Animals That Will Be Affected by the Meltdown

Animals that will be Affected by the Meltdown

As it melts, animals that live on the ice will be severely affected. The most obvious animal that will suffer is the polar bear.

The polar bear lives on the ice, feeding mainly on ringed and bearded seals, but depending on location, it may feed on Harp and Hooded seals. It also scavenges on carcasses of Beluga whales, Walruses, Narwhals, and Bowhead whales. If all the ice melts, polar bears as a species may die out. As the sea ice melts each spring, the polar bears are retreating further and further inland. As it comes later and later in the autumn, the polar bears basically fast until they are able to swim out to the ice.

Another animal that will be affected is the artic fox. This fox lives further north than any other animal. They are well adapted to the harsh climate, with their white fur to disguise them and are able to hunt Lemmings, a small rodent that lives in burrows in the snow. As the ice melts, the foxes are searching for cooler places to live. As the Lemmings die out, the fox is forced to find other prey. This then decreases the other animals and birds, eventually all will die out. In turn the fox will die.

It is not only animals in the arctic that will die out. As the ice melts, the sea level will rise. This will then cover the beaches and coastlines of any low country. Florida will be submerged, as will Bangladesh, even Britain will be affected.

Leatherback turtles are one animal that may be harmed due to rising seas. It swims to sandy beaches in tropical areas and lays the eggs in a hole it has dug using its flippers. The females only lay eggs every 2 or 3 years. Hatchlings have to make their way to the sea very quickly to avoid predatory birds. If the sea does rise, then beaches will be covered, leaving nowhere for the turtles to lay their eggs. Leatherback sea turtles are rare already, but if they have no place to breed and lay their eggs, they will die out very quickly. It is a serious situation and the leatherback turtles may be facing extinction.

There is also another place where animals may be endangered. In mountains, the icecaps are melting - this will affect birds, such as the eagles and the mountain falcons, and the animals that depend on the water supply of glaciers to survive. If the ice were to melt, the rivers and streams would flood the ground where they live.

In all, the melting of the ice caps would be disastrous for animal life. Many endangered species would die out, and those that that weren’t rare would quickly become so. Something has to be done about the situation, and fast.