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Breana Doughman

Dr. Cassel

ENGL-101

07/09/2020

Climate Change and the Effect It has on Animals

Introduction 

Did you know that “Global sea level rose about 8 inches in the last century”? (NASA,

2020) which is an effect due to climate change. Climate Change has an enormous impact on

human life but also animals. People may ask, “What is climate change?” or “What causes

Climate Change?” Climate change is a change in global or regional climate patterns and is cause

by cutting down forests, developing cities and roads, and burning fossil fuels. These are only a

couple causes that affect the climate but there are more. Climate change does not only have an

enormous impact in today’s world, but it also has an enormous impact on animals around the

world. Animals habits are destroyed, temperatures are affecting animals, humans using fossil

fuels, and weather from climate change are all affecting animals around the world.

Climate Change vs Global Warming 

           Climate change is usually confused with global warming. People are always confusing the

two because global warming is “the increase in the average temperature of the atmosphere over a

long period” and climate change is “the long-term change in weather patterns of the globe”.

(Samanthi, 2011) There are some similarities between the two which are human interference,

global warming being one major aspect of climate change, and they are very interlinked with one

another, but there are so a lot of differences. For example, climate change is caused by humans
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and naturally occurring like volcanic eruptions, and global warming is mostly human activities

like greenhouse gas emissions.

How do Humans affect Climate Change and Global Warming?

Global warming and climate change have

been around for an exceptionally long time. But how

did they start and what is causing global warming

and climate change? To start everybody knows that

humans have severely affected global warming and

climate change. UCSUSA says, “[E]missions form

cars and powers plants and an increase in the amount

of HAVE
FIG 1. HUMANS radiation the FINGERPRINTS
THEIR sun emits” (UCS,
ALL2017)
OVERwhich means that the power from cars and powers that
EARTH (“HUMAN FINGERPRINTS”)
human use can cause a lot of pollution in the

Earth. The more cars and power plants that

humans use will cause an increase in the climate and global warming. The cars and power plants

that humans use burn fossil fuels which “[e]mits tiny particles in addition to releasing CO2 in the

atmosphere” (UCS, 2017). That means that the fossil fuels used by humans are causing a rise of

CO2 in the atmosphere which “absorbs the sunlight and drive temperature rise” (UCS, 2017).

That makes that the sun is absorbing and the fossil fuels that are burning is causing the

temperature on Earth to rise even more than they have before. When the temperature rises that

means the animals on Earth affected enormously since the Earth and climate are hotter.

Effect of Pollution on Animals 

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           Climate change affected by pollution which

also affects the animals living around them. National

Geographic posted an article called “What are Fossil

Fuels” which talks about how fossils are affecting the

environment and the animals living there. For

example, the author Nunez says, “[I]n addition to the

air pollution released when oil is burned,

FIG 2. PLASTIC ON THE BEACH MEANS drilling and transport have led to serval
TURTLES ARE EATING IT. (“PLASTIC
POLLUTION FROM A LAUNDRY NEAR YOU”) major accidents” (Nunez, 2019) which can

affect animals severely. If there is oil being spilled into the oceans, then that can cause animals to

get stuck in it and drown or it can cause them to get the oil in their mouths which might choke

them. 

           Oil is not the only fossil fuel that affects animals but also chemicals used in cars and

sprays. For example, Melissa Kaplan says, “[T]he exhausts from their engines contains tiny

specks of toxic chemicals that fall” (Kaplan, 2014) which if the chemicals are in the air who

knows where else they are. The chemicals might be the reason animals are dying without a

trauma to them. The chemicals could be making them not be able to breathe and people do not

just have them in their cars but also pouring chemicals into the drains will cause animals to have

different types of defects to them. Not only can they get defects, but they can also end up

swallowing the water with the chemicals and can end up dying because of drinking the

contaminated water. 

How can Climate Change Slow Down?

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           People know what climate change is and want to know what they do to stop it. There are

more diverse ways to stop climate change. Cirjak says, “[D]ecreasing the consumption of meat,

or even growing your own food, is incredibly helpful to our plant.” (Cirjak, 2020) This makes

sense because having processed foods means they must go through factories and factories cause

pollution in the air. So, having people growing their food will limit the usage of factories and

will help the pollution in the air. Not only can people start growing your vegetables but Cirjak

says to, “[s]top wasting food.” (Cirjak, 2020) which makes sense since the food on Earth is just

sitting in the ground. People can start putting their waste of product in a trashcan and make a

composter so they can end up broken down over time. People adding worms to the soil and

scraps can make it to where the worms create fertilizer! The scraps and waste of food can end up

hurting the animals especially if something in that food is poisoned or there are certain foods that

animals cannot eat which makes it more likely that they could choke and die or they can end up

being poisoned from it. 

           Another major thing that can stop climate change and global warming is to get rid of

plastic. Cirjak says, “[p]lastic is one of the most persistent pollutants on our plant” (Cirjak, 2020)

which is correct. Plastic is one of the most pollutant that is hurting the animals and is polluting

the oceans. Many different types of animals have died and have choked on diverse types of

plastics in the ocean. Nobody knows how to recycle it and people usually put the plastic in the

dumps and end up making plastic being blown away by the wind and ends up in the oceans. To

stop the spread of plastic Cirjak also says, “[R]ecycling is a wonderful way to conserve natural

resources and protect our planet’s biodiversity” (Cirjak, 2020) which is correct. It will help the

environment with less trash around the world and on the streets. It also saves plastic and paper

from being wasted by always having to make more at factories and if people start recycling paper
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and plastic then factories will not have to keep making them. If the factories do not have to make

any plastic or paper then they can shut down which will get rid of air pollution. 

Effects of Weather on Animals Habitats

           Two articles talk about the weather and the effect

it has on the animals and habitats. For example, The

National Wildlife Federation says, “[W]armer air can

hold more moisture, climate change is expected to bring

more and heavier precipitation” which can end up

hurting the animals and making it to where they have to

FIG. 3 POLAR BEARS HAVING TO JUMP
find a different home or place to live
ACROSS WATER BECAUSE THE ICE IS
MELTED. (“HOW CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTS
because of the flooding. Also, animals who
WILD ANIMALS AND THEIR HABITATS”)
need dry climates will have to migrate to

different regions of the world or they might end up going extinct since they cannot survive in wet

climates. Just like animals in the ocean cannot survive in dry climates without water surrounding

them or they end up dying. 

           Not only does air moisture affect animals but also extreme storms do as well. For

example, NASA's article says, “[T]he U.S. has also witnessed an increasing number of intense

rainfall events” (NASA, 2019) which means that if the U.S. has had a lot of rainfall then the

rivers and lakes could get super flooded from constant rainfall. If the rivers and lakes end up

flooding, then the animals who live around in the woods and neighborhoods could end up

downing from the water rising. Even if the animals do not drown from the rise of water, but they

could have their homes destroyed and must find somewhere else to live. Animals who use rivers
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and lakes to walk through, drink, or use to cross to the other side could end up floating down the

river. 

Effects Temperature has on Animals 

Most websites usually talk about

temperature and how it affects the climate and

animals. They all talk about how temperature

affects the climate of each region and then they go

into detail about how the temperature affects the

FIG 4. TEMPERATURE INCREASING OVER THE
animals living there. For example, The
YEARS. (“HOW WILL CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECT
THAT UNITED STATES IN DECADES TO COME?”) National Wildlife Federation says, “Higher

average temperatures and changes in rain and

snow patterns will enable some invasive plant species to move into new areas.” If the

temperature makes the plants have to move to new areas, then the animals who thrive off of them

will have to move to that place or will have to find another type of food source on the land. 

Not only does having higher temperatures mean having plants having to move to

unfamiliar places and making the animals not be there, but they can also spread diseases because

of higher temperatures. For example, Berenice Sanchez Mendoza says in his research that “the

species Ixodes Ricinus can survive in temperatures of 14.4 to 18.9°C for a period of exposure of

24 h” which illustrates that ticks can survive higher temperatures than other animals, and

sometimes when they cannot stand the temperature they leave. Also, ticks can be known for

spreading new diseases to people due to the ticks having to move to new climates since the

temperature of the original climate cannot suit them any longer. 

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Temperature affects more than just the climate of animals; it also affects the health of the

animal. The University of Sydney did an ectotherm and found that “[t]he predicted increase to

fluctuations in temperatures as well as to overall temperature would require animals to function

across a broader range of conditions” which makes sense since the animals have to keep up with

all the different changes that the climate is going through. It has a huge toll on the animal’s body,

and they cannot keep up with the changes as quickly as the climate changes. If the climate is

going to constantly change then that means the animals will not have a long time to adjust to the

new temperatures. With the temperatures constantly changing it makes the animals not be able to

keep up as fast and can end up killing them if the temperatures get too hot or too cold for them

since they have not adapted to the temperatures. 

Conclusion 

Climate change affects the animals on Earth in diverse types of ways. Weather,

temperatures, and fossil fuels are affecting animals. When there is severe weather around the

world then the animal’s habitats can end up destroyed by floods. Then temperatures affect

animals by having to make them adapt to move to somewhere livable like an animal coming

from the ocean having to get used to dry land since the water had dried out significantly and the

ocean no longer has water or they go and find water somewhere else. Then humans use fossil

fuels and chemicals all the time and do not effectively use them. Oil spills or chemicals are

dumped into drains are making animals die and affecting them. Both can end up killing the

animals and making it hard for them to live since the oil traps them and swallowing the

chemicals causes them to die. Climate change is not something that needs to be ignored in the

world right now because it is killing our wildlife! The more animals that lose their habitats from
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climate change will end up moving into the surrounding cities for places to live and our food

sources will be gone! 

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Works Cited

“Climate Change.” National Wildlife Federation, www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-

Guide/Threats-to-Wildlife/Climate-Change. Accessed on July 21st, 2020

“How Pace of Climate Change Will Challenge Ectotherms.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 9 Dec.

2014, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141209101847.htm. Accessed on July

21st, 2020

“The Causes of Climate Change.” NASA, NASA, 10 July 2020, climate.nasa.gov/causes/.

Accessed on July 21st, 2020

Čirjak, Antonia. “10 Ways We Can Help Slow Down Climate Change.” WorldAtlas, WorldAtlas,

28 Feb. 2020, www.worldatlas.com/articles/10-ways-we-can-help-slow-down-climate-

change.html. Accessed on July 26th, 2020

Greentumble, Green Tumble. “How Climate Change Affects Wild Animals?” Greentumble, 12

Apr. 2020, greentumble.com/how-climate-change-affects-animals/. Accessed on July 28th,

2020

Hall, Eleanor. “Plastic Pollution from a Laundry near You.” The World Today - Plastic Pollution

from a Laundry near You 30/01/2012, 17 Oct. 2008,

www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2012/s3418575.htm. Accessed on July 28th, 2020

Kaplan's, Melissa. How Humans Affect Animals, 1 Jan. 2014,

www.anapsid.org/animalshumans.html#:~:text=%20How%20Humans%20Affect
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%20Animals%20%201%20Habitat,out%20lots%20of%20food%20scraps%20and...

%20More%20. Accessed on July 21st, 2020

Mendoza, Berenice Sánchez, et al. “Causes and Consequences of Climate Change in Livestock

Production and Animal Health. Review.” Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Pecuarias, vol.

11, Jan. 2020, pp. 126–145. EBSCOhost, doi:10.22319/rmcp.v11s2.4742 Accessed on July

21st, 2020

Nunez, Christina. “Fossil Fuels, Explained.” Fossil Fuels-Facts and Information, 2 Apr. 2019,

www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/energy/reference/fossil-fuels/. Accessed on

July 21st, 2020

Samanthi. “Difference Between Climate Change and Global Warming.” Compare the Difference

Between Similar Terms, Differencebetween.com, 7 Sept. 2019,

www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-climate-change-and-global-

warming/#:~:text=What%20are%20the%20Similarities%20Between%20Climate

%20change%20and,interference%20and%20activities%20are%20common%20factors

%20for%20both. Accessed on July 21, 2020,

Science, Skeptical. “Climate Science Glossary.” Skeptical Science, 2020,

www.skepticalscience.com/graphics.php?g=86. Accessed on July 28th, 2020

UCS. “How Do We Know That Humans Are the Major Cause of Global Warming?” Union of

Concerned Scientists, 2017, www.ucsusa.org/resources/are-humans-major-cause-global-

warming. Accessed on July 26th, 2020

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Wuebbles, Donald. “How Will Climate Change Affect the United States in Decades to Come?”

Eos, 3 Nov. 2017, eos.org/features/how-will-climate-change-affect-the-united-states-in-

decades-to-come. Accessed On July 28th, 2020