Marine Biology

Climate Shift could Leave some Marine Species Homeless



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"Climate Shift could Leave some Marine Species Homeless"
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An international research team has recently discovered that the climate change can contribute to a wide variety and a large number of marine species of animals and plants becoming homeless. The climate change is producing warmer temperatures for a longer period of time and this can cause many animals to relocate to a cooler environment, one that they will have to learn adaptation in order to survive. The changes in temperature are often greater in the ocean than on land. Many wild populations are on the move right now trying to relocate. These animals are trying to keep up with their preferred environments in which they have already adapted to. Some are keeping up and other are not and the ones that are being left behind are stuck in a very uncomfortable, and often a fatal, environment.

Increasing in climate, temperatures will affect biological communities across the world. Some plant growth cycles will start to lag. Rapid plant losses and vegetation stress will occur. The increasing temperatures could damage and devastate rain forests and many animals natural habitat or homes causing declining wildlife populations or even some species becoming extinct. Changes in the climate temperatures of the ocean will cause marine food webs to rapidly decline. Global sea level changes will also occur, especially from the melting ice in the Arctic Ocean. The melting ice will cause the sea level to rise.

The Coral Triangle in south-eastern Asia is known as a biodiversity hotspot. It is in this area that species would need to relocate the fastest allowing them to keep up with climate changes. Fish and other marine life will have to travel much longer distances to survive. Some will manage to escape extinction, but not all. There have been many people who have underestimated the severe impact of global warming of the oceans. With sea life relocating to different areas it raises issues concerning conservation, commercial fisheries and fisheries management.

Sea life living in cooler regions of the oceans closer to the pole will find that they are being overwhelmed with the increases in population from the migration of the other marine life. Ocean plants will have to learn to cope with climate changes as well. Both land and sea species differ in how they respond to climate changes. There are a combination of things happening right now as researcher continue to observe climate changes on land and in the ocean. There will be newly opened habitats as marine animal patterns shift. Rare heat waves are already placing boundaries on the locations of where animals can live and survive.

Ecological competition is increasing due to rising temperatures. Increasing temperatures are already producing devastating effects on food production. In the near future there will be global warming hysteria. Scientists, researchers, environmentalists,conservationists and people just like us can help slow, reduce and prevent this massive migration of species. The first place we must all begin is to start listening and paying attention to nature and our surroundings. We must first understand the root cause of the problem to begin fixing it.

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ARTICLE SOURCES AND CITATIONS
  • InfoBoxCallToAction ActionArrowhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111107160249.htm
  • InfoBoxCallToAction ActionArrowhttp://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_11_12_13_en.html&item=Infocentre&artid=23394