Climate Change Affects the Fish We Eat, Too
Written by Andrea Liu
Edited by Srinidhi Viswanathan
April 5, 2024
Edited by Srinidhi Viswanathan
April 5, 2024
Research
A polar bear swims through cold blue arctic waters. They can no longer rely on hunting seals on ice because, in the last few decades, sea ice has been melting at a rapid pace.
This is a story we’re all familiar with: a story of climate change and how it’s been affecting animals. However, polar bears live far in the Arctic, and it can be difficult to understand how melting ice shelves affect our own everyday lives.
A 2023 study helps bridge this gap. At first glance, it doesn’t seem to be related – the authors are tracking the habitat distribution of a bird, the black-browed albatross (BBA). But BBA are a key species to study. They spend most of their lives at sea and feed on krill, a primary marine food source, 1 and the movement of krill determines the distribution and behavior of most marine life. For humans, the biggest impact is on fish: if the number of krill declines, the number of fish will decline too. As a result, studying BBA allows us to understand how climate change is affecting marine life and our fishing industry.
The study surveyed BBA over 23 years and mapped how their behavior has changed given the impacts of climate change, including increasing freshwater from melting ice shelves and increasing acidity from dissolved CO2. 3 Then, they predicted the future habitat suitability of BBA.
In the best-case scenario, where global warming is combated effectively, BBA will lose 10% of their habitat suitability by 2100. This is already an alarming decrease, but it is far better than the worst-case scenario: if efforts are ineffective, BBA will lose 8% of their habitat suitability by 2050 and a whopping 34% by 2100. 2 Similarly, the habitat of other marine life will shrink or shift, changing how and where human populations fish and encounter animals.
This study, like the increasing amount of research that has been conducted on climate change, highlights the necessity of taking measures against global warming. Albatross’ habitat will decrease drastically, even if effective action is taken now. How will krill, marine life, and our fishing industry suffer in the next few decades if no effective action is taken?
Image Source: “FOOD FIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!” by Ric McArthur (2009), licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0