Image by Garden State Hiker via Flickr
Bryan Palacio | Contributing Writer
opinion@fiusm.com
I attended an extremely interesting seminar last semester covering the effects of climate change (formally global warming) on the rainforest in South America. It was by one of our biology professors Dr. Ken Feeley who also runs a program that takes students to the rainforest to do field research.
According to Dr. Feeley the Earth is heating quickly, even quicker than originally expected. By 2100 the average global temperature may be as much as three degrees hotter. Three degrees is the difference between the average global temperature now and the last ice age. Six degrees would wipe out humans completely.
How is the rainforest reacting? Not quickly enough. The majority of species are not able to deal with the hotter climate and there’s not enough time to change their genetic makeup, so options are slim.
With temperatures rising, plant species are migrating up in elevation, called upward species migration, in attempt to save themselves. But the rate just isn’t fast enough.
Plants (mainly trees) are climbing at a rate less than half of what is necessary. And that’s not the only problem.
Although space on the Andes Mountain is more plentiful at higher elevations than lower, due to the shape encompassing more plateaus and less peaks, the treeline (cutoff where trees don’t grow higher) is not moving up like the rest of the plants are.
If plants were to move at the necessary rate and the treeline moved up with them, there could be a 20% increase in their numbers. But that isn’t happening. Instead, the treeline hasn’t moved in 40 years.
Why? Simply put, humans.
As we love to do in our existence we are manipulating our environment for our needs. And although I am not going to say the plight of the locals is less important, it is having a dramatic effect on the local plant species.
At the current rate, if the treeline doesn’t move and upward migration continues at its current rate, we will see a loss of 42% of the plant species in the rainforest. With there being about 2,500 species accounted for, that would be a significant loss. And that’s not taking into account deforestation which sees thousands of trees being cut down every day.
What can we do? Generally, not much. Manual migration would be too difficult and slightly unethical. Our best plan would be to stop getting in nature’s way and allow it to do what it does best.
We must understand we are seeing a global shift at a rate that has never been seen. But just as the Earth has done for millions of years, it will develop a new look. Temperatures will fluctuate throughout the world and weather patterns will change. Animals and plants will become extinct and more adaptive and better-suited species will take their place.
The real question is, will humans be one of them?
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