Evidence found that increasing water temperature kills animals

For several consecutive years on our planetAn abnormally high air temperature is observed, due to which forest fires occur in various regions. Of course, such climatic changes also affect the water temperature in the seas and oceans, in which thousands of species of animals live. Abrupt changes in environmental conditions have a profound effect on the health of mammals, fish and shellfish, some of which are already on the verge of extinction. At least, due to the increase in water temperature, mussels in the waters of New Zealand are currently severely affected. This was clearly demonstrated in a video in which one of the inhabitants of these parts shows hundreds of thousands of dead clams washed ashore on one of the local beaches.

500,000 dead mussels found in New Zealand

On the negative effects of increased water temperaturewas told in Business Insider. Journalists chatted with a New Zealand resident named Brandon Ferguson, who posted a video from Maunganui Bluff Beach, on the shore of which there are about 500,000 dead mussels. According to an eyewitness, he has been living in this area for a long time and has been coming to the beach for several years to collect shellfish. However, for the second time, he observes a terrible picture - instead of live mussels, he sees on the shore a bunch of dead clams.

The shore smelled of dead, rotting seafood. Some of the mussels were empty, and some were simply dead ... Some of them simply sailed around their dead relatives, ”Brandon Ferguson said.

Global warming kills marine animals

According to a local resident, the reasons for the massiveextinction of mussels are warm water and high atmospheric pressure. The New Zealand Government is of the same opinion. According to research, between 1981 and 2018, the sea surface temperature in the four ocean regions of New Zealand increased by almost 0.2 degrees Celsius. The difference may seem insignificant, but this may well be enough to raise sea levels. If this happens, not only aquatic inhabitants, but also animals nesting on the shore will be at risk of extinction.

See also: The temperature of the water in the Pacific Ocean is growing and it is very bad

According to Professor Andrew Jeffs, whoworks in one of the universities of the New Zealand city of Auckland, the mussels filmed on video were killed due to the so-called "heat stress". He explained that warm water and beach washing act on mollusks in the same way as if a person had been lying in the sun every day for four hours in a row. We probably wouldn’t say hello to you, because at least burns would form on the body.

At the moment, scientists believe that in the futureNew Zealand mussels can die out completely because the temperature of the water continues to rise. It is believed that it is extremely important for people to pay attention to the impending danger and take any measures. To reduce the amount of greenhouse gases, mankind is already trying to switch to electric motors, but there are still no other effective ways to prevent water heating in the oceans.

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However, fish and other aquatic creatures suffernot only from the increased temperature of the water, but also because of the high acidity. The fact is that today in the air contains a lot of carbon dioxide, which increases the acidity of the seas and oceans. It was found that because of this phenomenon, many crustaceans destroy shells, which becomes the reason for their defenselessness against predators. You can read more about this in our special material.