http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2013/feb/05/how-worms-accelerating-climate-change
Picture: This graphic depicts earthworms moving through soil carried by human hands. Last week, this article makes a shocking revelation about these earthworms that may have something to do with recent climate changes.Summary: Everyone knows that earthworms are useful for soil fertility, but what if there is something more to these slimy creatures? Recently last week, this article reveals that these worms could have something to do with climate change that could affect life as we know it. We know that earthworms play a huge role in soil, but according to a news study posted on Nature Climate Change, researchers in Holland, the U.S., and Colombia compiled results from 237 separate experiments to explore the earthworm's roles in global greenhouse gas emissions. Believe it or not, 20% of global carbon dioxide comes from the soil, and the authors of this study believe that earthworms are the soil ecosystem engineers that could have been the cause of global warming. However, recently, scientists are facing a problem with these earthworms, given the fact that they can increase emissions from the soil. They found out that these worms can help the soil store carbon more efficiently, permanently locking that carbon away. The most shocking thing, however, is that earthworms, or worms of any kind, can increase the usage of one greenhouse gas while reducing usage of other greenhouse gases. According to the study, "although earthworms are largely beneficial to soil fertility, they increase net soil greenhouse-gas emissions." The study does mention a few things that could make some sense, such as the growth of organic fertilizers would provide more food for the earthworms, while changing environmental conditions could reduce worm population. However, despite these earthworms' efforts, there is still a possibility that these earthworms may have some involvement with global climate change that is still left a mystery.
Opinion/Reflection: I was extremely surprised as to the fact that earthworms are suddenly playing a role in global climate change. It's very strange that a study would suggest that earthworms played a role in global greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, I have read in that article that the earthworms' influence on global climate change will increase rapidly. This study, however, while it shows that earthworms have a role in global greenhouse gas emission, concerns me that earthworms would have something to do with global climate change that we see recently. If we believe that earthworms are resulting in a net increase in greenhouse gases, I personally believe that more research should be discovered about these earthworms to determine how these earthworms can result in global climate change that can affect life as we know it today.
Questions:
1. Why would earthworms could be contributing to global climate change according to the study?
2. Why is "global worming" something that we should be concerned about?
3. How do earthworms result in a net increase in greenhouse gases?
4. According to the study, what are some possible conclusions that could make scientists believe that earthworms play a role in global climate change?
5. Why do scientists believe that we should be concerned about earthworms increasing greenhouse gases in the soil?
http://www.globalenvironmentalsociety.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1434:worms-are-accelerating-climate-change&catid=25:news&Itemid=113
ReplyDeleteIn this article they say that earthworms increase CO2 emissions from soil by 33 per cent and nitro us emissions by 42 per cent. That is crazy in my opinion!I never knew that those small little creatures could have that big of an impact.Before all we knew about earthworms were that they improve soil fertility, now that we have found out that worms increase C02 emissions it has been an incredible new discovery.Also this makes me very curious on what other animals and organisms release C02 like worms.If you are looking for something neat to read look this link up, it will give a lot of cool factual information that you never knew about before.
Opinion-
ReplyDeleteI was skeptical when I read this article, and the fact that worms play a huge role in climate change surprises me. Although I feel climate change is a very important topic for researchers to look into since it can effect us, looking into whether or not worms can cause it seems like a waste of time and money. Even if we did find more evidence proving worms impact on global warming, it seems like it would be nearly impossible to try to change the worms way of life to slow down the progress they are making with climate change. It seems easier, to me, to try to change humans way of living to slow climate change instead of wasting time and money to possible find out that worms impact global warming greatly and then try to change that.
Right now in class we are learning about the biosphere and this topic ties into that. The biosphere includes all living things and obviously worms are living things. Worms effect on climate change will also effect other things in the biosphere. Examples would be plants in the soil that the worms are in and animals that eat the plants. They are all part of a web and the worms play a big impact on it.
1. If scientist invested money into changing the worms way of life to slow climate change, how would this effect other living things?
2. If we did not research more into this topic and left it alone what impact might this possibly have on the earth and the living things on it?
3. Is it worth it to research more into this? Why or why not?
4. What are some ideas on how to slow down worms impact on climate change?
Professional invited: Dr. Aiguo Dai
ReplyDeleteResearches in: Climate and Global Dynamics
I thought Dr. Dai was good choice because he specializes in a lot of the areas we are focusing on in class. These areas include atmospheric science and climate change. I think he could have some really useful input for our blog because he knows so much about these specific topics.
Email:
Dr. Aiguo Dai,
I am a 9th grader currently taking honors environmental science, and I see that you work in the Climate and Global Dynamics Division at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. I was hoping you could take some time to look at a blog recently started by me and some classmates. It's called "Green is the New Black" because it focuses on environmental issues and research. The link to the most recent blog post is below, and if you could share your opinions in the comment section we would all really appreciate it.
http://greenisthenewblack11.blogspot.com/2013/02/global-worming-how-worms-are.html
Thanks,
Lauren Eskin