Where have all the turtles gone?
December 16th 2008 00:34
Marine turtles are facing a fierce battle to survive in the wake of global warming. Rising temperatures equals melting icecaps, which means more water in the sea and therefore higher sea levels. This then means that the sheltered beaches where marine turtles lay their eggs and leave them to incubate will soon be underwater.
Increased temperatures are also heating up the sands and therefore the nests in which the young turtles develop, and this rise in temperature can alter the ratio of male to female offspring. Too many of one sex further complicates future breeding patterns. A rise in temperature also affects ocean currents, which many turtles use to navigate to various feeding and breeding grounds, and can also cause bleaching of coral reefs – vital ecosystems which are provide feeding and juvenile rearing grounds for a variety of marine species. If the reefs die, many species are threatened.
One species already feeling the effects of climate change is the hawksbill turtle, which is found in tropical waters around the Caribbean and northern South America, Africa, and in the Indo-Pacific region. According to scientific reports, the global hawksbill turtle population has declined by more than 80% over the last century. Climate change aside, the World Wildlife Fund says hawksbill turtles’ habitat is also threatened by coastal development, poaching, excessive egg-collection, fishery and other human-related mortality and pollution.
WWF’s Latin America and Caribbean Programme, along with its Climate Change Programme, are currently completing a research project to map the migration and nesting patterns of the hawksbill turtles, in an effort to find ways to save them. In the meantime turn off any lights or appliances you aren’t using, catch the bus, and install energy saving light globes so your children won’t have to ask you what a turtle is.
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