Introduction
The globe is undergoing climate changes because of pollutions and increased release of greenhouse gases. Increased waste disposal is another reason for climate changes. However, some areas are experiencing more climate changes than others depending on the amount of pollution in each area. On ecological equilibrium, the ecological features of an area depend on how land is exploited. Lastly, soils are formed from weathering of rocks. Therefore there is a relationship between a rock, type of soil formed from the rock and the type of nutrients in the particular type of soil. The nutrients in the soils are essential, especially in food production.
Climate Change
The global climate is changing over the years. The main reason for these climate changes which have led to global warming is because of human activities. Scientists have been able to collect data and information about climate changes globally through the help of earth-orbiting satellites. The increased levels of greenhouse gas release are the main cause of global warming. The gases particularly carbon dioxide have a heat-trapping nature which affects the transfer of infrared energy through the atmosphere. Due to the increased emissions of carbon dioxide, there is a rise in the global temperature with almost 2 degrees since the late 19 th century ( Hansen & Sato, 2012) . Oceans temperatures have also increased because of heat absorption by the water. Additionally, there is a decrease of the ice sheets and snow cover in the past few decades, sea level rise, ocean acidification and a decline in A rctic sea ice.
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The average length of determining the change of climate is about 30-35 years. There is no single instrument which can be used to measure climate change and instead thousands of instruments have to be employed across the globe, land, sea, and atmosphere. Measuring climate change is complex because many areas such as the atmosphere, snow, and ice, water bodies such as sea and oceans and land surface have to be covered. Some areas are more prone to climate changes than others. For instance, the A rctic is prone to global warming which makes its ice reduce due to melting. Africa is also experiencing many climatic changes which are affecting agricultural production and food security in the region. Some of the climatic changes in Africa include decreased precipitation which affects the continent negatively
Ecological Equilibrium
Equilibrium, in an ecosystem, is achieved when there is a balance in the numbers of each species and population sizes kept within a sustainable range. Ecological equilibrium changes the state of organisms from present to absent and vice versa. For basic factors operate in an ecosystem to achieve equilibrium. First, the habitat of the ecosystem constrains the type of species in that ecosystem. The s econd factor is the regulator of the species which involve the type of predators to a particular species ( Singh, 2015). The t hird is the type of organisms in that particular ecosystem and lastly is death termed as the operator. When there is balance in the number of individuals in a particular ecosystem, the ecosystem is said to have reached natural biological equilibrium.
Human activities such as transforming land to provide food and shelter affects many biological systems such as ecological equilibrium of an ecosystem. However, ecological consequences are not considered while humans make decisions on land use. Guidelines on land use and making decisions should be considered because ecological principles are critical in sustaining the ecosystems. Humans have diverse goals in regard to land use. The use of land for activities such as recreational activities, human settlement and other related factors always pose a challenge in sustaining the ecology.
Rocks, Regolith and Soils
Regolith involves both the rocks and soil. On a rock, it is the loose consolidated part which contains dust on the top layer of bedrock. The s oil is the active medium for growth of plants. Weathering is the main component of regolith. Bedrock is exposed to water and other compounds which penetrate through the soil. The chemicals alter the mineral content of rocks breaking them into smaller components which separate from the bedrock. Additionally, regolith can occur as a result of a mechanical process where the bedrock is exposed to breakage through the application of force such as expansion. Roots of big plant species also assist the weathering process by penetrating and widening the cracks which are already in rocks.
There are essential elements needed by plants and animals. The essential nutrients are either classified as essential or non-essential. Each of the nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and others has cycles. Others are restricted in their movement between rocks and soils at ground level ( Anderson, R, Anderson, S & Tucker, 2013). When rocks weather, minerals are retained in the soil and then adsorbed to the surface by plants. The cycle of nutrients between rocks and soils enables plants and animals to live on earth. Rocks and soils are essential in the provision of food. Plants absorb nutrients weathered from rocks from the soils in which they are planted. Therefore, the types of minerals in a particular type of soil will determine the food to be produced
Conclusion
The world is undergoing a lot of changes starting from climatic changes to ecological equilibriums and the way rocks undergo weathering. On climate change, necessary measures should be taken to reduce the number of emissions which have led to increased global temperatures. On ecosystem equilibrium, human activities which disrupt it should be taken with necessary caution. I n regard to food production, rocks are very important because they determine the nutrients a particular soil will contain, and this bears direct impact on food production.
References
Anderson, R. S., Anderson, S. P., & Tucker, G. E. (2013). Rock damage and regolith transport by frost: An example of climate modulation of the geomorphology of the critical zone. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms , 38 (3), 299-316.
Hansen, J. E., & Sato, M. (2012). Paleoclimate implications for human-made climate change. In Climate change (pp. 21-47). Springer, Vienna.
Singh, J. S. (2015). Microbes: the chief ecological engineers in reinstating equilibrium in degraded ecosystems. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment , 203 , 80-82.
