Sea Turtles and Global Warming

Sea Turtles and Global Warming

Even though sea turtles tend to live in warmer waters, the climate changes do affect their natural habitat. This is the result of global warming and every human out there is responsible for it. There are many elements that have to be explored to fully understand how climate change affects them.

Sea turtles are very timid creatures, and they don’t do well with stress. Not being able to find enough to eat will be stressful for them. The lack of food can be due to the climate change because of the rippling effect. For example as the waters get too warm many of the plants and animals that they consume for food won’t be as plentiful. Then they have to slow down their metabolism and not eat or they have to leave their natural habitat to find food.

Either way, these events are very stressful for sea turtles. It can prevent them from taking part in the mating process. If they do mate, it can reduce the number of eggs that they will lay in the nesting grounds. There is already a concern as only 10% of what is laid actually survive the first year of life. Now factor into the equation that the climate change brings more land animals that are looking for younglings on the land to consume as food because their other foods sources are scarce and you can see how it can put the future for turtles in grave danger.

At the same time the larger sea turtles will become a common food supply for both sharks and whales. While they always have been for tiger sharks, most species of sharks and whales turn to other sources of food. Yet they aren’t going to pass up the opportunity for a meal of sea turtle when it is that or nothing at all.

The additional hot temperatures can also make it extremely hard for the younglings to survive as they make the transition from land to the waters. They may become too hot and die during that process which means they have no chance at all of helping to increase the overall number of sea turtles out there.

The climate is also believed to affect the sex of the younglings. So if they temperatures continue to significantly increase it is believed that there will be many more females than males in the world. Yet these males likely won’t be able to keep up with the need of the females when it comes to reproduction. There is also research that shows the younglings can die while still in their eggs due to the extremely hot temperatures in some areas. The sand does help to keep them cooler, but when the climate continues to change there is nothing that can be done.

There are many theories out there that have a grim outlook. Among them is the possibility that climate change can alter the natural ability that sea turtles have for when they should migrate and mate. When such confusion is surrounding them they may starve, they may not reproduce, and they may become exhausted from the stress that all of this creates for them.

Some researchers estimate that all of the sea turtles left in the world could be extinct in the next 50 years. They believe a great deal of this has to do with global warming and climate changes. It isn’t just sea turtles that are affected by climate change. Every single animal out there is including humans. That is why understanding global warming and taking action to prevent it. This will help ensure seat turtles and other creatures will be able to benefit from what remains of their natural environments.