Pacific Northwest Impacted by Climate Change
Image by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services from Flickr
The negative effects of climate change were seen once again two weeks ago along the Pacific Northwest when a record-breaking heat wave killed more than one billion sea creatures. As temperatures climbed above 100 degrees Fahrenheit for four days in June, breaking temperature records, the sea animals began to wash ashore in the following weeks. Those deaths include mussels, rockweed, barnacles, hermit crabs, various worms, and tiny sea cucumbers. (1, 2)
Christopher Harley, a marine biologist at the University of British Columbia, estimates the number of losses for mussels to be in the hundreds of millions. Losing this many mussels can have a detrimental effect on the ecosystem. Mussels modify the aquatic habitat and make it more suitable for themselves and other organisms. They do this by filtering the water during their feeding process, removing phytoplankton, bacteria, and fungi. Along with providing nutrients to plants and depositing food for fish and other invertebrates, mussels are a food source for muskrats, turtles, raccoons, and other animals. (1, 2, 3)
Although the aforementioned effects will be temporary, they will be significant. Harley states that the sea creature populations should rebound in a year or two. But as extreme weather conditions become more frequent, the worries lie with the impact more heat waves like this could have on the populations in the future. (4)
Extreme weather conditions resulting in rising temperatures and sea levels aren’t the only threats marine ecosystems face. Another threat is pollution, with oil spills and discharge sewage from factories and industrial plants. Agricultural pesticides also often end up in coastal waters, which depletes oxygen and kills marine plants and shellfish. Invasive species are another big issue. They damage coastal areas, disrupt the ecological balance, and can impact human health through the introduction of pathogens. (5, 6)
Marine ecosystems are important and beneficial to society. Healthy marine ecosystems provide raw materials for medicines, feed for livestock, and food security. They also protect against natural hazards like coastal erosion and inundation, along with providing building materials from coral rock and sand. (7)
To protect our marine ecosystems, some simple practices include using fewer plastic products. According to National Geographic, tens of thousands of marine animals are killed by the plastics that end up as ocean debris. To help with invasive species, don’t release any aquarium fish to the ocean or other bodies of water. Lastly, reducing our carbon footprints can help with reducing the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems. For more ways you can fight climate change, check out our blog post on the Cost of Climate Change. (8)
Citations
(1) Yurk, V. (2021, July 15). Pacific Northwest heat wave killed more than one billion sea creatures. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pacific-northwest-heat-wave-killed-more-than-1-billion-sea-creatures/
(2) Einhorn, C. (2021, July 9). Like in ‘Postapocalyptic movies’: Heat wave killed marine wildlife en masse. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/09/climate/marine-heat-wave.html
(3) Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. (n.d.). Importance of mussels. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mussels/importance.html
(4) Turner, B. (2021, July 13). 1 billion sea creatures cooked to death in Pacific Northwest. Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/heatwave-cooks-sealife-to-death.html
(5) National Geographic. (2017, January 5). Threats facing the oceans and their species. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/ocean-threats
(6) One Ocean. (2019, November 29). Invasive species. https://www.oceanprotect.org/resources/issue-briefs/invasive-species/
(7) GEO Blue Planet. (2020, July 1). Marine biodiversity and ecosystems. https://geoblueplanet.org/biodiversity-ecosystems/
(8) National Geographic. (2010, April 27). 10 things you can do to save the ocean. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/10-things-you-can-do-to-save-the-ocean