Climate Change and Marine Mammals.ppt

Q and A with the Presenter(s) According to Molnia, between 1941 and 2004 the glacier retreated more than twelve kilometers (seven miles) and thinned by more than 800 meters (875 yards). Ocean water has filled the valley, replacing the ice of Muir Glacier; the end of the glacier has retreated out of the field of view. The glacier’s absence reveals scars where glacier ice once scraped high up against the hillside. In 2004, trees and shrubs grow thickly in the foreground, where in 1941 there was only bare rock. * The dashed line represents the 100 percent line separating over- and under-saturated regions. The Southern Ocean could be aragonite under-saturated by about 2050 and this could make it difficult or impossible for aragonite-dependent corals and other marine calcifiers to form shells. (plausible CO2 emission scenarios that vary based on different assumptions for global energy use and socioeconomic changes) ? The acidity of the oceans has increased since pre-industrial times and will continue to increase in coming decades, due to human-generated carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The pH of the surface oceans could decline by up to 0.5 units by 2100 if CO2 emissions continue to increase on present trends. Increasing oceanic acidity will adversely affect the health of corals and other marine calcifiers (e.g., marine snails). * Where precipitation greater- maybe greater runoff from industry and agriculture (i.e. pesticides, pollutants) Where precipitation less- maybe an increase in salinity? * FIG. 2. A conceptual model of sea ice impacts on ice-obligate, ice-associated, and seasonally migrant marine mammal species: positive impacts are indicated by circled plus signs; negative impacts by circled minus signs. Dashed lines indicate uncertainty regarding potential impact of sea ice gain or loss for ice-associated species. Anticipated changes in benthic and pelagic community productivity are as presented in Bluhm and Gradinger (2008); anticipated change in human su