February 16, 2008
Sharks Add to Global Warming Woes
The main reason here is the climate change. The cold climate is a main reason why sharks do not frequent the Antarctic region. But thanks to global warming, the imminent threat, such a change in temperature has become all the opening that they need to expand their territorial exploration and find new prey to feed on.
“As a result, the Antarctic seafloor has been dominated by relatively soft-bodied, slow-moving invertebrates, just as in ancient oceans prior to the evolution of shell-crushing predators,” she told a news conference Friday on the sidelines of the conference.
But global warming has already pushed temperatures up by one to two degrees in the past 50 years, and the waters could become hospitable to sharks within the next 100 years, she said.
“The water only needs to remain above freezing year round for it to become habitable to some sharks, and at the rate we’re going, that could happen this century,” Wilga said.
“Once they get there, it will completely change the ecology of the Antarctic benthic community,” she said.
(Source) AFP
Tags: Animals, antarctic_region, Climate Change, climate_change, cold_climate, Global Warming, global_warming, Green News, life_in_antarctica, penguins, polar_bears, sharks
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I understand the concern and standpoint from the article, however sharks themselves are being threatened. Sharks have been around for 400 million years, 100 million years before the dinosaurs. Due to overfishing and bycatch the shark species population is down %90. I think we need to start talking about how we can change the things we can. I admit warming is an issue, but it is effecting much more than the arctic. Shores around the globe are seeing the effects by swarms of jellyfish gathering closer to land do to warmer water and less oxygen levels. Our oceans are in desperate danger. If the oceans ecosystem dies, we will as well.
Comment by Jessica — October 23, 2008 @ 4:54 pm