How does the disappearance of an animal species disrupt the entire planetary system? What is the role of climate change in this?

Arabia Weather - Animals such as sea turtles, African elephants, and even bats and birds play important roles in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem. So, how would the extinction of one species of these animals affect the entire planet?

Planet Earth has gone through five previous periods of mass extinction as a result of difficult circumstances, and currently, scientists point to many challenges that threaten life on the planet. Some of them even tend to say that we may be on the cusp of a new period of mass extinction, and this time it may be the sixth.

Mass extinction

Mass extinctions refer to periods in Earth's history that saw significant loss of biodiversity, with three-quarters of species rapidly disappearing.

Scientists point to five mass extinctions occurring over the course of 540 million years of Earth's evolution, the most recent and well-known being an asteroid impact with Earth about 66 million years ago, which led to widespread fires in the western half of the planet and the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs.

Another example of a mass extinction is the "Great Extinction" that occurred about 250 million years ago, during which 90% of living species became extinct at that time.

The causes of mass extinction periods are not precisely known, but usually include rapid and significant changes in climate, oceans and land.

The role of climate change in mass extinction

Scientists now point out that human-induced climate change, land use changes, and pollution are all contributing to a rapid transformation of the planetary landscape. These transformations make it more difficult for organisms to adapt and survive.

“Climate change” refers to long-term changes in weather conditions on Earth. These changes include significantly higher temperatures and a significant increase in precipitation, causing severe flooding. This extreme weather is occurring rapidly and perhaps in the same regions. As a result, there is a change in the weather pattern with the occurrence of heat waves, storms, and a rise in water levels, leading to massive damage and losses at all levels.

Although many factors contribute to flooding, for example, warming of the atmosphere as a result of climate change makes heavy rainfall more likely. The world's temperature has already risen by about 1.2 degrees Celsius since the beginning of the industrial era, and temperatures will continue to rise unless governments around the world take decisive action to reduce carbon emissions.

The link between mass extinction and climate change goes back to the COP-15 summit in Canada, which was described as nature's "last chance." United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said during the opening of the summit in Montreal that one million species are now “on the brink.” He added: "Around the world, for hundreds of years, we have been playing a symphony of chaos on the instruments of destruction."

Sea turtles, African elephants and birds

Currently, many plants and animals are under constant threat due to human activities that negatively impact their environment, which includes the loss of suitable natural habitats known as habitats, as well as climate changes. These two factors are severely affecting various animal species around the world, according to a report from the BBC.

For example, sea turtles are losing the beaches where they lay their eggs due to erosion, while African elephants face threats from poachers and farmers. Both play a vital role in their ecosystem, according to the report published by the BBC.

The behavior of turtles and elephants helps maintain the balance of the surrounding wildlife. The loss of these organisms, and others addressed in this issue, could have a devastating impact on the global ecosystem.

The giant whale's end will store carbon at the bottom of the ocean

For more than 200 years, whales have been heavily hunted, leading to global population decline, but with conservation action in recent years, depleted whale populations have improved and stabilized. This is extremely important, as whales play an important role in promoting the health of the planet through mechanisms such as dropping feces.

When whales move to the surface of the water and breathe, they release huge fecal plumes that enrich marine waters and strengthen the food chain. Even when these whales die, they play a positive role in the environment, as these large, long-lived creatures retain huge amounts of carbon, reducing its presence in the atmosphere. When the giant whale's life ends, this carbon is stored on the ocean floor, thus enhancing nutrition for about 400 species of marine life.

Birds play an important role in maintaining environmental balance

In the same context, birds play a very important role in maintaining environmental balance, as they carry great benefits in various environments such as the poles, rainforests and deserts. Birds are considered one of the main factors in the pollination process, and although insects such as bees and butterflies participate greatly in this process, birds play an important role when it comes to pollinating 5% of the plants that humans depend on to provide their food and medicine.

Birds also contribute to agricultural operations by dispersing seeds, excreting the grains they eat through their droppings, providing natural fertilisers. When birds migrate, which may involve long distances, they disperse these seeds in different regions around the world. Even seabirds play a vital role in feeding coral reefs, as their droppings are an important food source for them, helping to sustain their lives.

Moreover, birds work to combat pesky pests, feeding on up to 500 million tons of insects annually, providing a vital service to agricultural operations and contributing to the preservation of the ecosystem.

The role of bats in maintaining the planet's ecosystem

Even bats have great environmental benefits, and also play an important role in the pollination process. Because they are primarily nocturnal, bats pollinate plants that birds and insects do not pass by, such as rare species of cactus. More than 500 species of plants, including mango, banana and avocado, depend on bats for pollination.

Bats also play an important role as birds in seed dispersal, which is important in rainforests, which have suffered from rampant clearing and habitat loss.

Bat feces are a more fertile fertilizer than cow manure, providing nutrients that cave systems need, where they can be exploited by other organisms. The amazing nature of this creature has contributed to human progress, as humans have been inspired by technological innovations such as sonar or acoustic sounding from the echolocation system of bats on the move.

Choosing the right place in the garden to place a bat box, which looks like a bird's nest box but has an opening at the bottom, is a great way to help bats reproduce and maintain their presence in the environment.

Snow leopards face serious existential problems

Snow leopards live in the rugged mountainous regions of Central and South Asia, and are considered one of the most mysterious felines on the face of the planet. Although we know little about them, we realize that their numbers are decreasing, and may not exceed 4,000 cheetahs in the world.

These cheetahs face many challenges; Their beautiful, thick fur, which acts as heat insulation, makes them a target for poachers, and they are also subject to retaliatory killings by herders when they attack herds of livestock.

How does the disappearance of an animal species disrupt the entire planetary system?

Climate change is a major problem for snow leopards, as these animals seek out cold, isolated areas, usually at altitudes of more than 3,000 metres, where they can easily hide in the snow. However, global warming means that their ideal habitat is shrinking.

In general, experts confirm that we are losing species more quickly than the speed at which these species occur and evolve. Some say this could put us on the path to a possible new mass extinction, which could include the human race.

Dr Gerardo Ceballos, an expert in ecology at UNAM University in Mexico City, told the BBC: “We are changing the course of evolution... Even if we are not facing a mass extinction, what we are doing now is compromising the system that made our survival a necessity.” "possible danger."

However, measuring extinction rates is difficult because, even today, we still know little about most species or how threatened they may be. The limited records available show that we have lost less than 1% of species over the past 500 years, but many scientists believe the true percentage may be much higher, since the majority of species we know of were not described until the mid-19th century.

In 2015, scientists conducted a comprehensive study of museum collections, records and expert blogs about land snails, which include about 200 species. Scientists have discovered that many of these species have not been seen in the wild since they were first classified, and that at least ten of them have become extinct.

This study is an example of broader trends, where scientists estimate that we may have already lost 7.5 to 13 percent of all known species. “There is an indication that a very large number of species are being lost, which is not fully reflected in the current data,” points out Dr. Alexander Lees, an expert in ornithology at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Although the exact number of species that have become extinct in recent years is not known, the number of wild animals is declining rapidly, as it is estimated that the number of wild animals around the world has decreased by 69% on average over the past 50 years.

“It won't be long until we get to a point where these species become extinct,” says Professor Anthony Barnosky, a biology professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Scientists estimate the speed of species loss by examining fossil records and calculating the rate of extinction during periods when no mass extinction occurs. They compare this rate to modern extinction rates, collected from records, to understand how they differ.

Using a rough average of these estimates, extinction rates currently appear to be much higher than average, on the order of 100 to 1,000 times higher, estimates Dr. Robert Kaui, an ecologist at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa.

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