest (Hutchison et al., 2014). For example, changes in precipitation are associated with altering the seasonal average salinity in some mangrove systems though this is a variable observed between fringe, estuarine, and interior mangroves. Decreased salinity leads to increased evaporation, thus increased soil salinity leading to decrease seedling survival, growth rate, productivity, and loss of mangrove conversion.

Livelihood

The number of people depending on fish and fish resources in the globe is tremendous. In 2011 alone, human beings caught an estimated 78.9 million tons of aquatic life, accounting for 16.66 percent of the world's animal protein, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (Hutchison et al., 2014). The global fish demand is deemed to increase with an increasing population. By 2030, the fishing activities and the associated demand is projected to increase to over 93million tons meaning this is an economic hub that, if altered, will affect the livelihood of many individuals and, to some extent, the global economy. The areas that might suffer the most are the areas in sub-Saharan Africa, where fish is the most traded item (Mohammed & Uraguchi, 2013). Fish trading in this region contributes to more than 10 million employment opportunities and the only source of animal protein (Mohammed & Uraguchi, 2013). Globally, fishing activities are an essential source of livelihood, providing an estimated employment opportunities of about 38.4 million 90 percent of whom are dependent on the small-scale fishing. The coastal populations benefit the most as the demand for fish increase globally. However, the fishing activities face a threat in the future based on the current climate change trends, as the aquatic live changes (Brander, 2007) the demography, distribution, and stock structure as they try to adapt to this changing global phenomenon.

Conclusion

Imagine a fish without water, can it survive? If climate change continues, many of these species will disappear, so can we imagine water without fish? Can men survive? These are some of the pressing questions whose answers can only be speculated, based on the available data and research. Climate change is a phenomenon mainly contributed by the activities of the human beings and is posing a lot of environmental challenges, one of them being the threat to aquatic life. It is indeed genuine to ask whether fish can survive without water, since, what the globe will be having by the end of the century may no longer be water but a by-product of water and the acidic gases triggered by the increased temperature. Fish is an essential component in the livelihood of a substantial percentage of humans, and water without fish will mean unemployment and the loss of the only source of animal protein to some communities. Humanity will survive only if they device ways of growing the aquatic resources, but that will only make it more expensive. Steps towards reducing the contributors to climate change should be adopted early enough to mitigate future losses.

References

Brander, K. M. (2007). Global fish production and climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(50), 19709-19714. https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/104/50/19709.full.pdf

Hutchison, J., Spalding, M., & Zu Ermgassen, P. (2014). The role of mangroves in fisheries enhancement. The Nature Conservancy and Wetlands International, 54. http://www.conservationgateway.org/ConservationPractices/Marine/crr/library/Documents/The%20Role%20of%20Mangroves%20in%20Fisheries%20Enhancement.pdf

Lynch, A. J., Cooke, S. J., Deines, A. M., Bower, S. D., Bunnell, D. B., Cowx, I. G., Nguyen, V. M., Nohner, J., Phouthavong, K., Riley, B., Rogers, M. W., Taylor, W. W., Woelmer, W., Youn, S.-J., & Beard, T. D. (2016). The social, economic, and environmental importance of inland fish and fisheries. Environmental Reviews, 24(2), 115–121. https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2015-0064

Mohammed, E. Y., & Uraguchi, Z. B., (2013). Impacts of climate change on fisheries: implications for food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. Global Food Security, Nova Science Publishers, Inc, 114-135. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Essam_Mohammed2/publication/257270205_Impacts_of_climate_change_on_fisheries_Implications_for_food_security_in_sub-Saharan_Africa/links/54904a020cf2d1800d864ffb.pdf

Ninawe, A. S., Indulkar, S. T., & Amin, A. (2018). Impact of Climate Change on Fisheries. Biotechnology for Sustainable Agriculture, 257–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-812160-3.00009-x

Ward, R. D., Friess, D. A., Day, R. H., & Mackenzie, R. A. (2016). Impacts of climate change on mangrove ecosystems: a region by region overview. Ecosystem Health and Sustainability, 2(4), e01211. https://doi.org/10.1002/ehs2.1211