Walruses and Global Warming

Walruses and Global Warming

Due to the fact that the walrus lives in cold regions with plenty of ice, global warming has a huge impact on them. As the amount ice around them decreases they are losing their natural environment. You may not realize it, but they spend more than half of their life on the ice. With it disappearing they have no where else to go.

They often depend on this ice to offer them a place to rest. They simply use up too much energy moving around in the water all the time. Therefore they would need to consume much more food than they do already. Many experts believe that this would result in many walruses starving to death due to a lack of food available.

It is important to understand that the ice plays a vital role in the reproduction process of the walrus. Due to global warming they are less likely to participate in mating activities. This is a huge concern because that means there will be a drop in the overall population of them.

When the mothers don’t have enough food to eat and adequate rest, it can create high levels of stress for them. As a result their bodies will produce less milk and that means the offspring aren’t getting the nutrition that they need in order to survive. As global warming continues to take place the mortality rate for these young walruses will increase. It is believed that sometimes the mothers will even abandon their young in order to be able to survive themselves.

Walruses have been affected by Global Warming. Image courtesy of NOAA.

Even though there are many threats to the walrus including humans, sharks, and polar bears; the biggest problem that they face has to do with the environment around them changing. This is based on the fact that most experts don’t believe they will successfully survive when the ice melts and the temperatures continue to increase.

While there really won’t be less food for the walrus to find, it can be more difficult to get to thanks to global warming. As the ice melts the volume of water is going to increase. Since they feed from the bottom and move along the sediment, they may need to diver further to get to it. This can be difficult because of the need to come back up for air. As a result they will burn more energy and in return need more food to survive on.

In the eyes of many, these concerns with walruses and global warming are all just speculation. That is true to a point but it is vital to remember that such predictions are based upon facts and scientific research. That means it is highly probable that these things will take place. That is unless well take action now to prevent them.

Due to the fact that we don’t know everything about the lives of the walrus, the full extent of what global warming can do to their population isn’t fully known. However, it is known that global warming will have adverse effects on them, other animals in the water and on land, and humans. That is why it is so important for all of us to make a personal commitment to stop global warming.