Record heat in Canada kills one billion marine animals

AGI – Nearly one billion marine animals have been killed off the record heat wave that hit western Canada last week off the Pacific coast. Scientists at the University of British Columbia say that in addition to the 500 human casualties, there is an “extraordinary heat cap”.Disaster effect on underwater life and its ecosystems“.

The first evidence of damage to marine life was the discovery of thousands of dead mussels off the coast of Vancouver. “The shore does not normally throb when you walk. But there were so many empty muscle shells everywhere, you can not avoid stepping on dead animals when you walk,” said Christopher Harley, a marine biologist from British Columbia. Defender. Through infrared cameras, the researchers detected temperatures of up to 50 degrees on Vancouver beach.

The smell of rotten eggplant also struck them, Many of which were cooked with truly extraordinary hot water, snails, starfish and rotten clams in shallow water. “It was a great and visceral experience,” Harley said.

The number of one billion marine animals killed – including marine anemones, reef fish and oysters – is estimated to be in the hundreds of species commonly found on the shores of shallow water and on the shores inhabited by mussels. The latter can withstand temperatures of around 30 degrees, while barnacles, still strong, can survive up to 40 degrees, but only for a few hours.

Muscles can regenerate within two years, Many starfish and clams live for decades and reproduce slowly, So they will take longer to recover.

In addition, the species must adapt to extreme climatic events, which occur increasingly frequently, especially to irregular heat waves. Another consequence of the mass death of crustaceans, at least temporarily, is the deterioration of water quality as it helps to filter out shellfish and mussels.

Meanwhile, another heat wave is already expected next week to hit western America and southwestern Canada, confirming the summer marked by drought and record temperatures.