In Connecticut, it could be 70 degrees on a winter day or it could be snowing several weeks after spring arrived. That’s the work of global warming. Global warming affects all living organisms from the biggest creatures all the way down to the littlest plants. Many people know that climate change affects our living standards and the way we thrive on Earth, but individuals don’t consider that climate change affects the most important of all--the food chain.

The food chain is the way how life goes. One dies and the other gets fed. Food is one of the main resources that keeps many living organisms alive. However, due to climate change, the food chain has been altered negatively. I feel like climate change must be improved, for the sake of living organisms, in order for them to thrive in a stabilized food chain.

Let's be honest. Most individuals like warm summers. I know I do. During this season, I like to spend time with my family, and most importantly I love to eat all types of summer foods when attending several cookouts. However, when climate change begins to intensify, autumn starts to feel like an extended summer, meaning that there will be more cookouts than usual. The article, “Global Warming Poses Threat to Food Chains” published by the University of Exeter reveals that if there is warmer weather, metabolic rates begin to accelerate faster than growth rates; this reduces the amount of energy needed for other predators to consume their daily intake.

Let's not forget about the animals’ hibernation schedule. If the autumn weather gets warmer, predators would stay up for longer periods of time, to eat more food which ultimately causes them to overeat. Since growth rates are slower than the ability to consume food, food scarcity will emerge. Survival rates will ultimately decrease and affect the overall food chain. 

You might say that it is possible for individuals to produce more food at a quicker rate. That way, it could prevent food from being scarce. However, that isn’t the case. The production of plants is also being affected, as a result of harsh temperatures harming the growth of these plants. 

Aishwarya Upadhyay is a data scientist who wrote the article “How Does Climate Change Affect The Food Chain?” in which she recognizes that “changes in temperature, or unstable moist weather conditions could result in grain being harvested with more than the 12-14 percent moisture required for stable storage. The absence of drying facilities will result in higher crop losses due to contamination with microorganisms.” We don’t have all the materials in the world to save millions of crops from spoiling. We need to have an environment that will provide us with our need to produce an abundance of delicious fruits and vegetables. 

Global warming isn’t just a conflict that will affect human's source of food, it will affect the rabbit’s source of food, as well as its predators. We need to become better citizens of the world, in order to prevent the effects that climate change could throw at us. Even if we don't have control over global warming, we can still do acts that can prevent global warming from occurring. For example, we could ride a bike to school instead of driving or we could turn off the air conditioner when the weather outside is gorgeous.

Small acts like this can help minimize the impact of global warming. We don’t need this situation to get worse before we act upon it. We must fix it now before it creates long-term effects on our food chain. 

Works Consulted

University of Exeter. “Global warming poses threat to food chains.” ScienceDaily, 1 March 2021, sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210301112403.htm. Accessed 20 April 2022.

Upadhyay, Aishwarya, and Sonia Bhaskar. “How Does Climate Change Affect The Food Chain? | Environment.” NDTV-Dettol Banega Swasth India, 1 October 2020, swachhindia.ndtv.com/how-does-climate-change-affect-the-food-chain-51102/. Accessed 20 April 2022.