As the polar ice caps melt they are releasing toxins and aquatic diseases that many species do not have the ability to fight off or overcome. A place where this is occuring at the highest rates is off the coast of Alaska. The species affected the greatest is the sea otter, who has been afflicted with, “phocine distemper virus (PDV) ...the pathogen in the Morbillivirus genus that contains viruses like measles had then only been found in Europe and on the eastern coast of North America” (Gibbens). This is alarming because this virus has never been in that region of the world until its discovery in 2004. The fear associated with PDV is that its rate of infection is very high and travels from population to population. As polar ice melts, it releases more of these toxins back into the food chain and we as humans are likely to be ingesting them the further we push up global temperatures.
As we have learned in class, the sea otter is a keystone species which in recent years is becoming more and more threatened by human activities in their environments around the world. The exposure of sea otters to toxins like PDV are the direct result of humans burning fossil fuels and melting the ice that had once helped to trap deadly prehistoric diseases. As our work with ecological footprints suggests that as our footprints grow so does the number of species impacted by our activities. It boils down to what are we will to give up so that others may life.
As this becomes a greater issue on not just sea life but to us human beings, we need to start to evaluate how far we are willing to let other species die so that we can over consume the resources the Earth has to offer. As a result of our overconsumption we have decimated and plagued numerous populations of wildlife on this planet. In time, it will come down to us having to make a choice between our lifestyles and our want to preserve the life of not just sea life but of all wildlife for future generations. How many species must be lost before we as a species decide that the damage we have done is unacceptable.
Citations
Gibbens, Sarah. “Shrinking Arctic Ice Exposes Seals, Sea Lions, Otters to Deadly Virus.”
Shrinking Arctic Ice Exposes Seals, Sea Lions, Otters to Deadly Virus, National
Geographic, 7 Nov. 2019,
ly-virus-spreading-marine-mammals-as-arctic-ice-disappears.
Image Source: “Sea Otter Survey Released.” Adventure Sports Journal, 3 Oct. 2016,
adventuresportsjournal.com/seaottersurvey/.
It is very depressing that humans' actions are not only affecting our planet and crucial species within ecosystems, but could also come back to harm us. There is such a high degree of ignorance shown by many humans who do not partake in the effort to limit pollution which is the heart of many issues such as this one.
ReplyDeleteIts very scary to think of all the toxins being released into the environment. What other things are being released into the environment.
ReplyDeleteI think it is terrible that we have the most ability to do good and yet we are causing so many ecosystems as well as other animals to suffer because we only care about ourselves. I think we need to make a change soon if we want our children to see what we are able to see today. We need to limit our footprint to help the social environment
ReplyDelete