In the previous post we discussed the importance of rainforests and coral reefs. Not only are they massive hosts of biodiversity but they also serve as carbon sinks, a source of carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere. One final ecosystem that we will be discussing is polar ecosystems.

Although polar ecosystems do not host a vast array of biodiversity, the oceans are teaming with life on the microscopic level. Since colder water has the capacity to be saturated with with more dissolved oxygen, more life can live in the water compared to warmer aquatic environments. The reason that we usually don’t associate the polar regions with vast abundances of life is that most of that life is microscopic. These life forms then draw filter feeders to the scene, most notably whales. This is why many species of whales, such as humpback and minke whales, migrate to the poles. This is also why whales are one of the species most affected by climate change. Narwhals (coincidentally, my favorite animal) have recently replaced polar bears as the animal most threatened by climate change.

Whaling is one of the worst stains on the history of humanity and the environment. In only three centuries, humans have decimated most of the populations of whales for their blubber. Whale oil is not only an expensive and extremely finite energy source, it is also extremely inefficient requiring the need for thousands of whales to fuel the economy of the 18th century industrialized world. Thankfully almost every country has banned whaling but many species today are on the brink of extinction. Atlantic gray whales are completely extinct while northern right whales, vaquitas, all species of river dolphins, belugas and narwhals are all struggling to maintain their numbers. When belugas wash ashore, most times they are radioactive from all of the degrading plastic that is in their systems and are considered biohazards. Whales have lived on this planet for the last 40 million years but is remains unclear if they will last the century and recover from their decimation.

Although whales are a prime example, all polar organisms are facing the threat of extinction due to climate change. When the sun’s heat is transferred to our planet, the icecaps are able to reflect some of that heat back into space. As the greenhouse effect continues to warm our planet and the icecaps recede, less heat is being reflected so the warming process increases in a positive feedback, loop eerily similar to the coral reef heat sink/source that I discussed in my previous blog.

We can see the icecaps receding across our planet in glaciers in Iceland and Canada to the snow caps in Argentina. Many glaciers are melting at rates unseen in modern history and sea level rise is following just as fast. Several weeks ago, the Bramble Cay melomys was announced as the first mammal to go extinct due to climate change. The Bramble Cay melomys is a rodent that lived off the coast of Australia on a small island, Bramble Cay. As the sea level rose, the small mammal could only watch as its habitat was destroyed by the surrounding waters. Sea level rise is something that will not only threaten mice and small islands but large coastal cities such as Manhattan, Miami, Philadelphia, London, New Orleans, Sydney, San Francisco, Lisbon, Tokyo, and Washington D.C., displacing millions.

Endangered species are struggling across the globe not just in the tropics. In Africa, many species of animals are struggling to survive in “protected areas” from poachers. Poaching is rampant in many nations with people paying thousands for a lion pelt or elephant tusk or pangolin scales for their traditionally believed, but inaccurate, medicinal or aphrodisiac properties, or just for decor.

The highest rates of poaching are in nations with the least regulations for environmental protection and poaching, but that doesn’t mean that the United States is immune from poaching. Recently, there has been a proposal floating around the federal government to legalize the hunting of grizzly bears. Although the grizzly population in the continental United States is increasing, slowly, it is only because that population is only found in Yellowstone National Park and the lands bordering it. The grizzly population that was once over 10,000 bears and stretched from Alaska to Mexico is barely over 600 and can only be found in no more than 5 states, not including the Alaskan populations. In any other administration, the idea of legalizing grizzly hunting wouldn’t even be put onto paper, but currently this could become a very real possibility in our imminent future. The worst part is that the bears would be hunted for trophies, not meat.

One benefit that endangered species in the United States and other developed nations have up their sleeve is that there is usually stringent regulations regarding the protections of these animals. As I have discussed previously, a large portion of this legislature will potentially be rewritten or removed by the Trump Administration, but so far the vast majority is relatively untampered. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) gives governments the power, and responsibility, to protect native endangered species over other interests, such as builders or oil prospectors. In my next post we will be building upon the ESA along with invasive and introduced species, and de-extinction.