RSS
Home
Climate change threatens manatees
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.jpg)
Climate change is caused by the release of greenhouse gases into the Earth’s atmosphere. This includes carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane. These gases reflect infrared heat, which causes the global climate to warm. During Earth's history, meteor strikes, volcanic activity and other natural events have caused changes in the climate. These natural events resulted in the eventual extinction of many of Earth's species.
The difference between these events and our current climate crisis is the speed of change being driven by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil. The concentration of atmospheric GHGs is now higher than the levels measured in the last 650,000 years. Air temperatures have also increased 0.74°C in the past 100 years. Because of this, scientists say the northern boundary of the subtropic zone in Florida has moved at least 25 miles north since 1970. Much of the warming is currently being absorbed by earth’s oceans, and ocean levels of carbonic acid are also on the rise.
How will this climate trend affect manatees?
Florida's manatees already face many threats, including watercraft strikes and red tide. Warming ocean temperatures also make red tides and bacterial outbreaks more common.
Additionally, manatees rely on seagrass as their primary food source. Seagrass grows in shallow, clear waters. As sea level rises and is accompanied by other impacts to water quality, seagrasses will likely be negatively impacted, threatening manatees with food scarcity. Rising sea levels may cause saltwater intrusion into freshwater aquifers and coastal waters that provide freshwater vegetation and drinking water for manatees.
Warmer oceans may also cause manatees to extend their range farther north along the Atlantic coast and west along the Gulf coast. These areas currently lack the manatee speed zones that exist off of Florida's coastal waters, and could cause a rise in watercraft strikes.
Climate scientists say that an eventual reduction to 350 parts per million of GHGs is necessary to slow and eventually reverse the current warming trend. If we don't act soon, we could lose this gentle creature from our oceans forever.
For more information, please check out the Save the Manatee Club at http://www.savethemanatee.org
Photo Credit: everystockphoto.com
Related Articles:
Comments
