https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rapid-warming-in-the-arctic-is-causing-seals-to-wither-away
By Li Cohen
January 29, 2021 / 10:22 PM
The Arctic has seen rapid transformation in recent years as a result of climate change, with rising temperatures and significant fluctuations in sea ice thickness. Those changes could be causing three species of Arctic seals to lose body mass at alarming rates, according to a new study.
Researchers from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries studied ribbon, spotted and harbor seals in the Bering Sea and Aleutian islands from 2007 to 2018. They tracked changes in how heavy the seals were in relation to their length, a metric known as "body condition."
The researchers found that the seals' body condition declined in almost all age and sex classes in every studied species. Only two groups, spotted seal subadults and adults, did not experience a decline in body condition.
"Our findings point strongly to climate-related impacts. We saw declines in seal condition that coincided with recent pronounced warming," lead researcher Peter Boveng said in a statement. "Warming conditions in the Arctic seem to be affecting the condition of individual seals in a way that could impact their populations."
-----
No comments:
Post a Comment