Climate Change
- Cass Yang 14269495 -
What is climate change?
The atmosphere is made of oxygen, nitrogen and a small amount of carbon dioxide, which is as known as greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases act like a blanket, they trap warmth from the sun and make life on earth. Without carbon dioxide, too much heat would escape and the surface of earth would freeze. On the other hand, the extensive concentration of greenhouse gases would cause the earth to heat more and the climate to change (NZgovt, 2016).
Figure (1) CO2 levels in recent years, corrected for average seasonal cycles, as measured at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii. (From NOAA) (NASA,2014)
The effects of climate change on aquaculture
1. Extreme, unpredictable weather- The extreme weathers like extreme hot or extreme cold weather, heavy storms and rainfall would damage the ecosystem and community of aquaculture (FAO, 2009).
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2. Ocean acidification- due to the increasing levels of carbon dioxide, many marine organisms such as shellfish, lobster and crabs will be impacted. The negative impact would make It more difficult for them to build calcium shells and it would destroy the habitats of many species need to live (FAO, 2009).
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Figure (2) Dissolved carbon dioxide forms carbonate ions and hydrogen (Ann,2012).
3. Rising sea level- the wet land and other low lying habitats would be covered by the rising sea level. It would cause many important fish species being endangered (FAO, 2009).
Figure (3) Climate change has an impact on fish stocks (Mercator Media, 2016)
The effects of climate change on lamb industry
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The increasing of levels of carbon dioxide would benefit the production of pastoral agriculture, which means the increased pasture productivity will also increase the lambing percentage. In order to produce the equivalent amount of lamb at slaughter, framers would have to reduce the lamb population needed (Falconer, 2009).
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The extreme weather condition due to the climate change would affect the growing of pasture. Framers would require a lowers stocking rate. Also, the increasing use of supplement feed would be a possibility (Falconer, 2009).
Figure (4) lamb offspring
The effects of climate change on agriculture
1. Extreme weather condition- Extreme weathers like heat waves, strong winds, heavy rains and droughts would affect the crops and pastures.
Heat waves can cause yields loss if don't prevent the plants by irrigation. Strong winds could cause plants damage. Heavy rains would cause floods, which will destroy the crops and soil structure. Droughts will lead the long-term lack of water available to the plants (Kenny, 2001).
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Figure (5) Parched soil by the White Nile in Khartoum, Sudan. (Arne, 2014)
2. The increasing level of carbon dioxide- The higher concentration of carbon dioxide will increase photosynthesis，which is as known as carbon-fertilisation effects, will likely increase the pasture production (Kenny, 2001).
Based on the research above, we believein 2025, the fish population will decrease significantly due to climate change whereas the lamb population will remain stable or increase due to time. This shows that there will be lesser fish to produce omega 3 oil and lamb's omega 3 can be a substitute for the fish'omega 3.
