Question

How climate change affects the gender of sea turtles.

Answer 1

Answer:

The Issue: Climate change has a serious impact on sea turtles and has become a global issue that needs to be dealt with before its too late. There are two impacts of climate change that negatively affect the sea turtle population. Firstly, rising temperatures can have an influence on the sex of turtles that are born. This is because the sex of the turtle is determined by temperature experienced by the egg prior to hatching. The pivotal temperature that influences the sex of sea turtles is around 30°c, below that mothers tend to produce male offspring and above that temperature there is a female bias. If temperatures continue to rise then this could affect the gender ratio of the turtle population and mean that there are too many females. This is contrary to the natural gender balance where there tends to be more males than females and the female turtle has her pick.

The second issue caused by climate change is the rising of sea levels. This could have an impact on the habitats of turtles meaning that their nesting spots will slowly disappear. Turtles exhibit natal homing behavior, meaning they return to the site of their birth to lay their own eggs, and the loss of nesting sites due to sea level rising may have a huge impact on this instinct.

Answer 2

Answer

An increase in nesting beach temperatures will also have an impact on sea turtles. Because sea turtles are reptiles, they rely on the temperature of the sand in which the eggs incubate to determine the gender of the hatchling in a nest. Typically, the eggs in the lower, cooler, part of the nest will become males, while the eggs in the upper, warmer, part of the nest will become females. With increasing nest temperatures, scientists predict that there will be more female than male hatchlings, creating a significant threat to genetic diversity. Warmer ocean temperatures are also likely to negatively impact food resources for sea turtles, and virtually all marine species. Coral reefs, which are an important food source for sea turtles, are in great danger. Almost half of the coral reef ecosystems in the U.S. are in poor or fair condition. As a result of rising temperatures, coral reefs are suffering from a “bleaching” effect that kills off parts of the reef.

Explanation: