Effects of a Five Degree Celsius Increase in Temprature

Doran Teverovsky 
October, 20, 2013

European Geosciences Union (EGU). "Terrestrial ecosystems at risk of major shifts as   temperatures increase." ScienceDaily, 8 Oct. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131008091232.htm

Summary:
In this article, research done by European Geosciences Union is used to show what changes in the environment are liable to occur by the year 2100. It shows that with a 5 degree Celsius increase in temperature, up to 80 percent of the Earth's terrestrial ecosystems are at risk for profound change. Some likely changes could include trees growing in the so formerly frozen tundra, forests transforming into temperate savannas, and even thriving rain forests slowly receding and withering away. The research was done using 150 different climate scenarios of the Earth in 90 years if we change almost nothing in terms of emissions. In addition, they also ran scenarios where we reduce emissions and only raise temperature 2 degrees Celsius. In the reduced emissions scenarios, there was a significant reduction in profound change. In these scenarios, only 20 percent of Earth's terrestrial ecosystems were impacted.

Connection:
In our first unit, we learned about ecosystems and different dangers to there balance and stability. One of the ways we did this was by making mini ecosystems and testing the effects of different variables on them. This research and scenario creation is very similar to what we did with our mini ecosystems. The only difference is that instead of making mini Earth's to run their tests on they used simulations. In addition, it relates to how ecosystems change and basic characteristics of ecosystems. When the article says, "trees growing in the freezing Arctic tundra" this indicates a serious change because we know a major characteristic of the tundra is the permafrost which stops deep root systems from forming. Without that knowledge, that phrase might have been seemingly normal.