climate change

Seagrasses are known for supporting an extremely biodiverse ecosystem, including the charming but endangered manatee. It is also the home of many fish used in commercial fishing. Therefore, when considering conservation of these species, it is very important to note that seagrass populations are declining overall worldwide. While factors such as physical mechanical damage, coastal development, and pollution no doubt play a role, climate change may be a new rising factor that is certainly worth more consideration. Underwater oceanic plants are affected the most by extreme temperature increases, which corresponds to future predictions that seagrass populations will experience range shifts out of their normal distribution and begin traveling to higher latitudes, according to the IPCC Climate Change Report for 2018 (IPCC, 2018).  Figure 1. This diagram from the IPCC illustrates the effects of global average surface temperature change relative to…

Since 1896, when a Swedish scientist, Svante Arrhenius, described the detrimental effects of carbon dioxide on our climate, we have known the effects of our actions.  Since humans took over planet Earth, our global temperatures have been rising because of our CO2 emissions.  Within the past 100 years, the temperature has increased at a much…

The red knot is a shore bird species that visits the shores of Cape May on its migration route. This species has the longest migration route of any species that visits our shores. It travels from tropical and temperate conditions in the winter all the way to the Arctic for breeding, a journey that totals…