The Common Murre, a seabird found in northern waters, has declined drastically in population in Alaska over the past decade due to climate change.
According to a study, an unprecedented marine heat wave that occurred in the North Pacific between 2014 and 2016 led to the death of four million specimens, which is almost half of the seabird population in Alaska.
The populations of these birds with black and white plumage are often confused with the little penguins, he notes Noi.md with reference to .
“We talk a lot about species decline related to temperature changes, but in this case it’s not a long-term outcome,” explained Heather Renner, a biologist at a nature reserve in Alaska and co-author of the study.
“To our knowledge, this is the largest documented episode of wildlife mortality during the modern era,” she and colleagues who participated in the study pointed out.
These results should serve as an “alarm signal”, explained the researcher, because global warming, attributed to human activities, makes heat waves more frequent, more intense and more durable.
