Sea turtles, threatened by poaching, pollution or habitat loss, are also affected by climate change, which disrupts reproduction, according to a study published by “The Royal Society Open Science Journal”.
The study draws attention to the rise in ocean temperatures, which puts the survival of sea turtle populations at risk, heating up nesting sites scattered on beaches around the world.
Of the seven species of sea turtles, six are already on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, two of which, the hawksbill and the Kemp’s turtle, are critically endangered. .
Turtles face a greater threat because, unlike other species such as birds and butterflies, they have a longer reproductive cycle and take longer to adapt to changes.
Thus, the beaches where they spawn – which, according to an immutable cycle, are the same ones where they were born – are increasingly degraded due to the rise in sea level or erosion, and also due to climate change that warms the sand.
According to the study’s lead author, Jacques-Olivier Laloe, the findings reveal the “really worrying” possibility that local extinctions could occur, especially for sea turtles that live around the equator.
Source: TSF
