Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumIceland's Massive Seabird Colonies In Free-fall: "All The Chicks Are Dead"
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No one knows exactly how many Arctic terns there are, but Iceland is believed to hold nearly one-third of the worlds population, perhaps 500,000 pairs. Petersen and colleagues are conducting a census of Icelands terns for the first time in a decade. Their findings will be part of the first-ever circumpolar Arctic tern review, coordinated by the Arctic Councils biodiversity working group.
Dire reports are already coming in from elsewhere. Petersens longtime colleague, Sverrir Thorstensen, gets a phone call from a friend counting terns in Icelands largest colony, Hrisey Island. Ten years ago, there were 15,000 pair in this colony off the north coast; the decade before, there were 25,000. With a grim face, Thorstensen relays the news of the latest count: Very simple answer. All the chicks are dead.
The retired biology teacher from Akureyri is the No. 2 bird-bander in Iceland. Hes banded 62,000 birds in the past 35 years. When he visited the colony himself earlier in the season, things looked good: lots of nests, lots of eggs. All dead, he repeats now, in a low voice. There are hundreds lying dead.
Our high-carbon lifestyle is turning up the oceans thermostat, and seabirds are feeling the heat. Some will escape by heading north scientists say a redistribution is already underway. But theres a cap on how far north they can go. More and more species will be trying to cram into a confined space. Sea cliffs and burrow-grounds are limited, and building nests in the open leaves them vulnerable to predators, which also are moving north. At the same time, civilizations toxic stew is swirling its way north, where it may also contribute to the seabirds decline. Levels of mercury, which can damage nervous systems and interfere with reproduction, are rising in marine wildlife throughout the North Atlantic. For other chemicals, the scenario varies by location and foraging behavior. For example, while the banned pesticide DDT has declined in most areas, it remains high in glaucous gulls in Arctic Norway. Brominated flame retardants are ubiquitous, and the perfluorinated coatings called PFCs are holding steady or even increasing in northern Canadas kittiwakes, fulmars and murres. In Iceland, levels of the legacy pollutants polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other contaminants are so high in murre eggs that authorities recently warned people not to eat them.
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http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2014/aug/wingedwarnings3empty-nests-of-the-north
CanonRay
(14,096 posts)This is both sad and scary.
phantom power
(25,966 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,515 posts)How bad does it have to get before those perpetrating the horror turn back, or do they assume they will have died happily in a sweet dream in their very old age before it really starts becoming total chaos, so they won't have to worry about it?
Nihil
(13,508 posts)> do they assume they will have died happily in a sweet dream in their
> very old age before it really starts becoming total chaos
There is no justice in the world and certainly none for the plutocracy.
GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)Every item we buy, every drop of gasoline we burn, every turn of the thermostat destroys a tiny bit more of the biosphere.
We don't need to look to the plutocracy for salvation. We need to look in the mirror.