Global warming has been taking a deadly toll on seabirds, which have been declining due to heatwaves, atmospheric extremes, the lack of reproduction and insufficient fish feed.
Climate-related losses have hit albatrosses off the Hawaiian islands, gannets close to the British Isles and puffins outside the West Coast.
Some birds are less adept at breeding nests and raising young as sea levels rise while others cannot find fish to eat as the island’s ocean warms, researchers found.
The loss of feeding fish and plankton led to the mass extinction of birds like the Cassin Auklet, which have washed ashore in their tens of thousands on the Pacific coast over the past few years.
But, according to a recent assessment by researchers from the University of British Columbia, seabird populations have fallen by 70% since the middle of the twentieth century.
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. (wikipedia)
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university with campuses in Vancouver and Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, UBC is British Columbia’s oldest university. (wikipedia)
University of Washington
The University of Washington is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, (wikipedia)
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. With an estimated population of 5.2 million as of 2021, (wikipedia)
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is an agency of the United States Federal Government within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, (wikipedia)
