Futurism logo

Is Earth Getting Heated Up Every Day?

This article speaks about the expansion of the Tropical Zone on the Earth

By Vishnu AravindhanPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
2
Is Earth Getting Heated Up Every Day?
Photo by NASA on Unsplash

When it comes to the Earth, the planet Earth is divided into three climatic zones.

What are the climate zones?

We have a tropical zone, then we have the temperate zone, and finally, we have the frigid zone. Our focus today would be on the tropical zone.

So how is it divided?

The tropics on the extent from the equator, 23.5 Degrees to the north and 23.5 Degrees to the south. So this particular part of the earth gets the most direct sunlight throughout the year. It is also characterized by high temperature, and it is also characterized by high rainfall in this particular region.

So what does this region known for?

It is known for high temperature as well as high rainfall. Now, researchers have come up and said that this warm temperatures zone, that this particular tropic zone is actually expanding much beyond that 23.5 Degrees. So the warmth present in this specific region is now increasing much beyond 23.5 Degrees on the north, and the south, says the researchers.

Why is this expanding?

That is because of the anthropological factors.

So what are these Human-made factors?

That is the greenhouse gases, increasing the aerosols and decrease of ozone when it comes to the primary factors contributing to the expansion or the extinction of this particular tropical zone. So what we have to understand is another major factor that has been contributed by one of the research papers is oceans have been another major reason for increasing or expanding the tropical region.

What does this research paper speak about?

This research paper currently says that human-induced action has been a significant problem even to the oceans as well.

How does this happen?

Let me give you an example. We have large ocean currents, we have the warm waters, which is present near the equator, we also have the cold water, which is present near the pole. So the circular ocean currents carry the warm water towards the poles, and they also carry the cold water towards the equator as well.

So what is happening here?

There is warm water and cold water, which is getting distributed due to the ocean current. This has also been taken into the picture by the research scholars. They say ever since the industrial revolution has happened in the eighteen hundreds. Until recently, we have witnessed that there is increasing temperature or the warmth of the ocean waters. And as a result of which, what is happening is, there is an expansion of the tropics region since this year.

So what would be the impact?

When this particular issue surfaces and when there is an expansion of the tropical region, What we will witness is a profound impact both on the economic terms and also on the social terms as well. This particular process, if that happens and if it gets into reality, what we will have is that these vital parts that are present across the world will also cause severe wildfires as well.

Let's take the example of California fires, or let's take the example of Australia bushfires. These might also be because of the topic expansion, says this particular research paper. As climate zones change, animals also migrate; they also migrate to different regions as well. Biodiversity gets reduced, ecosystems gets reduced, species cannot adjust. And ultimately, most of the species within that particular region and plants might also face extinction as well. This is where we also have to learn a concept, what is called the Keystone species.

So what is this keystone species?

Let's say, for example, if there is a particular species, let's take the example of Wolf or the higher-level predators. In all these cases, this specific species is removed from that specific environment, and the environment can even cease to exist within that specific place. So, according to this research paper, in case there is a shift in this particular tropical region. Then what we will have is the extinction of the biodiversity present for that specific part. And if it hits the keystone species, the entire region might also face a lot of issues. It is this that we have to understand in this article.

science
2

About the Creator

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.