Warming Changes Arctic Ecosystem

Earlier studies have looked at the effects of global warming on individual species. A new study shows that global warming is changing the entire northern Bering Sea ecosystem.

1 minute read

March 14, 2006, 6:00 AM PST

By Charles Siegel

"By pulling together a broad range of observations and surveys, an international research team concluded that it is witnessing the transformation of an entire ecosystem in a region home to almost half of U.S. commercial fish production.

All in all, the researchers said, the Arctic climate of the northern Bering Sea is in full retreat, yielding to the sub-Arctic system of the south."

"...Pacific gray whales were fleeing northward to feed in cooler currents, while pink salmon by the millions swarmed into warmer waters the whales had abandoned.

Bottom-dwelling species, unable to adapt, were destroyed in large numbers. The broken shells of a vanished clam species carpeted the sea floor.

As sea ice diminished, breeding grounds for seals were disrupted and populations plummeted. Polar bears started to drown. Walruses, accustomed to diving in the shallows to feed along the sea bottom, found themselves adrift on broken ice floes in waters 6,500 feet deep. The animals starved."

FULL STORY: Bering Sea Climate Is Shifting

Friday, March 10, 2006 in The Los Angeles Times

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