How Global Warming Affects the Ecosystem, Biodiversity, and Agriculture

How Global Warming Affects the Ecosystem, Biodiversity, and Agriculture
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How Global Warming Affects the Ecosystem, Biodiversity, and Agriculture
Global warming has significant adverse effects on the ecosystem, biodiversity, and agriculture. The primary greenhouse gases contributing to global warming are carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane. Based on the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USNOAA), methane accounts for around 30% of global warming. More emphasis is given to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and less is done to decrease the percentage of methane released into the atmosphere. The primary purpose of this paper is to show how greenhouse gases contribute to global warming, which poses a danger to the ecosystem, biodiversity, and agriculture using Fred Pearce’s “Why Methane Is a Large and Underestimated Threat to Climate Goals,” published by Yale Environment 360 on February 24, 2022.
The world has a long way to go when it comes to reducing the emission of methane in the atmosphere. Some efforts that can lead to curbing methane emissions include sealing gas and oil pipelines, preventing the burning of crop wastes, covering landfills, and plugging gas wells that are abandoned (Pearce, 2022). The following is a graph showing how methane emissions have risen since 1980.


Figure 1: Methane Emission Since 1980 to 2020 (Source: https://e360.yale.edu/features/why-methane-is-a-large-and-underestimated-threat-to-climate-goals)
Based on the International Energy Agency (IEA), industrial methane emissions have been increasing from coal mines, leaks from oil and gas pipelines and wells, landfills, flooded rice fields, and cattle manure (Pearce, 2022). Although methane is short-lived, its contributions to global warming are significant. Individuals should be warned against activities such as burning crop waste. Besides, the focus on carbon dioxide should not be lost since it is among the biggest contributor to global warming. Unlike methane, whose effects are significant during the first decade of its release, carbon dioxide sticks in the atmosphere for a long period, and its warming effects can be felt for centuries. As a result, emissions of these greenhouse gases should be highly regulated to avoid their adverse consequences on the ecosystem, biodiversity, and agriculture.
Global warming destroys biodiversity, ecosystem, and agriculture. In particular, diversity entails how environmental changes and numerous physical and natural features, such as forests, mountains, and glaciers, affect the lives and habitat of living organisms. The ecosystem supports the lives of plants and animals, and when the ecosystem is damaged, it means that organisms have no future. Humans rely on agriculture for the continual supply of food products. Many problems will arise if this sector is adversely affected, including drought, famine, disease outbreaks, and death. Catrin Einhorn argues that if global warming is not addressed, the world is likely to experience catastrophic biodiversity consequences that will threaten all species and endanger humanity due to adverse effects arising from the shortage of food supply and health issues. According to David Cooper, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity’s deputy executive secretary, the world has already experienced the signs of an unhealthy relationship with nature that lead to increased challenges, such as pandemics and increased rates of wildfires (Einhorn, 2020). Therefore, if there is no change, these things will deteriorate, and nothing will remain to talk about biodiversity, ecosystem, and agriculture.
The agriculture sector cannot escape the adverse effects of global warming, which explains why the emission of greenhouse gases, such as methane and carbon dioxide, should be decreased. Specifically, global warming makes the world unproductive since many crops cannot survive the harsh weather conditions caused by this phenomenon. For example, California is renowned for the production of over two-thirds of the United States of America’s (USA) nuts and fruits, such as apricots, prunes, oranges, nectarines, almonds, and pistachios. Moreover, it produces vegetables, such as carrots, spinach, broccoli, and artichokes. All the agricultural products that come from California are valued at over $50 billion annually (Hiltzik, 2018). However, due to the impact of global warming, agricultural production has been declining since fruits and vegetables cannot withstand harsh weather conditions. For instance, California is one of the states significantly affected by wildfires, leading to increased temperatures and the destruction of crops and vegetation.
Global warming strains the ecosystem due to fluctuating temperature rise, pest and weed invasion, increased threat of wildfire, drought, and water shortage. For the last two decades, the average temperature on the planet has been rising, and weather patterns have significantly changed. In addition, instances of fire, disease outbreaks, floods, and drought have increased. A rise in ocean temperature is experienced, leading to melting ice caps and glaciers, increasing the water volume (World Wildlife Fund, 2018). Coastal cities and low-lying islands are threatened due to the increased possibility of floods from the sea and heavy rainfall. The plan...