Informative Essay

Jennette Bradley

Professor Amy Cox

English 111

July 8, 2016

Cover Letter

        Dear Professor Amy Cox,

        I am writing this cover letter to explain the feedback from my peers and how I made changes. My peers just told me that I did a good job on what I wrote. I went and used what you marked wrong and my paper and changed it. I went through and took out all the you and I that were marked. I also tried to fix any grammar errors there was too. I made sure I fixed anything that didn’t make since. I think the changes I made would make this essay a more informative essay. Some things that were pointed out didn’t make since but tried to fix to the best of my ability.

Global Warming and Wildlife

         People are definitely seeing changes in the world since global warming has started. The environment has changed in many ways from the water to the land. Pollution is one of these changes that people see the most of in the world. People are not the only one’s feeling this effect in the world; the animals sharing this world with people are going through this too. All of these changes have been caused by humans’ behavior and need’s to change so the planet is not completely destroyed. If people want to reverse this change in the world, then everyone in the world will need to work together and find ways that will save people and all the other living creatures from extinction.

        The environment has been discussed and documented since the 1950’s. The change is called global warming, which means a rise in temperature in the earth’s atmosphere. The rise in the temperature is caused by burning fossil fuels, which releases carbon dioxide, a heat trapping gas, into the atmosphere, which is the main reason why the climate is changing (McCartney, 2016). Greenhouse gases exist naturally but people are adding extra gases by everyday activities. Some of the extra gases are caused by electricity, heating a house, driving, agriculture, and industry. If people keep adding gases to the atmosphere, the temperature will increase by about 4 to 12*F by the year 2100 (U.S. E.P.A. 2010-2014).

The pollution is the number one problem that creates more heat which destroys the atmosphere (McCartney, 2016). The earth’s climate is getting warmer, and the signs are everywhere. Global warming is causing the weather changes that effects the environment the animals live in. Global warming is impacting regional climates, ecosystems, and organisms in number of ways. Animal species can only survive within certain climate and environment changes (Staudt, 1996-2016). Some species are unable to adapt to the changes of the climate, which will cause extinction. Changes to the animal’s migration, breeding, and hibernation has already been occurring. Some places do not get enough rain, which cause’s drought of the freshwater (ProQuest, 2016).  Therefore, the animals would have to move locations to find water. Another change is wildfires, and these are caused by having dry conditions. Having warmer seasons causes the snow to melt fast in the woods for dryer conditions, which causes fires. Reports of temperature and forest fires, worldwide, have broken records and there are documented patterns that shows how it’s related to global warming (Monitz, 2012). Another effect of rising temperatures is the spreading of disease and pests, which could make anyone who gets the disease dead or sick (McKibben, 2009). If pollution keeps going as bad as it is then all these changes will keep increasing and effecting all life on earth.

        Animals are going extinct due to a variety of human caused disturbances, including climate change. At the current rate of extinction, earth will have lost 25% of its present number of species by 2050 (Sierra Club, 2008). Species with limited climatic ranges or small populations are the most vulnerable to extinction (IPCC, 2002). Mountain species, and animals restricted to islands, peninsulas, or coasted areas, are at greatest risk (IPCC, 2002). Around 20% of bird species, or 1,800 species, are at risk of extinction due to climatic factors, with 5% already on the brink of extinction (IPCC, 2007). The polar bears are affected because they rely on the sea ice to access their food, primarily seals, and to move from hunting grounds to their denning or summer resting areas (WWF, n/d). Reductions in winter sea ice will affect the reproduction growth and development of fish, krill, and their predators. The predators include penguins, seals, whales, and seal dependent polar bears which will cause further changes in abundance and distribution of marine species (IPCC, 2007). When the fish and krill die off because of shifts of the marine organisms, then the bigger animals lose their food source. Sea turtles are also affected by climate change because the change causes the sea levels to rise above normal levels, which, washes the eggs they had just laid. The sea turtles are affected from climate change because the temperature determines the sex of the babies, therefore, only female offspring is being hatched, so that means there would be no reproduction (Amadeo, 2005). The ocean life lost is greater than the combined weight of every person on earth (Kirby, 2014).