Declining Population of Loggerhead Sea Turtle :: Biology

Declining Population of Loggerhead Sea Turtle The title of this paper is pretty self explanatory and the facts are simple. The solution is feasible but yet, not enough action is being taken to make a difference. You would think that we as humans being the dominate creatures of the earth, would be able to understand the simplicity of knowing the negative effects of our carelessness and the impact it has on the creatures around us†¦Creatures that are close to defenseless when put in comparison with mankind. I didn’t want there to be a great mystery surrounding what my presentation is about because there doesn’t have to be. Most people either don’t know or don’t care about the declining population of the loggerhead sea turtles. While I can not change the attitude of a person who is apathetic, I can help increase the knowledge of a person who is ignorant about this subject. Ignorance would be a very good word to describe my amount of knowledge in this area before I began this study on loggerhead sea turtles. The saddest part of this story is that we as humans are too involved with ourselves and concerned about our own wellbeing. We will not take the time to step back and wonder how the creatures of this world are â€Å"getting along†. If we could just forget about ourselves for one minute and try to help out the creatures that are continually struggling to survive the negative effects that our growing and careless population has placed on them. Even though loggerheads are the most common of all sea turtle species found on the United States coasts, recent studies have show that this amazing turtle population is in steep decline and will be in danger if we do not begin to find out why its population is declining and what we can do to reverse this effect. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature listed the loggerhead as threatened in 1978. This means that the loggerhead has been considered "vulnerable for becoming extinct" for thirty years because of the numbe r of turtles left. Recent studies of loggerhead population have found that the number of females that nest in the Southeastern United States is continuing to decline at an alarmingly rapid rate. The United States Federal Government has reported that the loggerhead turtle population decline is not just something to be concerned about in one area of the world but it is a world wide problem.

Effects of Global Warming on Animals Essay

In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has initiated various environmental campaigns to gradually resolve the increasing impacts of climate change towards the environment (Silverstein et. al. , 2003 p. 5). The public’s increased attention to such problem is not anymore surprising as it threatens every creature with potentially devastating consequences. However, the subjects of animal health have received lesser attention compared to the economic, industrial and social impacts of climatic changes brought by global warming (Sherman, 2002 p. 204). According to Root, Price and Hall et al. (2003), the primary concern of ecologists is the rapid increase of climatic change consistently altering the natural ecology of wildlife in various ecosystems. Based on the annual measurement of atmospheric carbon dioxide (ACO) concentrations, two major signals depicting dramatic ecological patterns have been observed, namely (1) â€Å"seasonal cycle that reflects the metabolism of terrestrial ecosystems in the northern hemisphere†, and (2) â€Å"accelerating increase in tropospheric concentrations of ACO since 1957† (Vitousek, 1994). As supported by various studies (Root, Price and Hall et al. , 2003; Vitousek, 1994; Tylianakis, Didham and Bascompte et al. , 2008), global warming effects, namely (1) increases in temperature, (2) alteration of food chains, and (3) atmospheric gas imbalances, dramatically affect the conditions of animal kingdom. II. Literature Review a. Global Warming: Ecological Imbalance The basic principle of global warming consists of the accumulation of radiation energy from the sun resulting to the warming of the planet’s surface (Houghton, 2004 p. 14). Based on 688 published studies on global warming, the three major environmental impacts affecting the ecological systems of animals and plants are (1) temperature changes, (2) alterations of animal symbiotic relationships, and (3) imbalances in the atmospheric gases (Tylianakis, Didham and Bascompte et al. , 2008). Based on the study of Root, Price and Hall et al. (2003), global temperature has increased to approximately 0. 6 degree C since 1880s, and projected to increase consistently with the coming generations. The continuous alterations of climate may be due to the three following reasons: (1) sunspot cycles, (2) volcanic eruptions producing large quantities of fine ash in the air, and (3) the occurrence of El Nino Southern Oscillation (Gupta, 1998 p. 86). In the literary reviews of Root, Price and Hall et al. (2003) using 143 different studies, majority of the studies reveal the endangering situations of approximately 80% of species that are now gradually adjusting to various ecosystems due to the physiological constraints brought by ecologic changes. In fact, according to the study of Thomas, Cameron and Green et al. (2004), animal habitats and survival expectations have been altered by the effects of global warming increasing the projected extinction risks to approximately 20% among the sample ecosystems, namely Queensland, Mexico, South Africa, Amazonia and Europe. b. Increases in Temperature With the advent of modernization, auto engines, power plants, industrial mills, and residential heating systems burn coal, oil, or natural gas accounting to 98% of the carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere, while the other 2% id due to the increased deforestation and mining (Tomera, 2001 p. 113). According to Root, Price and Hall et al. (2003), rapid temperature increases and ecological stresses brought by the alterations of ecosystems are disrupting the natural communities of various species, which lead to forced adaptations of species, numerous extirpations and possible extinctions. As supported by the study of Pounds, Bustamante and Coloma et al. (2006), one example of massive animal extinctions occurred in the mountains of Costa Rica wiping 67% of the various 110 species of Atelopus, such as harlequin frog (Atelopus Sp. ) and golden toad (bufo periglenes) and pathogenic chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), which are endemic to American tropical habitats. In a study conducted by Penuelas, Fillela and Comast (2002), life cycles in a Mediterranean environment (Cardedeu, NE Spain) has been observed from 1952 to 2000 in order to determine possible alterations in the ecosystems and increasing climate changes. With the temperature increase amounting to ? 1. 4 degree C (1952 to 2000), results reveal significant phonological alterations among the different species of animals (e. g. spring migratory birds arriving 15 days later in 2000 compared 1952, etc. ). Noting the mentioned temperature increase in the latter study, Hanson, Sato and Ruedy (2006) suggest that a relative increase of ? 1 degree C is likely to affect the sea levels and exterminate various species. c. Symbiotic Relationships: Predisposing Species Extinction Temperature, climate, and gas imbalances are the leading global warming effects altering the different levels of ecologic symbiosis. The rise of global temperature affects the geographical distribution of ectothermic animals, decomposers and mostly those with lesser thermal tolerance (Portner, 2001). For example, thermally intolerant metazoans and other decomposers have markedly shown increase mitochondrial oxygen demand parallel to the rise of temperature, which resulted to the reduction of their population (Portner, 2001). Using species-area and endemic-area relationships, Malcolm, Liu and Neilson et al. (2006) have identified the projected percent extinctions of sample biodiversities (Cape Floristic Region, Caribbean, Indo-Burma, Australia, and Tropical Andes, etc.) ranging from

Human Trafficking Is The Modern Day Form Of Slavery

Human Trafficking in America Cindy Vann Term Paper for Social Science 180 Diversity in the United States On-line Course # 71032 Submitted to: Professor Leal November 14, 2015 CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that: this term paper, entitled Human Trafficking in the United States, is exclusively the result of my own original library research, thinking, and writing. I wrote this paper for Social Science 180 to satisfy the requirement. No part of the paper was copied or paraphrased from any source except as attributed and cited fully herein. Cindy Vann Date: November 14, 2015 CONTENTS†¦show more content†¦In the next pages, this paper will be examining on the facts and statistics of human trafficking, the approximated number of victims trapped in the network, as well as deaths. Following that, I will be discussing on the motives in the reasoning behind human trafficking and why it is such a huge part of society. After that, I will talk about actions our government has taken to put an end to this human cruelty. The laws enforced by our government on the situation does not put a stop to human trafficking, however, there is hope that the human traffickers will soon get caught and locked away. With that, there will be decreasing numbers in the illegal human trade network. As I learned more about the topic of human trafficking I am now more aware of the increased dangers and risk innocent women, men and young children face everyday, including myself. I am disgusted to know that something like this is going on in our own neighborhood, hopefully as th e topic of human trafficking is heard, there will be more justice for these victims. To begin with, human trafficking is all over society, victims are treated as inferior and powerless as they are under the control of their abusers; this type of action can be classified as a form of slavery. Human trafficking usually involves illegal trading of women, men and children. Some victims are imported from other countries to the United States with fake passports and Visa’s; others