Sunday, November 22, 2009

Turtles Are Casualties of Warming in Costa Rica

In Playa Grande, Costa Rica, several tourist spots famous for viewing sea turtles have been closed down or abandoned or washed away by rising tides, because of global warming. The sea turtles have been devastated by global warming, not only because their food supply is dwindling, but also because the rising temperatures effect the tide and their nesting conditions. The gender of a sea turtle is determined by the temperature of the nest, and due to rising temperatures, the majority of hatching sea turtles are female, or the eggs will not hatch at all.

Various things are being done to try and save the turtle. For instance, at Playa Grande, local children are being payed to relocate sea turtle eggs to hatcheries where the temperature is more likely to generate turtles of both genders. Efforts are also being made to preserve enough of the beach that the turtles will still have somewhere to lay their eggs for a long time in the future, despite the rising sea levels.

Read more here.

Posted by: Jessica Bilstein

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